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Review: Boundless

Boundless By ChauntĆ© Lowe New York : Scholastic Focus, 2023. Biography, 213 pgs.  ChauntĆ© Lowe is a World Champion High Jumper with an amazing life journey to get to where she is today. While growing up, she was raised by a single mom, experienced homelessness, and poverty. When she was younger she was inspired by watching Flo Jo compete in the olympics and decided that is what she wanted to do. Throughout her growing up years, she did everything she could to accomplish this goal. She had mentors that came into her life at different times to guide her and push her along helping her to make her dreams come true.  This is an inspiring memoir that shows that no matter what your life circumstances, you can work hard and push forward to accomplish your goals. This is a great read for tween readers, especially those who love sports stories. ChauntĆ© does such a wonderful job at telling her story in an engaging way that helps to open your eyes to the struggles that others face while at the sam
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From Story Time: The Letter "V"

  Preschool Time Harold Finds a Voice By Courtney Dicmas Auburn, ME: Child's Play Inc., 2013. Picture Book. Harold is an amazing mimic, and can imitate the sound of everything in his home. Tired of repeating the same old noises, he yearns to find out what other voices there are in the big, wide world. But what happens when he suddenly realizes that he doesn't yet have a voice of his own? --Editor Preschool Time Don't Blow Your Top! Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Abhi Alwar New York: Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2023. Picture Book. Big Volcano and Little Volcano live side by side in paradise, but when a silly bird drops a coconut (or two) on Little Volcano's crater he blows his top. --Editor Toddler Time Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire By Flavia Z. Drago Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2023. Picture Book. Vlad is a vampire with the misfortune of having rosy cheeks that--gasp!--make him look abysmally alive. But being the fabulous vampire t

Review: The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz Written by Jeremy Dronefield New York: Quill Tree Books, 2023. Informational. 371 pages. Fritz Kleinmann and his family are nervous for what their future looks like as a Jewish family in Vienna. Hitler's popularity is increasing and tensions are high. When Nazis take over the country, Fritz and his father, Gustav, are taken and sent to a concentration camp called Buchenwald in Germany. While there, they are starved and forced to work brutal jobs, all without any news of the war outside and the state of their family. When Gustav is transferred to Auschwitz (and what is sure to be a death sentence for the weak, aging man), Fritz sacrifices potential safety by forcing his transfer as well to look after his father. This book follows the true story of the diverging lives of the Kleinmann family. Watching each family member's experience helps readers see WWII from different angles. The young readers edition is a perfect introduction to t

Books That Take You There: Pi Day

Pi Day is one of my favorite random holidays of the year. Why? Because who doesn't love a reason to eat pie. So in honor of Pi Day, here are some books about the delicious dessert. Cindy and Panda By Benson Shum New York: Clarion Books, 2023. Picture Book. Cindy wants to bake a pie. When she goes out to the garden for ingredients, Cindy comes back with not only rhubarbs, but a panda. Cindy and Panda become fast friends, but what will happen when he eats the ingredients before they can bake the pie? This adorable tale will teach your kids how to be a good friend. Plus, it even has a recipe for pie in the back! Apple Pie Picnic Written by Alicia Duran Illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald Brooklyn: Red Comet Press, 2023. Picture Book. Rosa and her family love the apple tree in their backyard. Throughout the seasons they watch the apple tree change and grow until it's finally ready to be picked. When it's time, Rosa's abuelo bakes the apples into a special pie for their picnic u

Review: How Benjamin Franklin Became a Revolutionary in Seven (Not-So-Easy) Steps

  How Benjamin Franklin Became a Revolutionary in Seven (Not-So-Easy) Steps Written by Gretchen Woelfle Illustrated by John O' Brien New York: Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2023. Biography. 96 pages. How Benjamin Franklin Became a Revolutionary in Seven (Not-So-Easy) Steps starts out with Benjamin as a young boy who is a fiercely intelligent British loyalist and it chronicles with less well known facts how he went from being a loyal subject to a founding father and one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. Written in a simplified, yet fun way this book is engaging from the very beginning. Peppered with newspaperesque cartoons, which are appropriate as Franklin started his career as a printer, the illustrations serve to break up the page and add a little humor into the information being presented. These stylistic choices make it perfect for those children who are just getting started in the world of chapter book biographies and research re

Review: Plus One

Plus One By John Hare New York: Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House, 2024. Picture Book. Agnes, who recently moved and is new at her school, invites other girls and their plus one over for a fancy tea party. When her neighbor, Dave, shows up, she sends him away. As he brings more and more "plus ones" to impress Agnes, she continues to find reasons that he can't come in. Eventually, Agnes learns that Dave and his friends are more fun than she thought, and all are welcome at the tea party. This charming picture book highlights how friends can be made in the unlikeliest of places, and that appearances can be deceiving. Agnes's behavior in the beginning isn't very kind, but she realizes her mistake and welcomes Dave's friendship, even when there are other options. This book has funny moments, awesome animal companions, and a sweet message about inclusion and empathy.

Review: The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn

The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn By Shawn Harris New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. Picture book. Do not be fooled into thinking this is like other unicorn books you have read, this one is much better. The teeny-weeny unicorn is truly teeny-weeny -- far and away the smallest member of his unicorn family. His older (much bigger) siblings, Fancy Annie and Prince Butterscotch, pick on him constantly. They use him as a pawn when they play chess, they refuse to let him jump into their castle's moat, and they warn him he'll get lost in the lawn. Fed up with being picked on, he runs away and does, indeed, get lost in the lawn. He quickly learns about perspective when an even teenier-weenier gnome chastises the teeny-weeny unicorn for stepping on and crushing his car. Eager to make this right, and also a little proud of his size, the unicorn and gnome gallop back to the castle to make amends. In the end, the teeny-weeny unicorn stands a little bit taller with his new perspective. A wholly origina