You don't have to be a fan of jazz to enjoy Kristyn Crow's Cool Daddy Rat. You do have to be a fan of well-written, creative, rhythmy, and fun-rhyming text. Mike Lester's art, a sort of messy pencil with bright watercolors, seems to look like how jazz feels. With every phrase of story, Crow puts in a short, jazzy musical rhyme: hippy zippy zee zat, lookie lookie see dat, yipsy tipsy top dat. This is exactly the kind of book I make big hype about in our Emergent Literacy class. It's perfect for developing phonemic awareness in young children because Crow's text plays with language. Was that the author's intention, to make it into my recommended reading list for my EL class? I doubt it, but she does a great job anyway. Aside from the beautiful text itself, the story is sweet and endearing. You can feel the love between Cool Daddy and Ace, his stowaway son, both in words and pictures. A wonderful read aloud to read again and again. (P.S. - If you're wondering what the EL class is . . . call 852-6682. hurry scurry rat rat!)
Intermediate Mystery books are a gold mine. High-low books refer to titles that are of high interest to readers, but contain low level vocabulary. These titles are clever, action-packed, and have several books in the series to keep the mystery alive. These intermediate mystery books are the first in their series and are sure to appease any mystery loving reader. The Ghost Tree Written by Natasha Deen Illustrated by Lissy Marlin New York: Random House Children's Books, 2022. Intermediate. 95 pages. With a dash of paranormal mixed with mystery, this book introduces Asim, a Guyanese American fourth grader who moves to a new town. After a visit to a graveyard, an evil spirit is unleashed. Asim works with new friends, Rokshar and Max, to save their town. With scarily cool illustrations to accompany this text, this book is great for any amateur sleuths who love a touch of creepy. Detective Duck: The Case of the Strange Splash Written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Illustrated by Dan San
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