Dracula Doesn't Drink Lemonande

Dracula Doesn't Drink Lemonade
by Debbie Dadey
and
Marcia Thornton Jones

This children's novel is part of The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series. I personally grew up ready many of these mystery novels throughout elementary school. Each book in the series follows a similar format where the four main characters suspect someone of being a monster. In this particular book, the third-graders suspect the new counselor of being Count Dracula. While Dadey and Thornton Jones carry the same four characters throughout the series, there is no character development but the readers can continue to know and count on a similar plot line. The titles of these books are goofy, fun, and intriguing. These novels also include drawings of the scene every couple of pages. These drawings could possibly give too much of the story away and hinder the imagination of some readers, while for others it may be a helpful way to depict the monsters in each book.

Intended Age 7-10

Actual Size

Actual Size

by Steve Jenkins

This picture book goes through a wide array of animals and shows the actual size of specific features of the animal. It is extremely interesting because it actually makes sense of facts and figures by illustrating what they look like. Many readers will be amused be the wacky facts such as a Goliath birdeater tarantual is 12 inches across when Jenkins makes the fact tangible by illustring it. The images are also really creative and neat because they are made from cut and torn paper and can even be noticed when some letters of a torn paper are left showing. Jenkins also includes important skills such as comparing in his book. For example, on on page there is a replica of a gorilla's massive hand and the opposite side depicts a pygmy mouse lemur holding it's hand out to show the idea that both still have hands a lot like humans. Another great feature to this book is at the end where it gives many more detaila about each animal included in the book. Overall a very fun, stunning, and dramatic way to make facts come alive.

Intended Age 4-8

Hide-and-Seek Turkeys

Hide-and-Seek Turkeys

by Judith Ross Enderle

and

Stephanie Jacob Gordon

illustrated by Teresa Murfin

Entertaining is how I would best describe this fun picture book. Hide-and-Seek Turkeys is about a group of children perform a play about ten turkeys trying to hide from a fox. Readers can look close at the bold, colorful, and fun illustrations to really see the set and background stage that they put together throughout every page of the book. This book become interactive when each picture describes in detail what the text is saying. The story also helps the young reader practice with counting not only through the context of the story changing and adding a turkey each time, but also through allowing the reader to count the number of turkeys in each illustration. Another unique feature is that the vocabulary is almost all rather common and simple except for the idea that most pages introduces one additional word. This is a great concept because the young reader will know the majority of the context except for the one new vocabulary word. Also each new word fits into a new colonial clothing group such as tricorn hat, britches, and pantaloons. Each picture is also focused around the new word to help readers get a brief sense of what the word is. This book would work well as an book to be read as part of a primary grade colonial times mini-unit.

Intended Age 4-8

The Cow Who Clucked

The Cow Who Clucked

by Denise Fleming

This is a picture book for beginning readers about a cow who loses her moo. Cow goes all around the farm to search to see if another animal has her moo. This book is a typical animal book that teaches children sounds and common animals make. One up side is the illustrations throughout the book that are unique, colorful, and fun. The pictures also have other things in the background that help set the scene and build the book. This book has another neat feature because Cow's face is not always showing but the reader would still be able to infer what emotions are being portrayed through the background and text.

Intended Age 4-7

Hosie's Zoo

Hosie's Zoo

pictures by Leonard Baskin

words by Tobias, Hosea, Lucretia, and Lisa Baskin

This picture book goes through the world of animals using large watercolored pictures and poetic words. The pictures depict each animal with a close up of the face to really understand each and every animal. Each page also has a poetic description of the animal that will keep any reader entertained because the poems are of many different formats; some free verse and some rhyming. Young children will enjoy looking at the pictures but may have a difficult time understand some of the large descriptive words, while older readers will enjoy the effort of the written expressive poems.

Intended Age: All Ages

The Chicken of the Family

The Chicken of the Family

by Mary Amato

illustrated by Delphine Durand

This fun story tells about young Henrietta whose two older sisters tease her into believing that she is actually a chicken. Young readers may find this story very relatable if they have any older siblings that pick on them and will learn important and helpful ways to understand how to deal with that situation. This picture book has a happy ending when Henrietta pretends to be a chicken and learns to love her differences. The illustrations are lively and fun and often include many fun details in the background of the pages. Young readers will learn to feel comfortable in their own shoes and realize that giving in and copying others is not always the best answer. There are a fair amount of words for each page, but there are many common small words that a young reader should not feel too intimidated.

Intended Age 4+

I, Doko

I, Doko

by Ed Young

This picture book is the tale of a Nepalese basket as it lives and tells about its use through three generations of its family. The book creates an interesting tale because it is told from the perspective of the basket which allows for it to survive the death of the first family and proceed on living to tell the rest of the story. The diversity it brings to the reader is wonderful as it describes a tradition in a culture. The reader is allowed to relate through the descriptions to find similarities and may also find differences throughout the tale. The story focuses around the harsh treatment of elders and teaches the reader respect, tolerance, and harmony. The illustrations focus on great detail where it is needed such as the emotion that is trying to be convey also through the text. The choice of gold edging on each page adds another touch to richness of the book.

Intended Age 4 +

Happy Birthday Chimp and Zee

by Catherine and Laurence Anholt

It is a pair of twin chimpanzee's birthday which sets the story for this enjoyable picture book. The story goes through the whole birthday day and celebrations from the moment the chimpanzee family wakes up to the bedtime for the two twins cleverly name Chimp and Zee. The illustrations in this book are bright, colorful, and extremely entertaining. The reader and find out twice as much stuff from searching through the illustrations. The picture book even includes a center fold out page in the middle of the story with many more pictures to read. The language of the book is almost rhyming and has many plays on the words beginning with the title. The text is laid out on the page in an interesting way the further the story. For example "higher, higher, higher until they reach the top" scrolls along the curve of the steep hill in the illustration. The chimps get lost after not listening to their parents where they ultimately learn the lesson to stay close and obey their parents which can be easily translated into the readers own life. "Toot, toot, toot! Tee hee hee! Can't catch Chimp! Can't catch Zee!" The book also uses fun repetition throughout the book that would be sure to keep the young reader engaged throughout the story.

Intended Age 2-6

A Pig is Big

by Douglas Florian

This fun picture book uses cleaver rhyming words to explain the cows are bigger than pigs, cars are bigger still, and the universe is the biggest of all. The story opens in a cleaver and unique way by the first picture posing the question "What's big?" This page is almost completely bank which leaves the child wondering and questioning what is to come. The reader will enjoy the descriptive words that are put together in an interesting way to rhyme on each page. The illustrations are done in watercolor paints that are whimsical, colorful, and fun. This story is sure to teach children about ordering and sizing of things that the young reader would probably already be familiar with. While the intended message is fully important and real, but reality is stretched in an enjoyable way through illustrating cows and pigs driving a car and a kangaroo surfing.

Intended Age 3+

What Goes Around Comes Around

by Richard McGuire

What Goes Around Comes Around is a short story with a rather simple message as the title suggests. The picture book starts when young boy throws his sister's doll out the window of the tall apartment building and continues with the descriptive and fun journey that the doll takes around the planet. While the doll is traveling around the world it also encounters many diverse situations that will help the reader see both differences and similarities is the different cultures and places. This story will remind kids that some actions often have consequences as the boy found in this book. The illustrations are simplistic yet informative. There are many vocab words in this book that may be new for the reader which the pictures can help explain.

Intended Age 5+

The Luckiest Kid on the Planet

The Luckiest Kid on the Planet

by Lisa Campbell Ernst

This picture book is a great and warm story about a child who believes his name is Lucky. The story moves on to give the reader a message to believe in yourself and that you are the one who can control your feelings. The illustrations are done in bright colors that also help to tell the story. When Lucky is happy the images are quirky, fun, and exciting, and when lucky is mad the pages are drab and dull to convey the message. This book may also appeal to a child who has a strong connection with a grandparent because Lucky finds himself realizing the importance of his own relationship with his grandpa. This book also does a great job working with a touchy subject when Lucky's grandpa is suddenly admitted into the hospital. Campbell Ernst does a great job setting the sad scene and looking for the good in it in a way that will not scare the young reader.

Intended age 3-7

Sideways Stories From Wayside School

Sideways Stories From Wayside School
by Louis Sachar

This is a novel written about a school built sideways that turned out 30 stories tall. The novel has 30 chapters where each tells the story about another child in the school. While each story is every different from the next, Sachar carries many common characters throughout the whole novel. The chapters are whimsical, silly, and short. Children should find this book relatable to their own lives because the novels is set in a school and some of the stories deal with real things such as a teacher who is too mean and bullies. Sachar makes each story interesting and funny by using puns and play on words that children would enjoy reading over again to see the second meanings. While the stories are often hilarious and goofy, they do carry meaning and good values that readers will take from them.

Intended Ages: 7-11