Reviews written by Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer

'The Cook and the King' by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by David Roberts, is a cute story that shows how working together, and sometimes working alone with someone by your side, can lead to success. When the King hires Wobbly Bob to be his new cook, he gets more than he...

'Dias y Dias, Days and Days' by Ginger Foglesong Guy, illustrated by Rene King Moreno, is a simple story that does a nice job capturing words that describe seasons and months of the year. The Spanish and English vocabulary is extremely beneficial for anyone learning Spanish, and the illustrations only...

'We Are the Perfect Girl' by Ariel Kaplan is a Cyrano De Bergerac style story. There are a host of themes at work in the novel, from friendship and family, to beauty and longing. Aphra, the main character, is a nice and likable character. Yet, she is not perfect, hence...

'Stranger Things: Runaway Max' by Brenna Yovanoff provides an intriguing look into Max's life before and during her time in Hawkins, Indiana. While trying to find her place once she moves to Hawkins from California, she meets Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Will, along with some of the other main characters...

'Sorting for STEM Big Skills Workbook' deals with core concepts. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the focus in this book, providing simple examples of each of these subjects so children begin to form a better understanding of these topics from the beginning of their school career, or possibly even...

'Math Practice Extra Big Skills Workbook' has a large variety of fun activities to help students build their math knowledge. From number mazes to pages that contain patterns, shapes, and addition and subtraction exercises, students will learn how easy it is to practice counting, solving problems through drawing, counting by...

'Handwriting Skills Workbook' does a great job of informing students and parents alike about the importance of focusing on how to form each letter appropriately. Each letter page has animals on it that begin with that letter, and easy alliterative sentences that further comprehension of each page's contents. There are...

'Little Penguin's New Friend' by Tadgh Bentley is a cute story about the making of a friendship despite misconceptions about the other person. The penguin has heard things about the polar bear that he doesn't know whether to believe. He wonders whether he'll be scary, if his roar will be...

'Flights of Fancy: Creative Inspiration from Ten Award-Winning Authors and Illustrators' is a great help to aspiring authors, as it shows how writing can be both effortless and fun, while at the same time instilling the importance of hard work and dedication. There are challenges in the book that come...

'Lily and the Wedding Date Mistake' by Seven Steps is a story of friendship lost and found between main characters Lily and Becks. They travel through uncharted territory trying to figure out how to get their friendship back on track after Becks' faraway move many years ago. They don't seem...

'Bea and the Bad Boy' by Anna Catherine Field is a page-turning story that evolves from two people who don't really know much about each other into two people who find that they've been thrown together and it isn't all that bad. Actually, it's pretty good, and the fact that...

'Igloo High' by Jacinthe Dessureault has many of the typical aspects that young adult novels contain, including a popular girl, a mean girl, and the requisite crush. The novel, however, does not stick to the same tried and true form that other novels do, as main character Ella finds herself...

'Smile: How Young Charlie Chaplin Taught the World to Laugh (and Cry)' by Gary Golio, illustrated by Ted Young, is an interesting look at the life and makings of Charlie Chaplin and his most well-known character, The Tramp. It starts off telling about his life, including how his mother and...

'She's the Liar' by Alison Cherry is about sisters Abby and Sydney and their time together at Brookside Academy. Abby, who has decided to rebrand herself as 'Abbi' and be a newer, cooler version of herself upon entering sixth grade, comes to learn that with her newfound role comes heartache....

'From an Idea to Disney: How Branding Made Disney a Household Name' by Lowey Bundy Sichol provides the inspirational backdrop to Walt Disney's enduring legacy that readers didn't necessarily know they needed, but will be excited to learn. There are facts about Disney's childhood and the beginning of his career,...