Three New Books to Review from Dawn Publications

Over in the Arctic Where the Cold Winds Blow, a picture book by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by Jill Dubin, is a rhyming account of the animals in the arctic like a polar bear, arctic hare, whale, seal, snowy owl,wolverine and many more. The rhyme is set to the rhythm of "Over in the Meadow". Here's a sample page, "Over in the Arctic, Paddling in the icy sea, Lived an old mother walrus, And her little calves three. "Kick," said the mother. "We kick," said the three. So they kicked with their flippers, Paddling in the icy sea."
I believe this is a good read aloud for children since it has rhythm, rhyme and movement. How many books? I would give it four out five books. Well done!
Inside All by Margaret H. Mason, illustrated by Holly Welch, is a picture book that tells about "the comfort of knowing that they belong, that they are part of something meaningful." My favorite lines in the book are "Inside you Is a heart Pure and glowing. Inside your heart Is all Love overflowing." I like this book. I give it 3 out of 5 books.
My First Hike is a board book written and illustrated by Catherine Maria Woolf. The text is simple and heartfelt and tells about a grandfather taking his grandchildren on their first hike. I recommend this original board book, 3 out 5 books.

My New Books

I have two new books to announce! Finger Rhymes-Content Connected Rhymes for Science, Math and Social Studies and Preschool Math-Theme Units for Content-Area Learning by Lily Erlic are out on the website at www.teachinglearning.com
I hope you check it out. Finger Rhymes can be found on a specific page: http://www.teachinglearning.com/showanything.php?this_page=TLC10546 If you have any books that you would like to announce, please write in. I would love to share them with everyone!

All the best,
Lily Erlic

Another Review

Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman, illustrated by Lynne Chapman is a fun and comical picture book. "One by one, the students and even teacher are gobbled up by the sneaky snake." Most children ages 5-8 would know that one can not really be swallowed by a snake so it's not a big worry. "They saw hippos hopping in the dirt. They saw monkeys eating chocolate dessert. But they didn't see the anaconda ponder...then slide from the water and start to wander...
I enjoyed reading the story to myself and to my nephew. I think it deserves 3 out of 5 books.

More Book Reviews

CAVES by Sally M. Walker, part of the Early Bird Earth Science Series,consists of five chapters. What is a Cave?, Kinds of Caves, Stone Icicles, Animal Life and Exploring a Cave. Near the end of the book, there is an excellent "A Note to Adults" section where the importance of sharing a book with a child is emphasized. My favorite section of the book is Animal Life where fascinating animals are brought to light. Amazing animals who are found in caves like foxes, cave spiders, cave shrimp, snails and glowworms to name a few. "Some cave fish don't even have eyes."-published by Lerner Publications Company.

More Book Reviews

ROAR! by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Alex Ayliffe is another book from my mail that I enjoyed. It begins, "Bold lions love roar, roar, roaring,
while cubs play--racing, chasing,
scrambling over lionesses and --oops!--tumbling.
So roar, bold lions, roar!"
The book goes on to describe other animals like elephants, zebras, tigers, giraffes, monkeys, hippos, leopards, pandas, kangaroos and grizzly bears. "Bouncy kangaroos love jump, jump, jumping..." There are mostly four lines per page and colorful cartoon like illustrations so that a young child would be captivated enough to hold their attention by this book. Score: Three books out five books.

Book Reviews

In my mail, I received books to review. Here are some of those books.
A picture book called DINO-HOCKEY by Lisa Wheeler and Illustrated by Barry Gott, is a funny and entertaining. It is published by Carolrhoda Books, Inc. Written in rhyming couplets, the book would appeal to Dinosaur and hockey fans.It begins, "The game begins at half past six, when dinos grab their hockey sticks. They plan to win on icy floors--MEAT-EATERS vs. VEGGIESAURS!" The illustrations are clear and well defined. I think this picture book deserves 3 books out of 5 book rating. (Which means its a good read)
Christmas Is Coming is another picture book by Anne Bowen and illustrated by Tomek Bogacki that I found entertaining especially with Christmas coming soon. A little bit on the wordy side but the meaning is all there. Anna, a young girl, tells her new brother about the signs of Christmas approaching. I liked this page: "You know Christmas is coming
when you see lights
like ribbons of stars shining in the dark--
glittering,
shimmering..."
Anna discovers that the best present of all is...well you'll have to check out the book to find that out.
I'll be back with more reviews next time.

Rainforest Week

I come across many books along my travels. Since it is rainforest week, Oct. 14th to the 20th, a book that caught my attention is called THE RAINFOREST GREW ALL AROUND. "Recipe from the “For Creative Minds” section of The Rainforest Grew All Around, an award-winning picture book from Sylvan Dell Publishing, an educational children’s book publisher. More activities are available for free at www.SylvanDellPublishing.com."
The recipe is at this website for the rainforest cookies: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/RainforestCookiesRecipe.htm
I love recipes too (I am a professional recipe writer) so I am going to print the recipe here as well.

RAINFOREST COOKIE
These cookies have several ingredients that come from the rainforest. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2 to 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter (1/2 cup),softened
1 medium ripe banana
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
4 cups (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 cup chopped cashews

Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside.
Combine butter, banana and sugars until creamy.
Beat in eggs and then add the coconut flakes.
Gradually add flour mixture, add extra flour if needed.
Stir in chocolate chips and cashews.
Drop by rounded tablespoon on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

I'm going to make these cookies as soon as I can.

All the best,
Lily Erlic
Children's Author, CANSCAIP member
www.pmdi.com/LilyErlic
MY BLOG: http://childrensauthorbook.blogspot.com/
Preschool Basics-Activities for Building Core Knowledge
By Mary Tucker, Kim Rankin, Karen Scanlon and Lily Erlic
http://www.teachinglearning.com/showanything.php?this_page=TLC10527
Math and the Beanstalk-Addition and Subtraction Board Game Grades 1-3
ISBN: 1-931474-78-8 http://www.eaieducation.com/520281.html
http://www.schoodoodle.com/home/sch/page_1853_792/math_and_the_beanstalk.html
Glaciers: Landscape Carvers 978 1 86970 381 3
http://www.hi.com.au/bookstore/bmoredetail.asp?idVal=1667/4892/30966