Milly and The Macy’s Parade book review by Zaid

Title of the Book: Milly and The Macy’s Parade 

Author Name: Shana Corey 

Reviewer's Name: Zaid 

 Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

 Date of Publication: 2001 

 Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Marvelous idea, Milly.” In Milly and the Macy’s Parade by Shana Corey and Brett Helquist, we follow the main character Milly during Thanksgiving in New York. This is her family’s first year in America. When first settling in America her parents missed their old Polish traditions and activities, but eventually, they started settling into the American lifestyle. Milly sees an unhappy couple and realizes that so many people are not going to have a good holiday. And so she rushes up the stairs to Mr. Macy in an attempt to fix it. She has the idea of a parade and it ends up being a great success. This story showcases many human values and ideas. Some of them are culture, change, and identity. The vocabulary of this book is pretty on par with the expected reading level. In terms of character motivation, we see that Mr. Macy is trying to lighten the mood of customers to make more money and Milly is doing it in order to make people have a good holiday. This gives us an interesting sort of “2 sides of the same coin” dynamic between the two. 

The art is beautiful and is able to perfectly convey the intended emotions. For example, the couple staring through the window is in the cold dark snow having nothing but each other. They have bags under their eyes and the man’s cold fingers leave marks on the window. Milly on the other hand is in warm light with colorful items and toys all around her. This subconsciously further exemplifies the issue in the reader’s mind. And thus, further makes us agree with Milly’s actions and ideas. The art style is very refined and pleasant to look at. Another really great moment is the wide shot of the parade. It perfectly contrasts the dark gloomy night. Everyone in sight is happy and cheering, the bright blue sky makes all the warm colors pop. The two drawings contrast each other not only visually but also symbolically. This is a really fitting conclusion that leaves the reader satisfied.

Bretta Bunny Bounces Back book review by Shaan

Title of the Book: Bretta Bunny Bounces Back 

Author Name: Theresa and Alyson Rich (Illustrated by Josh Wise) 

Reviewer's Name: Shaan 

Publisher: Rich Counsel Press 

Date of Publication: 2013 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is an excellent short story, especially for younger kids. Bretta seems like a genuinely happy person, she has a positive attitude almost every day. She looks forward to school and what else she can do or learn that day. When she had the worst day possible, the illustrators included a color change in the pictures. There was even a slight border, darker and less coloring on pages where Bretta was getting made fun of. She decided to forget about it and move on. She learned that she could still enjoy life despite getting embarrassed and made fun of and clowned. She felt so horrible that day until she had time to think about it. That allowed her to grow as a person and realize that it isn’t that big of a deal. People can learn this to become more confident and forget about things that don’t matter. Other people don’t care or talk about these moments, so forgetting about them will let us enjoy each others’ company. Younger kids struggle with this specific thing and don’t handle it as well as older people. People still take things harshly, though, and hold it with them. 

Overall, the moral of this book is that one must be able to let go of small things in the past and make sure it doesn’t mess with their life. A bunny named Bretta is a bright, young, optimistic, and energetic girl. She loves waking up and going to school, eating a nice breakfast, and loves life in every way imaginable. One day, she has to turn in her school project, for which she worked very hard on. But it was very big, and it was a struggle for Bretta. On the way to school, she tripped on the sidewalk and messed up her project,  and got dirt all over her clothes. When she showed up to school late, projectless, and dirty, she was the laughingstock of the class. Finally, school ended and she could go back home. She was sad during the entire walk and cried on her bed. The next morning, she felt much better. She decided to let go of her embarrassment and continue like it had never happened. It worked, and she had an amazing day. This was my favorite part of the book, as it showed her true character of optimism.

Dad, Jackie, and Me book review by Jane

Title of the Book: Dad, Jackie, and Me 

Author Name: Myron Uhlberg 

Reviewer's Name: Jane 

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers 

 Date of Publication: 2005 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐ 

The book “Dad, Jackie, and Me,” by Myron Uhlberg is about a kid’s love for baseball and Jackie Robinson rubbing off on his dad, who is deaf. His dad wants to learn more about his son’s favorite sport and player, so he asks about the sport and how it works, takes him to baseball games, and tries to play catch even though he can’t even catch the ball. This book can be valuable because it shows a father’s love and passion for his son. The lesson of this book is that a Dad will always love their son with unconditional love. The author uses irony when his dad catches the ball that Jackie throws because when he was practicing with his son, he couldn’t catch a ball at all without using both hands and his chest for support. In the book the son says, “ The only way he could hold it was by trapping the ball against his chest with both hands,” (Uhlberg 19). The title is a good title because Jackie Robinson was basically a connection between the father and son. So Jackie being in between their names indirectly relates to the plot of the book. The vocabulary is perfect for younger kids to understand. 

The art medium used in this book probably painting. The pictures go along with the story very well and make it more interesting to read. The book is realistically colorful and shows some details and blurs out others. Some people’s faces have details to show emotions and the background characters don’t have details. This book could use a little bit more of a plot to make it more interesting to the audience. The author also could’ve used a better attention grabber to get the reader’s attention better. Overall the book was a three out of five because it could have a better plot and attention grabber.

Made in China book review by Jackson

Title of the Book: Made in China 

Author Name: Deborah Nash 

Reviewer's Name: Jackson 

Publisher: Frances Lincoln’s Children’s Books 

Date of Publication: 2004 

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Have you ever thought about what animals are really thinking? The story “Made in China”, by Deborah Nash is about a paper butterfly who learns about various aspects of Chinese culture. The butterfly is left behind by her owner, Ming. An orange dragon offers to guide her back home, but only if she can answer his question: “...what was made in China almost 2,000 years ago and is still used today?” The butterfly spends the book trying to figure it out, meeting monkeys, fish, and the Terracotta warriors along the way. The point of the book is to teach the reader more about Chinese history. In the end, the butterfly learns that the answer is paper. The butterfly also learns more things about China on her journey, like the uses of bamboo, or the significance of stone lions. 

In terms of quality, I would give this book a 4 out of 5-star review. This book is clearly meant for young children and seems like it would do a good job educating them. The bright colors and fun animal characters make for easy comprehension. The book induces feelings of grandeur as the reader marvels at the majesty of traditional China. There is a fun activity at the end that teaches kids how to make a real paper butterfly. This kind of engaging learning is also very fun for children. There are not many flaws with this book, but one is that it may be a bit verbose for young children. There is a lot of dialogue that may not be easy to understand. Also, there is little exposition to the story. Other than that, however, the book is well written and educational. I would recommend this to young readers to build cultural awareness, and also to parents to get it for their kids.

Malala a Brave Girl From Pakistan/ Iqbal a Brave Boy From Pakistan book review by Aanya

Title of the Book: Malala a Brave Girl From Pakistan/ Iqbal a Brave Boy From Pakistan 

Author Name: Jeanette Winter 

Reviewer's Name: Aanya 

Publisher: Beach Lane Books

Date of Publication: 2014

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

In the book, “Malala a Brave Girl From Pakistan/ Iqbal a Brave Boy From Pakistan” by Jeanette Winter, there are two stories in one book. One is about Iqbal who fought for his and other people's freedom. Iqbal’s parents were very poor so they borrowed money from a carpet factory owner. He and many other children had to work in carpet factories to make up for their parents’ debt. The kids were practically owned by the owners of the company. Iqbal believed that they were not given freedom. When he found out that this system was outlawed, he rushed to save the kids and help others who had the same problem.

The other story is about Malala. She protested against the Taliban forcing girls to not attend school. She wanted girls to be able to read and learn. The Taliban had threatened her many times yet she continued to defy them. The book displayed a lot of bravery and passion. The characters tell the stories of real people when they were kids. The art looks authentic and it is very detailed. The detailing at the side of the pictures is very captivating. However, the pictures could be a little bigger since it consumes less than half of the page. This book is recommended for ages four to eight. This recommendation is perfect because it will introduce them to new cultures. Also, kids can get inspired to fight for what they believe in as well. After reading about Iqbal and Malala, the kids may be encouraged to stand up for themselves as well. Overall, the book “Malala a Brave Girl From Pakistan/ Iqbal a Brave Boy From Pakistan” by Jeanette Winter, deserves four out of five stars for its interesting stories, compelling and detailed emotions, and the impact it will have on children.

Baseball Saved Us book review

Title of the Book: Baseball Saved Us 

 Author Name: Ken Mochizuki 

Publisher: Lee & Low Books

 Date of Publication:1993 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The book I read was “Baseball Saved Us “ by Ken Mochizuki. This book was pretty interesting and had a cool perspective. The perspective used was a Japanese-American boy who was moved to the Detainment Camps during WWII in America. One day his father decided to make a baseball field. Soon everyone started helping out and they had a baseball field. The boy played baseball but was short so he wasn’t good. He ends up winning a game-winning ball because the man in the guard tower was looking at him and he wanted to impress him. He then came back home where people didn’t like him. He started playing baseball again and was called bad words like “Jap” from the crowd who didn’t like him. He ends up winning a huge game-winning homer to win the game. There is a lesson you can learn from the story's plot. What you look like doesn’t make you worse or better than anybody else. It only matters how hard you work to meet your goals. The Japanese boy was called Jap and other bad words but still he performed great and maybe even better than others. 

The color scheme was just brown and kind of looked dirty. It showed the emotion of feeling dirty because you're being detained in a dirty camp. It also shows that gritty feeling of being in the desert with the sandstorms and other terrible weather. If I had to rate this book I would rate it a 4.5 out of 5. This is because its a pretty unusual perspective with the drawing and being very interesting, bringing out a lot of emotion of what it would be like to be in that dark situation and making the best out of it. One downside was that it was too short.

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon book review by Corrine

Title of the Book: Thirty Minutes Over Oregon 

Author Name: Marc Tyler Nobleman 

Reviewer's Name: Corrine 

Publisher: Clarion Books 

 Date of Publication: 2018 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book starts out talking about a conflict Japan and America had in 1941 (Pearl Harbor). It follows some of the main events in the Japanese plane bomber, Nobuo Fujita. He was the pilot of the Japanese plain that did the first inland bombing in Brookings Oregon. Once he went home to Japan, he started a hardware store. Years after the bombings, Brookings invited Mr. Fujita to come as a special guest for the town's Memorial Day festival. He accepted, and went to the town. The Illustrations of the people who greeted Mr. Fujita and his family were depicted just as the text said, welcoming and warm. When he got there he was greeted with warmth and hospitality. Since then the town and him have had a great connection all the way until the end of Mr. Fujita’s life. 

This is a wonderfully illustrated book for older/more mature children who are interested in history and historical figures. This was a very informative book that didn’t include some of the more mature elements of this topic. There was situational irony where you thought Mr. Fujita would’ve been against going to America after the bombings, but he decided to go. With that decision it gives a really powerful message that your enemies don’t always have to stay your enemies. It also portrays that he had a good heart and cared for the people he had done something not so good to. The Illustrations that went along with the story, gave the reader a visual aid to reference and a clear image of what that section wants the reader to take away. All together this was a very good book with relevant illustrations, and around the comprehension level of about a 2nd grader. It was a simple read that gave a lens into what happened after the bombings of Pear Harbor.

This is Paris book review by Alexander

Title of the Book: This is Paris 

Author Name: Miroslav Sasek 

Reviewer's Name: Alexander 

 Publisher: Universe Publishing 

Date of Publication: 2004 (original copyright 1959)

Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐ 

The book, This is Paris by M. Sasek is a good introduction to the French capital for kids, but it contains a few flaws and outdated information. The book takes kids around Paris introducing different pets, types of people, and landmarks, such as Notre Dame, and many of Napoleon's old monuments. This is Paris uses a combination of Irony, and caricatures to establish a light-hearted atmosphere. One example of irony being established is when M. Sasek states that “this waiter's name is Marcel when you want to call him you yell “Garcon!”-boy- even though he’s sixty years old”. This is ironic because you call the 60-year-old waiter a boy, even though he is way past that age, this creates a lighthearted atmosphere for kids. 

Another example of M. Sasek setting up a lighthearted tone is through the caricatures and style of art. The art is fully done in watercolor with all the human and animal features being exaggerated, just like a traditional caricature. This establishes a lighthearted tone because shapes that are not rough just seem more friendly to the human psyche than bold and dark shapes and colors. Overall these two elements work together in Harmony to create a nice lighthearted atmosphere for kids to enjoy. 

The book This is Paris by M. Sasek has many upsides, but a few things make the book outdated. The Jardin d’Acclimatation theme park has undergone many changes since 2004, especially after Covid-19. One example of this is the go-cart driving course, with it being shut down at the moment due to covid concerns, with park executives deciding on whether or not it should stay or go. One other flaw that the book has is that it only covers the good parts of French history in Paris, with it skimming over most of the 19th century. Overall, This is Paris by M. Sasek is a good book for children’s first introduction to Paris, but in order to become perfect, it must include 19th-century French monuments that were mostly erected after the first world war.

Vamos Let's Go To The Market book review by Aishani

Title of the Book: Vamos Let's Go To The Market 

Author Name: Raul the Third 

Reviewer's Name: Aishani 

Publisher: Versify Books and Houghton-Mifflin. 

Date of Publication: 2019 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book, Vamos Let's Go To The Market, is about two characters Lobo (the main character ) and Bernabe (his dog), Lobo delivers goods to people while Bernabe is his companion. Their task is to deliver goods to the people who ordered them. Lobo and his dog travel all throughout the town to deliver his goods; they both discover and see many new things along the way. Lobo seems like a very friendly character and a social butterfly, as he was traveling all over the town everyone seemed to know him and even if they didn't know him they still said hello, not to mention Lobo said hi to everyone and asked things about their day.

Lobo is a perfect role model for the age group this book is trying to reach. The book's mood is very upbeat and energetic, this is perfect for the younger kids age group. The book mentions many Spanish words, and gives the definitions at the back of the book, everything is labeled and descriptive. This is a useful tool when trying to learn Spanish, or wanting to teach younger kids Spanish. As you go deeper into the story and analyze it then you realize the plot is slightly mediocre. There is no challenge they face and need to overcome or no lessons to be taught. This book just outlines the discovery of things the main characters saw on their journey. Although there is a negative about this book there was one thing that truly stood out when analyzing the book, the art style/visuals. The visuals of the book truly outlines Mexican culture and the many different traditions and values along with it. Each picture was meaningful and important when analyzing it. These visuals also teach others who are not familiar with Mexican culture a little bit about it.

Gleam and Glow book review by Isabella

Title of the Book: Gleam and Glow 

Author Name: Eve Bunting 

 Reviewer's Name: Isabella 

 Publisher: Clarion Books

 Date of Publication: 2001 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story is about a little boy named Viktor and his family. The story takes place during the Bosnian war in 1990. The perspective of this story is of the little boy Viktor and how he is experiencing the war. He had to travel with his mother and sister to the border in order to reach a safe place, leaving their home behind. My favorite part of the book was the end when Viktor was able to see the tree in front of their old home. This part was also very upsetting because he later looked behind the tree to find his house and said, “Our house was only a skeleton”. I like that the author didn’t let this upset him, highlighting the strength the child had gained. This reflects what the child had been through and that he was just happy to be back in a familiar place, even if it wasn’t the same anymore. 

The point of this book was to teach children about this war and what people had to go through during this period of time. They turned it into a lesson for young children to be able to understand. They did this by using a little boy around the same age as the intended audience so they were able to better understand the message of the story. The lesson they wanted to teach the children was that there were people just like them that had to go through something they had never experienced before. The author wanted the children to feel sympathy for this child and his sister. The overall mood of the book is different then you would expect it to be. The book is discussing a very upsetting topic but is conveyed in a different light. The little boy tries to stay positive during this situation and only expresses sad emotions when times are very tough. So the mood of the book is very uplifting because the boy is trying to get through the tough times and look ahead hoping for a good future.

A is for Amazing Moments book review by Brianna

Title of the Book: A is for Amazing Moments 

 Author Name: Brad Herzog 

 Reviewer's Name: Brianna 

 Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press 

 Date of Publication: 2008 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This inspiring book follows the stories of many successful athletes and teams, one for every letter of the alphabet. The book consists of many different sports, some being football, baseball, swimming, hockey, running, golf, etc... Many encouraging and uplifting role models were mentioned like Rackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, and Billie Jean. The showcasing of real underdog stories was really interesting and beautiful. Along with detailed illustrations and informative captions, this book is great for children above the age of eight. My one complaint for this book would be the lengthy descriptions. While they were very helpful and explanatory, there may have been too much information for a children’s book. It did not do the best job of holding my attention. The book did leave me feeling impressed and in awe of what others have accomplished. It would help anyone realize the importance of sports and its impact on our world. Regardless, I enjoyed reading about these monumental moments that not only affected sports, but the entire world.

Monsters First Day of School book review by Morgan

Title of the Book: Monsters First Day of School 

Author Name: Karen Bell-Brege 

Reviewer's Name: Morgan 

Publisher: Team B Creative LLB 

 Date of Publication: 2016 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Today I read the book Monsters First Day At School by Karen Bell-Brege. This book is about many little monsters experiencing what it is like to go to their first day of elementary school. It helped demonstrate that even with struggles school is a fun exciting place that has many opportunities to try new and different activities. The biggest connection this book made to the IB learner profile is with open mindedness. While it might have been scary for all those little monsters to go to school for the first time, they were able to overcome their fear and were able to ejoy their day with their friends. This book also has a happy joyous mood kept throughout the story which made it an easy and fun read. The theme that continues throughout this book is that sometimes trying scary new things cann be rewarding. The story also had nice pictures throughout the book. 

The illustrator, Darrin Brege, used an abundance of different colors throughout. He also made very cute creatures with a variety of different shapes. It looks like he used digital art to create these cute monsters. The emotion conveyed from the illustrations was friendly and happy. The book states,”It was a monstrous first day, in fact it was a delight” (Bell-Brege 31). This highlights the intent of the book is to teach kids that school is a fun environment to learn new things and meet new friends. This would calm the nerves of scared young children about to go into elementary school. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to be read on the first day of elementary school. I would give this book five stars because of the quality of the illustrations and the fun cute topic.

Yatandou book review by Jieming

Title of the Book: Yatandou 

Author Name: Gloria Whelan 

Reviewer's Name: Jieming 

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press 

Date of Publication: 2007 

 Rating: 1-5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Yatandou is a picture book primarily revolving around the daily life of the titular character, though it also shows a subplot of the village she lives in slowly modernizing and adopting technology from the outside world. It starts with her talking about her daily life, and depicts scenes of her with her goat Sunjata, who is named after a Mali ruler from the past. Her mother, father, and brother perform certain tasks. Later on, Yatandou joins her mother and her grandmother in grinding millet to make meal, which would then be used to feed her family or be sold to the market. She also aids in making onion balls. Then, she walks to the market with her family and sells the items, and also has a sorrowful parting with Sunjata as she sells him to a woman after she promises not to eat him. This earns the village enough money to buy a millet grinding mechanism. This renders her grinding stick essentially useless, but she still cherishes it, writing her name down and intending to pass it down to future generations. 

A detailed theme of this picture book is the fact that even when the outside world is changing, some traditions from the past are still worth valuing. This is shown when Yatandou keeps the grinding stick even after the millet grinding contraption is bought, making the process of making meal much more simple and less time-consuming. The pictures also aid in conveying emotion. The images are slightly blurred, adding a sensation of heat haze which could be present in the village, and also adds to the simplicity of the story. Overall, the story is quite decent - the only criticism of it is that it a more simple story. However, as it is targeted toward readers similar in age to the main character of the story, this is not necessarily a negative fact of the story.