When I think "children's dictionary," I think large type and dumbed-down simple words and definitions. Well, I'm glad that I actually took a look at it, because the Scholastic Children's Dictionary (2010 Edition) is anything but. It's a 799 page hefty reference tome with simple, yet complete definitions of a lot of words. It also includes reference sections: a thesaurus, a few maps, a guide to the U.S. presidents, and flags of the U.S. and the world. I love dictionaries. I admit that I often go online to check a word if I'm writing I'm on my computer, but I like using "real" dictionaries as well, and I definitely encourage my children to go "old school" with these types of things. Although this is "just" a dictionary, I can see children being ...
Category Archives: Children’s Non-fiction
Bugs & Insects
I've talked about how I don't like bugs before. I knew that having two little boys was raising the threat levels that I would be forced to deal with bugs at some point in the future. I was hopeful that my sons would never really know how much Mommy does not like bugs. But apparently I'm not very good at hiding it. This year is The Year of the Bug in our house. My 3 1/2 has noticed them - and what's worse is that he thinks they are fascinating little creatures. (How can a creature so thoroughly disgusting hold such fascination?!) When Silver Dolphin Books announced a new Bugs and Insects Sticker Activity Book, I figured this would be a fun "Daddy Activity" to do. ...
Looking Closely and My Garden
I was first introduced to this awesome Kids Can Press series when I reviewed Looking Closely Across the Desert and Inside the Garden (linked to my reviews). Each book is based on a setting in nature, where a very close up element is featured with a simple rhyme inviting the reader to guess what it might be. The next page features another gorgeous photograph of the entire scene with detailed information about that element. In Looking Closely around the Pond, we look at and learn about ducks, dragonflies, turtles and tadpoles. Looking Closely through the Forest features toadstools, aspen trees, millipedes and much more. These books by Frank Serafini are the type that grow with your child. A young preschooler ...
Learning Your Library with Upstart Books!
It's hard to imagine trying to teach a youngster how to use the library in the good old fashioned way, what with the advent of computers. The library system seem so easy to navigate nowadays! With a click of the button we can find almost anything we need to. However, it is still a good idea to teach younger children how to physically find the information that they are looking for so that they can learn and understand the world around them for themselves. Enter: Upstart Books which offer a few items to spur children on in their quest for knowledge. Mr. Crumb's Secret is a Fribble Mouse Library Mystery. There are several books in the Fribble Mouse series, each of which involve young Fribble. Who is ...
Books Make Me Happy
This book arrived in my mailbox by surprise and at first I looked at it with some suspicion. After all, the cover art was kind of curious. However, once I glanced at the whole title - Books Make Me Happy: My First Reading Log - I was eager to crack open this book and find out what it was all about! Stay with me here because this is awesome.... Want to get your kids hooked on reading this summer? Books Make Me Happy beats out any library reading program that I can think of, with all due respect to the library. Come up with your own reward at the end of this if you must - and it'll ...
Tales of Young Americans Series
Sleeping Bear Press does a lot of things - including American History! I reviewed Lily's Victory Garden over at Reading to Know which is a part of Sleeping Bear Press's Tales of Young Americans series. I was excited to be given the opportunity to check out some additional titles from the series. These books are an awesome way to introduce young readers to specific time periods in American history. The fact that the main characters in each of these books are around the age of 10 makes history all that more approachable, when viewed through the eyes of another child. If you aren't familiar with these books, please allow me the pleasure of an introduction! In The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale we ...
Look Inside the Human Body
One of my favorite children's book publishers, in terms of offering fun science reads, is Silver Dolphin Books. I've highlighted some of their books in the past and I'm back again today to introduce you to Look Inside: The Human Body. I'm no less impressed by this one than by another of their other titles. Look Inside: The Human Body allows the young readers to take a look inside their bodies layer by layer. Each page you turn both reveals a new system of the body as well as completes the body system. Each page you turn allows you to focus on a particular area and "dissect" the body (in so much as you would ...
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Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor -
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