Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Lynn: Unfortunately the flu is spreading fast. Children are worried too and it is important to provide them with accurate information. This new book in the Gross Body Science series is about the body’s defenses and reactions to minute invaders. Crust and Spray (Lerner/Millbrook 2009) addresses this timely subject with humor and [...]

Cindy and Lynn: Bookends thanks Nonfiction Monday for allowing us to host this week. On Mondays, many bloggers in the kidlitosphere review stellar nonfiction titles for children and teens. Bookmark the Nonfiction Monday website so you can find each Monday’s host, or volunteer to host yourself. Any bloggers who have a Nonfiction Monday post for [...]

Lynn: Meet the kindergarten class at Wolong Nature Reserve - sixteen adorable baby pandas. Small humans will be enchanted by the irresistible photographs of these furry students as they pursue their lessons of playing, eating, napping and exploring their world. Panda Kindergarten (HarperCollins, 2009) is ideal for story hours or quiet time after a busy [...]

Cindy: Biome research never looked so gorgeous as it does in Life in the Boreal Forest (Henry Holt, 2009). My sixth graders know this biome as the “tiaga” but Guiberson references that alternate name for this important ecosystem. The boreal forest covers most of the Northern Hemisphere and shelters so many creatures, many of which [...]

Lynn: There are many fine books this year commemorating the July 20, 1969 landing on the moon and I have enjoyed them all. Mission Control, This is Apollo (Penguin/Viking, 2009) may be my favorite. We all have those personal memories of pivotal moments and one of mine is sitting in front of our black and [...]

Cindy: Big and Small, Room for All (Tundra, 2009) is a concept book for the small guys that is big on idea and even bigger on execution. It was a starred review that sent me on a search of my public library for this title. Lynn and I agree that the sweet watercolor cover art is reminiscent [...]

Lynn: When Smithsonian scientist Dr. Douglas Owsley asked Sally Walker if she would be interested in writing a children’s book about the colonial settlers of the Chesapeake, she jumped at the idea. The result is a completely fascinating book that introduces and explains the processes of forensic anthropology while also painting a vivid picture [...]