The 12 Days of a Great White Christmas

Written and illustrated by Chris Bresky

This book is based on the theme of the 12 Days of Christmas. It is written as a poem or can be sung as a song. The characters are based on various types of sea creatures, especially different species of sharks.

The illustrations are hand-drawn in vibrant colors. While the length is less than twenty pages, reading or singing it can become a new holiday tradition. For me, the most interesting part of the book is the section at the end, which presents useful information about each of the different sharks.

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Some Angels Have Rotor Blades: A Tale of Heroic Actions, Living Legacy, and Gratitude

Written by Darcy Guyant

Illustrated by Novel Varius

Dale wakes up excited because today is the first day of summer vacation.

As he enjoys breakfast, Dale asks his parents to take their boat out for a ride. He promises to wear his lifejacket and be careful.

When a freak accident ejects Dale from the boat, he frantically grasps the overturned boat. As time goes on, his chilled body weakens. Eventually, a Coast Guard Helicopter discovers Dale and rescues him.

The book teaches how rescue workers put themselves in danger helping strangers and expressing care and empathy for them.

In the second part of the story, forty years later, Dale takes his three grandchildren to an aviation museum where he is reminded of his second chance at life. Dale recounts all those opportunities and the family he loves that would not have existed.

The book contains excellent questions and topics to discuss with the intended elementary school reading audience. I highly recommend this picture book to parents and teachers who want children to appreciate the sacrifices of first responders and the sacrifices they make every day.

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I Can Deal With Anger: A Children’s Book About Understanding Big Emotions and Learning Anger Management Skills. (I Can Books 5)

Written and Illustrated by Alicia Ortega

A lovely illustrated, rhyming book that is part of the I Can Deal with book series for elementary school readers.

Mia is a Queen, but she lives her life out in the real world. Mia goes to school and interacts with her peers. She experiences the same emotions and feels the same frustrations.

Mia’s teacher, Miss Luna, teaches her many techniques to handle Mia’s emotions. Mia learns to use positive affirmations, quiet spaces, writing in her journal, counting, and breathing techniques.

At the end of the book, the author provides a maze and a coloring page for readers to practice implementing some of these strategies.

This nicely illustrated multicultural book deserves a place on the shelf of home and classroom libraries.

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Paper Airplanes: A Girl, a Dream, and the Sky Between 

Written and Illustrated by Jennifer Li

This book carries a beautiful message written in a lyrical, poetic style.

It begins with a little girl who has a dream and launches a paper airplane. The airplane takes off and travels around the world. She is frustrated when she loses sight of it. Then she meets a little boy who has also lost his paper plane. Together, they search and continue to meet other dreamers. They stop to plant and create dreams together.

I like the way the illustrations begin in black and white. As the theme of friendship and connection continues, more color is added. Children learn that we are stronger when dreaming and connecting with each other.

A beautiful book with an inspirational message for children of all ages.

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The Aboriginal Cameleer

Written by Gordon Smith

This fictional story is set in a rural Australian town in the 1930s. Willow Vale is a small town that lies at the end of a railroad line. This town has suffered a decline in population with little opportunity for upward mobility. Most of the inhabitants work on the railroad, in the mines or farming. The tiny schoolhouse has only four teachers and each classroom accommodates two grades.

Baddar and his sister, Delari are the offspring of the last Afghan cameleer and his wife, Rose, who is an aboriginal raised by missionaries. Baddar feels confused and trapped by his mixed heritage and feels he doesn’t fully belong to either group. He spends a lot of time with his friend Billy, with whom he has several adventures. Baddar’s family tries to help him by organizing a camel trip with his Afghan grandfather, but an accident mars the trip. When a brushfire threatens to destroy Willow, the aboriginals step up to team with Billy, Baddar and the citizens of the town to make a last-ditch effort to save their community.

There are a host of issues addressed by this fictional tale, coming of age, family and community struggles and relationships, cultural divides, poverty, and economics. The children set an example for the adults. Minor editing issues need to be addressed, and the plot tends to ramble on here and there, but the book gives a glimpse into a forgotten part of Australian history.

Middle-grade readers will enjoy the adventures and believable characters. Recommended for readers ages ten and older.

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Little Tooky, The Dangerous Volcano

Written and illustrated by Josh Wills

Tooky is lost and trying to find his way back home. He flies over an island with an active volcano. Friggo, the frog, is the only animal left on the island. As the volcano spews forth lava, Friggo desperately tries to attract the toucan’s attention. Friggo takes shelter in a hollow cave and screams at the top of his lungs.

Somehow, Tooky can hear Friggo amid the roar of the volcano and flies back to rescue the frog. The two become good friends. The author promises many future adventures featuring Tooky and Frigo.

This short book contains a few color illustrations. The author narrates the story in the third person. Some dialogue between the characters would make the characters more interesting and believable. There are a few editing errors. The complexity of the text makes the book more appropriate as a beginning reader rather than a picture book.

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Children’s book: The Torch of Peace (about relationships and better communication) 

Written by Doron Erez

Illustrated by Abira Das

Oliver is a kindergarten student who dreams of a career in construction. Every night he dreams of building tall brick structures. At school, he enjoys acting out his dreams with toy trucks. One day he is playing with some other children who rent apartments in his building development when Rafael, the owner, passes by. Rafael demands that the children remove the bricks and play elsewhere because they are spoiling the appearance of his property.

When Oliver tells his dad what happened, Oliver’s father reads him a story about two native tribes who once argued over how to grow crops on the land and figured out a way to settle their differences. Oliver recognizes the lesson in the story and immediately finds a way to apply it to solve his problem with the property owner.

This book is written to teach young children how to communicate with each other and adults. It teaches them how to solve problems with words instead of actions. Highly recommended for preschoolers and primary grade children. Parents and teachers might use it to discuss problem solving and communication issues with peers and adults.

I received a copy of this book from the author and voluntarily decided to read and review it with my honest opinions for no compensation.

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Moshe Comes to Visit

Written by Tehila Sade Moyal

Illustrated by Fatima Pires

A little boy is terrified of monsters that come into his room at night. His parents try to comfort him. Eventually, his father comes up with a solution in the form of an agreement that is hung on the wall. A logical way to help the protagonist and the reader face irrational fears.

Then the book takes a sudden turn. When a cockroach enters the home, the boy decides to name him Moshe and befriend the creature. Unfortunately, his mother is terrified of Moshe. The boy must come up with a creative solution to save his friend and please his mother.

The rhymes are sometimes a bit difficult to read. I applaud the creative plot, but the English translation lacks fluidity.

A useful resource for a family with a young child who experiences night tremors.

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Since it is widely agreed upon in the educational and child development communities that early recognition of the characteristics of a gifted child, is a key factory in successfully developing the child, it is important for the parent to have at least a general understanding of these gifted characteristics.
First of all in order to be classified as a gifted child, the child must have the ability to perform at a level that is significantly beyond other children of like age. O.K. So, for a parent, what might this look like or what should I look for in my child?

Of course, every child is endowed with unique capabilities and has the potential for maximizing these qualities.

The following are some guidelines to help your awareness when it comes to recognizing the characteristics of a gifted child. Keep in mind that there are varying levels of giftedness, as you view the guidelines.

Cognitive Skills (thinking or though processing)

Ability to master new skills with extraordinary speed.
A deeper knowledge than other children the same age.
Extraordinary memory and recall of events, facts, and/or figures.
Advanced creativity and ability to improvise.
Acute alertness to their surroundings.
Advanced or more complex sense of humor.

Learning Patterns

Great and constant curiosity along with high level of motivation to learn.
As a result of the previous, being bored easily if not challenged
Advanced ability to stay focused or lengthy attention span. Even with more difficult topics.
Advance organizational or planning skills.
Advance logic and problem solving skills.

Speech and Language

Well developed word vocabulary and language compared to children of the same age.
Creative uses of words and sentence structure and again, sense of humor.
Ability to adapt their use of the language to a given level to fit the situation.
Ability to understand and carry out complex instructions.
General advanced ability in reading, writing, and working with numbers.

Social

Sensitivity to other s feelings
Use of their advance language skills to resolve conflict or debate.
Organize and direct behavior of other children (may seem bossy to other children).
Many times will feel more at home with older children.
May have high expectations of themselves (and others) that can lead to frustration and even anger.

Other

A generally high aptitude for logical problems, games, puzzles, or any type of problem solving or activity that requires creative thinking and reaction.

Final Note: Although these characteristics of a gifted child may provide you with some initial insight and understanding, it is important to seek a formal assessment of your child in this area if you feel that your child exhibits several of these characteristics.

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The Legend of the Sleep-Eating Elephant (Global Beekeeping Tales)

Written by Nicola Williams

Illustrated by Henry Ezeokeke

A charming legend from Kenya relates the tale of an elephant who cooperates with the humans and animals of his village by watering the crops.

One day, a cabbage is missing from the fields. On subsequent days, more crops are missing. Elephant becomes distressed as do the other animals and humans of the village. The members of the beehive community invent a clever solution.

Readers discover the problem and the innovative solution after reading this book. They also learn facts about elephants, honeybees, the environment, and conservation.

A good choice for the classroom or home bookshelf for children who enjoy learning about animals, problem-solving, and conservation.

Recommended for ages six through twelve.

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