A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Elementary

InvestiGators

By 2 Comments

Mango and Brush are Gators, yes, InvestiGators!  They are agents of S.U.I.T, and they are on the case!  Will they solve the mystery?  Children who like Captain Underpants and Dog Man will enjoy this series by John Patrick Green.   I’ll be using amazon affiliate links in this review. 

Investigators

More about Investigators

Raincoast Books sent me an advanced reader’s copy of InvestiGators.   This graphic novel was produced by First Second books.  Investigators is the first installment in the adventures of Mango and Brash.  You’ll find my review of InvestiGators Take the Plunge coming up this weekend. 

Written for children 7-10 years old, InvestiGators introduces us into the zany world of investigation through the sewer network!   

From the cover: With their Very Exciting Spy Technology and their tried-and-true, toilet-based travel techniques, the InvestiGators are undercover and on the case! And on their first mission together, they have not one but two mysteries to solve! Can Mango and Brash uncover the clues, crack their cases, and corral the crooks – or will the criminals wriggle out of their grasp?

One of the things I like about the graphic novels from First Second books is that the graphics are well done.  Not the grainy pics I grew up with. You’ll find the inking clean and clear. 

As an adult reading this story, you’ll find it silly and a bit corny, but kids… my son would have LOVED THIS back in the day.  He’s a bit beyond the age range now, but he loved Captain Underpants and the like.   InvestiGators with it’s misunderstandings of words, method of travel, and silliness is perfectly suited to elementary aged children. 

Should you get it?

InvestiGators is a fast-paced, fun read.  It’s goofy, silly and filled with the mystery that children love. The word-play is quirky but decent, it’s fun for children, and will draw them in.  The bright illustrations will encourage them to keep reading.  Getting children to read… it’s a good thing eh?

You are a Beautiful Beginning

By 2 Comments

You are a Beautiful Beginning is a lovely book that talk about how something is not one thing, but instead it is another thing. I absolutely adored the flow of thought in this sweet picture book.  I can’t wait to tell you all about it.  Please note affiliate links will be used in this review. 

You are a beautiful beginning

The details

Roaring Brook Press has put together a wonderful picture book entitled You are a Beautiful Beginning.  Children 3-6 years old will delight in 40 pages of whimsical illustrations that fill the pages with imagination and wonder.  Author Nina Laden helps us to see the possibilities in the statements that we make.  Kelsey Garrity-Riley brings those possibilities to life with simple drawings that contain a story all their own. 

What You Get

The poetry grabbed me immediately with the It is not…. combined with this It is …….  Rhyming is in couplets making You are a beautiful beginning roll easily off the tongue.  

This book didn’t feel sappy to me even with lines like the one below.  You hear it all the time… it’s not the game win, it’s the having fun.  But the repeated it’s not … it’s the… that turns this tome into a looking for the positive and a different perspective.  Written for littles so the words are simple and just deep enough to encourage conversation. 

I absolutely adored how the book starts with a child drawing and then a story unfolds.  Even if you never read a word you would still get a story.  Friends on a journey, exploring as they go.  It’s a wonderful world they are entering. 

You’ll find simple, colourful illustrations on each page with lots of white space.  Each image has lots of detail, making for lots of possibilities in conversation.  What can you see now?  Where do you think that child is going, and what do you think they’ll be doing?   I love books with excellent illustrations as they help the child listening to be involved in the reading.

Should you Get it?

If you are looking for a poetic picture book to share with your children, You are a Beautiful Beginning, will suit your needs.  With the whimsical drawing, in earthly tones, and lots of white space, children will be introduced to looking for the positives. 

On Account of the Gum

By 2 Comments

Silliness, that’s what you get with On Account of the Gum.  Silliness in pink gum and brown hair and laden with cats and aunties.  Adam Rex must have had a hoot writing and illustrating this grade school picture book.  Come on and laugh with me!  Affiliate links will be used. 

On Account of the Gum

About “On Account of the Gum”

Adam Rex wrote a hilariously fun read with On Account of the Gum”.  Written kinda like the books “If you give a mouse a cookie” where one action leads to another.  A fun read where you wonder just what pit-fall will happen next.  Your children will enjoy the unexpected consequences of good intentions. 

Published by Chronicle books, this 56 page picture book will delight children 5-8 years.  The bright colours will draw them in, the silly antics will bring out the laughter.   Can you imagine a rabbit in your hair?

The font is huge!   So great for reading with a group of children.  I can well imagine a circle of children giggling away.   Wouldn’t it be fun to stop at the end of a page and ask “what do you think will happen when they bring in the cat?”  Wouldn’t it be fun to hear all the answers?

Should you get it?

If you are looking for a silly book to enjoy with your children, On account of the Gum will fit the bill marvellously.

The full-colour images fill the pages and just add to the humour found within.  Wacky ideas, improbable solutions, and bizarre mishaps.  You never quite know what might happen next.   It was my pleasure to review this picture book for Raincoast Books. 

Turning the Page

By 10 Comments

Today’s challenge with the crew is Turning the page.  Oh… that can mean so many things can’t it?  When I think of turning the page it makes me think of books to read and just how much I love reading an actual physical book.  Though in the past couple of years I really discovered the joy of listening to audio books as I work.  So many more books I can read that way!  🙂 

As I consider the books I’ve read this year I thought it incumbent upon me to share with you my favourite picture books I have reviewed over this past year.  Some of them have been wonderfully good.   Let’s talk shall we?  

I’ll link to my reviews as well as give you hot links to amazon (affiliate) should you be interested in turning the pages of these books with the children in your life.

Turning the page the best picture books

Picture Books for Fun

The Keeper of wild Words: Taking a journey using words removed from the children’s dictionary. 

The Fish Who found the Sea.  Discovering how to be comfortable with where you are. 

Build Your Own History Museum.  A fun build it yourself museum book. 

Cannonball.  Oh the fun of summer fun. Just a fun read. 

Florence and her fantastic Family Tree: the challenge of creating a family tree when you have a diverse family. 

Little Red Sleigh.  Can a little sleigh achieve her dreams? 

Pirate Nell's Tale to tell

Solve a mystery and find a library. Where is our library?

A Place inside of me.  Coping with pain inside of your community. 

A tender story of foster care, from both sides.  No Matter what.

A Word For Friend.  New places can be hard, making friends even harder.

Pirate Nell’s Tale to tell.  A fun read with a pirate who likes to read!

Santa Baby: just a fun Christmas read really.  🙂 

A seek and find book, a fun read with cats and mice.  Let’s Get Sleepy. 

Tiny Bird

Picture Books for Learning

Emily Writes.  Learn about the life of Emily Dickinson as a child.

Tiny Bird. The life of a hummingbird and the big trip it takes. 

Iceland: the puffin series.   Learn about Iceland AND puffins in a series of three books.  Solidly good books.  

My Friend Earth. Helping children see the wonder of the earth and ways they can help her for Earth Day. 

no reading allowed review

Laugh and Learn Bible for Littles.  A bible story book to help your children learn the bible stories. 

Run Salmon Run: The life cycle of the salmon. 

Let’s Fly a Plane. science exploring…this time with flight!

No Reading Allowed: Having fun with letters and sounds in words. 

Roadblocks in writing can be hard.  Get past them with My Pencil and Me.

Turning the Page continues

Books I have coming down the pike that I am looking forward to reviewing.

  • From Here to There.
  • Dino Dana
  • Snow Friends
  • The Song for everyone
  • Marie’s Ocean
  • The Wanderer
  • Me and the world
  • Natalie Portman’s Fables
  • Bear meets Bear
  • You are a beautiful beginning
  • Art is life

How about you?   What books will you be turning the page on?  Any favourites to share with me?  I’d love to hear. 

If you come to Earth

By 2 Comments

Oh my what fun!   Learn about the world and everything in it with “If you Come to Earth” by Sophie Blackall.  If you were an alien coming to earth…. you’ll get a whirl-wind tour of what to expect in this wonderful hardcover picture book.   Let me tell you all about it in this review (affiliate links used) 

If you Come to Earth, the details

Chronicle Books, along with Sophie Blackall, take visitors on a fast-paced tour of the world.  Teaching the world’s guests through our cities, people groups, events, and much much more.  Children in Kindergarten through grade three will delight in the colourful illustrations, and learning about the world we live in. 

The reader will discover 80 pages of discovery and exploration about planet earth. Learning about the environment and events that help shape us. 

My review is on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

What you’ll get

You’ll learn about our solar system, people groups, buildings, transportation, wildlife, jobs, clothing, family styles, and much more.  Children will be delighted with the colourful illustrations that bring the social studies of earth to life. 

Just check out all those families you can talk with your Kindergarten to grade 3 children with.  Children, parents, grandparents, activities, blankets  and so much more.  The depth you could get into if you wanted to.  Ms. Blackall did an excellent job of using more than words. 

The illustrations more than make up for the smaller text size.   I rejoiced in the friendly portrayal of how people can help each other, and how we need each other at different stages of our lives.  This is very much a sit together and read book.  The excellent illustrations make it also a great book for children to simply sit and look through on their own.  They can still learn a great deal about the world even if they can’t read on their own yet. 

We get to not only see the good things of the people and animals of this work but very lightly we were shown how sometimes people hurt people.  Sensitive youngsters might need to avoid those two pages. 

Should you get it?

Is Sophia Blackall’s book If you come to Earth worth getting?   For sure!

I love the sheer number of talking points found within the pages.  my appreciation is great for how not everything is spelled out but shown in pictorial form.  So we can point out the different modes of transportation and learn what they are.  We can see the houses, apartments and castles.  People showing the different jobs they do.  Making this picture book very interactive.  

If you come to earth is simply a fantastic book that you can use in your social studies, geography, or people studies.  Help your children learn to ask good questions about what happens on our earth.  Well done. 

Because You’re Mine

By 2 Comments

raincoast FTC

The love of a parent for a child is profoundly evident in Nancy Tillman’s “Because you’re mine”.   Every page extols the love of a parent for the child placed in their life.  Come, let me tell you all about it. 🙂 

Because you're mine

The Basics of Because You’re Mine

A picture book published by Feiwel and Friends (which is a division of Macmillan Children’s publishing group).   32 pages written for children 4-8 years old.  Nancy Tillman is both author and illustrator fitting words to images as she celebrates the bond between parent and child.  I received an ARC copy, it ships as a hardcover.   This review is done on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

The Beauty Contained Within

Ms. Tillman’s goal as an author is to help parents express what they feel for their children.   She does so through word and illustration.   Most of the illustrations contain some type of wildlife in them, those that don’t host a landscape theme. 

The font is very simple text font, black on white, a nice size to read with a child sitting next to you, or with practice with a group of children    The words are lyrical and flow, for the most part, easily from the lips.  When I read it out loud I only stumbled three times, with practice that wouldn’t happen at all. 

Most of the pages follow a similar style.  Dark font on a white background with an illustration on the page next.   Occasional pages were full colour with text. 

Should You Get it?

Honestly, I have mixed emotions about this storybook.   I love the sentiment behind it, of a parent expressing their love for their child.  THIS I love.  It a wonderful thing.

I am somewhat more hesitant about the repeated “because you are mine” refrain.  The thing is… I’m not sure why. 

Since for children to know they are loved irregardless of what they do or where they go.. it’s priceless to know that depth of love.  It’s much like the love God holds for us.  

As I think about it, I think it’s the possessiveness implied.  Like the child is a possession more than a dearly loved child. Yet the love continually expressed belies that.  This book can be read with either viewpoint I suppose, and maybe still show that great sentiment… the coveted love of a parent for their child.  

I further love that the children depicted are of all different ages.  Doesn’t state if children are fostered, adopted, or naturally born to the parent.  Just the ever-abounding love of a parent for their child. It would be so easy to use Because You’re Mine for any child in your care. 

 

My Pencil and Me

By 1 Comment

raincoast FTC

Do you have a child wanting to learn to write?  OR perhaps you need some inspiration for yourself?   Check out Sara Varan’s newest book “My Pencil and Me”.   A rollicking ride into the word of Sara’s pencil, don’t you wonder what it has to say?  

My Pencil and Me

Learning about My Pencil and Me

:01 FirstSecond Books produced this fun-loving stroll through the story of writing a book when you really don’t know what to write about. Just what does one do when you don’t know what to write about? Well…. you could just ask your pencil…. Thus, a story is born!

48 pages of creatively illustrated pencil musings spelling out the creative writing process.  A user-friendly guide for both children and adults wanting to write their own tale. Struggling with writer’s block is a difficult thing regardless of how old you are.  In My Pencil and Me, Sara wants to help young readers combat it. 

I received an ARC copy from Raincoast Books in order to do this review. 

What Do You Get?

Clever prose, a helpful pup, and a talkative pencil. Three elements for a highly successful story.   Which as it progresses, becomes an even better story as certain necessary elements for the story fall into place. 

Bright and clean lines with simple colours help tell the story.  Aren’t the images fitting?  Don’t they just bring the story to life? Not a whole lot of white space on the pages, but the light blue sets up a similar feel doesn’t it?

From the Cover

Sara loves to draw and tell stories, but sometimes it can be difficult to get started. What if she doesn’t have any good ideas or her drawings turn out terrible?!

Lucky for Sara, she has a friend who is always by her side – her pencil. With a little help from Pencil, Sara learns it’s okay if her story isn’t perfect, as long as she’s using her imagination and having fun.

Who is My Pencil and Me for?

Although it’s geared to elementary students, honestly.. anyone struggling to write could find good value here. Simple language and spot-on illustrations show how letting your imagination run, can bring a story out you didn’t even know was there!

You’ll love the real-life pictures at the close of My Pencil and Me with Sara working at her desk with her pup at her side. It was a really nice touch.  

Should you get it?

Yes, not only does My Pencil and Me tell a good story, making it fun to read with your students, it teaches a good lesson.  There are lots of “talking points” contained within and it would be so easy to read with a group of children gathered round.  

It would be good to stop and ask yourself (or your listeners) what’s the first thing that your pencil is thinking about? Do you want real characters or pretend ones? Would you create a game to play, or a position to fill, or what will your characters do?  What sort of conflict might occur?  Do you want a happy or sad ending? What do you think of the story Sara’s pencil came up with?  What would you change?   Or of course, you could just read the story and then say “Go make your own!”  🙂