Publications about books for children and young adults
Danielle J. Ford is a Horn Book reviewer and an associate professor of Science Education at the University of Delaware.
Deadly!: The Truth About the Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth by Nicola Davies; illus. by Neal Layton Primary, Intermediate Candlewick 64 pp. 3/13 978-0-7636-6231-8 $14.99 Readers with a taste for the grisly realism of nature will revel in the latest Davies and Layton collaboration, featuring the ways in which animals cause lasting harm or death [...]
My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; illus. by Steve Jenkins Preschool, Primary Houghton 32 pp. 1/13 978-0-547-73851-2 $16.99 “What did you do on your first day — the day you were born? Probably not much” begins this book about baby animals’ first hours of life. Jenkins and Page’s simple text effectively highlights [...]
Both the new Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and the soon-to-be-released Next Generation Science Standards emphasize competencies in nonfiction literacies: the CCSS in its bold push for a central role for informational text in reading instruction, and the NGSS in its just-as-purposeful spotlight on the critical reading, writing, visual, and oral practices of [...]
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm; illus. by Molly Bang Primary Blue Sky/Scholastic 48 pp. 5/12 978-0-545-27322-0 $18.99 g Although it stands alone well, this book is a companion to Bang’s My Light (rev. 5/04) and Bang and Chisholm’s Living Sunlight (rev. 5/09). The authors bring a [...]
Food chains, Arctic migration, animal communication, and evolution: four new picture books for young readers take on some complex and fascinating topics. In Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld’s Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard, narrator Alice tells readers how her family grows edible plants, raises chickens, and interacts with a [...]
The vastness of the universe, explored and unexplored, presents possibilities for all of us to imagine new and different (and perhaps better) worlds, technological feats, and ourselves as active participants in the quest for knowledge beyond our own planet. A good space book captures this melding of anticipation and discovery that lies at the heart [...]
