Grade: 4

Readers get a close look at the planning, construction, and use of the Jefferson home. Fisher includes black-and-white paintings, photographs, and house plans.

In alternating chapters, warm, carefully chosen words show the reader how it feels to be Morning Girl, a 12-year-old Taino, and her younger brother, Star Boy. The powerful ending packs a wallop and will leave the reader thinking long after the last page has been turned.

Have you ever encountered an underwater marching band, a pig in a bathing suit, a pet orangutan, or a witch in a hardware store? Have you ever sat with a skunk in a courtroom, shopped for a dinosaur, or conversed with a Bupple, a Wosstrus, a Violinnet, or a Celloon? You will have, once you’ve read this exuberant collaboration from Jack Prelutsky and his “partner in crime” James Stevenson. The “reigning czars of silliness”* have once again teamed up to bring readers an irresistible collection of poems that will have tongues twisting, imaginations soaring, and sides aching with laughter. The result is genius, indeed.

The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Phillippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.

María Isabel Salazar López is a new girl in school. It’s hard enough to be a new girl, but when the teacher decides to give her another name, Mary Lopez, she is frustrated. María Isabel, who is so proud to be named after close family members, is lost without her name. When her teacher calls on her she doesn’t even recognize the name as hers. This leads to many misunderstandings that stand in the way of María Isabel’s getting along with her teacher and fitting in with the class. When María Isabel writes an essay about her greatest wish, let’s just say it comes true!

A girl. An iguana. An island. And e-mail. Meet Nim–a modern-day Robinson Crusoe! She can chop down bananas with a machete, climb tall palm trees, and start a fire with a piece of glass. So she’s not afraid when her scientist dad sails off to study plankton for three days, leaving her alone on their island. Besides, it’s not as if no one’s looking after her–she’s got a sea lion to mother her and an iguana for comic relief. She also has an interesting new e-mail pal. But when her father’s cell-phone calls stop coming and disaster seems near, Nim has to be stronger and braver than she’s ever been before. And she’ll need all her friends to help her.

In this exciting volume there are 13 “folktales about heroes — regular sword-wielding, spear-throwing, villain-stomping, rescuing-type heroes who also happen to be female.” Feisty and fearless females, ranging from the Greek Atalanta to the Nigerian Nana Miriam, are all represented as strong and resourceful.

Don’t be fooled by the title of this seriocomic ode to success; it’s not ‘Climb Every Mountain,’ kid version. All journeys face perils, whether from indecision, from loneliness, or worst of all, from too much waiting. Seuss’ familiar pajama-clad hero is up to the challenge, and his odyssey is captured vividly in busy two-page spreads evoking both the good times (grinning purple elephants, floating golden castles) and the bad (deep blue wells of confusion). Seuss’ message is simple but never sappy: life may be a ‘Great Balancing Act,’ but through it all ‘There’s fun to be done.’