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You’ve Got Spirit: Cheers, Chants, Tips and Tricks Every Cheerleader Needs to Know

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Written by Sara R. Hunt
Illustrated by Lisa Perrett

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A guide to what you need to become a successful cheerleader. Beginning with a history of cheerleading, this book shows cheer gear, different motions and stunts, and includes traditional cheers and chants. It also emphasizes good habits for succeeding in cheerleading and life: eating healthy, building team spirit, hair and nail care, both on and off the field, even tips on having a successful tryout. Skills that are valuable in cheering include enthusiasm, commitment, even listening. So even if your young reader does not make the squad, she will gain some insight into how to succeed.

This is an accessible introduction to the world of cheerleading. There is a constant emphasis on safety and reminders to get a coach for specific instructions for doing the stunts, letting the reader know that athleticism is expected of a cheerleader. There is also a section on how to put hair into the perfect ponytail and making cheer bows, so this is definitely a girl book.

The photographs are lively and the whimsical diagrams act as a picture dictionary of cheer terminology. The book includes a glossary, a bibliography of both fiction and non-fiction titles, a list of websites and an index.

Even though this book has a reading level of 6.2, its general information will appeal to a younger reader and makes it a good choice to read to a younger book buddy. Because of its clear table of contents, a student could easily make an outline of the book’s content as a literacy activity. There are downloadable activities at the publisher’s website: (https://www.lernerbooks.com/products/t/12456/9780761386346/youve-got-spirit).
Youve Got Spirit

  • TITLE: You’ve Got Spirit: Cheers, Chants, Tips and Tricks Every Cheerleader Needs to Know
  • AUTHOR: Sara R. Hunt
  • ILLUSTRATOR: Lisa Perrett
  • PUBLISHER: Millbrook/Lerner, 2013
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • EDITION: Hardcover, 48 p.
  • ISBN: 978-0-7613-8634-6
  • GENRE: Non-fiction, sports
  • LEXILE: 1000
Posted in 2013, Contemporary, Nonfiction, Sports

Taylor Swift: Music Superstar

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Written by Jeff Burlingame

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Taylor Swift proves that a young person can achieve big things.  In spite of all her accomplishments, she remains down-to-earth.  She believes she owes everything to her fans and she stays accessible to them by social media and talking with them one-on-one after performances.  Her life experiences are woven into all of her songs and her fans feel like her songs could be about their own experiences.  She began singing, acting and writing early in her life because she loved them.  She won a national poetry contest in the fourth grade which naturally led to songwriting.  She also showed business sense at a young age.  When she was eleven, she and her family traveled to Nashville where she took homemade CDs of her singing karaoke and she dropped them off at record label offices.  No one called, but she proved she was persistent.  When she was fourteen, Taylor was offered a contract with RCA.  She tried working with them for a year, but she felt they wanted to categorize her so she walked away from renewing her contract.  She played everywhere she could and after one performance, a man approached her.  He wanted to start a new record label and he wanted to sign her, promising her she could sing her own songs and follow her artistic vision.  It was a good collaboration.  She sold million of recordings, began winning awards and shooting up to the top.

This easy-to-read biography is full of quotes and personal stories, analyzing the different aspects of her successful career.  Readers will enjoy the many color photos.  The reading level makes this a good choice for a Powerpoint presentation or an audio book.  The publisher’s website has Core Curriculum literacy activities for another book in the series, but it could easily be adapted to use with this book: (http://www.enslow.com/product_images/worksheets/EducatorsGuide/9781598452853_tg.pdf).
Taylor Swift

  • TITLE: Taylor Swift: Music Superstar
  • AUTHOR: Jeff Burlingame
  • PUBLISHER: Enslow, 2012
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • EDITION: Paperback, 48 p.
  • ISBN: 978-1-59845-286-0
  • GENRE: Biography, celebrity
  • LEXILE: 840
Posted in 2011, Nonfiction, Reading Level

Look Up- Bird Watching in Your Own Backyard

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Written and Illustrated by Annette LeBlanc Cate

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Bird watching is not the first sport that comes to mind with 5th grade level readers but after reading Look Up – Bird Watching in Your Own Backyard 5th grade readers will think again. This fun and informative book is written and illustrated like a comic book, yet it gives loads of fun facts and information for students and teachers.

Teachers who want to include bird watching into a science curriculum would do well to add this book to the classroom library. The fun graphic caricature illustrations will have even the reluctant 5th grade level reader looking up the little known facts about bird beaks and feet. The author does a bang up job of keeping the reader turning the page because she includes comment clouds that give the reader a sense of laughter and humor, not always found in nonfiction elementary level books allowing the birds to have their say. Students will appreciate the laugh making learning fun.

This book for the 5th grade level reader covers not only beaks and feet, but feathers, habitats, eating habits, and many other exciting facts about all kinds of birds. Feather coloring, mating, lifespans, and any number of other interesting but unknown facts about birds may keep kids interested but the 5th grade level reader will also gain skills in observation and documenting these in a bird watching journal.

This book assists teachers in offering many ideas for classroom activities and also homework assignments that will help students take what they are learning and go out and bird watch for fun. It is a rare gift to find a nonfiction book for the 5th grade level learner that not only teaches, but entertains. This is a definite addition to any classroom that teaches science and animal facts for the 5th grade reader.
Look Up

  • Title:Look Up- Bird Watching in Your Own Backyard
  • Author/ Illustrator: Annette LeBlanc Cate
  • Publisher: Candlewick Press 2013
  • Hardcover: 53 pages
  • Reviewer: Terri Forehand
  • Nonfiction/Juvenile
  • Lexile: 1000
Posted in Contemporary, Nature, Nonfiction, Science

Desert Baths

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Written by Darcy Pattison

Illustrated by Kathleen Rietz

Outstanding Science Trade Book 2013 by National Science Teacher’s Association and the Children’s Book Council (click for more info)

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We are so conditioned to the idea of bathing as a water activity, that the thought of a bath without water seems strange. But there are cultures where bathing with oil is commonplace, and the word water-bath is an accepted part of the vocabulary.

The book lists twelve different ways of bathing. While fifth grade readers would be intrigued by the concept of a dust bath, or an ant bath, the adults in their life can make a convincing argument for cleanliness by pointing out that even animals find ways to keep clean.

And what fascinating ways: bathing in the dewdrops (Anna’s hummingbirds), ant bathing (scaled quail), licking the eyeballs to keep them clear (western banded gecko) or just shedding old skin for a new clean covering (diamondback rattler)!

The book is richly illustrated with pictures that faithfully reflect the passing time: from the vulture silhouetted against the rosy dawn, through the bright skies of the daytime heat to the purpling of the night. Each double page spread creates a complete, and completely accurate desert, habitat. There is a haunting verity to the pictures that carries the readers right into the little-known desert world.

Back matter additions make this book a valuable addition to any reading list. Young readers will enjoy the fun facts and quizzes, and trying their hand at making their own sundial.

Additional Resources:

Online activities: www.SylvanDellPublishing.com

Deserts of the world: http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/desert/ofworld.htm

  • Desert BathsTitle: Desert Baths
  • Author: Darcy Pattison
  • Illustrator: Kathleen Rietz
  • Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing
  • Reviewer: Anjali Amit
  • Paperback: 24 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-60718-5345
  • Genre: Picture Book/ Non-Fiction
  • Lexile Score: 870
Posted in Reading Level

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot

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Written and Illustrated by Lauren Stringer

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Imagine a piano on wheels traveling through town! Stravinsky cannot be separated from his piano, and he has to provide the music besides. His wheeled piano leads the procession. Young readers will enjoy the idea of playing on a moving piano. “Well I will learn the piano if I can push it around the house,” may become an oft-heard request. Nijinsky, one cavorting cat, and his troupe of well trained ballet dancers follow, dancing in  time to the music. The Eiffel Tower clues the readers to the setting. “Follow me, follow me,” the dog in the picture seems to say. We follow along, eager to know what comes next.

Oh what a riot of color! Whether we are looking at the smaller illustrations or the full page pictures, the bleed-to-the-edge full color illustrations have us mesmerized. Look at the double page spread that has the words “And when it was ready Stravinsky and Nijinsky brought their new show to town.”

The words provide point and counterpoint:

Some people hated it! They were nettled by the new.

They stood on their seats and shouted “Boo! Boo! Boo!”

The facing page says:

And some people loved it! They were excited by the new.

They stood on their seats and shouted “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!”

And so a riot breaks out. Imagine that – a riot in a theater.

Thus, the author succeeds in introducing fifth grade readers to two of the greats of the world of music and ballet. “Who are these people?” they may ask, intrigued by this story. A great launching point into the lives and achievement of Stravinsky and Nijinsky, and how their balletThe Rites of Spring changed the musical world forever. This book is a deserving addition to all libraries and reading lists.

 

Additional Resources:

Author’s studio: http://www.laurenstringer.com/Studio.html

Stravinsky’s The Rites of Spring: http://www.pbs.org/keepingscore/stravinsky-rite-of-spring.html

Rites of Spring Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0e_n49dcQ

 

  • When Stravinsky Met NijinskyTitle: When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot
  • Author and Illustrator: Lauren Stringer
  • Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books
  • Reviewer: Anjali Amit
  • Hardback:  32 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-547 90725-3
  • Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book
  • Lexile Score: 930
Posted in Reading Level

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald

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Written by Roxane Orgill

Illustrated by Sean Qualls

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Scit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald by Roxane Orgill is an entertaining and fresh jazzy look at Ella Fitzgerald’s life and how she danced and sang her way to success to become a world famous jazz singer despite challenging obstacles. In the same way the title, Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat shows readers where Ella first started, it also captures Ella’s voice. More importantly, Orgill maintains that voice in telling Ella’s story. While Sean Qualls’ colorful mixed media illustrations complement the text and bring Ella Fitzgerald’s spirit to life, it is Orgill’s thorough research and choice of key moments leading up to Ella Fitzgerald’s fame that will most appeal to fifth grade readers.

Scit-Scat Raggedy Cat is broken up into eight lively chapters, a list of further reading, listening, viewing, and web page suggestions, as well as an index.

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald is a new title in the Candlewick Biographies series and joins other entertaining titles such as: Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker, A Voice of her Own: The Story of Phyllis Wheatley, Slave Poet, Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire, and Handel, Who Knew What he Liked.

The Candlewick Biographies are true stories of remarkable people, written and illustrated in full color for young readers. Each book illuminates a turning point or defining moment in the life of a notable individual in the arts, sciences, or history. Every fifth grade reading list should include Candlewick Biographies books like Scit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald from.

  • Skit ScatTitle: Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald
  • Author: Roxane Orgill
  • Illustrator: Sean Qualls
  • Publisher: Candlewick Press
  • Reviewer: Annemarie O’Brien
  • Paperback: 42 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-7636-6459-6
  • Genre: Nonfiction, biography, series
  • Lexile Score: 910
Posted in Contemporary, Nonfiction

Friends: Snake and Lizard

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Written by Joy Cowley
Illustrated by  Gavin Bishop

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Remember Frog and Toad? Now we have Snake and Lizard, and they are just as entertaining. The first book in this series, Snake and Lizard, won the 2008 New Zealand Children’s and Young Adults Book of the Year Award. This sequel is destined for similar accolades. It was named to several reading lists in New Zealand, having been published there in 2009. But it was too good to keep to one country. It’s now hit the United States and Japan.

The story follows Snake and Lizard as they share an oversized burrow in the desert as a result of a collapsed wall. Of course, they have very different needs and very different ways of looking at things. While Lizard enjoys the curtain a spider has graced them with over one entrance, Snake enjoys the taste of the spider in her tummy. But they also find much to agree on. They generally enjoy helping other desert creatures. And they enjoy their withers together, which would be walks if Snake could actually walk. » Read more

Posted in 2011, Contemporary, Fiction, Reading Level

Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals

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Written by Bruce and Carol L. Malnor
Illustrated by Anisa Claire Hoveman

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Aimed at the fifth grade reading level and up and a “Mom’s Choice Awards Honoring Excellence”, Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals celebrates the lives of eight Earth Heroes who dedicated their efforts and energy to studying and protecting their favorite animals, and in so doing, made a lasting and significant impact on the world. Bison, birds, chimps, seals, wolves, and elephants all owe their survival to the people profiled in Earth Heroes: Champions of Wild Animals.

What I enjoyed most was that I felt like I was not only getting good, solid facts presented in a clear format, but I also got a personal look into their lives and how they came to protect their animal. It became more engaging for me and I just could not put the book down and had to read from start to finish. » Read more

Posted in 2010, Nature, Nonfiction, Science

Good Sport: Against All Odds

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Written by Glenn Stout

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It can be difficult to find books that interest 5th grade students and it can be even more difficult to find books with an inspirational message. Author Glenn Stout has met both goals with his book in the Good Sport series titled Against All Odds.

Fifth grade readers will benefit from the author’s take on being a good athlete even when the going gets rough. He outlines the difficulties that five different athletes including Tim Tebow have had to overcome to be great. It is not only an honest depiction of the challenges it takes to become good at the sport but the author also demonstrates the faith, hard work, and road blocks that each has faced when dealing with the trying to be a winner.

The language is clear and appropriate for the fifth grade reader. The book offers an appendix with the stats for each player in the book and a resource section to encourage the fifth grade reader to investigate more about the sport or the athlete which is helpful to teachers who want to instruct on research, writing, or challenge the students to learn more.

Against All Odds is current and the athletes in the book are recognized by this age group as great. The book appeals particularly to fifth grade boys which can be a challenging group to keep engaged in reading making this book a wonderful addition to the classroom library.

  • Good SportTitle: Good Sport: Against All Odds
  • Author: Glenn Stout
  • Publisher: Sandpiper: Houghton Miffin Harcourt
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-88734-0
  • Reviewer: Terri Forehand
  • Paperback: 122 including Appendix
  • Lexile: 1130
Posted in 2012, Contemporary, Sports

Just Grace, Star on Stage

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Written and Illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper

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This is the ninth book in the Just Grace series, but readers coming fresh to this book may find the title mystifying: who is Just Grace? Has the name been switched around, or is Just short for Justine? No. There are four girls named Grace in the class. Something has to be done. The teacher is confused. A short cartoon explains the teacher’s solution, and how our heroine became Just Grace.

The book is written as a chapter book, but interspersed between the paragraphs are cartoon that are sure to attract first and second grade readers. The book is a cross between a comic book and a chapter book, with bold headlines cluing the reader to what is happening, and what will follow. For beginning readers they are good comprehension aids.

Grace is a charming protagonist — involved in her class activities, understanding of her classmates and a good friend. The teacher announces that their class is going to stage a play. What excitement! Grace would like the lead role, as would Marta. But, subtly stated, not all the children want to be the lead. There are some happy to be supporting actors and actresses. The book has many such life lessons easily woven into the fabric of the story. They are not presented as lessons (a sure put off for any reader), but can be great discussion points.

The choice of roles comes as a surprise. Marta is chosen to be the fairy queen, Grace is the narrator, and Sam is the king. However, there is many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip. Things do not go as planned, and Grace ends up playing the lead role in saving the play and the day.

Additional Resources:
Author Bio: http://www.hmhbooks.com/books/justgrace/author.html
Audio and Video Podcast: http://www.hmhbooks.com/books/justgrace/podcasts.html#

  • Just GraceTitle: Just Grace, Star on Stage
  • Author: Charise Mericle Harper
  • Illustrator: Charise Mericle Harper
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
  • Reviewer: Anjali Amit
  • Hardback: 194 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-63412-8
  • Genre: Fiction/Contemporary
  • Lexile Score: 970
Posted in Fiction
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