The Rainbow Fish

Bibliography
Pfister, Marcus. 1992. The Rainbow Fish. NorthSouth Books. ISBN: 9781558580091.

Plot Summary
Rainbow Fish is the most beautiful fish in the sea, but nobody wants to play with him because he doesn’t want to share his shiny scales. Will he chose to be alone or share his shiny scales and look less beautiful?

Critical Analysis
A very beautiful story accompanied with even more beautiful illustrations. The eye catching illustrations are bright and colorful. The shiny scales stand out and make the rainbow fish truly look different and prettier than the other fish in the sea. The story is short, yet has a very subtle way of showing children to share with their friends. A very easy reader for young children and a great book for parents to read aloud to their children.

Dogs and Cats

Bibliography
Jenkins, Steve. 2007. Dogs and Cats. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 9780618507672.

Plot Summary
A fact filled book about man’s favorite pets – dogs and cats.

Critical Analysis
Steve Jenkins's, Dogs and Cats, stands out with its unique design, content, and illustrations. It’s a flip over book; half book covers dog facts and the other half the readers can flip over to read about cat facts. The illustrations are cut and torn paper collages. According to the authors note, many of the papers were made from hand and they also came from various parts of the world like Egypt and India. Steve Jenkins design and writing style is very appealing to children. He explains how dog breeds are created, how they came to live with humans, how dogs communicate within their breed, and provides some really interesting facts about dogs like, why dogs chase balls, why do dogs eat grass etc. He uses an identical style of providing facts about cats so that readers still have the same continuity from one section to the other and also can compare and contrast facts about cats and dogs. While reading the dog section readers will find teasers at the bottom of the page about cat facts and vice versa that will make the readers curious and want to read more.

This is an excellent informational book that not only informs but will also amuse the young readers.

The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel grew up to become Dr. Suess

Bibliography
Krull, Katherine. 2004. The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel grew up to become Dr. Suess. Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Decorative Illustrations by Dr. Suess. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0375922989.

Plot Summary
A biography on Ted Geisel, who is popular as children’s books author – Dr.Suess. The biography tells a story of young Geisel who was considered to be failure in school and college, but turned out to be a very good writer as an adult. The story tells how Ted Geisel explored his interest in books and animals and finally used it to be something that he loved doing – writing and drawing. The biography tells Dr. Suess story from his childhood until he was twenty two years old and a successful writer.

Critical Analysis
This book is an excellent picture book biography about one of children’s favorite author's. Children grow up reading some of Dr.Suess classic picture books and this is a perfect way to tell a story about the author. The front cover shows a plain looking boy with books in his hand and animals by his side. The front cover is intriguing enough to attract the young readers to the story of Dr. Suess. Katherine Krull has pointed out in the story was Ted Geisel was like any other normal boy whose parents had big dreams for him, but he has his own dreams. When children read biographies of famous people they expect them to be without flaws, but Ted Geisel had many flaws, was different from other kids, and was always shunned as a failure. The story shows that inspite of embarrassments and failure Ted Geisel never gave up on his dreams and grew up to be Dr. Suess, one of children’s most beloved authors. Children will have a new appreciation for Dr. Suess when they read what personal flaws and obstacles their hero had to overcome to become successful.

This book makes a great read aloud or an easy reader for young children. At the end the book also provides a short preview of Ted Geisel’s life after he was twenty-two until his death.

ZooBooks: Little Cats

Bibliography
Wexo, Bonnett John. 2007. Little Cats. Zoobooks, October. ISSN: 07379005.

Plot Summary
Zoobooks is a children’s magazine about various animals. This issue covers information about Little Cats. These are wild cats that scientist usually refer to as little because they can’t roar.

Critical Analysis
Zoobooks is a very informative magazine for animal lovers. The magazine has a very attractive cover page with a photobook like appearance. The magazine uses a blend of actual pictures and lively illustrations that makes the book very appealing. The magazine has very detailed information on the origin of little cats, the different kinds, and important facts. It’s interesting to read in this issue about little cats and how some cats are big in appearance and yet are categorized as little cats. The magazine has a few pages of activities that kids will enjoy to do.

Zoobooks magazine provides information that is accurate, amusing, enjoyable, and appealing to children.

Elizabeth I: The outcast who became England’s Queen

Bibliography
Adams, Simon. 2005. Elizabeth I: The outcast who became England’s Queen. Washington D.C.: National Geographic. ISBN: 078792236548.

Plot Summary
The biography of Elizabeth I from her birth, how she became queen, the glorious years during her reign, and her death.

Critical Analysis
This book is an informational biography on the life of Elizabeth I who was the Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth’s life and England’s royal family has always intrigued many people. Queen Elizabeth’s story is especially unique because she was a prisoner before she became Queen, she was also not married and consequently did not have a natural heir to the throne, yet she led the kingdom to one of its most glorious times in history. This book is perfect to quench the thirst of information seekers and young researchers. The book provides excellent pictures, facts, timelines, maps that will be very useful to children who are researching on England’s Queens or Queen Elizabeth. The book even has Queen Elizabeth I’s signature that children may find amusing and interesting. The book has lot of in-depth information and details so it is definitely not suitable as a read aloud, but is a great resource for research or just for information. The book is divided in four sections making it convenient for children to find exact information that they want to find. The book also provides a glossary of terms and a bibliography of resources at the end.

The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide

Bibliography
Diterlizzi, Tony and Holly Black. 2003. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0689859368.

Plot Summary
This is the first of the five books in the Spiderwick Chronicles series. Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace along with their mother have to move into the old and worn out Victorian house of their great-aunt Lucinda. They children find the house very creepy and find unusual things happening to them in the house. They find a secret library in the house and also find a field guide that introduces them to the world of Faeries. The children realize that there is much more around the house than they can actually see.

Critical Analysis
The Field Guide is a very enticing novel that is a real delight to fantasy lovers. The adventure of the Grace children begins from the very first page and does not end at the last page. This story begs for continued adventures, which the children will surely find in the sequels of the Spiderwick Chronicles. Children will find the setting of the story in the old Victorian house with many hidden secrets very exciting. Readers will identify with the characters who are normal kids with familiar problems in life. The plot is very believable yet takes the readers through a roller coaster ride into the magical world of faeries. The novel even has illustrations that will reinforce the visual imagery of the readers. The setting of the story holds the readers in suspense until the end. The ending simply introduces the readers to the problems the Grace children are yet to face tempting the readers to read the next sequel.

The novel is short yet gripping appealing to young readers.

Baby Mouse: Our Hero

Bibliography
Holm, Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm. 2005. Babymouse: Our Hero. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0375832300.

Plot Summary
In this second book of the Babymouse series, the unathletic Babymouse has to get over her fear for dogdeball. Dodgeball tournament is coming up and whatever excuse Babymouse has come up with she cannot make any excuses this time because it is part of the grade. As usual she has to play against the evil Felicia Furrypaws and she has her good old friend Wilson to help her. But at the Dodgeball tournament nobody can help Babymouse…she has to deal with the situation herself.

Critical Analysis
Babymouse is a cute graphic novel that will appeal to kids who love superhero’s. Babymouse is an everyday character who faces the normal perils that children face at school. Babymouse has weaknesses like any other kid, and this time the weakness is playing dogdeball. Babymouse has vivid and truly hilarious imagination. Children will be able to relate to the rodent character that has flaws but becomes a superhero at the end. The black and white illustrations with the mix of pink is very action oriented, continuously engaging, and speak a lot. The use of pink in the illustration may limit the readers to girls. Babymouse is a short and enjoyable graphic novel for younger children.