Linda Washington

A beautiful Bible storybook geared to children ages 5 to 8, told in a way that they would understand. What makes this book extra special is that children do all of the art, and there are 100 different stories, with the children participating from 50 different countries.
I love that each of the illustrations give the first name of the drawer, and the country they are from, and ages between 8 and 12.
There is a map in the back that both shows and lists the countries that the children come from. Then there is a people and places index to easily find the story that you want to read.
I received this book through Worthy Kids/Ideals Museum of the Bible, and was not required to give a positive review… (mer)

This was a fun but mostly just fluffy book, probably better suited to younger readers who don’t have as much cultural background yet. I don’t ever really expect much from these sorts of books I read them because I find them fun and enjoy reading how different cultural and historical themes connect in sometimes unexpected ways.
My biggest criticism is that much of the humor falls flat (you can just skip most of the jokes in the parenthesis) and the last chapter was a total waste, putting Discworld characters into different reality shows and trying to figure out how they would do. I suppose if you are a fan of reality shows it could mean something to you, but to me it just felt flat and a waste of my time.
If you go into this book with this mindset there are some gems and insight to be had, you just can’t take it too seriously.… (mer)

Jamall's City Garden is a fun book to read for many reasons. First, it includes real photographs of Jamall and his father planting vegetables. It also has illustrations on the sides of the pages. Next, I like that it is a short chapter book for beginners. Each of the chapters is only a page or two long. The pages are not over crowded with words. I also like that it makes non-fiction fun! It is a true story about a boy from Chicago and it explains how to garden and plant vegetables. The main idea is to teach how to grow a garden, and encourage students to do it with their parents. This book is great for helping students understand the "beginning, middle, and end" process of growing and selling vegetables.… (mer)