Rated By Kids

Paperback
235 x 159mm
256 pages
ISBN 9780756658236
22 Dec 2009
Dorling Kindersley
7 - 12 years

About the book:

Bringing together the best of the DK Guides series, Everything on Earth is an absorbing survey of our planet and its wildlife, with an emphasis on the extreme-from hurricanes to coral reefs, glaciers to crocodiles. Providing just enough detail to fascinate children without confusing or overloading them, Everything on Earth supplies a solid grounding in its subject, picks out the most awe-inspiring details, and inspires readers to explore further.

To conclude our Earth Day inspired week at Rated By Kids, I want to share with you Everything on Earth. From my inital browse through it, I knew this would be another great offering from DK. The vivid pictures blew me away.

As you may have read, I've pulled together guest reviewers this week, but with Everything on Earth, I did a little experiment. My nephews (Carson, 3 1/2 yrs and Nolan, 2 1/2 years), flipped through the book looking for there favourite things (lions and trucks); fortunately there are beautiful pics of lions, but sadly, for Nolan, no trucks, lol.

Then I kind of left this book lying around at home and at work to see what others (family & freinds) thought. Everyone that picked it up and looked through it said things like, "Wow!" and "This is a very cool book!" And, you'll have to take my word on this, but these are people that all have very different interests.

It's divided into 5 sections: Earth, Weather, Oceans, Mammals, and Birds. Then it breaks down these sections into smaller, very interesting, parts. For example, under the Earth section it talks about Volcanoes, Glaciers, Global Ecosystems, etc. Or, in the Oceans section, it talks about Sandy Shores, Coral Reefs, Marine Migrations, etc. This is just a taste of what is in this book. Each section is completed with jam packed data tables and a list of websites to visit for more information.

For me, I can see that Everything on Earth would be an expansive reference for kids doing school projects. As you can see above, it's been rated for 7-12 year olds, which I think is a good rating based on the reading level. But, I'm going to personally redefine that age rating from 4 to infinity! This book has mass appeal, especially for those who watch Discovery Channel or other nature related programs. I don't count myself as one of these, but the content of this book mesmerized me. My fave parts were under the weather category showing the different types of storms, especially lightning and the crazy photo of a hurricane from a satelite (?) perspective. Do yourself a big favour and check this fantastic book out!

Happy reading!
Jackie (and a myriad of experimental subjects :-)

Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; 1 edition (Mar 1 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0590108263
ISBN-13: 978-0590108263

About the Book:

When it’s time to make sense of science, turn to Ms. Frizzle! Global warming is the science story of the century, and it will affect the younger generations the most. So why not turn to the teacher kids like the most, Ms. Frizzle!


Have you noticed a trend this week on Rated By Kids? That's right! We're celebrating Earth Day. Today's book, The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge is the perfect choice on Earth Day to make our kids much more concious of what's happening in their world.

This book is recommended for ages 4-8 but I couldn't convince my nephews to help me with this one, so I had to get Jordan back on board. Having recently turned 8, I felt she would be a good judge of the actual reading level. Jordan became very engrossed in the pictures and dialogue boxes but still struggled with a few of the bigger words throughout; that's always an opportunity for parents to share additional knowledge with our kids, right?

Jordan's thoughts:

Jordan says this book is about The Magic School Bus and taking care of the Earth. It's about preserving things. She told me that long time ago, when she was 7 (Mom giggles at this point) she learned about solids, liquids, and gases (which are talked about within the story.) Then she told me that after gym class today, they put on gloves and went outside to pick up garbage from the school yard to help protect birds and cats from getting sick. Her favourite parts of the book were when the kids were painting a mural for their play, when the kids were travelling up and down the sunbeams, and the question section at the end that helps to answer some of the concerns kids may have reading this book (ie. "Can a class really go up in the sky and ride sunbeams into the earth?") Overall, Jordan gave this book 2 thumbs up :-)

Mom's thoughts:

Ms. Frizzle and her class are trying to research global warming. As "the Friz" and her class jet around the world (yes the bus turns into a plane), we see what's happening with the polar ice caps, farm land, water levels, etc. and what this means to plant and animal life. There are cute notes at the side, in the form of reports from the students with tidbits of extra info.The book concludes with lessons on what each person can do to help change our consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources.

I think this is a great way for parents to reinforce the conservation ideals that are readily being taught in schools. From above, you can see that it's definitely a concern in Jordan's school, which I've noticed  on many days with lights not being turned on until later and making the kids aware through elements in science class and observance of Earth Hour and so on.

The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge is a refresher and an eye-opener for parents, too. With some technical explanations and samples of eco-friendly solutions, it shows that, if we all pitch in, we can make a difference! Kudos to Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen for making this a fun, colorful, educational tool.

Happy reading!
Jackie and Jordan

Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Canada/Madison Press (Oct 1 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545986214

About the Book:

A stunning collection of paintings depicting the world’s most threatened habitats and the animals that live there. In the tradition of his other award-winning titles for children, Vanishing Habitats is the ultimate pairing of Robert Bateman’s role as artist and as passionate ecological advocate.

My guest reviewer for Vanishing Habitats is my nephew, Carson :-)
Carson is 3 1/2 years old and loves, loves, loves Lightning McQueen.

Carson and I sat down and flipped through this book, twice. For his age, he did very well, though was definitely more interested in the pictures than Bateman's messages accompanying the pics. He loved the lion but says the song about the lion in the jungle is a bit scary. Too cute! And fortunately for him, I didn't sing it; my singing voice would have only made it worse for him, lol.

From my point of view, I thought the artwork in this book was brilliant. Robert Bateman is well known (at least in my neck of the woods) for his detailed depiction of all things wildlife. What's nice about Vanishing Habitats is that it gives Bateman a voice, to go along with his paintings, that describes how tenous situations are in the animal kingdom. It allows us a good look at what's happening and what we can do to help. There are elements that reminded me of geography class, where Bateman discusses temporate zones and environments: the African savannah, the Boreal forest, oceans, wetlands, etc. But this is all looked at from the endangered plant and animal perspective.

While the reading aspect was out of reach for Carson, Vanishing Habitats is a good place to start talks with younger children with reference material for parents to pass along. It's visually stunning and a bit of an eye-opener.

Happy reading!
Jackie and Carson

Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Orchard Books; 1 edition (April 1 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545070759
ISBN-13: 978-0545070751

About the Book;

There is so much to look at and learn about on a farm--animals, tractors, crops, and barns. And children feeding animals for morning chores! With lyrical writing and beautiful illustrations that capture the rhythms of the changing seasons, Elisha Cooper brings the farm to life.

So for this week, I've recruited some guest reviewers to help me out here. First up is my nephew, Nolan. Nolan is 2 1/2 years old and is a big fan of all things truck and tractor. He knows the names of all the variations, so I thought he'd be the perfect one to help me with this book.

We start off here with all of the ingredients that go into making a farm: people, animals, silos, barns, etc. Then the book discusses how the farming season comes about, how weather affects planting, where the food goes when it's been harvested, and so on.

I asked Nolan for his favourite part and he kept taking me back to the page where the big rig was delivering the food to town. Then he turned his baby blues on me and said, "Auntie Jackie, could you buy me one of these?" I'm not sure if he meant a toy version or the real thing but he'll have to wait for his birthday :-)

This is a cute book that can be read to a child of this age who loves animals and farms (and trucks.) It's full of pictures that could very well be water colours. Nolan very much enjoyed Farm and I enjoyed reading it with him!

Happy Reading!
Jackie and Nolan

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Key Porter Books; 1st edition edition (Feb 18 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554702666
ISBN-13: 978-1554702664

Product Description:

Neil Flambé is a fourteen-year-old wunderchef. He can cook anything, and he brags that he can cook it better than anyone else. He`s cocky, but he may also be right. Patrons pay top dollar and wait months for reservations at his tiny, boutique restaurant. What many of Neil’s patrons don’t know is that he’s also a budding detective. It all started when he used his knowledge of cooking and his incredible sense of smell to acquit his mother’s client of murder. Ever since, Police Inspector Sean Nakamura has relied on Neil to help him crack case after case. Now, the city’s crime scene has taken a turn for the personal. Some of the best chefs in town are turning up dead. The cops are stumped; the only real clues are a mysterious smell and some equally mysterious notes that seem to have something to do with Marco Polo. As more chefs fall prey to the killer, Neil finds himself working not only to solve the murders, but to eliminate himself as the prime suspect!

This story starts off with the impending death of Marco Polo and a secret he shared with only one other person. This secret becomes the underlying story to the deaths that surround our young protagonist, Neil Flambe.

What I enjoyed in this book was the historical references to Marco Polo's journeys and his dealings with Kublai Khan. While I have heard of these two figures ("In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree..."), I had no deeper knowledge than basically their names and the begininning of the famous poem. Kevin Sylvester takes a cute book, intended for young readers, and spins in some history and learning (just don't tell the kids!)

The chapters were about 4 pages long; the story was fast paced and fun (except for the poor murder victims, but it is fiction, right?) This is a book I will give to my daughter to read in a year or two (when she's 9 or 10.)

There are parts of this book that are a little far-fetched. Neil, the 14 year-old wunder-chef and his abilities as a "nez", sniffing out the clues, may be unrealistic, but it was still enjoyable. I must say though, if Neil was my son, he'd have been grounded through much of the book for his bad (superior to everyone) attitude!

It is evident Kevin Sylvester knows his way around a spice rack, or at least, has done some yummy research. Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders is chock full of edible alliteration (and other culinary references) with a dash of history and mystery; this makes a recipe for one fun, entertaining read! I look forward to seeing what adventures Neil Flambe has in store for us next!

Happy Reading!
Jackie