Brief summary: We watch as many wake up and go to the city pool with other families. They change into a bathing suit, get covered with sunblock, and go into the cool blue water. Everyone plays above and below the water until it’s time to eat lunch on spread-out towels on concrete. They do more swimming before heading home with a treat from the ice cream truck.
The bright summer colors illustrations are showcased in many two page spreads with details and descriptive words that had me feeling like I was at the pool smelling the chlorine, hearing the shouting and laughter, and the coolness of the water.
Rating: 5/5 ššššš
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When You Can Swim
by Jack Wong (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Orchard Books. 2023. Prek-2. Hardcover picture book. ISBN-10 ā : ā 1338830961.
Brief summary: A young child encourages those to learn how to swim and shares all the aquatic wonders they could experience while swimming in various types of waters.
The back pages include the author sharing his experience of learning how to swim and going back to some of his favorite swimming spots for inspiration to write and illustrate the book.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš1/2
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Brief summary: A young girl shares her fear of diving into the public pool while standing at the edge of the diving board and letting her imagination almost overcome her from swimming. Will she be able to dive into the blue water?
I would share this book with students to help them learn coping skills to navigate their fears.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš1/2
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Brief summary: Sasha is excited to go swimming with her best friend, Mr. Sloth, but is losing her patience with his slowness every step of the way. They finally walk to the lake and have lunch before entering the water. Sasha’s friend is taking too long, and she goes into the lake without him, only to realize it’s not as much fun. Sasha returns to their picnic to find Mr. Sloth in a tree enjoying his surroundings. Will Sasha and Mr. Sloth go swimming together in the future? Will Sasha learn to be patience?
In the back of the book, there is a discussion of ways to calm oneself when waiting.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš1/2
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Brief summary: Young readers get advice on ways to be calm if they are afraid of the water and are encouraged to take small steps to learn to be able to go swimming.
The back sections are Sink or Float, Glossary, Read More, and Internet Sites.
Brief summary: Grammy and her four grandchildren walk through the forest and to the garden, learning about plants, animals, and insects. They place a blanket on the ground and picnic while Grammy reads to them. Narrated by one of the children.
Blue ink illustrations with the plants, animals, or insects highlighted with full-colored words that match the subject.
Picnic recipes are in the back.
Rating: 4/5 šššš
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If you enjoy this book, you may be interested in Virginia Brimhall Snow’s Seasonal Walks series. For more details or to buy, click here.
Brief summary: A young girl and her grandfather tend a garden together until he moves to an apartment where he brings some of his plants.
She grows up and lives far away, but her grandfather sends her a gift of peonies. When her daughter grows, the granddaughter visits the man showing her little one how to tend the house plants and flowers like he taught her.
An Author’s Note in the back explains how this story is based on her relationship with her grandfather.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš 1/2
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Brief summary: Lihn needs to find blueberries for their brunch and walk around the rooftop looking at all the fruits and vegetables. The girl describes what a blueberry looks like and compares those characteristics to each plant methodically until she finds them.
There is a blueberry and banana pancake recipe in the back.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš 1/2
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If you enjoy this book, you may be interested in the other three books of the Where in the Garden? series:
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Watch Me Bloom: A Bouquet of Haiku Poems for Budding Naturalists
Brief summary: A collection of twenty-four haikus about different flower species, all illustrated with lovely bright colors, including the paste-down end pages.
There are Floral Fun Facts in the back of the book.
Rating: 3.5/5 ššš 1/2
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Brief summary: Worm begins its day crawling through the garden when two humans cause it to have self-doubt. The worm crawls through a garden talking with each insect and creature it comes across, asking what it can do. Will the worm realize its importance to a garden and regain self-confidence?
The back pages include Make Your Own Quilled Butterfly, Earthworm Facts, and a Glossary. Illustrated using quilling techniques to make the plants.
I recommend that this picture book be read to supplement a quilling unit.
Rating: 4/5 šššš
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George Washington Carver: More Than “The Peanut Man” (Bright Minds): More Than “The Peanut Man”
I’ve only known George Washington Carver as the “peanut man” and updated my education when reading this narrative nonfiction about this knowledgeable and talented man nicknamed “Plant Doctor.”
Brief summary: This book begins with his life as a child who studied plants and painted them. It continues with his young adulthood of going to college, learning, and experimenting with plants. The book tells of his adulthood of going around in a Jesup wagon, educating farmers on improving their crops and livestock. Readers will learn about many of his inventions and personal life too. I enjoyed reading about this remarkable man.
This book is full of a variety of nonfiction text features. The back sections include Your Turn!, Glossary, Index, and Further Reading.
Rating: 4/5 šššš
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Little Land
by Diana Sudyka (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2023.
Brief summary: This is an ecological/environmental story from the beginning of the earth to its present of how the land and its inhabitant have changed and how to live in balance.
I included this book under gardening(although it could be under ecology or environmental) as it highlights how to tend a little bit of land.
Rating: 4/5 šššš
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Brief summary: A young girl with her mother and grandfather plant seeds in the spring garden and tend them to grow, observing how the seed changes to develop. Birds and bugs visit the garden. Soon fall comes when the plants begin to produce seeds they gather for the next planting.
A plant’s cycle.
A story in rhyme.
Facts about seeds are in the back of the book, including a seed diagram.
Rating: 4/5 šššš
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Brief summary: An animal/creature is paired with a flower in the garden, and readers are asked why they coexist so well. Answers are in the book of how they benefit each other.
Symbiosis.
Rating: 3/5 ššš
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My First Garden: For Little Gardeners Who Want to Grow
Brief summary: This nonfiction book is a beginning guide to gardening with step-by-step instructions. Everything one needs to know is covered with illustrations.
This is for the primary children to learn by looking at the lovely illustrations or for older elementary students who want to start a gardening club.
I usually stick to picture book reviews, but this nonfiction book’s illustrations make a difference with the covered topics by clarifying the lesson.
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A Garden in My Hands
by Meera Sriram (Author), Sandhya Prabhat (Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2023. Prek-2. Hardcover picture book. ISBN-13 ā : ā 978-0593427101.
Brief summary: A little girl has her hands Painted by her mother for a wedding the next day. Her mother tells her memories as she paints a garden of flowers and decorations. She sleeps with gloves on over the henna to wake and brush the flakes off to reveal her red garden of stories and the fragrance of henna.
Facts about henna are in the back of the book.
Rating: 3/5 ššš
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(This content contains Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you).
How to Write a Poem
by Kwame Alexander (Author), Deanna Nikaido (Author), Melissa Sweet (Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Quill Tree Books. 2023. Grades 3-5. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ā : ā 978-0063060906.
Brief summary: Young readers (and future poetry writers) are encouraged to feel and use their imagination as they observe the world around them. They are inspired to write it down as poetry.
Brief summary: A fun introduction to physics in free verse poetry about a child and dog experiencing everyday life.
Each poem’s physics correlation is explained at the back of the book. This book could be shared in science units when each physics aspect is introduced to give students an idea of seeing it in the world around them.
Where I Live: Poems About My Home, My Street, and My Town
by Paul B. Janeczko (Author), Hyewon Yum (Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Candlewick. 2023. 1-3. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ā : ā 978-1536200942.
Brief summary: This is a collection of twenty-four poems divided into three sections: home, street, and town. The variety of poets and authors is diverse, with examples of several different types of poemsāan excellent poetry addition to any library.
The illustrator captures the mood and characteristics of each poem.
by Sean Taylor (Author), Anuska Allepuz (Illustrator). Publisher ā : ā Candlewick. 2023. PreK-2. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ā : ā 978-1536228342.
Brief summary: Thirty poems are divided into three sections: Night Arrives, Shut-Your-Eyes Time, and Dream Wheels Turning. The poems are a variety of different forms and with a variety of settings and characters.
The illustrations are colorful and completely fill all of the pages. Very well done.
