Book Awards and Reviews

101 Things to Do With Your Computer
This book guides kids (and teachers!) in learning how to send multimedia greetings, create onscreen games, or design Web pages - all using standard computer programs.
Learning Magazine, January, 1999
** This title was considered for a 1998 "Teacher's Choice Award" and was chosen in the first through third rounds of judging.**

Computers for Beginners World Wide Web
Computers for Beginners is a must for every child beginning in technology. A great gift to give along with that new computer. Another must have title for kids (or anyone). . . World Wide Web for Beginners. Both titles are winners of the Top 100 products for 1998.
Life Works Magazine, December, 1998

World History Dates
By combining a fairly dry, annal-style time-line format with brief topical essays, Chisholm has created a volume likely to be as useful for teachers introducing a time period or geographic area as it is for student reports. The double-page chronologies are broken into columns for each geographic area included within a specific range of dates - for example, "The Ancient World, 1000-501 BC" features Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Students can move from column to column to learn that in about 700 BC, the Scythians spread from Central Asia to Eastern Europe; the Lydians developed coins; cattle and sheep were domesticated in West Africa; and Monte founded in Mexico. In "The Dark Ages, 700-899," the columns shift to Southern and Western Europe; Northern and Eastern Europe; Africa and the Middle East; the Far East; and the Americas. The short essays, generally also contained on double-page spreads, include such topics as the Vikings, the British in India, ancient Egypt, the scramble for Afica, and the Cold War. Small, colorful drawings, photos, and maps appear throughout. While the book makes no attempt to provide an in-depth look at any of its topics, a remarkable amount of information is surveyed and is made more accessible by a detailed index.On the other hand, the appendix, "Monarchs and political leaders," is limited to the various components of the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
School Library Journal, May, 1999

Treasure Hunting
The subtitle of this book is "How the World's Most Interesting Treasures Were Found" with the introduction that defines treasure to be anything people value enough and want to find. The table of contents divides the book into sections on buried treasure, treasures of the sea (e.g. the Titanic, of course) and ancient treasures (e.g. pyramids, Caves at Lascaux). What follows is a fascinating glimpse into twenty-four treasure situations, wetting the reader's appetite for more information. There is a short discussion of differences in motivations of treasure hunters and law regarding who owns treasures that they find.
Puget Sound Council, March 1999

Puzzle Train (Puzzle World)
This 32-page paperback cartoon-like book follows young Alex helping the conductor and the fireman drive the Puzzle Train to the seashore. Jaz and Jez and their pet crow, Caw, are competing (mostly unfairly) to get to the seashore first. Each two-page spread after the introduction is a puzzle of one sort or another for younger readers to solve. There are items to find throughout the book an Caw, the crow, is lurking somewhere on each double page. Answers are included at the back. This is a fun book for home or library purchase.

Complete Book of Astronomy & Space.
Second grade teachers agreed that this is a must buy.
This book offers an overview of expected topics (e.g. planets, stars, constellations) with a two-page spread for each topic. Layout of pages, short paragraphs of text, and colorful illustrations or photos make the book relatively easy to read. Since the information on each topic is, however, quite limited, the book might be more useful for a classroom library or home use. Table of contents, charts of data, glossary, websites, and an index are included.
School Library Journal, January 1999
and
This terse but unusually broad survey of the extraterrestrial universe and our exploration of it combines basic background information with practical advice for stargazers and sky photographers. After briefly explaining just what the physical universe is comprised of, the authors tell the planets and other components of the solar system, followed by a page of thumbnail biographies of eminent astronomers. They move on to discuss stellar types and lifecycles; linger over 88 constellations visible from either hemisphere; suggest tips for using binoculars, telescopes, and cameras most effectively; and then recapitulate some of the previous information through charts. The color illustrations are artists' renderings and photographs. Without giving the pages a bussy look, the designers have done a good gob of staving off visual monotony by changing background colors, type sizes, and picture shapes from one topical spread to the next.
- John Peters, New York Public Library

Complete Book of the Microscope
WINNER of the Rhone-Poulenc Science Book Prize
This 96-page book offers a comprehensive view of what can be seen with a microscope,
with emphasis on optical microscopes students use, but with many pictures from electron or scanning electron microscopes. In addition to an introduction to "the micro world," topics
include the human body, plants and fungi, insects, and geology. A short discussion of nanotechnology is included. The activities throughout the book included safety warnings,
when necessary. Helps are included for buying a microscope and what equipment to buy.
Table of contents, glossary, index.

Puzzle Journeys
three youngsters, Eli, Su and Em, shopping with Aunt Rose, get bored, go into a strange
store, stuffed with an incredible assortment of items. They buy an old globe and a carpet
bag that lead the three all around the world, following puzzles all the way. There are items
to find on each page (Where's X item?), some mazes, and a geographyjaunt for readers.
Answers are included at the back. This colorful 32-page paperback is fun for home or
library purchase.

Cooking For Beginners
Expecting 100 of your closest friends for a Super Bowl party? Why not let the kids help?
Learning to cook is a fine goal for winter days, and it's an easier goal for older children
if they have the right guide. Roz Denny and Fiona Watt have written the Usborne Cooking
School series with this in mind. Cooking For Beginners opens with equipment and tools
labeled in the first few pages. Proper placement of pans on the stove and other cautions
are given. Two pages of cooking hints prepare the cook to follow the recipes better.
Under each recipe, steps are clearly written and carefully illustrated for easy understanding.
A photograph of the finished recipe accompanies each entry. The tasty recipes also make
a nice presentation the entire family can enjoy.
Fiona Watt authors the two companion books, Cakes and Cookies For Beginners and Pasta
and Pizza For Beginners. These are full of good recipes; beginners will find the ease, variety,
and flavor of each recipe encouraging.
Book Page, January, 1999

Stars and Planets
BIG BOOK format to share with a group learning about the solar system.
Basic information with colorful planets, appropriate moons, interspersed with useful information for discussion starters such as "Uranus - as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope" and a picture of one of the first men on the Moon. The sun, asteroids, comets, and space station
and flights into space are included. Book was adapted from information originally used in The Usborne Book of Astronomy and Space

Camping Out
This story, designed for beginning readers, is a delightful tale of the camping
adventures of Poppy and Sam on Apple Tree Farm. Your child will want to read this one over
and over again while having loads of fun finding the little yellow ducky hidden on every colorful
page!

Story of Music
An expansive coverage of music, starting from a 10,000 year old cave
painting which shows people clapping, this beautifully illustrated book is also a good source for dance information. Different periods, such as medieval and baroque, are discussed along with
the instruments used and dances developed at that time. There are also sections on opera,
blues, modern music and special musical forms from the Middle East, Far East and Africa. The book closes with suggestions for listening to representative compositions from each type of
music. - Judy Chernak
Children's Literature, February 1999

Children's Songbook
This serviceable collection includes 35 songs, with musical
arrangements and chords for a variety of instruments. Among the selections offered are typical nursery songs such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and "The grand old Duke of York"; songs for
older children such as "She'll be coming round the mountain" and "Yankee Doodle"; a few
unusual choices such as "Cockles and mussels" and "Lewis Wedding Song"; and several holiday songs. The musical arrangements are simple . . . , making them accessible for inexperienced musicians. Small figures decorate the pages, many of them illustrating the lyrics.
Jane Marino School Library Journal, February, 1999

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