Number Twelve

Originally published in 1994, this book was chosen as an "Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children for 1995" by the National Science Teachers Association Children's Book Council. And outstanding it is. Seamore is a seahorse who, one day, goes exploring. What does he find? A variety of marine animals (from A-Z). He admires an angelfish, encounters and eel, notices a noble nautilus, and more. Colorful, bright, watercolor illustrations give the book a fluid, joyful feel. Highly recommended.

Overboard by Sarah Weeks; illustrated by Sam Williams. (Harcourt; 40 pages; ISBN: 0152050469; Ages: 2-5.)

Adults and toddlers alike will relate to Bunny who delights in tossing anything within his reach overboard. The rhyming text rolls off the tongue: "Drippy, slippy-slidey peaches. Peachy peaches, nice and fat. Peaches going . . . overboard! Peaches, peaches, splat! splat! splat!" Bunny continues throughout his day, flinging jammies and lambies, bunny wipers and diapers, and more overboard. Thankfully, mother bunny is nearby when Bunny himself goes sailing overboard.

The lyrical text is accompanied by charcoal, pastel, and watercolor illustrations that are as bright and bouncy as Bunny. Excellent choice for circle-time read aloud.

No Room for Napoleon by Adria Meserve. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 32 pages; ISBN: 0374355363; Ages: 4-8.)

Napoleon, a little brown dog, sails to an island where he meets three new friends: a bear, a bunny, and a crab. The three ask the dog to stay. Napoleon decides he needs a house, a b-i-g house. Soon, he is barking orders to his friends and using all the resources on the island to build his abode. When Napoleon's home is finished, there is nothing left on the island—no trees, no flowers, no shells. Bear, bunny, and crab decide to leave the island for another. Napoleon, missing his friends, tries to make amends and put the island back the way it was. No Room for Napoleon is wise and wonderful tale about respect—respect for one's friends and for the environment.

Meserve's illustrations—full of sea and sand—are energetic, humorous, and the perfect match for the text. Highly recommended.

Inventor McGregor by Kathleen T. Pelley; illustrated by Michael Chesworth. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 32 pages; ISBN: 0374336067; Ages: 4-8.)

This is one of the most joyful, fun books we have reviewed here at the Oasis! Hector McGregor "lived in a higgledy-piggledy house with a cheery wife, five children, and a hen called Hattie." There he mended and fixed and invented. During his leisure time, he fiddle and painted, sang and strolled. He went to work "with a heart that was both happy and full."

One day the Royal Society of Inventors visits Hector and asks him to come to work at a lab in the city. Hector agrees. There, Hector has a long white coat, a room for inventing, and . . . no ideas. He sits at his drawing board and thinks. And thinks and thinks. But still he has no ideas. One day he realizes what he needs is to return to his "happy, happy home." And away he goes. There he begins once again to invent, and "sing and paint, and fiddle and fling, and love all that he had to love."

The exuberant watercolor illustrations capture perfectly the chaos and creation that is Hector McGregor's life. Highly recommended. District-wide purchase encouraged.

Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary by Julie Larios; illustrated by Julie Paschkis. (Harcourt; 32 pages; ISBN: 0152054227; Ages: 5-10.)

Julie Larios offers up 14 poems in this appealing, beautifully designed book of animal poetry.  On each double-page spread, the left page features the poem, surrounded by lots of white space, while the right features a vivid, stylized gouache illustration. Poems include: Green Frog, White Owl, Orange Giraffe, Pink Kitty. A wonderful addition to your classroom or library shelves. Highly recommended.

Aftershocks by William Lavender. (Harcourt; 352 pages; ISBN: 0152058826; Ages: 12 and up.)

The story begins in 1903. Jessie Wainwright, 14, the daughter of a prominent San Francisco physician, has her heart set on becoming a doctor. Her father believes women should not practice medicine.

When the family's maid, a young Chinese immigrant named Mei, leaves without giving notice, Jessie realizes that Mei is pregnant with Dr. Wainwright's child. Jessie begins to search for Mei in Chinatown. However, nature intervenes when a devastating earthquake strikes. Life, as Jessie knows it, is turned upside down as she tries to deal with the aftershocks, both natural and human. Highly recommended.

Four Steps to Death by John Wilson. (KCP Fiction/Kids Can Press; 207 pages; ISBN: 1553377052; Ages: 14 and up.)

The time: 1942. The setting: The battle of Stalingrad. It is here that the lives of three young men intersect. Conrad is a German tank officer. Vasily is a Russian soldier. Sergei is an eight-year-old, living in the rubble of what was once Stalingrad. The story of the great battle is told through the eyes of the three.

The story is well-plotted, fast-paced, and highly readable. The fighting and battle scenes are vivid and graphic (and not for the squeamish). Highly recommended.