Each Book Is Unique—A Gem—and Precious To Learning!
By SELENE VASQUEZ
PICTURE BOOK: AGES 8 THRU 10:
Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly
by Alan Madison.
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
(CIP, unpaged, $16.99)
The youngest of the highly gifted Gratch sisters, Velma longs to be special in her own right. A field trip to the butterfly conservatory where a monarch magically perches on her finger for days transforms her struggling sense of self. A sensitive but humorous story of a girl determined to discover her own talents.
PICTURE BOOK: AGES 5 THRU 8:
The Prince Won’t Go to Bed!
by Dayle Ann Dodds. Illustrated
by Krysten Brooker. (CIP, unpaged, $16.00)
When his highness simply refuses to go to sleep, a multitude of palace servants stumble in their attempts to lull the young prince off to dreamland. Regal and gilded in design, this laugh-out-loud tale is a jumble of merriment and mayhem.
FAIRY TALES: AGES 6 THRU 8:
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
by the Brothers Grim. Illustrated by Rachel Isadora
(Putnam, unpaged, $16.99)
Set in the lavish court of an African kingdom, this delightful retelling of the classic fairy tale is full of elegant dancing and high-spirited romance. Double-page collage illustrations crafted in oil paints and printed paper abound in African art and cultural motifs.
BIOGRAPHY: AGES 8 THRU 10:
Down the Colorado:
John Wesley Powell, the One-Armed Explorer
by Deborah Kogan Ray ; (CIP, 48 pps., $17.00)
A naturalist who lost his arm as a Union soldier in the Civil War, Powell had a vision for charting rough, new territories despite daunting obstacles. Full color paintings in watercolor and gouache render the wild beauty of the canyon country and the life of this amazing explorer. Selene Vasquez is a media specialist at Orange Brook Elementary School in Hollywood, Florida.#
