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Publisher: Random House USA Inc

shark and bot

Shark and Bot

Chapter book

A fantastic early-reading graphic novel about two unlikely friends – a shark and a robot. Why unlikely? Well, Shark (a great white shark) loves water and is terrified of everything else. Bot loves facts but is terrified of water. However, as they get to know each other better they realise they have more in common than they thought. After bonding over a love of the superhero doughnuts the Glo-nuts, they face their first challenge in dealing with a group of bullies. Instead of fighting them, they challenge them to a dance-off.

With simple but expressive illustrations younger children are bound to love this book. There is even a tutorial at the back about how to draw the two characters.

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pizza and taco whos the best

Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best?

Graphic novel

The first in a hilarious young graphic novel series about Pizza and Taco. Two best friends, lots of toppings…but only one of them can be the BEST, right? Fans of Narwhal and Jelly will eat this book up…and be hungry for more!
Best friends are the BEST! But WHO is the BEST? Is it Pizza or Taco? The question is debatable! They both love water slides. They both are friends with Hot Dog and Hamburger. In fact, maybe they should have a debate and get their friends to VOTE for who’s the best! Can their friendship survive the race for top spot on the popularity food chain? Cast your VOTE!

This hilarious young graphic novel–with chapters–will tickle the funny bones of kids ages 4-7 and bolster their reading confidence. Readers will be eager to devour the next book in the series, Pizza and Taco Throw a Party, coming in 2021! Young graphic chapter books are also a great step on the way to longer chapter books and graphic novels.

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six dots

Six Dots

&
Non-fiction, Picturebook

An inspiring picture-book biography of Louis Braille–a blind boy so determined to read that he invented his own alphabet.

**Winner of a Schneider Family Book Award!**
Louis Braille was just five years old when he lost his sight. He was a clever boy, determined to live like everyone else, and what he wanted more than anything was to be able to read.

Even at the school for the blind in Paris, there were no books for him.

And so he invented his own alphabet–a whole new system for writing that could be read by touch. A system so ingenious that it is still used by the blind community today.

Award-winning writer Jen Bryant tells Braille’s inspiring story with a lively and accessible text, filled with the sounds, the smells, and the touch of Louis’s world. Boris Kulikov’s inspired paintings help readers to understand what Louis lost, and what he was determined to gain back through books.

An author’s note and additional resources at the end of the book complement the simple story and offer more information for parents and teachers.

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Emmanuel’s Dream

&
Non-fiction, Picturebook

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah’s inspiring true story–which was turned into a film, Emmanuel’s Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey–is nothing short of remarkable.
Born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg, he was dismissed by most people–but not by his mother, who taught him to reach for his dreams. As a boy, Emmanuel hopped to school more than two miles each way, learned to play soccer, left home at age thirteen to provide for his family, and, eventually, became a cyclist. He rode an astonishing four hundred miles across Ghana in 2001, spreading his powerful message: disability is not inability. Today, Emmanuel continues to work on behalf of the disabled.

Thompson’s lyrical prose and Qualls’s bold collage illustrations offer a powerful celebration of triumphing over adversity.

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The Name Jar

Picturebook

This is an empathetic story that aims to encourage children to appreciate themselves and others and not to feel the need to hide their cultural heritage. The Name Jar tells the tale of Unhei, a young girl who is anxious when she moves from Korea to a new school in America. Too afraid to tell the class her name, Unhei decides that she will choose a new name for herself the following week. But on the day of her name choosing, Unhei is encouraged by the kindness of her new friends and she chooses to keep her own Korean name, Unhei, proudly teaching everybody how to everyone pronounce it properly.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

review

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Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

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yes

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