Book Review: Nurse Florence, How Do We Feel Hot and Cold Things? (children's book)(OT)

Nurse Florence, How Do We Feel Hot and Cold Things? by Michael Dow (Lulu.com, 46 pp, 2022, $26.49 hardcover, ages 1 and up) Review by Skye Anderson.

Excellent Idea!

What an excellent idea for a series of books - a dialogue between kids, their teacher and a nurse. Sometimes a nurse can explain things better than a doctor, even medical terms, but the recommended age range, for ages 1 and up, is a bit misleading. We might recommend it more for kids 10 and up who have an interest in science or medicine.

Illustrations on left-hand pages, with the text on the right-hand page can become a bit monotonous but we really liked the modern nurse who uses her phone to access pictures as part of her explanation. 

We agree with author Michael Dow's use of medical and scientific terms, even for a young audience and in Hot and Cold, he relates the story of a young girl playing too hard and long in the heat and what the nurse treats her with - and why.

We also like the page of references in the back and would suggest a glossary of terms for the next edition. Some titles in the series are also available in French and Spanish, and a total of 30 books will give any kid a good start in science and medicine, fast-reading with very large print. Give them a try!

Book Review: Nurse Florence, What is Bacterial Meningitis? (children's book)(OT)

Nurse Florence, What is Bacterial Meningitis? by Michael Dow (Lulu.com, $32.99, 2022, 1 year and up, 96 pp) Review by Skye Anderson

Excellent Idea!

What an excellent idea for a series of books - a dialogue between kids and a nurse. Sometimes a nurse can explain things better than a doctor, even medical terms, but the recommended age range, for ages 1 and up, is a bit misleading. We might recommend it more for kids 12 and up who have an interest in science, medicine or disease.

Another great idea was to use a child's drawings to illustrate every left-hand page, with the text on the right-hand page. And, the nurse uses her phone to access pictures as part of her explanation. If only brighter colors were used!

We agree with author Michael Dow's use of medical and scientific terms, even for a young audience but it might be more exciting to have fewer facts and to make the story more applicable to the age group, e.g., by having a younger sibling contract meningitis and follow the family through the disease.

We also like the page of references in the back and would suggest a glossary of terms for the next edition.

Bacterial Meningitis is fast-reading with very large print. Give it a try!

Book Review: Nosey (children's) (OT)

Nosey, by Katie Hallam (All in Good Pun Books, $13.76 hardcover, 2023, 28 pp) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

A book for every kid, Nosey stars black kids and brown kids and white kids and even a good and helpful (believe it or not) blue monster who lives up you nose and doesn't like it when you tickle his feet. Not only that but the young reader will learn the good that some (blue) monsters do for us, like keeping our nose running - they also get a whiff when we sniff and freeze when we sneeze.

Written by a juggling mom, in rhyme which is not always easy to do, Nosey will especially appeal to little boys. "Everyone nose you shouldn't pick, here's how to help the lesson stick."

Back cover

Book Review: A Colorful Beginning (first day of school)(OT)

A Colorful Beginning, by Raven Howell (Black Rose Writing, 2022, 32pp, $14.95 PB) Review by Skye Anderson

A Little Book with a Big Punch

A colorful beginning is like the first day of school for all the colors - the orange cat, the white mouse, the green frog, and more. All the colorful animals are a bit jittery when they meet for the first time to learn: but their teacher, Mr. Mole, understands first day jitters. So, he gives each student-animal their very own color and asks them to blend their colors. In doing so, the animals make friends and learn that together, they are better. The yellow butterfly and the red ladybug get together and together they make a great team - a beautiful orange team!

What a lovely way to ease the jitters of the first day of school where nobody knows anyone else yet they come together to make friends and learn the friendship is like the saying, 'the whole is more than the sum of the parts.'

If only we could remember that lesson for the rest of our lives. Now, with A Colorful Beginning that we teach our children, maybe we too can remember it!

Bonus

Sounds like flip, flap, flick (peacock) and flitter, flutter, flick (butterfly) and . . . .

Book Review: What is the Shape of My Egg? (children's, learning shapes)(OT)

What is the Shape of My Egg? Book 1 of 3, by Lisa Weckbacher (Little Whoo Books, 2023, $10.95, 32 pp, ages 4-8 years) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

Silkie has just laid her first egg and it is perfect! 

A perfect circle! 

But is it really?

The three other chickens try to explain to Silkie what a circle is, with no corners, no straight lines, and no sharp edges, and they find many more circles in their lives than they do ovals, which is what an egg is, precisely. They see circles in the shape of their water dish, their food bowl, but not Silkie's egg. Instead they find her egg looks like a watermelon, squashed and squeezed. And perfect.

Geometry Rules!

In the pages at the back you will find directions for a shape hunt, a whole page on Silkie chickens, and advice to ask your child questions like "What's on top of the table?" and "Find something to the left of the chair." You can count with your child, the appearances of Willie the Worm, who, though not playing a major part in the story, appears on several pages (or part of him does). Silkies have two extra toes and bright blue earlobes. Here is a page you can color of Silkie!

If you liked reading and learning with Silkie, you will want to buy the next books in the series:

Book 2: What is the Shape of  my Ears? (2023)(triangles)

Book 3: What is the Shape of my House? (2024)(squares and rectangles)

Book Review: The Sheep of Celtic Herd: What are Ewe Thinking? (photos and poetry, sheep)(OT)

The Sheep of Celtic Herd: What are Ewe Thinking? by Roxanne Dean (Roxanne Dean, 2014, 81 pp, $9.00)

Written by a former teacher, The Sheep of Celtic Herd appeals to young students as it educates all ages about sheep behavior.

"Trinity, the Shetland Ewe," can be found mid-book - a few pages of surprising prose detailing how sheep like to eat snow and how most rain doesn't bother them and how their favorite past time is eating. Even, how they follow a leader and often follow in single file.

We especially loved "Back to Back" on page 52, about, in today's terms (or military lingo), "I got your back," which seems to fit a flock of sheep to a T: sheep tend to flock together for protection and perhaps because they don't like making decisions so if one sheep turns left, they all eventually follow, sometimes in a straight line. And if one sheep is busy eating grass and doesn't notice the change right away, when he does, he runs to catch up to the flock.

"Time to Move On" was another of our favorites, comparing sheep behavior to people behavior on page 36.

With photos galore, author and photographer Roxanne Dean shows she really knows sheep and their quirky behaviors, how different breeds look different, and how sheep prefer crowds to being alone.

Book Review: Woven of the World (weaving, feeling, storytelling)(OT)

Woven of the World, by Katey Howes (Chronicle Books, $17.99, 2023, ages 5-8, 44 pages, grades K-3)

Blue is. . . .

A unique book in mostly black, about the little known art (and science) of weaving down through the ages, Woven of the World can be read and appreciated on many levels. For the littlest readers, you might ask them to find the blue animal (a cat) on each page and to wonder along with you, why the woman's and girl's hair is blue. 

. . . History and Geography

Starting in China and Egypt and through Africa to pioneer America, we travel through time and place (even with the Salish Indians of the Pacific Northwest)

along with a little girl who  may be listening to history (or stories) from her mother or her grandmother, as she learns to weave from the best.

I love the back and front book covers, a patchwork of designs, and on the back paper cover, nothing! Nothing but black, inviting the young reader to use a piece of chalk and create a picture - of the future perhaps?

The more you read Woven of the World, the more you see in it, in both the whimsical detailed pictures and the rhythmic words.

On another level is the history of the world, in chronological order, and a tour of weaving terms which can also be found on the inside covers for little hands to point to and identify.

Weaving produces both something utilitarian and beautiful yet the beauty reflects diverse cultures as a result of evolving looms and other equipment as well as the thread material and designs.

For the adult reader, author Katey Howes has included a history of the cultures depicted in the book. These pages inform the adult reader and connect the different parts of the storyline.

Could weaving be the thread that unites the world, its people and the stories passed down from generation to generation? We should ask our children!