Back to School After the Holidays -- 2 Books with a School or Education Theme

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

We have been back to school for a couple of weeks now and Hazel has been back for one week. Even college students seem to be heading back now. Today we have two books for young readers that are educational or school themed. They are both humorous! We will start with the educational one. It is Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by Stevie Lewis. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

About the Book:

From writer Stacy McAnulty and illustrator Stevie Lewis, Our Solar System! is a light-hearted nonfiction picture book about the members of our solar system from the eyes of Comet, who's been traveling through the Solar System for eons.

Yee-haw! Strap in for one wild ride through our very own Solar System, guided by space-travelin’ buckaroo Comet himself, while you travel around meeting one impressive star, 8 unique planets, a handful of dwarf planets, and a bonanza of moons, asteroids, and comets . . .

With characteristic humor and charm, Stacy McAnulty channels the voice of Comet in this next celestial "autobiography" in the Our Universe series. Rich with kid-friendly facts and beautifully brought to life by Stevie Lewis, this is an equally charming and irresistible companion to the other books in this series, like Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years and Sun! One in a Billion.

From Me:

This is such a fun book and teaches about the solar system as well as about space. The narrator of the book is Comet, and he is quite a buckaroo. This book is a cross between a cowboy and an astronaut! Comet talks like he is from the Old West. The book explains what a comet is as well as our solar system and the bodies that create it. He shares with us the sun and all the planets as well as two belts, asteroids and dwarf planets. Each page is full of humor and Comet's western personality!

This book is perfect for an introduction story to a unit on space and our solar system. Kids will find Comet hilarious. It is full of information we want kids to know about the solar system. It is also an amazing book for all space lovers. Kids will truly be laughing and learning with this book. It is such a fun book that is perfect as gifts or for any classroom library!

Our next book is an early-reader graphic novel, and it takes place in a classroom. Find out what happens in the classroom during lunch when the people are out it. The book is the third in the Pencil & Eraser series. It is Pencil & Eraser: New Friends Rule! by Jenny Alvarado. It is recommended for ages 5 to 8.

About the Book:

In the third book of this hilarious series—perfect for fans of Pizza and Taco—Pencil makes a new friend… and Eraser learns that three can be a crowd.

Pencil and Eraser complement each other perfectly, like any best buds should. Who else could help Pencil when she messes up her drawings in art class? But what if she didn’t make any mistakes? Enter Ruler, a new friend who can easily help Pencil keep her lines straight, without any need to ever erase again…

When these school supplies learn a green crayon has gone missing, Pencil insists her new bud Ruler join their quest to save them. The two hit it off immediately, building off each other’s wacky ideas. And as the sole voice of reason, Eraser quickly starts to feel like the odd one out. With Stella and the rest of the students due back form lunch any minute, and each of their plans to rescue Green a bigger disaster than the last, can our dynamic duo learn to work as a trio before it’s too late?

From Me:

In this fun book the school supplies talk and move while the students are out of the room. The crayons are very upset because Green is missing. Pencil says she and her friends, Eraser and Ruler, will help find him. Eraser is not so sure about Pencil's new friend, Ruler, though. There is a bit of jealousy going on. Eraser is also not too pleased when the first plan is to build a catapult and fling him up to Gum to see if Gum saw what happened to Green. He tries to point out there is no plan to get him back down, but Pencil and Ruler aren't listening and realize it after he is up there. Luckily falling works and Ruler catches him. The three of them get into trouble but do find Green and even get Green back to the other crayons. 

The story is full of humor, and each chapter ends with a Joke Break where one of the characters share a joke. At times their quest has the issues be about how they get from the floor to desk or vice versa but other times it is not shared how they got down to begin with. However, this is an adult point of view and kids probably won't notice. I love that it is an introduction graphic novel for some of the reluctant readers or readers who are excited to try a graphic novel but are not ready for other ones. The illustrations are colorful and fun, and the trio always is finding a new challenge and has to come up with new solutions. 

I see this book being a fun read aloud book in a classroom as well as a fun introduction to graphic novels for younger readers. Kids will be laughing at the jokes and the humor that occurs between the trio of characters. It is perfect for an early elementary classroom to offer different types of books. It is also perfect for an emerging reader!