Junior Books

If you are a teacher who is faced with needing to know what to do about the ESL/ESOL student in your classroom, this book will fast become a valuable resource of information. The authors clearly identify the LEP population, cultural and linguistic issues, and how to integrate content area instructional and learning strategies. This book is also an excellent resource for ESL/ESOL teacher trainers who provide content area inservice/seminars for certification purposes.

While I always look out for new sources of songs and fingerplays, I rely upon Lapsit Services for the Very Young II and I'm a Little Teapot! Presenting Preschool Storytime as the two books which I repeatedly consult for toddler storytimes. I often recommend the book to new parents, too, because they are not likely to stumble across this source on the shelves of mainstream bookstores.

To tell you a little about my background, I am the editor of the
Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews)
"your site for free Spanish lessons and unbiased reviews of
Learning-Spanish products." I am also a native Spanish instructor and the author of two learning-Spanish products offered here at Amazon:

1. Anna Rivera's 1000 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Words.

2. Anna Rivera's 800 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Phrases

Several of the readers of my Spanish-learners newsletter have emailed
me after learning about this dictionary-encyclopedia from at least
one other learning-Spanish newsletter. So I decided to see what's
all the hype.

This is one of the best-kept secrets for intermediate and advanced learners. This book is a hybrid of a dictionary and encyclopedia. It is completely in Spanish so the Spanish student is forced to think in Spanish and read in Spanish. When the student looks up a word in Spanish, she finds a definition in Spanish with a sentence in Spanish giving an example of the word.

Since the student may not know all of the words in the example sentence, the student is forced to look up more words in Spanish and by doing so the student learns additional words in Spanish. And of course when the student looks up those words in Spanish, the student finds more sentences with more words that the student doesn't know causing the student to look up those words and learn additional words. It creates a chain reaction with the student unable to help herself from learning more and more and more.

The use of this dictionary-encyclopedia is probably one of the greatest
breakthroughs that I have discovered for the intermediate or advanced student seeking to learn additional vocabulary. And since this book is a hybrid of a dictionary and an encyclopedia, it has lots of color pictures. So the visual effect of the pictures further reinforces what the student learns. This book should be a required resource for every intermediate and advanced level student of Spanish. I would say that it is just as important as 501 Spanish Verb Tenses (or the Big Red Book of Spanish Verb Tenses).

. Why did all but one squadron (VT-8) from the USS Hornet fail to find the Japanese carriers during the Battle of Midway while planes from the Enterprise, the Yorktown, and from Midway Atoll had no such problem? Bowen Weisheit, a U.S. Marine aviator and experienced navigator, presents the answer in this fascinating study, culminating in a detailed chart showing the actual track of each Hornet squadron. If your only view of where the Hornet air group flew during the battle comes from the official record written by the USS Hornet's skipper RADM Marc Mitscher, and as related by Samuel Elliott Morison and other respected authors, this book will be a stunning revelation.
. Weisheit's book should not be dismissed as simply more revisionist history about World War II. It definitely is not mere conjecture based on personal opinion and isolated anecdotes, like some of the revisionist works seen in recent years, especially in connection with the Pearl Harbor attack. In "The Last Flight..." the author's conclusions are supported by solid evidence and especially by in-person interviews with USS Hornet pilots themselves. (As a side note, a key element in Weisheit's findings--that Torpedo Squadron 8 broke away from the Hornet air group in the OPPOSITE direction indicated in Mitscher's official after-action report, was personally verified to this reviewer by another Hornet aircrew veteran who Weisheit did not interview. As you will see in the book, that seemingly minor detail is crucial to the author's basic thesis.)
. "The Last Flight..." clearly reveals that the generally accepted account of the Hornet air group at the Battle of Midway has been fundamentally wrong for over 60 years. It's a book that any student preparing a report on the battle MUST include in his or her research, and it's one that those interested in the battle for other reasons will want in their collections. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

. Why did all but one squadron (VT-8) from the USS Hornet fail to find the Japanese carriers during the Battle of Midway while planes planes from Enterprise, Yorktown, and Midway Atoll had no such problem? Bowen Weisheit, a U.S. Marine aviator and experienced navigator, presents the answer in this fascinating study, culminating in a detailed chart showing the track all Hornet squadrons and several key aircraft within each. If your only view of where the Hornet air group flew during the battle comes from the official record written by the USS Hornet's skipper RADM Marc Mitscher, and as related by Samuel Elliott Morison and other respected authors, this book will be a stunning revelation.
. Weisheit's book should not be dismissed as simply more revisionist history about World War II. It definitely is not mere conjecture based on personal opinion and isolated anecdotes, like some of the revisionist works seen in recent years, especially in connection with the Pearl Harbor attack. In "The Last Flight..." the author's conclusions are supported by solid evidence and especially by in-person interviews with USS Hornet pilots themselves. (As a side note, a key element in Weisheit's findings--that Torpedo Squadron 8 broke away from the Hornet air group in the OPPOSITE direction indicated in Mitscher's official after-action report, was personally verified to this reviewer by another Hornet aircrew veteran who Weisheit did not interview. As you will see in the book, that seemingly minor detail is crucial to the author's basic thesis.)
. "The Last Flight..." clearly reveals that the generally accepted account of the Hornet air group at the Battle of Midway has been fundamentally wrong for over 60 years. It's a book that any student preparing a report on the battle MUST include in his or her research, and it's one that those interested in the battle for other reasons will want in their collections. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

The story of why Robert has such a low opinion of humanity opens up Volume 9 of The Law of Ueki. His treatment by the inhabitants of the town where he grew up as a an orphan explains why he wants to destroy the world if he wins the tournament. It explains WHY but it still does not make it right. The relationship between Ueki and Robert is very similar to that of Naruto and Gaara. Naruto felt a lot of sympathy for Gaara simply because to him, the Sand ninja represented a possibility of what Naruto himself could have become if he had been left to his own devices. Ueki understands why Robert feels the way he does, but he is also disgusted that he let an incident in his childhood cloud his whole future and turned to evil. Ueki always looks for the good in others, a way to change situations to the positive, and to redeem those that have fallen into darkness. In fact, he says that his law of justice has to do with conquering the weakness within ourselves. Big items on that list are: never betraying his friends, never giving up, and respecting all life. But Robert is not agreeable to any of these ideas, so Ueki is going to beat his ideals into him! Ironically, Robert's power is to change ideals into reality. Ueki is going to have to level up a bit more if he hopes to win this battle and also save the lives of his friends.

I am a really big fan of this manga, and of Ueki especially. The dude just never gives up, no matter how big the challenge before him. Even if the battle with Robert takes up most of this ninth volume, the action never gets boring or excessively silly. It's all done with good taste. The reader feels that all the fighting will be worth something in the end, that it has a higher metaphorical meaning than that of kids beating each other with goofy powers. Fukuchi always offers the hope that the bad guys can be turned around, if not through reason, then by the purification of battle. The art by Fukuchi is not anything great, but is attractive and is very easy to follow, especially during the battle scenes. The manga is a great read, especially now that the anime is on hiatus due to the collapse of Geneon.

This book is funny, clever, happy, sad,
and REAL
We have the best time reading it out loud!
It is about what it is really like to be a
little boy.
Read it in French if you can! There is a
good translation out there too. But the
original is unbeatable!

Sylvan Learning Centers evaluated their reading at 1-4 years above grade level! Reading makes such a difference in future life!
Wonderful multi tape audiobook version of the Heath Middle Level Literature Series "Lean on Me" volume. Nominally set at grade 8, but suitable for grades 7-9.

This is one of the best science resources for elementary teachers. I have used it extensively in my classroom, in workshop presentations, and now at the university level teaching science methods.

Associate Professors of Elementary Education Daniel Meier and Barbara Henderson present Learning From Young Children in the Classroom: The Art and Science of Teacher Research, a thorough introduction to carrying out high-quality teacher research in early childhood settings. Chapters describe original research projects by teachers who worked with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and primary-aged children. Learning From Young Children in the Classroom covers a host of specific strategies and "how-to" instructions for getting one's own teacher research project or collaborative group off the ground; recommendations for identifying a research question and addressing issues of data collection, analysis, and dissemination; an assortment of references and an index; and much more. "Once early educators see inquiry as key to teaching, they can find ways to sharpen that process of questioning and generating new knowledge." A first-rate get-started guide for teachers ready to learn from their young subjects even while they teach.