Book Review: In Plain Sight

IN PLAIN SIGHT by Richard Jackson and Jerry Pinkney is a multigenerational family story for children.

Winner of several book awards, this beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of a young girl and her grandfather who enjoy playing “lost and found” memory games together.

Librarians will find this multigenerational story an appealing way to discuss relationships with grandparents.

Published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan on September 20, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: Canadiana

CANADIANA

Contents: This digital project was developed by a nonprofit to make Canada’s cultural heritage accessible online.Users can select from collections including early Canada, Heritage, Public Collections, and Student Voice. Within each section, users can browse or search for items of interest.

Classroom Connections: Use this collection to make comparisons across time periods and areas of the world. Focus on specific topics such as comparing the First Nations Peoples of Canada with the Native Americans of the United States using primary source documents as evidence.

Featured Digital Objects:
Early Canadiana Collections - http://eco.canadiana.ca/
Heritage - http://heritage.canadiana.ca/
Public Collections - http://pub.canadiana.ca/

To visit the collection, http://www.canadiana.ca/

Book Review: Wolf Keepers

WOLF KEEPERS by Elise Broach is an absorbing mystery adventure.

Written for middle grade readers, young Lizzie spend her time with the animals at a zoo. Her life changes when she encounters a runaway living at the zoo. Together she and her new friend investigate a mystery involving wolves that takes them on an adventure to Yosemite National Park.

Librarians will find this book appeals to a broad audience including those who enjoy mystery, adventures, and animals. The historical connections with John Muir provide the opportunity to connect to the origins of national parks. Animal lovers are sure to be attracted to both the setting and the engaging story.

Published by Henry Holt and Company on October 11, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: Calisphere

CALISPHERE

Contents: Calisphere provides a gateway to digital collections across the state of California from libraries, universities, and museums. Designed with educators in mind, it accesses over 400,000 images, texts, and recordings. Users can explore the collections or exhibitions. Or, use the search tool to conduct a keyword search.

Classroom Connections: The project includes a page specifically for educators with teaching resources. Many of the collections are geared to the K-12 curriculum such as Gold Rush Life.

Featured Digital Objects:
Dr. Suess Artwork - https://goo.gl/BtLok3
Gold Rush Life - https://goo.gl/RfuloU
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire - https://goo.gl/j8n0cd

To visit the collection at https://calisphere.org/.

To explore the educator section, go to https://calisphere.org/for-educators

Digital Collection: British History Online

BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE

Contents: This digital collection includes important primary and secondary sources focusing on the history of Britain and Ireland from 1300 through 1800. The resource includes maps, dataset, texts, and primary sources. Users can browse the collections, use subject guides, or try a keyword search.

Classroom Connections: Use this collection to learn more about life during this time period. Ask students to explore topics of interest and report on everyday activities such as the cost of items or the role of religion in people’s lives.

Featured Digital Objects:
Maps - https://goo.gl/4MCAOa
Economic - https://goo.gl/7CSHVd
Urban - https://goo.gl/QdSRSk

To visit the collection, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/.

Iron Cast

IRON CAST by Destiny Soria is an engaging fantasy with elements of mystery and an emphasis on friendship.

This fast-paced alternative history weaves a diverse cast of fascinating characters into an absorbing story exploring the world of an underground club. The author tells the story of friendship in a world of hemopathy and paranormal activity.

Librarians will find teens attracted to the social issues addressed in this alternative universe. Fans of The Diviners by Libba Bray will be happy to find another paranormal elements set a similar historical setting.

Published by Amulet on October 11, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: National Library of Medicine

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE

Contents: The National Library of Medicine’s online resources include biomedical books, still images, videos, and more. The resources can be accessed by collection, subject, author, title, format, language, genre, or date.

Classroom Connections: From posters to videos, digital objects can bring science topics to life. Connecting medicine and history is an effective way to draw student interest to both science and history. Ask students to create a timeline of primary source documents tracing a topic such as cholera through history. Or, search for posters on a particular topic such as AIDS, malaria, or yellow fever and trace how the medical communications change over time.

Featured Digital Objects:
Cholera - https://goo.gl/yICgJn
Tropical Disease - https://goo.gl/OVW1G9
Public Health & War - https://goo.gl/A3xif8
Moving Pictures - https://goo.gl/FtFHgM

To visit the collection, https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/.

Gunpowder Girls

GUNPOWDER GIRLS by Tanya Anderson tells the tragic story of 140 women and girls who were killed in arsenal explosions during the Civil War.

This quick-read is told in three parts including the catastrophes at Allegheny Arsenal, Confederate States Laboratory, and Washington Arsenal. The author weaves in primary source materials and interesting informational pages to bring the events to life for middle and high school readers. The book includes an epilogue, author’s note, endnotes, bibliography, recommended readings, and index.

Librarians will find this book to be a welcome addition to the history collection. Pair it with other little-known events in the American Civil War. Or, connect it with other tragedies in women’s history.

Published by Quindaro Press October 11, 2016. ARC from the publisher.

Digital Collection: Teach Engineering

TEACH ENGINEERING

Contents: This website contains engineering curriculum materials for K-12 educators. Users can browse by unit, lesson, or activities. In addition, “sprinkles” are short, hands-on activities that can be explored. Teachers can also find the most popular choices, examine by grade level, explore by subject areas, or try living lab activities.

Classroom Connections: It can be difficult to find quality engineering lessons to address the STEM curriculum. This collection of teaching resources addresses this need.

Featured Digital Objects:
Sprinkles - https://goo.gl/3EBCqf
Living Labs - https://goo.gl/KRkefa

To visit the collection, https://www.teachengineering.org/

Book Review: Cloud and Wallfish

CLOUD AND WALLFISH by Anne Nesbet is a middle school work of historical fiction filled with secrets and adventure.

Set in 1989, Noah suddenly learns a family secret and sets off on a family adventure behind the Iron Curtain to East Berlin. Along the way, this story of family and friendship deepens as more mysteries are revealed. Secret files woven into the narratives will draw students into key history concepts.

Librarians will find this historical thriller to be an appealing way to explore history. The addition of two characters with disabilities adds to the appeal.

To learn more about the author, go to http://annenesbet.com/.

Published by Candlewick on October 4, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: National Science Foundation Special Reports

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SPECIAL REPORTS

Contents: This collection contains dozens of special reports. While some of these materials are aimed at educators, others are useful for students. The reports are listed in chronological order.

Classroom Connections: From science games and interactives to tools and multimedia projects, each report connects to some aspect of science. Scan through the reports and mine those materials that connect to particular areas of the curriculum.

Featured Digital Objects:
Predicting Seasonal Weather - https://goo.gl/5swZX6
Generation Nano Contest - https://goo.gl/RWs2lp
Let It Snow - https://goo.gl/51q11b

To visit the collection, https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/.

Website Review: If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel

IF THE MOON WERE ONLY 1 PIXEL visualizes the scale of the solar system.

Using a series of slides, this fascinating model of solar system uses the scale of 1 pixel equal to 3474.8 kilometers (or the distance from New York to Las Vegas). As users scroll from the sun through the planets and moons in our solar system, interesting statements and facts appear on the screen.

A button is used to show how quickly light travels. An option is provided to change the scale to amounts such as miles, light minutes, buses, and blue whales. Users can also jump to specific objects in the solar system.

Librarians will find this web-based project to be a fun way to explore scale in both math and science. Use it in a display featuring books about scale and the solar system.

To view the website, go to http://joshworth.com/…/pixelspa…/pixelspace_solarsystem.html.

Book Review: Gertie's Leap to Greatness

GERTIE’S LEAP TO GREATNESS by Kate Beasley tells the heartwarming story of a fifth grader on a quest to have the best school year ever.

From summer speech writing to performing in the school play, Gertie Reece Foy is determined to be the best fifth grader ever. However, Gertie finds competition from the new girl in school.

Librarians will find that fans of Beverly Clearly and other small town storytellers will find this humorous family and school story appealing. Charming illustrations woven throughout the text add to the appeal.

To learn more about the book and author, go to http://www.gertiesleaptogreatness.com/.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group on October 4, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: Blue World

JONATHAN BIRD’S BLUE WORLD is a website containing video webisodes focusing on different aspects of marine life and ocean literacy.

The Watch Webisodes section includes nearly 100 video clips. Students can search by topic and educators can also locate materials by science standards and ocean literacy principles. Students will particularly enjoy the short video “extras” that explore focused topics such as sea cucumbers and tiger shark practice.

The Behind the Scenes provides information about the program, a photo gallery, sea stories, and on location information. Follow the blog for the latest information.

An Educators section includes study guides to go with the episodes, lesson plans, and curriculum-based webisodes.

Librarians will find that this website is easy for even young students to use. The study guides are useful in guiding student exploration. The sea stories section would be useful for informational reading activities.

To visit the website, go to http://www.blueworldtv.com/.

Digital Collection: Math Images Project

MATH IMAGES PROJECT

Contents: Part of the Math Forum website, this digital collection contains images that visualize math concepts. Users can explore pictures using the thumbnail gallery or by selecting a field of mathematics such as algebra, calculus, dynamic systems, fractals, or other topics.

Classroom Connections: Use this collection with math teachers as a way to connect with visual learners. Many of the images connect math concepts to real-world situations such as sounds or snowflakes.

Featured Digital Objects:
By Field - https://goo.gl/sf3lhz
By Thumbnails - https://goo.gl/HNS24O

To visit the collection, http://mathforum.org/mathimages.

Book Review: Juana and Lucas

JUANA AND LUCAS by Juana Medina is a new series featuring a young girl and her dog growing up in Colombia.

In her first humorous adventure, Juana shares her likes and dislikes. For instance, she isn’t excited about learning English. However when she learns about the value of language learning, she changes her mind.

Librarian will find that the short, easy-to-read chapters and comic-style illustrations will appeal to young readers. The international setting provides a unique perspective.

To learn more about the author, go to http://www.juanamedina.com/.

Published by Candlewick on September 28, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: Historical Scientific Instrument Gallery

HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT GALLERY
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contents: From optics and magnetism to induction and vacuum discharges, this digital collection includes a wide range of science equipment. The website is easy to use providing just a photograph and brief description of each item.

Classroom Connections: Ask students to select one of the many historical artifacts to explore. Then, investigate whether this scientific instrument is still used or whether it’s been replaced.

Featured Digital Objects:
Mystery Objects - https://goo.gl/y1VIu7
Object Index - https://goo.gl/4gBRTT

To visit the collection, http://www.unl.edu/…/historical-scientific-instrument-galle….

Digital Collection: Science & Society Picture Library

SCIENCE & SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY

Contents: This visual collection includes materials from three museums focusing on history, science, media, and railways. The objects can be accessed by theme or collection. Themes include world wars, arctic expeditions, astronomy, and trains.

Classroom Connections: Ask students to select a theme and explore the images. Then brainstorm questions related to a thematic collection or particular artifact. Use other resources to address the questions and share the results.

Featured Digital Objects:
Arctic Exploration - https://goo.gl/Vjzwus
Trench Warfare - https://goo.gl/y4op5x
Horses - https://goo.gl/gqvq0I

To visit the collection, http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk

Book Review: Irena's Children

IRENA’S CHILDREN by Tilar J. Mazzeo is a young reader’s edition of a true story about life in the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II.

A young Polish public health worker named Irena Sendler smuggled thousands of children out of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw. Children snuck through sewers, hid in coffins, and were concealed under overcoats in daring attempts to escape death.

Librarians will find this story of survival during the Holocaust an appealing alternative to standard Holocaust offerings. The focus on a heroic female will draw the interest of girls.

The author’s website contains information and videos about Irena Sendler. Go to http://www.tilar-mazzeo-author.com/learn-more

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Collection: Highway 89 Collection

HIGHWAY 89 COLLECTION

Contents: This collection includes photographs, manuscripts, and printed materials related to Highway 89 that runs through the western part of the United States. Exhibits, a map, timelines, and browsing tools assist users in exploring the materials.

Classroom Connections: Use this project as inspiration for creating a local history project focusing on a local road. Or, seek out other highway collections include Lincoln Highway at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/linchigh. Also, look for back country byway projects. Use the History Pin project for ideas https://www.historypin.org/en/.

Featured Digital Objects: 
Architecture - https://goo.gl/AVdcIx
Billboards and Signs - https://goo.gl/rlk2WT
National Parks - https://goo.gl/nOzE8S

To visit the collection, go to http://www.highway89.org/.