Editors Of Time For KidsBesprekingen

biography

excellent - Lois Metzler

In my opinion, this is an excellent informational book about snakes. It provides detailed pictures with captions and explanations so the reader could learn as much as possible about snakes. The book is broken down into different sections and can be used during a non-fiction unit.

595.4

jB

jB

jB

jB

jB

jB

jB

Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States. This book takes you through highlights of his life starting from his 1911 birth, to his 2004 death. Ronald Reagan was elected at a time when lots of people were struggling due to losing their jobs. He became president with the hope of helping Americans remember their dreams. He is credited with weakening communist rule and paving the way for a freer world. Something interesting about him that I learned was the many hats he wore before becoming the oldest person ever elected president. Ronald Reagan was an athlete, a radio announcer, a movie actor, a union leader and a state governor. This book can be woven into any social studies lesson unit on Presidents of the United States of America.

Summary:The book "snakes!" is a book that talks about the lifestyles of snakes what they eat their habitat and how to identify them.
Snakes are cold blooded carnivores that consume prey by either using venom or swallowing it whole. Flexibility in a snakes jaw gives it the ability to swallow prey bigger than its head because they cant bite or chew prey. Snakes can be found almost anywhere in the world except for Antarctica and there are more than 3000 species. Snakes have interesting body structures including no internal or external ears, although snakes have nostrils to breath they use their tongues to smell and snakes have about 200-400 vertebrae and ribs.

Opinion:I think snakes are amazing creatures for many reasons as they populations in balance and are kinda freaky in amazing ways. I don't think they get enough appreciation for helping the ecosystem and reducing humans chances of Lyme disease by reducing the population of rodents.

The Time For Kids book about snakes is a fantastic example of a guided reading book. Not only is it an in-depth scientific look at snakes but it is also a prime example of great text features including labels, diagrams, speech bubbles ,a did-you-know text box and more! The book has some amazing close up images of snakes that really draw in the readers. This book is classified as a level 3 reading level which is defined on the back of the book as "confident reader- paragraph use sentences of varied lengths". I love how this book directly gives educators the level of text so they know when the book is applicable. One small detail I loved about the book was its use of a different texture and color snakeskin on each page. This book could be used to compare and contrast different types of snakes, be used as a science lesson about animal characteristics, a language arts lesson about what text features make a book enticing to reader, and so many more possibilities. I highly recommend using this book in grades 3+ because of its level of vocabulary as well as length of 30 pages. This book could be used over a course of multiple days as a guided reading group.

This is a chapter biography about the 35th president of the USA. It tells the story of John F. Kennedy's life and accomplishments from his birth to his death. There are pictures and other bits of information throughout the book. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book because I already knew so much about Kennedy's presidency. I was surprised to find that it focused on Kennedy's whole life and I really enjoyed adding this information to what I already knew. It is important for children to be able to read about people who made an impact on the Country this biography is perfect for that purpose.

This book was very informational to me, and I learned a lot about Benjamin Franklin. This biography touched on some of his many talents and accomplishments in his life. Ben Franklin is most well known for inventing the lightening rod and bifocal glasses, the only things I knew about him. He was also responsible for helping create businesses like the fire department, the post office, and the printing press. He was also well known for his handwriting in the Constitution and for helping create the American Government. This is another perfect book to incorporate into a social studies lesson for children. This book is easy, straightforward and very educational for students who are learning about Benjamin Franklin.

I chose this book to compare it with the other Thomas Edison book I read. I think both books had great information. This book was in my opinion, more kid-friendly and kid appealing than the other book. However, both books gave me great information and I enjoyed reading both of them. I know Thomas Edison is significant in history so I definitely wanted to get to know more information about him.

Not only do I love this book, the kid loves it too. This is a book I would have begged my parents to buy me when I was a kid. During the 4th and 5th grade I went thru my Presidential phase. I not only read most of a totally age-inappropriate biography on JFK (in other words, it wasn't a picture book) and made a zine of First Ladies (oh, what I'd give to still have that!) but I seriously was hooked on the White House.

This book gives kids a peek into the White House, the First Family and all the offices that make up the cabinet and the people who work there. It's a great primer for kids to learn about the three branches of our government, but especially the Executive branch. It even covers the primaries and the election. But the vast majority is focused on President Obama and how he's working to make our country better.

The biography of John F Kennedy is written in the first person linear fashion. It is definitely for younger children and skims each detail of Kennedy's life. Initially, the author took care to discuss JFK's youth and family life which would set the stage for Jack's future as an adult in politics, but as the book progresses, the details became less in-depth. For example, when discussing how Kennedy was rescued after he was shipwrecked during World War II was surprised that there was no mention of the famous coconut he scribbled his message on to help coordinate the rescue attempt.
Unfortunately, the author does not include any bibliographical information other than listing the primary sources of all the photos included in the book. There is simply a website encouraging kids to learn more.
Most disturbing, on page 17, the author lists the five youngest presidents sworn into office with Theodore Roosevelt as the youngest at age 42 and John F Kennedy listed as second at the age of 43. The very next page, the author speaks of his inauguration and deems JFK as "the youngest man ever elected to the highest office in the land."
Overall this biography gives a broad view of Kennedy's life and there are some interesting "did you know?" passages included throughout the book, for example, there is a passage on Rosa Parks and also Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the Telephone (John Micklos Jr) New York: Harper Collins: 2006

Biography Primary 44 pg

Summary:
Alexander Graham Bell was not just the inventor of the telephone but also a teacher of the deaf and worked on kites and airplane. He married Mabel, a woman who he worked with while teaching the deaf. He loved to make people's lives easier and aspired to do this until he died.

Critique:
This book details Alexander Graham Bell's life in an easy to read format. Readers are easily able to navigate his life while learning some of the struggles they had.

Activity: (After)
What invention would you like to make that could make yours or others lives easier?

The book "Sharks! Time For Kids" is a prime example of guided reading. It teaches students about the aspects about sharks. It gives us key vocabulary words that you would have to know when dealing with sharks. It gives us pictures of real live sharks to help readers visualize the text. It even has side bars about topics about sharks. I think that this text would be useful for advanced students from third to fifth grade or even sixth grade. The teacher may want to guide them through the text by making sure they comprehend important details from the book as many are factual especially for younger grade levels such as third and maybe fourth.

The book "Time For Kids: Snakes!" is a prime example of guided reading. It teaches students about the aspects about snakes (why the are reptiles, how they hatch from eggs). It gives us key vocabulary words that you would have to know when dealing with snakes. It gives us pictures of real live snakes to help readers visualize the text and a layout of a snakes body with labels. It even has side bars about topics like "how to cure snake bites". the glossary is also very helpful for students who are reading this topic. I think that this text would be useful for advanced students from third to fifth grade or even sixth grade. The teacher may want to guide them through the text by making sure they comprehend important details from the book as many are factual especially for younger grade levels such as third and maybe fourth.

I found this book in a stack of other similar biographies at my parents' house. I picked it because I needed to choose another nonfiction book to read and review, but I was pleasantly surprised at the aspects of this book that make it a great nonfiction read for kids.
I tells stories, it has photographs, it is divided up chronologically and by chapters, it has concise captions for each photo, it has perfectly sized text with perfectly chosen font size and color - the whole package just works! This book is age-appropriate (grades 3-6 I would imagine) and it does a fine job of telling the important happenings of a great president in a way that kids can understand and even appreciate. In many other juvenile biographies I have found that they either excel at presenting text or presenting visual references, but this book does both. I would highly recommend this book and any others in the Time For Kids series for any classroom or school library. What a great reference book for any child needing to construct a biography report or even just discover a bit of history.

This is an easy informational book that pairs pictures of extreme weather like thunder and lightning, snow, hurricanes, and tornados with short descriptions of such weather.