Kim Tomsic

Recommended Ages: Gr. K-5

Plot Summary: A husband and wife live run an animal sanctuary in Africa. When they receive a call asking if they will take a herd of elephants, they agree even though they have no idea how to take care of them. They build a double fence to ensure the animals don't leave the property where they could be hunted, but when the animals arrive, they are scared and trample the fence to escape. A helicopter somehow guides the elephants back to safety, when the husband shows the elephants that they can trust him. When the man dies many years later, once the elephants have moved to an area miles away, they elephants know he passed and return to mourn with the wife. And every year, they return on the anniversary of his passing.

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Personal Thoughts: This amazing story is well-written and has beautiful illustrations. The emotions of the humans and animals is easily understood, the story is clear, and the message of helping animals is clear.

Genre: narrative non-fiction

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Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Lester's piano teacher pinned a note to his shirt on his first music lesson. His mom told him it said he would never be musical. But Lester went on to figure out how to play music, even though he never learned to read music. He built a crystal radio set with an oatmeal can and his bed, he tweaked a guitar, he created a recording machine, he invented a contraption to hold up his harmonica so he could play harmonica and guitar at the same time, he created a microphone and amplifier, and he created the first solid electric guitar.

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Recurring Themes: perseverance, invention, music, family support

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: I really enjoyed reading that he even cut his staircase apart in order to tune it, and his mother didn't was so proud of him for doing it! That was in the author's note. The whole book was really good and it would be interesting to show kids what technology used to look like back then. Could even incorporate a STEM activity.

Genre: biography

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