Reviewed by Laura Lemanski You thought you knew the story: rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock. But, oh no! In The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors, it is much more exciting in Drew Daywalt’s and Adam Rex’s take on the exciting legend that starts in “the Kingdom of Backyard.” Dewalt and Rex introduce…
Reviewed by Nick Kleese Her Right Foot begins where you’d expect an expository text about the Statue of Liberty to begin—a history of her origins abroad and journey to America. All is straightforward until halfway through the text when the narrator wonders why Lady Liberty’s right foot is raised. “Where is she going?” the narrator wonders. “Is…
Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman By: Kelcy Niccum and Kim Alexander Toad Rage took a creative take on advocating for animal, specifically toad, rights by following a young cane toad’s quest for the truth about why humans seem to hate toads. Toad Rage is a very interesting book told from the point of view of…
by Nick Kleese The trees held onto their leaves for one final week this year, all so that attendees’ journeys to the 2017 Book Week event with Thanhha Lai could be quintessentially autumn. In fact, Lai would go on to acknowledge this picturesque weather in her lecture. “It’s not cold enough,” she joked. The crowd…
With the school year coming to a close, you may be hearing a lot about the summer slide. So, just what is it? Well, while it might sound like a fun summer activity, in education circles it refers to the phenomena that occurs when students, especially those from low-income families, lose the academic gains…
Children's Literature at UMN 