Junior Books

This is a wonderful look at the four seasons, in a sweet Richard Scarry-esque format. Bear Child heads out to see what changes are occuring in his neighborhood, discovering that people are "working and playing" at seasonal activities. Each season has a full two-page spread of the village, and all of the bear-people are busy on the farm, in their yards and on the hillside. This is followed by two pages of the individual activities isolated and labeled. A wide range of activities are covered in the appropriate season: taking the snow tires off the car, camping out, watching the birds fly south, making snow angels.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter loves this book. After checking it out of the library too many times to count, I am searching for the out-of-print book for our own collection. If your child loves to pour over the detailed books of Richard Scarry, she will probably enjoy this book as well.

This is a delightful picture book that describes each of the four seasons as follows: First, we see a page showing Bear Child's house and landscape, then Bear Child is pictured and his clothes named ("This is what Bear Child wears today-rubber boots, overalls, a flannel shirt, and a Windbreaker jacket."), then a two-page spread showing an overview of what town bears do during that season (e.g., planting seeds, flying a kite), and finally, two pages of close-ups of the bears doing the activities pictured on the previous page. This systematic approach is a great way to compare and contrast the clothes, climate, flora, and activities of the seasons, yet it is never boring or repetitive: Anne Rockwell's pictures switch from wide angle to close up perspectives and this adds an unexpected twist. A very satisfying book with warm, bright, colorful, illustrations, and lots of details to explore.

My 4 year old is just finishing up her 1st year at gymnastics & is obsessed with it. So I got this book for her birthday & she can't get enough of it. She has memorized the first few pages & it appears that she is actually reading it! She might not be fully reading yet, but she has gained an impressive vocabulary of sight words such as leotard, stretch and balance. So if your child is six or under & likes gymnastics, this is a must buy!

This is a wonderful book for young children who are learning to read. If they love gymnastics, they'll love this book. My 5 year old daughter takes it to the gym and reads it while waiting for her class. It is a very cute book.

Clint Martin is an incoming freshman at Midwestern University, a school noted for the quality of its varsity football program. He loves to play football and even though he was not even a starter on his high school team, he tries out for the Midwestern freshman team. There are many other students who also want to try out, but were not recruited and they are all put together and taken through basic drills by one of the coaches. Then, well before the season starts, they play a scrimmage game against the freshman recruits. They lose big and that supposedly ends their football days.
However, the love of the game burns brightly within Clint, so he goes to the head of intramural athletics and asks if he can form an intramural team and use the University's old abandoned football stadium. He receives permission and with the help of Shoo-Fly Finnegan, an eccentric but powerful local businessman, he puts the stadium into shape and gets uniforms donated by local businesses. His idea also catches fire at other schools, so Clint's team, now called the Rebels, get to play some games.
At first they get clobbered, but after getting some quality coaching from an injured member of the varsity, they start winning. Since the quality of their game improves and there are physical and academic casualties on the varsity, Clint and his friend Yancy are asked to join the varsity. When the first-string quarterback gets booted out of the game, Clint takes over and leads his team to victory.
While the themes of determination and hard work are the main plot devices of this story, there is another one about the sport of football. Throughout the book, Scholz points out that football is not just about large men pushing each other around and knocking each other down, there is a great deal of strategy and teamwork involved. To play football well, you must think and react fast and every man on the field must handle their assigned tasks. This is an excellent book about many other things besides the sport of football.

As a sports-nut kid, I adored this book. It was great sports--and it taught me there's always a way to get it done. What a treat it is to find out it's been re-released! If you love sports, if you've ever been told you can't do something, if you like to see the good guys win...READ THIS BOOK!!!

P.S.--the guy who wrote this book won a gold medal in the Olympics, so he really *knows* sports!

This is an excellent cookbook. I own hundreds of cookbooks--it's my hobby--and I entertain a lot.I have yet to try a recipe from here that doesn't get rave reviews. (Try the BBQ leg of lamb; my guests actually REQUEST it repeatedly!--And then serve it with "Toad Hill Mint Sauce" from the Rochester Junior League's other book, Applehood and Motherpie.)

I LOVE this cook-book! Everything I have tried is delicious...guests ALWAYS ask for the recipes. The ceaser salad is awesome, espeically when paired with the lasagne rollatines.

Fresh From The Valley: A Harvest Of Recipes From The Junior League Of Yakima is a splendidly organized and presented book of recipes that will grace family dining all year long. With recipes divided into Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter sections, Fresh From The Valley is enhanced with special sections on Washington Apples; Herbs and Spices; Wines and Cheeses; Sponsors; Contributors; and an Index. From Fresh Tomato and Sweet Onion Salsa; Spinach and Artichoke Dip in Bread Bowl; and Mexican Appetizer Cheese Cake; to Marinated Mushrooms; Eastern Washington Rack of Lamb; Hawaiian Chicken and Pears; and Hot Apple Tea; are a brief introductory sampling of what Fresh From The Valley has to offer the family chef!

Celebrate Highlands: Recipes And Remembrance combines recipe contribution from members of the Laurel Garden Club of Highlands, North Carolina with anecdotal memories and stories that make Celebrate Highlands a quite unique and very enthusiastically recommended cookbook. From Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms; Southwestern Bean Salad; and Exotic Chicken with Thai Sauce; to Lemon Ice Cream; Cheddar Chili Cheesecake; and Blue Cheese Torte with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pesto; Celebrate Highlands offers a wonderfully diversified compilation of "kitchen friendly" recipes that even the most novice of family cooks can accomplish with confidence.

A Fresh Look at Writing is an informative and thoroughly useful guide at how teachers can implement worthy strategies in the classroom in order to help children strenghthen their writing skills. Graves explains how strategies such as the author's chair and portfolios can help children practice and take pride in their writing. This book focuses on kinder through sixth grade, but its methods can be modified to fit any grade level.

This book truly gives one a "fresh look" at what they believe writing is about. Don begins the book by having the reader reflect on his own life to recognize why he teaches the way he does. It is easy to understand after the first two actions in his book why teaching writing seems so difficult. I found it most beneficial to read over a period of time so I could implement the actions he writes about. This book totally changed my attitude as a writing teacher. Now, instead of feeling frustrated about writing, Don has helped me find the writer within myself which is helping me become a great writing teacher.

In this book, Rasinski and Padak certainly demonstrate their masterful knowledge of children as readers. The information provided is useful to teachers interested in helping their students become "powerful" readers. If you've ever wondered how to develop instruction that can meet the needs of a range of students in your classroom, then this book is a must read!

In From Phonics To Fluency: Effective Teaching Of Decoding And Reading Fluency In The Elementary School, Kent State University academicians Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padak collaborate to provide the reader with successful teaching strategies, elucidated in detail, to help young people understand phonics and become better readers. Chapters cover onsets, rimes, and basic phonic patterns; how to teach advanced word patterns; world walls; word banks and word sorts; contextual word recognition; word games; assessing word recognition and reading fluency; and much more. Filled with sample charts, diagrams, games, and instructional materials, From Phonics To Fluency is an excellent supplementary resource for school teachers, tutors, and home schoolers alike.

I am an elementary school teacher and bought this book for my students. They had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it.

Excellent book. While instructions are adequately simple and straight forward, the problems are not!

I love ordering my text books from Amazon. I have always recieved fast shipping and text books in good condition. I'm very happy with my purchases.

After Jo Ann Brewer's superb INTRODUCTION TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION textbook, I would get this resource to keep me up-to-date on the foundational knowledge that stands as essential for early childhood professionals. Even though it lacks a chapter exclusively devoted to the all-important role of play in early childhood education, the absence of such a discussion leaves the learner with a more neutral reference point from which to decide his position on whether or not to align with a play-based curricular philosophy

Morrison presents a starkly realistic and contemporary overview of the field with an outstandingly streamlined overview of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development (where he keeps a keen and faithful eye on expressing the ideas from Piaget/Inhelder's THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CHILD).

After getting the Brewer text and Morrison, you should need no other book of this type. Please try Feeney, Christensen, & Moravcik's WHO AM I IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN if you need one more excellent text.

Showcasing "kitchen friendly" recipes provided by members of the Junior League of Rockford, Generations: A Tradition Of Timeless Recipes offers a culinary wealth of wonderful dishes guaranteed to please any palate and satisfy any appetite. From Apple Sou with Roquefort Croutons; Honey and Lime Chicken Salad; Luau Pork Roast; and Stromboli Sandwiches; to Bistro Potato Gratin; Sour Cream and Pecan Tea Rings; Rum Truffles; and Champagne Mushroom Sauce, Generations is an enthusiastically recommended contribution the family cookbook shelf.

The follow up to Brunch Basket from the Junior League of Rockford, Generations features recipes from the Rockford area's best restaurants and chefs, and offers professionally selected wines to accompany many entree recipes. These recipes will withstand the test of time to become favorites of a new generation. This beautiful cookbook features photographs that evoke images of times past, and recipes that will please today's cooks. (Try the Never Fail Prime Rib on page 56 and the super-easy Death by Chocolate on page 140.)