By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 2, 2011
From Dictionaries to a grammar guide to a book of homographs, the following list of books features some of our favorite school tools and brain ticklers…
Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
by Scholastic
Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Hardcover: 800 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Reference; New edition (July 1, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: The bestselling Scholastic Children’s Dictionary is brand new for 2010! Some of the outstanding new features include: brand new cover and interior design, more than 1,000 all new photographs and illustrations, and double the current number of word histories and sample sentences. New entries and definitions have been written by prominent lexicographers and reviewed by an advisory board of educators and librarians. Bonus material includes a thesaurus and specially commissioned endpaper maps.
With exciting new features, accessible definitions, and helpful illustrations and photographs throughout, the new Scholastic Children’s Dictionary is an essential resource that belongs in every home, classroom, and library.
Add this book to your collection: Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
Scholastic Guide to Grammar
by Marvin Terban
Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Reference; Student edition (August 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: The ultimate resource for proper grammar.
The SCHOLASTIC GUIDE TO GRAMMAR is an easy-to-use, color-coded, tabbed guide packed full of information, examples, and tips for English language arts success. Write a paper, meet new people, apply for a job, and more, with perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Join “Professor Grammar” on this guided journey through the intricacies of the English language.
Add this book to your collection: Scholastic Guide to Grammar
Clifford’s Big Dictionary
by Scholastic
Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Cartwheel Books (July 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: The perfect back-to-school reference book for the early elementary set!
From Scholastic, the most trusted name in learning (R), comes this picture dictionary featuring America’s favorite big red dog, Clifford!
The 128-page dictionary has:
* Alphabetical entries, with 10-25 words per letter, each illustrated with spot art.
* Simple sentences beneath each word to help describe it and put it in context.
* Frontmatter and backmatter, which includes sections on how to use a dictionary, numbers & colors, opposites, the body, things that go, Clifford’s Big Ideas, and more!
Add this book to your collection: Clifford’s Big Dictionary
Every Day on Earth
by Matthew and Steve Murrie
Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (August 1, 2011)
Source: Author
Publisher’s synopsis: Discover all of the amazing things that can happen around the world in just one day!
You already know all of the amazing things that can happen in just one minute on Earth, so think of what could happen in a whole day! Your taste bud cells are replaced at a rate of 50,000 a day. Almost 40,000 trees are cut down every day just to make paper bags. And a mayfly lives its entire life in a single day. This book is full of fun facts about space, technology, pop culture, food, animals, sports, the human body, and more!
Add this book to your collection: Every Day on Earth
Double Play: Monkeying Around with Addition
by Betsy Franco (Author), Doug Cushman (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tricycle Press (July 12, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: Brrriiiing! Recess time! Little chimps Jill and Jake find more than just their favorite games in the schoolyard today. They also discover the important mathematical concept of doubling, or adding a number to itself. Easy to learn and fun to memorize, doubling is a valuable problem-solving tool that helps kids prepare for multiplication. A must-have addition to any math-themed picture book library, Double Play makes this arithmetic lesson as welcome as recess.
Add this book to your collection: Double Play: Monkeying Around with Addition
Zoola Palooza: A Book of Homographs
by Gene Barretta
Reading level: Ages 5 and up
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); (June 21, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: The all-animal touring concert group Zoola Palooza has come to town. With a motley crew of animals playing a variety of instruments, homographs abound (homographs are words that are spelled the same but sound different and have different meanings). Billy the striped BASS opens the show wearing a big BOW tie. He gives a gracious BOW from the top of his BASS fiddle.
This terrific companion to Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones brings homographs to the spotlight for a show-stopping good time.
Add this book to your collection: Zoola Palooza: A Book of Homographs
We hope you enjoyed this School Tools and Brain Ticklers list of books. If book lists are your thing, we think you’ll enjoy perusing this awesome round-up of the Best Kids Series Books of 2013!
