Once Upon a Balloon is the story of two young brothers, Theo and Zeke. Theo receives a balloon from his cousin. His mom offers to tie it around his wrist. Everyone warns him not to let go of the balloon. Theo tries really hard but his fingers just won't listen and sadly, he lets go of the balloon. But where did it go? Theo asks. His mom and dad give answers that seem very unlikely. But his big brother Zeke knows everything so when Theo tells him the balloon went to Chicago that just has to be true. But what happens to all the balloons in Chicago? Big brother Zeke has answers to all Theo's questions, after all, he is the older brother and he does know everything.
I had so much fun reading this book to the kids at school. I read it with kids from kindergarten to grade 5. They all enjoyed it. While I read I asked the kids where they thought the balloon went. Had any of the children been to Chicago? Did they see lots of balloons there?
I was very surprised when I read that Once Upon a Balloon is Bree Galbraith's first book. However, I was not surprised to read that she is Canadian. So many great authors come from Canada! Can't wait to see what Galbraith writes next.
Now that we`re all done reading the Forest of Reading books at school I went looking for some other books from some of our favourite Blue Spruce authors. I found Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards. Edwards was the author of Uncle Wally`s Old Brown Shoe which the kids just loved. They really enjoyed the illustrations. So yesterday I pulled out Monkey Business and read it to a grade 2 and 3 class. They loved it! The book starts with a definition of an idiom which none of them really understood. After one or two pages there was a lot of shouts of "I get it!!" They enjoyed the pictures and especially finding the magic page. This is a fantastic book for grades 2 to 5. Monkey Business is a fun way to teach idioms.
How to Make a Planet is full of interesting facts about the earth and how it was made. The book is presented and in a fun and engaging way with lots of great illustrations. How To Make a Planet uses many large scientific terms but does a pretty good job explaining them. I think for the most part the majority of this will be over most kids heads but little boys tend to love non-fiction and facts and they will certainly learn a few new things from How to Make a Planet. I`m sure this book would appeal to many young boys probably between the age of 8 and 11.
Spud is the ultimate couch potato. He sits and watches television all day long. The book shows all the fun things he is missing out on like flying a kite and fishing. One day the television breaks and Spud heads outside to give baseball a try and surprises himself by having a great time. The message is loud and clear in Spud The Couch Potato; get outside and move.