Saturday, March 9, 2019

What's New? Stacking the Shelves


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Hop on over there to ogle what other bloggers got this week.


For review:



Power Up: your incredible, spectacular, supercharged body by Seth Fishman. Illustrated by Isabel Greenberg. unpgd. Greenwillow Books/ HarperCollins, March 19, 2019. 9780062455796.

Publisher synopsis: The companion to the popular and award-winning A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars.

This captivating and educational picture book from Seth Fishman and Isabel Greenberg introduces young readers to basic facts about energy and the human body. Fun, informative and accessible, Power Up is perfect for classroom and family sharing. A great title to read along with Andrea Beaty’s Ada Twist, Scientist and Oliver Jeffers’s Here We Are.

Did you know there is enough energy in your pinkie finger to power an entire city? And that everything you do—running, jumping, playing, and exploring—uses that same energy inside of you?

In the companion to the acclaimed A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, Seth Fishman and Isabel Greenberg explore the relationship between energy and the human body, breaking down complicated concepts into small, child-friendly segments. Seth Fishman’s playful text explores the science behind the most energetic kids, while Isabel Greenberg’s vibrant illustrations offer plenty for children to explore in multiple readings.

Ideal for curious kids and classroom learning, this engaging book is for fans of Elin Kelsey’s You Are Stardust and John Scieszka’s Science Verse.


Circle by Mac Barnett. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. unpgd. Candlewick Press, March, 2019. 9780763696085

Publisher synopsis: This book is about Circle. This book is also about Circle’s friends, Triangle and Square. Also it is about a rule that Circle makes, and how she has to rescue Triangle when he breaks that rule. With their usual pitch-perfect pacing and subtle, sharp wit, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen come full circle in the third and final chapter of their clever shapes trilogy.


Smile: how young Charlie Chaplin taught the world to laugh (and cry) by Gary Golio. Illustrated by Ed Young. Unpgd. Candlewick Press, March 26, 2919, 9780763697617.

Publisher synopsis: Once there was a little slip of a boy who roamed the streets of London, hungry for life (and maybe a bit of bread). His dad long gone and his actress mother ailing, five-year-old Charlie found himself onstage one day taking his mum’s place, singing and drawing laughs amid a shower of coins. There were times in the poorhouse and times spent sitting in the window at home with Mum, making up funny stories about passersby. And when Charlie described a wobbly old man he saw in baggy clothes, with turned-out feet and a crooked cane, his mother found it sad, but Charlie knew that funny and sad go hand in hand. With a lyrical text and exquisite collage imagery, Gary Golio and Ed Young interpret Charlie Chaplin’s path from his childhood through his beginnings in silent film and the creation of his iconic Little Tramp. Keen-eyed readers will notice a silhouette of the Little Tramp throughout the book that becomes animated with a flip of the pages. An afterword fills in facts about the beloved performer who became one of the most famous entertainers of all time.

I am a huge Chaplin fan and am so sad that the beautiful Sid Fleischman biography about him just sits on the shelf. One of my aims in my sixth grade picture book biography unit is to introduce my students to a wide variety of subjects for "tastings" with the hope that they might expand their reading palates to try more full-length biographies. Also, I am head-over-heels in love with that cover!

Purchased: Nothing!


If you leave a comment, I will definitely stop by and try to comment back - unless commenters have to sign onto Discus or whatever that's called. But I will check out your stack!

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