Lisa BullardReseñas

Kindergarten - 2

Author Lisa Bullard and illustrator Diego Diaz tackle the topic of fairy-tale witches in this entry in Millbrook Press's Monster Buddies series, which explores the role of various mythological creatures in classic stories. Establishing that witches won't be found "outside of make believe," the book goes on to discuss the appearance of witches, their habits—flying on broomsticks, cooking children—and some famous witches from around the world. These include the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, hyena-riding witches from Africa, and the famous Baba Yaga, of Russian lore. A brief discussion of the possible origin of the witch figure, in the form of early, prehistoric healers and herbalists, is followed by the end matter, including a writing prompt for youngsters, a glossary, a brief list of further resources, and an index...

I'm Casting a Spell!: Meet a Fairy-Tale Witch struck me as being very similar, in both purpose and structure, to author Eric Braun and illustrator Robert Squier's The Truth About Witches. Both are part of a larger picture book series intended to introduce various mythical creatures that appear in the pages of classic storybooks—The Truth About Witches is part of the Fairy Tale Superstars series—and both over a very rudimentary introduction to their chosen subject. Namely: the witches of fairy-tale. I'm not sure either is entirely satisfactory, but then, I am something of a devotee of witchy fare, so it stands to reason that such introductory books wouldn't quite satisfy me. The only serious critiques I would make of this one, was its assertion that witches had green skin, something that is not at all uniform in all stories and traditions, and the fact that the author never specified which African cultures had hyena-riding witches. Leaving those issues aside, I think young readers will enjoy this one, both for the basic witchy facts, and for Diaz's vibrantly colorful artwork, which often leaps off the page.

When Travis leaves California to spend some time with his Grandma in Minnesota, he never imagines all that will happen... such as learning that the father he never knew was a bank robber, and that the money he stole has never turned up. Travis and his two new friends in town, Kenny and Iz, begin looking for money that disappeared 14 years ago; but they soon learn someone else is looking for it too, and whoever that is, might be a dangerous person to cross.
While this book has the standard trio of middle grade novel topics: family, friendship, and first love, it is primarily a mystery, told in a modern 13-year-old narrator version of a crime noir novel. This book is all about plot and less about character development. As such, it's a great story, but I never felt a close enough attachment to any of the three kids to quite give it a 5 star review.

Definitely aimed at a younger audience and is a little too long for a read-a-loud but has many cool facts about the states and their capitals. Can be helpful in the classroom if you read a chapter specifically about your curriculum.

There is no one else quite like Alex. With his special laugh, his grizzly hugs, and his own interesting thoughts, Alex is one of a kind. Presenting similarities and differences
Alex has with others, Marvelous Me, by Lisa Bullard, will encourage children to embrace the things that make them unique. Playful illustrations and fun activities
make this book a great addition to home and classroom libraries.
Lisa Bullard is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including the middle grade mystery Turn Left at the Cow.
She is also the author of the how-to guide Get Started in Writing for Children. Her books for younger readers include picture books
and nonfiction titles such as Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street and You Can Write a Story: A Story-Writing Recipe for Kids. Her books have
won several honors, including a Children’s Choice Award, two Teacher’s Choice Awards, a Science Books & Films’ Best Books listing, a
National Parenting Publications Children's Resources Silver Award, and a Storytelling World Awards Honor Title. For over fifteen years,
Lisa has taught writing classes for adults and young people at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and in a variety of other settings.
Lisa is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Publishing Institute.

This book would be fitting for intermediate level readers. It gives students insights on the history of the building. How it was built, why, and how it at one point for many years was labeled the "tallest building in the World." It gives many facts about how the building is now a tourist attraction, and how it will forever remain iconic in New York City.

Turn Left at the Cow is categorized as a mystery, but more of the story is about thirteen year old Travis finding answers about his past. When Travis feels like he has been squeezed out of his life that now includes a step father, he runs away from his home in California to Minnesota where his grandmother lives. He finds out that his real father, who has been dead since around the time he was born, was guilty of the only bank robbery in the town's history. When money from that bank robbery starts turning up in town, many people begin to believe that Travis has the long-missing money. With the help of his new friends, Kenny and Iz, he sets out on a search for not only the money, but also for answers about who he really is.
Turn Left at the Cow is a quick read, but does slow down a bit in the middle when Travis starts to become suspicious of everyone, including his grandmother. It's a little disappointing that the story turned out to be more coming-of-age rather than a treasure hunt. However, the budding romance between Travis and Iz is cleverly woven into the story. Overall, a good read.

simple science, with COLORS

This is a very good informational text for intermediate readers. Because it is informational, there are some harder words and the layout is different. There are some pictures throughout the book to help with understanding and show the religious traditions they do. The book also has a craft in the back for students to try. I think it is a great book because it is inclusive about the traditions and celebrations of the Muslim Religion which I think kids should learn about to help change the negative thoughts about it since 9/11.

I absolutely loved reading this book to my students! This is a great book to introduce students to culture and various foods! This book is about students in the class that share recipes from their culture and family traditions. It includes foods from Mexico, China, Italy, Norway and India. There was even a salsa recipe at the end, that I made with my class and it was really good! Overall this book is a great read!

This book is a narrative about a boy who learned about pollution and how he wants to help. It is a great way to talk about an injustice on our earth and what ways we can start helping our planet. It talks about what pollution is and how to stop it like reduce, reuse, recycle and how turning off the lights when you don’t need them helps. I really enjoyed this book because it is a simple and easy way to talk about these things. I would pair it with a video that shows what pollution looks like to different places in our world and make a poster or journal with my students about what steps we can take to reduce the amount of energy we use.

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This book has a good mystery, a little sarcasm, and characters that kids will enjoy. It's geared toward upper elementary/middle school. A quick easy read for high schoolers.

Shows that there are different languages from different lands and that we should be proud of our cultures and embrace the differences.

I thought this book was great. It like it talked about the Chinese celebration of their New Years great. It's somethings that I would read to my daycare children. The pictures were great.

This is a cute book that shows the different kinds of families there are in the world. It gives examples such as families that only have one parent, families that have two parents, families that have a lot of pets or none at all and some families that have a lot of kids where as some do not have any at all. It gives a good understanding on how family culture can be compared and contrasted in the eyes of a child.

This book describes the uniqueness of each individual, no matter how different you think you look. Everyone has something unique and special to them and with proper encouragement and a good environment it gives the capability to teach young children how to love themselves- and this book portrays that well.

Another wonderful addition to the Poetry Builders series, this installment teaches budding poets the basics of writing nonsense poems. I read this with my cubs, and we all had fun trying our hand at writing nonsense poems. I have to say, the Name Game poem is cute! There's a glossary at the end, and a for further reading section.

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Norwood House for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a wonderful book to immerse yourself in learning the customs of Day of the Dead! It follows Daniela, celebrating her first Day of the Dead without her Grandpa. Daniela is a great character for kids to follow, she explains that although Day of the Dead may be seen as sad, it's a celebration, not a mourning. It gives the book a lighthearted feel. An example of this is when she and her mother pick out "funny little skeletons" that play the guitar like her grandfather. The illustrator of the book, Holli Conger did a great job at using bright and fun colors, as well as drawing all the characters happy. They accomplished celebrating the holiday and highlighting the great things Daniela's family does to celebrate their loved ones. The big idea of this book is that Day of the Dead is a great holiday that brings family- whether there daily or not- together.

Grace is celebrating Thanksgiving with her family and she wants to share her experience with the reader. The illustrations are colorful and it goes through her day as she greets family from out of town and why she is thankful for everything. There are also bubbles that ask the reader a question throughout the story. It would be a good one to read aloud and have the children think about what is happening on each page. She also talks about the first Thanksgiving. I would recommend this for younger children just learning about the holiday. It could be read aloud or one on one.

This was a cute book to teach children about different types of family. It shows a mixed race family, adopted family, a family with tow dads, and a family where the children are being raised by grandparents. It teaches that it doesn't matter who you family is made up of as long as you are loved. The book also includes some ideas for activities to do with you child or students after reading the book.

One thing I really liked about this book was the acknowledgment of adoption or other guardians, like foster parents. This story is a powerful window into other home life, and how different isn't scary, it's just new. The book includes different sized families, structures (divorce), and cultures. I know a lot of students can feel outcasted by having a different home life, but this book normalizes all home situations.

I liked this story because it showed the reader that not knowing about others is ok, so asking questions is important. The story follows a boy who's neighbor is Jewish and invited him to his barmitzva and synagogue. The boy is a Christian (Lutheran and Catholic). I think this book is a really great window into learning about other religions, and in turn, cultures. I think exploring religion is important, because to me, there is no wrong religion.

This is a book dedicated to showing the many faces of family. I like the books bright illustrations and that it hits so many various familial situation in a short book. I think this is ideal for introducing how different families can be and keeping children's attention. The only problem I find with the book is the lack of focus glosses over the various situations quickly so there is very little depth to the subjects.

Lisa Bullard has made a wonderful book packed with very bright cartoon illustrated pages of students in their classroom as well as at home who use food to bring the message of cultural diversity to light. The book is a bout a boy who is excited about sharing his Mexican heritage food on share and tell day. The book shows the children learning about noodles from China and Italy, bread from Norway and India and then finally the boy gets to share his dish from Mexico that his grandmother helps him prepare. At the end of the book there is a great salsa recipe that would be fun for the class to make together.