Secret Coders (book 1) by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Homes (science fiction, graphic novel, grades 3-5)
What if you found out that the owls flying around your school were actually robots trying to spy on you? Hopper has just moved to a new school and things are not going well so far for her. The kids laugh at her and on her first day, she gets pudding spilled on her head! One day, Hopper and another boy, Eni, discover that the number 9 is painted all over the outside of the building, but why? When they learn that the owls flying around are actually robots, Eni begins to teach Hopper how to use binary numbers and how to code in order to control the robots. However, the evil janitor does not want the kids poking around and he tries to foil their plan. Will the kids figure out what is going on at this strange school? This is the first book in the series. In his keynote speech, the author talked about how he wants students to learn how to code from these books and the books actually do teach some basic coding skills. What a fun way to introduce coding!
Pink is for Blobfish by Jess Keating (nonfiction, grades 1-5)
What animals are pink? Sure, the flamingo is pink, but what else? This book gives fascinating information about 17 different animals around the world that are pink including the hairy squat lobster, the antilles pinktoe tarantula, the pink sea star, and of course, the blobfish. In addition to providing interesting information about each animal, the author also gives information about their predators and their threats. Students will love the close-up photographs and some of the more disgusting facts. This book has great vocabulary and would be an engaging read aloud for those talking about animals and/or endangered species.
We are Growing! by Laurie Keller (easy reader, grades K-2)
Mo Willems might be finished writing books about Elephant and Piggie but Elephant and Piggie have not completely retired! This new series of books "Elephant & Piggie Like Reading" features books that are inspired by the funny duo. In fact, Elephant and Piggie appear at the beginning and end of this book to introduce and wrap-up the story! In We are Growing, each blade of grass is excited to be growing into unique blades with special characteristics (being the tallest, curliest, silliest, etc). However, one blade can't figure out what makes him unique...until the very end. Similar to the Elephant and Piggie series, the text in this book comes from speech bubbles and is large, simple, and funny. This book is perfect for early readers!
Sea Monkey & Bob by Aaron Reynolds and Debbie Ridpath Ohi (picture book, grades K-2)
Sea Monkey is afraid that he will sink to the bottom of the ocean because he knows that heavy things sink. He's afraid because the ocean floor is dark and scary. Bob (the puffer fish) is worried that he will float when puffed up because he knows that light things float. The surface of the water is scary because it is near the air (a scary thing for all fish!!). The two come up with the perfect plan to hold hands and stick together to protect each other. This charming book about friendship and caring for one another would be perfect for read alouds at any time. The book would also be a great read aloud to tie into a science unit about sink/float. In fact, the author discussed how he actually researched the items mentioned in the book to determine which ones actually do sink and float. Students could conduct their own experiments to see what sinks and floats.
