ANDREW LOST with the Dinosaurs

by J.C. Greenburg

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Paperback, 85 pages

Type                          :  Chapter book

Publisher                   :  Random House, 2005

Dimensions               :  19 x 13 cm       

What to expect : time travel adventure to Jurassic time

Book Review

Andrew Duddle is back in a breath-taking action. This time, he and his girl cousin, Judy, and Beeper, a boy they found 360 million years ago, are traveling in their time machine to the time of great dinosaurs.

Getting caught in a wacky adventure, they learn many types of dinosaurs. Dino of all sizes and shapes. They even have to escape from dino’s attack!!

This book is very amusing. I know many young children are attracted to dinosaurs, and this book will take them to learn new facts about the dino’s family in a fun way.

As Reading Literature

A good chapter book to introduce to beginner readers who are eager to read by themselves. Interesting plot with famous topics will elevate reading engagement.

The Hotel Mystery (Billy and Maya's Detective Agency)

The Hotel Mystery

(Billy and Maya’s Detective Agency)

by Martin Widmark

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Paperback, 74 pages

Type                          :  Chapter book

Publisher                   :  Erlangga for kids, 2002

Dimensions               :  21 x 14,5 cm    

What to expect : teenage detectives to solve mystery of a lost dog

Book Review

Billy and Maya are teenage detectives from Valleby. It’s christmas day and they had no case to solve lately. Nearly everyone in Valleby eat Christmas dinner at Valleby Hotel. So they decide to help Billy’s uncle, who works in Valleby Hotel, over Christmas.

Who knows their just-fur-fun-work leads them to an exciting mystery when a fine family comes to town as Hotel’s guest. A nervous hotel manager, a nearly broke hotel owner and a rare and expensive lost dog. What could be better than finding all clues and match them all to fit the big picture? Billy and Maya are up to solve the mystery right under their nose.

An interesting teen detective story with Christmas eve background. Various clues make children think about the posibilities of the crime action.

As Reading Literature

A good chapter book to introduce to yourng readers. Written in simple present tense makes the story easier to understand for ESL students.

ABC Zoo

ABC Zoo

by Rod Campbell

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Paperback, 24 pages

Type                          :  Picture book (Lift-the-Flap book)

Publisher                   :  Penguin Books, 1997

Dimensions               :  20 x 20 cm       

What to expect : baby or toddler book, alphabet work.

Book Review

ABC Zoo is an animal alphabet book with flaps inside. The flaps will arouse children's curiosity. What is it behind the flap? They will love to play with it as they learn the alphabet.

The illustrations are very simple, not much of the details. This book is suitable for baby or toddler since too much details might distract their focus.

As Reading Literature

A good book to explain how the alphabet works and to introduce names of animal.

Splat the Cat

Splat the Cat

by Rob Scotton

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Hardback, 12 pages

Type                          :  Picture book

Publisher                   :  HarperCollins, 2008

What to expect : first school day mixed emotion.

Book Review

Remember your child's first school day? It took a whole bunch of patience (parent's side) and a mountain high of courage (from child's side) to make it a go.
Children are always restless about school first day. How’s the teacher? How’s the class? And furthermore, will I make new friends?

Some children make excuses not to go to school, like Splat does. Playing sick or cannot find the right clothes are the most excuses they make

Splat the Cat is an unusually amusing book. The illustration, that I have to bring up first, is irresistibly adorable. I just can't help myself not to touch (or feel) it. Splat was so anxious with the uncertainty of school first day. He needs every single thing that comforts him, Mom's big hug and the accompany of an old-buddy. Rob Scotton ingeniously presents Mrs. Wimpydimple, the name that spreads out school's warmth, a loving motherly teacher. Last but not least, is Seymour. The little mouse successfully made me laugh to see how happy he is to be able to scare and chase back the cats.

I can see many kids will love Splat as they share the same feeling (Splat feels what they feel). This book can help you showing your children that school is not as horrible as they thought. 

School is cool. School is fun. They’ll learn many new lessons, get smarter everyday and have terrific friends. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

As Reading Literature

The story is written in short and simple sentences. But the whimsical illustration make it speaks the story louder than the text itself. Your children will understand the story easily. Superb. I love this book very much.

The Very Lazy Ladybird (Kepik yang Sangat Malas)

The Very Lazy Ladybird (Kepik yang Sangat Malas)

by Isobel Flynn and Jack Tickle

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English – Indonesian (Bilingual)

Binding                     :  Paperback, 12 pages

Type                          :  Picture book

Publisher                   :  Erlangga for Kids, 2006

Dimensions               :  28 x 22 cm       

What to expect : animal story, a bad habit.

Book Review

Ladybird is a diligent animal by nature. But in this story, you will meet an unusual ladybird. He likes to sleep all day and night. Because of his laziness he doesn’t even know how to fly.

One day he gets bored of his place and wants to sleep somewhere else but too lazy to fly. So he decides to hop on any animals that passes near him. From a bouncy kangaroo, a roaring tiger, a swishy crocodile, a swingy monkey and many more. But none of these animals fits his wish. Until finally he finds the right animal where he can sleep on. Will it be his last sleeping spot?

I find this book really amusing. The ladybird, as lazy as he can be, was so persistent to avoid flying. Until one day he couldn’t get away from it anymore. It just reminds me of my children who frequently try to avoid their task. So I used this book to talk sensibly to them, that no matter how hard we try to avoid our task, it’ll keep coming back to us. Worse case, one day we might be forced by the situation to do it. And this is very undesirable.

As Reading Literature

Regarding the size of the book, I use this book in tell-a-tale time in my class. The students can easily see the whole picture. And the double page illustration attracts their attention. But they find the double text on the page rather distracting. Two texts at the same page with the same font size confuses them.

Above of all, I love the moral value of the story the most.

Preschool Vowel Sounds

Preschool Vowel Sounds

by Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing Editorial/Production Team

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Paperback, 72 pages

Type                          :  Activity book

Publisher                   :  Sterling publishers, 2007

Dimensions               :  17.5 x 12 cm    

What to expect : English workbook for preschoolers.

Book Review

Teaching beginner readers has always been a challenging work. It takes a tremendous motivations to make children engaged in the activity. One of the common way I use to tackle this in reading class is by using lovable or famous characters. This book works perfectly with them. From the first time the students see Taz, they just can’t wait to open it. Unlike other activity books that are illustrated in black-and-white, this book uses colourful illustrations! It makes a whole lots of difference. Just perfect.

As Reading Literature

By the end of this book, children will be able to recognize vowel sounds (short and long).

English made Easy, Ages 6-7

English made Easy, Ages 6-7

by Carol Vorderman and Brenda Apsley

Product Details.

Original Language   :  English

Binding                     :  Paperback, 32 pages

Type                          :  Activity book

Publisher                   :  Dorling Kindersley, 2006

Dimensions               :  17.5 x 12 cm    

What to expect : English workbook for elementary students.

Book Review

This book contains work sheets for reading activity. Children will learn to recognize bi-vowel sounds, to read short passage (independent reading), to recognize compound words, punctuation, antonyms prefixes and to use question mark in a question.

As Reading Literature

This book is suitable for children who is ready to learn double vowel sounds. This is a valuable English reference book, but for ESL students extra work sheets are needed due to limitation of vocabulary.

According to my experience, my students need at least 4 worksheets (of similar topic) to be able to properly understand the lesson.