Mailbox Monday — September 13

We love sharing our bounty with our regular readers to give you a sneak peek of reviews to come, and we love meeting new book bloggers through the fun Mailbox Monday carnival. This month it’s hosted by Bermuda Onion.

While you’re here we invite you to check out our current giveaways, subscribe to our feed, and/or follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Due to the amazing number of picture books reviews that we have in our queue (see below for some of our newest additions!), we have scheduled a Fall Festival of Children’s books for the week of 9/18. What’s a festival without prizes? Yes, there will be many! Please mark your calendar for this fun-filled week of picture book reviews — fiction, non-fiction, preschoolers, and older kids. You will also be able to join in by linking up your reviews of picture books that have recently published or come out this fall.

NANCY

• Oh No!:  Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World, written by Mac Barrett and illustrated by Dan Santat – the illustrations in this cute picture book about a science project that wasn’t quite fully thought out were done in Photoshop, which makes for an interesting perspective.
• Thomas & Friends:  Misty Island Rescue DVD – Thomas leaves the Island of Sodor and meets some new friends in this new adventure. Look for a review and giveaway in Books on Screen soon.

DAWN

Sterling Books:

• Ten Big Toes and a Prince’s Nose by Nancy Gow — A new twist on the “don’t judge a book by its cover” lesson, in fairy tale format.
• Inside Series: Tornadoes, Dinosaurs, Hurricanes, The Human Body — Lots of details, fabulous images, and fold-out pages are sure to make these favorites.

DK:

• Help Your Kids with Math by Barry Lewis — Sadly, this one will get a WHOLE lot of usage around here, since 5th grade math can sometimes be tricky. (Maybe it’s just me…)
• Ask Me Everything — This looks like it will be the ideal book to keep around to read snippets from here and there.
• Children’s Book of Music — My favorite of the bunch! The history of music is told in this big tome, and the hour-long CD includes snippets of a wide array of types of music, across time and cultures. Fun!
• What Goes On In My Head? — Close to a question I ask about my oldest… This one appears to be really informative about the amazing brain and its functions and capabilities.
• Children’s Illustrated Encyclopedia — Huge and chockful of information! I like that it includes many safe and appropriate websites to refer kids to for continued research.
• Ideas That Changed the World — The subtitle, “Incredible inventions and the stories behind them” says it all.

JENNIFER

• Delcroix Academy, Book One: The Candidates by Inara Scott — This book seems like an interesting combination of Harry Potter and a more girly series set in a boarding school or something (based on the description alone, not yet having read a word).

• When I read the pitch for Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin, I was mildly curious — it’s a teen faery story, which I sort of feel like I’ve read before in Wings. I did like it, so I figured I might like this, and then I found out that the author was inspired by the Wicked musical, and specifically the song “For Good.” I was in — hook, line, and sinker. Look for my review and giveaway on 9/29.
• Two awesome titles from Sleeping Bear Press, which are bound to impress my math/scientist-minded son: S is for Scientists: A Discovery Alphabet and Whole-y Cow: Fractions Are Fun
• Out of the Shadows — What it is about Joanne Rendell that makes me want to pick up her book right away? I received this book on Thursday, and I had to resist starting in on it right away. I’ve resisted for now, tending to books already in progress and those on my pile that need to be read, but I might be finished with it this time next week.
• Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible was unsolicited, but I have to admit, it has me curious.