Review of Civil Rights Movement series in School Library Journal

School Library Journal has reviewed five of the six books in The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in Photographs series in its August 2014 issue. Here is an excerpt from that review:

"The black, white, and red design give the book a slick, professional look...these books...provide a nuanced, well-organized perspective on the time period."

Written for the middle school student, these titles explore pivotal moments during the Civil Rights Movement through gripping primary source photographs. Supplemented by text boxes and captions, the events and key people involved are explained.

All of these titles are available as paperbacks. They can be purchased through your preferred vendor, independent bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Zoom In On Insects series reviewed in School Library Journal

A review of the six titles in the Zoom In On Insects series appears in the August 2014 issue of School Library Journal. Here is an excerpt of that review:

"...these close-up images will engage children—particularly Grasshoppers and Dragonflies."

Geared toward the elementary reader, all of the titles in this series are available from your preferred vendor, independent bookstores, bluewaveclassroom.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. They are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats.

Birthday of Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Who was she? Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an important and influential journalist at a time when few women

had careers. She wrote articles about unfair laws and how African Americans were being hurt. She brought violence against African Americans to the attention of the American people through newspaper articles.

Written by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, this elementary-level title is perfect for the beginning reader. This title, and the rest of the titles in the Famous African Americans series, are correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards, and are available from your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Stephanie Kwolek has passed away at the age of 90

Stephanie Kwolek, the American chemist who invented Kevlar®, has passed away.

Countless lives have been saved using products made with Kevlar®, a superstrong fiber invented by Stephanie Kwolek. From bullet-resistant vests to brake pads, her efforts have made the world a safer place.

Written for the upper elementary reader, this title (and the others in the Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas series) are available in library, paperback, and ebook formats, and can be purchased through your preferred vendor, local bookstores, bluewaveclassroom.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Visit Enslow at ALA/Las Vegas Booth #204

Enslow Publishers is proud to continue its decades-long ALA Annual Conference participation this year. You'll find company President Mark Enslow and National Accounts Manager Tim Hoey at the Enslow booth #204. We'll have a daily 30-book raffle, ARCs and samples to take with you, and advance information about our exciting Fall 2014 Blue Wave Classroom print and e-books (including ePub versions suitable for the BYOD school needs!).

See you at ALA/Las Vegas! The exhibition events begin on Friday, June 27th and conclude on Monday, June 30th.

World Cup, Lionel Messi Books Score with Young Readers

The 2014 World Cup, the globe's premier international soccer tournament, began with the excitement of a brilliant Lionel Messi goal. The Argentine striker, considered among the world's best soccer players, is among the Latin stars appearing in the month-long event. Messi is also appearing in two Enslow Publishers' titles this season. Our Speeding Star imprint, designed to encourage young boys to read, features the 48-page Soccer Star Lionel Messi. Author John Albert Torres' well-written text, amplified by excellent color photographs, is an ideal choice for reluctant readers and for those young readers searching for an exciting, quick read on the player.

Enslow's repertoire also features a biography of the South American soccer sensation titled Lionel Messi: A Soccer Star Who Cares. Author Kimberly Gatto's 48-page, full-color biography includes Messi's positive activities in "giving back," as well as fascinating details about his early life and current career.

Both titles are available in paperback, and e-book formats. Buy them now from Blue Wave Classroom/Enslow Publishers, from your preferred vendor, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.com.

A Poem for National Poetry Month

The following poem was taken from Beauty Poetry, a new title in Enslow's Pure Poetry series, and was written by William Shakespeare. The four books in this series each cover a different poetry theme. Each chapter looks at one poem accompanied by detailed analysis discussing the style and technique, poetic devices, and the cultural significance. Every chapter ends with questions, and prompts students to discuss and assess the featured poems.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May;

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

This entire series is correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards, and can be obtained from your preferred vendor, local bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. They are available in paperback, library, and eBook formats.

April is also Financial Literacy month

To help students develop the skills and strategies related to financial planning, saving, and investing, look at

Enslow's new series, Be Smart About Money and Financial Literacy. Written for the middle school reader, each of these six books cover one topic related to money and financial literacy.

Be Smart About Credit, the first title in the series, defines the two ways of looking at debt; the kinds of credit and debt; the costs of credit and debt; what are credit ratings and reports;  knowing rights and responsibilities; and troubleshooting tools. The end of each chapter features a math or word problem.

All six titles in the series are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. There is also a library/eBook bundle. These titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

This series is also correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards.

Happy Birthday Maya Angelou

Written for the middle school reader, this biography of the award-winning poet and Civil Rights activist describes her early life raised by her grandmother in Arkansas. Rising from poverty, she achieved success as a dancer, an actress, a teacher, and an award-winning author. This compelling profile will make readers understand and appreciate why Maya Angelou is one of the best-loved and most fascinating American writers.

Available in library, paperback, and eBook formats, this title is available from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Titles in the African-American Icons series are also correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards.

New series for National Poetry month

Pure Poetry, geared toward the upper middle and high school student, is a series of four titles, with each book focusing on one particular poetry theme. Each chapter looks at one poem accompanied by detailed analysis discussing the style and technique, poetic devices, and the cultural significance. Every chapter ends with questions and prompts for student discussion and assessment.

These titles are correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards, and are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available from your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, local independent bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Two new math series for Spring 2014

Blue Wave Classroom has just published two new math series, one geared toward the elementary reader and the other toward the middle school reader.

Ready for Math, a series for the upper elementary reader, contains six titles, each of which focuses on a different math topic. The clear and inviting design includes many practice problems to aid the student when reviewing math skills.

Easy Genius Math, written for the middle school student, also focuses on one title per math topic, with six books in the series. They are an excellent review or refresher of math skills, and can be used by parents or tutors trying to help the struggling math student.

Both series are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They can be ordered from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Books about insects for Spring

For the lower elementary student looking for books on insects, one of Enslow's latest series, Zoom In on Insects!, is appropriate for that student. These six books are  24 pages, correlated to the Common Core Standards, and contain color photographs.

Written by award-winning author Melissa Stewart, each book focuses on a different insect, describing the different parts of their bodies, their life cycle, and where they live. Each title also includes a words to know section, a list of further resources, and an index.

Available in library, paperback, and eBook formats, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies, grasshoppers, and ladybugs are covered in the Zoom In on Insects! series. These titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstores, bluewaveclassroom.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Who invented the windshield wiper?

With all of the rain and snow affecting the United States, does anyone think about something as simple as who invented the windshield wipers that allow drivers to see in those bad conditions?

Before the invention of the windshield, drivers had to wear goggles to keep rain, snow, and bugs out of their eyes while driving. The first windshield, invented in 1904, could be folded down in case it became so dirty that drivers could not see through it. The other option was to pull over and try to clean the glass with your hand. Some drivers even tried rubbing an onion or carrot on the windshield, thinking that the oil from these vegetables would leave a film on the windshield, and repel the rain. That did not work either.

This 48 page book, written for the upper elementary reader, describes how Mary Anderson came up with her idea, what steps she took to try to patent the idea, and what happened after she allowed the patent to expire. Available in library, paperback, and eBook formats, this title is part of the Inventors at Work! series. This series is correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards. Other inventors in this series include Ruth Wakefield, Willis Haviland Carrier, Percy Spencer, and Jacques Cousteau. These titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, bluewaveclassroom.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

It's National Tooth Fairy Day

Here are some fun facts about teeth. Did you know that when a baby's first teeth come in, they are called milk teeth (also known as "baby teeth") and there are 20 of them? When a child is about five or six, those teeth start falling out (hence the need for the Tooth Fairy) and are replaced by 32 permanent teeth. Cats and dogs also have two sets of teeth, but some reptiles and fish may have many sets of teeth during their lives. Crocodiles and sharks, for example, keep replacing their teeth their entire life.

Handy Health Guide to Your Teeth, one of twelve different titles in Blue Wave Classroom's Handy Health Guides series, is written for the middle school student, describing what role teeth play in our overall health, and how to take care of the teeth you have.

Other titles in the series cover topics such as ADHD, asthma, colds and flu, dyslexia, burns and blisters, and more. All of these titles are available in library and paperback editions, as well as eBooks. They are correlated to the Common Core and are available through your preferred vendor, local bookstore, bluewaveclassroom.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., on his Daytona 500 victory!

After an extended rain delay, the Daytona 500 was run yesterday. Enslow's latest Dale Earnhardt, Jr., biography for the older elementary reader, published in 2011, also describes his foundation, the Dale Jr. Foundation, which helps kids in need reach their goals.

For the slightly older student, Smokin' Race Cars explores the world of stock car racing, giving fans insight into the races.

Both of these titles are available in either hardcover or library binding, as well as in eBook versions. The Dale Earnhardt, Jr., title is available in paperback, and the Smokin' Race Cars title will be available in paperback in the next several weeks. Either title is available from your preferred vendor, your local bookstore, bluewaveclassroom.com, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

New elementary series on insects now available!

Zoom In on Insects! is a six-title series written for the elementary reader. Want to know what  a ladybug eats? Want to see what these insects look like close-up? Written by award-winning author Melissa Stewart, these books look at insects encountered in everyday life.

Other insects covered are bees, butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies, grasshoppers. These books will be correlated to the Common Core. That information will be posted on our website as soon as it is available.

These titles are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available through your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, your local bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

New Civil Rights titles in time for Black History Month

Enslow has just published a new series on the Civil Rights movement called The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in Photographs. This six book series is written for the middle school reader using primary source photographs, with text boxes and captions supplementing the images.

Author David Aretha examines this critical time in American history. Each title covers a different topic: freedom rides, the Montgomery bus boycott, voting rights, the civil rights movement in Birmingham, the Little Rock Nine and school desegregation, and the march on Washington, D.C. for jobs and freedom.

All of these titles are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available from your preferred vendor, local independent bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

African-American Icons

Two subjects from our African-American Icons series performed the opening number on the Grammy awards last night.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are two of the titles in this series. Written for the middle school reader, these 100+ page titles are great for those who want to learn more about these current actors, singers/musicians, authors, and comedians. Other spring 2014 titles in this series include biographies about Chris Rock, Jennifer Hudson, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Tyler Perry. There are also six titles published in spring 2013.

All of these titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. These titles have been correlated to the Common Core, and are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats.

New animal series for middle school students

Get to Know Cat, Dog, and Horse Breeds is a series of three titles, with each 128+ page title focusing on a

different animal. Each title features detailed descriptions of different internationally recognized breeds. These titles are a great page length for the middle school student.

For those that are cat lovers, have you ever heard of the Neva Masquerade? The FIFe (Fédération International Féline) considers this as part of the same breed as the colorpoint Siberian, and not in its own category. How about the Sokoke? This cat is found in the Arabuko-Sokoke rain forest in Kenya.

Have you ever heard of the Polish Tatra Shepherd? This white shepherd breed is closely related to the Great Pyrenees. How about the Entlebuch Cattle Dog and Appenzell Cattle Dog? These breeds were named after their places of origin in Switzerland. Read about a lot more of these lesser known breeds in the Dogs book.

The Horse title goes into detail about a lot of lesser known breeds of horses usually found in the United States. Does the breed Akhal-Teke sound familiar? Thought to be one of the oldest horse breeds in the world, the origin of this breed is from Central Asia. The Berber originated in North Africa. There are only a few purebred Berbers left. Many Berbers have been crossbred with Arabians.

All of these titles are available from your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. They are available in both library and paperback editions.

Free Handout for Children's Poetry Day

To celebrate Children's Poetry Day we've added a new Spring Acrostic Poem handout to our "Free Stuff" over at Blue Wave Classroom. Students will have fun creating their own poems using the letters from the word "spring" to start each line of their poem.

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