Bookstorm - Bookology Magazine

Bookstorm™: No Monkeys, No Chocolate

March 13, 2021August 9, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

We are pleased to feature No Monkeys, No Chocolate as our August book selection, in which author and science writer Melissa Stewart, along with Allen Young and illustrator Nicole Wong share the interdependent ecosystem that creates the right conditions for cacao beans to be grown and harvested so we can produce chocolate. This ecosystem is set in the rainforest of the Amazon, but there are interdependent ecosystems all over the world, vital animals, reptiles, birds, insects, humans, and plants that are necessary for our lives to continue on this earth.… more

Lisa Bullard

May 18, 2016May 17, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

In this interview with Lisa Bullard, author of Turn Left at the Cow, our Bookstorm™ this month, we asked nine questions to which she gave heartfelt answers.
Lisa, thank you for your willingness to share your writing process and your thoughts about mysteries with us. Mysteries have rabid fans and you’ve written a book that’s not only smart and funny and sassy, but it’s a taut thriller.… more

Bookstorm™: Turn Left at the Cow

March 13, 2021May 3, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

Who doesn’t love a mystery? Whether your find them intriguing puzzles or can’t-wait-to-know-the-solution page-turners, a good mystery is engrossing and a little tense. Throw in a little humor, a detailed setting, and well-drawn characters and you have a book you can confidently hand to young readers who are already hooked on the genre and those who have yet to become fans. We are pleased to feature Turn Left at the Cow as our May book selection, written by the expert plotter Lisa Bullard, replete with her characteristic humor.… more

Bookstorm™: A River of Words

March 13, 2021April 5, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

Author Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet have teamed up on a number of picture book biographies about creative artists. We’ve chosen to feature their very first collaboration during this month in which poetry takes the spotlight. By telling us the true story about poet William Carlos Williams’ childhood and growing up, with his clear poetry surrounding the pages, they awaken interest in young people who may think this no-longer-living, ancient (he was born in 1883 and died in 1963) poet is not within reach.… more

Bookstorm™: Chasing Secrets

March 13, 2021February 2, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

Don’t you love a good mystery? Set it in an exotic but familiar city like San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. Create a main character who’s a smart and adventurous young girl with interests frowned upon during that time: science, mathematics, and pursuing a college education. Provide a family and friends who are immensely interesting because they’re so vivid that you’d like to know each one of them.… more

Bookstorm™: Princess Posey

March 13, 2021January 5, 2016 by Vicki Palmquist

Princess Posey and the Crazy, Lazy Vacation

There have been many papers written about why children, teens, and adults like to read books that are published as part of a series. From The Bobbsey Twins to Nancy Drew to the Boxcar Children to Encylopedia Brown to Goosebumps to The Babysitters Club to Redwall to Warriors (drawing in a long breath) … okay, you get the idea.… more

Bookstorm™: Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall

March 13, 2021November 3, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

This month, we are pleased to feature Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall, written by Anita Silvey, with photographs and book designed by the incredible team at National Geographic. This book is not only fascinating to read, it’s a beautiful reading experience as well. It’s not often that a book offers us a glimpse into the childhood of a woman who has followed a brave, and caring, career path, but also follows her through more than 50 years in that chosen profession, describing her work, discoveries, and her passion for the mammals with whom she works.… more

Bookstorm™: Chasing Freedom

March 13, 2021September 1, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Chasing Freedom
The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts
written by Nikki Grimes
illustrated by Michele Wood
Orchard Books, 2015
As Nikki Grimes writes in her author’s note for this book, “History is often taught in bits and pieces, and students rarely get the notion that these bits and pieces are connected.”… more

Bookstorm: Catch You Later, Traitor

March 13, 2021August 4, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Catch You Later, Traitor written by Avi
Algonquin Books for Young Readers, 2015 The early 1950s in the United States was a time when soldiers and medical personnel had returned home from the two theaters of World War II, Communism was talked about as something to be feared, and colleagues and neighbors were asked to testify against people who were suspected to be Communists in America.… more

Bookstorm: The Shadow Hero

March 13, 2021July 7, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Shadow Hero written by Gene Luen Yang
illustrated by Sonny Liew
First Second, 2014 As we become a culture adapted to screens, visuals, and moving pictures, we grow more accustomed to the storytelling form of the graphic novel. For some, their comfort with this combination of visuals and text telling a story satisfies a craving to “see” the story while they’re reading.… more

Bookstorm: Scaly Spotted …

March 13, 2021June 2, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Scaly Spotted
Feathered Frilled:
how do we know what dinosaurs really looked like? written by Catherine Thimmesh
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2013 No human being has ever seen a triceratops or velociraptor or even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. They left behind only their impressive bones. So how can scientists know what color dinosaurs were? Or if their flesh was scaly or feathered?… more

Bookstorm: Lowriders in Space

March 13, 2021May 5, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Lowriders in Space
written by Cathy Camper
illustrated by Raul the Third
published by Chronicle Books, 2014 “Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack, and Elirio Malaria love working with cars. You name it, they can fix it. But the team’s favorite cars of all are lowriders — cars that hip and hop, dip and drop, go low and slow, bajito y suavecito.… more

Bookstorm: Catherine, Called Birdy

March 13, 2021April 7, 2015 by Vicki Palmquist

In this Bookstorm™: Catherine, Called Birdy written by Karen Cushman
published by Clarion Books, 1994
Newbery Honor book “Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life.” Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man – any rich man, no matter how awful. But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing.… more

Bookstorm: Leroy Ninker Saddles Up

March 13, 2021March 3, 2015 by Steven Palmquist

Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn’t have is a horse — until he meets Maybelline, that is, and then it’s love at first sight. Maybelline loves spaghetti and sweet nothings, and she loves Leroy, too. But when Leroy forgets the third and final rule of caring for Maybelline, disaster ensues. Can Leroy wrestle fate to the ground, rescue the horse of his heart, and lasso loneliness for good? Join Leroy, Maybelline, and a cast of familiar characters — Stella, Frank, Mrs. Watson, and everyone’s favorite porcine wonder, Mercy — for some hilarious and heartfelt horsing around on Deckawoo Drive.