Crossover Review

Hello, everyone, from Scotland! I have a review of Siobhan Dowd's latest (last?) novel, Solace of the Road, up over at Crossover.

(Poetry Friday) Book Review: Our California

As bright and beautiful as California itself, Pam Munoz Ryan's Our California makes a wonderful gift for young residents of the golden state or for those planning to visit soon.

Pam Munoz Ryan takes a trip to fourteen California cities and regions, dedicating a few lines of verse to each. Ryan's California road trip begins in San Diego ("Start in the south of this golden land,/in fair San Diego, where vistas are grand") and ends in Palm Springs ("Put up your feet and enjoy the poolside.") Along the way, readers visit Yosemite, Sonoma, San Francisco, and the Central Valley.

Rafael Lopez's illustrations are stunning--they are bright and colorful and grand in the best California tradition. (Think Diego Rivera. Yes, I know Rivera is a Mexican artist if we're being precise, but we Californians--Southern Californians, especially--associate Rivera with our state.) Each city or region is devoted a two-page spread infused with sunlight and the deep colors of nature.

Information about California and each city and region featured in Our California is included in the back of the book. Our California is best suited for children ages two to six years old.
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Today's Poetry Friday entry comes from Our California and concerns The Channel Islands:

Now, the Channel islands! Take a boat out
and cruise these blue waters to glimpse a whale's spout.
Here in the Pacific, among the kelp strips,
are playful sea otters and the ghosts of old ships.

A very happy Poetry Friday to you all! The roundup is at Charlotte's Library.

Book Review: Cool Zone with the Pain & the Great One

The Pain and the Great One return in the 2008 Cool Zone with the Pain & the Great One. (Judy Blume's first Pain and Great One chapter book, Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One, came out in 2007.) This time the brother and sister duo face bullying at school, the dreaded school bus, name changes, pet show and tell, and art class.

Blume wrote The Pain & the Great One series for newly independent readers and the series is perfect for kids heading into kindergarten and the first through fourth grades. Blume's remarkable understanding of child psychology and trademark dialogue make The Pain & the Great One as important and entertaining as Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret is for older children. The Pain and the Great One narrate alternating stories each in distinct voices. The Great One is bossy, wants to stand out from the crowd (changes her name from Abigail to Violet Rose), and protective (goes after a bully who picks on the Pain). The Pain is inquisitive, sweet, and, of course, can be a pest. Take a look at how this conversation--narrated by the Pain--tells us all we need to know about the siblings (and their grandmother):

"'Grandma never should have given you that magnifying glass,' the Great One said. 'You're way too young.'

'Am not!'

'Are too!'

The next time Grandma came to visit, the Great One said, 'I don't think Jake is old enough to have his own magnifying glass.'

'I do,' Grandma said. 'He's interested in science.'

'Ha ha,' I said to the Great One. 'I'm interested in science.'

'I'm interested in science too,' the Great One said. 'Ms. Valdez is my favorite teacher and she teaches science.'

'I'm glad to hear that,' Grandma said.

'But no one ever gave me a magnifying glass from the science museum,' the Great One told her.

'Did you ever ask for one?' Grandma said.

'No.'

'Well, that explains it,' Grandma said. 'Now I know what you'd like for your next birthday.'"

Any child with a sibling will recognize the truth in this conversation. Cool Zone with the Pain & the Great One is highly recommended for anyone with a sibling (or anyone who wants to rejoice in being an only child), anyone in elementary school, and anyone anywhere who enjoys a good story and great narration. Enjoy.

Book Review: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One

Judy Blume is a hero of mine: She turns the everyday into humorous, entertaining, thought-provoking stories any child or teen can relate to and find solace in. So, when I was offered the opportunity to ask Judy Blume five questions for an upcoming September blog tour, I jumped at the chance and began reading the series she'll be talking about--The Pain and the Great One. (The third volume in this series for readers ages four to eight--Going, Going, Gone! With The Pain and the Great One--will be out this Fall.)

When I cracked open Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One, I was in San Francisco visiting my sister.

"Wow," I said to her. "This book is great. But it seems familiar."

"It is familiar," she said. "Don't you remember? There's a Pain and the Great One story in Free to Be...You and Me. You were the Great One and I was the Pain."

Talk about a blast from the past. Once she mentioned me calling her "the Pain," it all came back. Free to Be...You and Me was a staple in our home. My sister and I had it memorized. I'm sorry I called you the Pain, Kara!

So after thirty three years Judy Blume brings the Pain and the Great One back for more adventures in the 2007 Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One. (The first The Pain and the Great One was published as a picture book in 1974.) And the Pain--a first-grade boy named Jacob--and the Great One--a third-grade girl named Abigail--are just as relevant as they were in the 1970s. Sibling rivalry never gets old.

In Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One, the Pain faces a dreaded hair cut, plays soccer, and teases his sister. The Great One has bigger problems: She's in third grade and can't ride a bike. Even the Pain can ride a bike! Abigail has resorted to telling her friends she Rollerblades faster than they can bike and that her bike is broken anyway. It's a delicate situation and not the only sticky scenario Abigail faces: She also throws a half birthday party only one child can attend and changes her name to Violet Rose--an attempt at originality that fails miserably.

See? Everyday, humorous kid situations. But Blume's sympathetic touch and skillful narrative technique make Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One a winner. This book--a book written for newly emergent readers--had me turning the pages past midnight. The alternating narration between the Pain and the Great One works beautifully--each voice is distinct and neither the Pain nor the Great One dominates the story. Indeed, the story is forged from their two, and sometimes conflicting, points of view.

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One is highly recommended for all children ages four to nine and to anyone of any age who has a sibling. Enjoy!

A review of Cool Zone with the Pain & the Great One will follow later this week.

Book Review: Just Henry, by Michelle Magorian

I don't know if you've noticed, but the world isn't the most cheerful of places to be lately. Economic misery. Food shortages. War. Genocide. If I were a kid today, I'd want a good book to take me away from it all. Michelle Magorian's Just Henry is also set in a difficult time--in post war Britain (1949), when rationing is still in effect, when houses still standing are lived in amongst the ruins, when people's fathers are called deserters or heroes, regardless of the evidence.

Henry Dodge's father is one of the heroes--a man who saved another solider, but died in the effort. Henry now lives with his mother and his stepfather, Bill Carpenter, in Swansea, but Henry misses his real father terribly. Indeed, Henry wants to be just like his father: he aims for manual labor, instead of book learning; he despises his stepfather, who goes for a High School Certificate despite the fact he works on the trains; and Henry shuns the boys whose fathers are not so heroic--the sons of deserters and the illegitimate.

But everything changes for Henry when he enters his last year of school. First of all, he has a teacher, Mr. Finch, who is interested in him and his fellow last-formers, even though they've been written out of higher education because of poor exam results. Mr. Finch gives them a project--they can research whatever they're interested in, but they must research the topic as it was in the Victorian Era. Henry is obsessed with film--he works at the local grocery to earn money to go to the cinema--so, of course, chooses early cinema as his topic. Too bad the other two boys, who also choose film, are the sons of a deserter and an illegitimate boy.

Henry's world soon turns upside down. His Gran, who lives with Henry, Henry's mother and stepfather, warns Henry against associating with these two boys. But Henry's teacher and a new friend--an intelligent and independent woman named Mrs. Beaumont--tell Henry he must work with the social outcasts. Henry soon learns that his assumptions of others are ill-founded and that the world is changing. Henry must face the old world in order to live in the new.

There are many twists and turns in Just Henry's plot, so there's no point in outlining them all. This is a book whose pages you'll have to stop yourself from turning . (Or reread, if you just can't help speeding ahead.) Henry is a great character--one who grows up, adapts to the times, and finds his own way. There's much wish fulfillment in Just Henry. All the young people find a place in the new Britain. But, maybe, wish fulfillment and Just Henry is exactly what young people need today.

Just Henry is highly, highly recommended for all people ages ten and up.
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Just Henry was one of three books I wanted to find during my 12 days in the U.K. I checked every major bookstore I could find in the Highlands. Nothing! It was backordered. Finally I found an independent bookstore in Banchory where I picked up an autographed copy.

I checked re: U.S. publication dates and could find nothing.
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Michelle Magorian is author of one of my top-10 books for children: Goodnight, Mister Tom.

Book Review and Giveaway: Alec Flint Super Sleuth: The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure

First--the book giveaway: Scholastic is running an Alec Flint, Super Sleuth contest. The first three people to e-mail jill@jillsantopolo.com with their mailing address, saying that they read this message on Big A little a and correctly cracking the coded message below will receive a free, autographed copy of The Nina, The Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure. (Hint: The key to Alec and Gina's code is over on www.jillsantopolo.com)

Here's the coded message that needs to be cracked: RM ULFIGVVM SFMWIVW MRMVGB GDL, XLOFNYFH HZROVW GSV LXVZM YOFV.

Get to it, super sleuths!

Now for the review:

Children love a good mystery and Jill Santopolo's Alec Flint Super Sleuth: The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure delivers.

Alec Flint is in the fourth grade and on a mission: He's in training to become a super sleuth. His training program is mostly self-designed, but Alec does have one great advantage--his dad's a police officer. One morning, when Mom is away on a business trip, Alec tags along with Dad on a case. At the local history museum, the Christopher Columbus exhibit has gone missing.

Like most fourth graders, Alec Flint is tired of Christopher Columbus and the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. But this is a mystery too good to miss. Now all he needs are some clues and a partner.

A partner shows up where Alec least expects one--in the form of the smartest girl in his math class, Gina Rossi. She has a mystery of her own troubling her: What happened to their art teacher, Ms. Blume? Ms. Blume is mising, right before her wedding, and no one can find her to unlock the art cabinet at the school. Gina's just the partner Alec needs. Not only is she smart, but she brings her own mystery to the team (and a secret code to boot).

Alec Flint Super Sleuth: The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure is the first in a series of mysteries written for children just reading chapter books on their own. Although Alec is in the fourth grade, this mystery is perfect for children as young as six if they are reading fluently. Alec is a character children will relate to--he's an earnest kid who is just looking to improve his sleuthing skills. Alec Flint has a great future with the elementary school market: Start practicing your code today!

Book Review: Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Frank Cottrell Boyce has done the impossible: He's made me read a book that involves space travel.* Yeah, I'll admit it. I'm one of those readers who will not read books that involve spacesuits, space vehicles of any kind, and weightlessness--fiction or non fiction. All those details about Mach this and Light Year that make me, well, space out.

The hero of Cosmic--Boyce's third novel for young adult readers--is much taller than his eleven-year-old peers. In fact, Liam is mistaken for an adult because of his height and facial hair. When he hangs out with his friend from theater group, a celebrity-obsessed girl named Florida, they pass as a father and child. They can enter shops off-limit to kids without accompanying parents! When Liam is mistaken for his father because of some cellphone shenanigans and wins a once-in-a-lifetime trip on a top-secret space rocket housed in China, he convinces Florida to accompany him as his child.+

When Florida and Liam arrive to China, they find they are one of four father-child teams. Liam takes to his role as "Dad" with great success, especially when matched against the other competitive father-son teams. One Dad and his kid are all about making money, another pair is all about success (Dad writes self-help books about overcoming fear and being successful), and the third pair is comprised of father-son math geniuses. Compared to his competition, Liam is an ordinary Dad--nothing special, really--but his eleven-year-old sense of fun and his true compassion for all the kids, not just Florida, sets him above his middle-aged pack.

While Cosmic does involve a trip around and to the moon, in the end it's about being a kid who has to grow up too fast. Liam is forced into adulthood because of his size, but his space-traveling peers have grown up too quickly because of their success-oriented parents. A good Dad, like Liam's own--who is home in Liverpool thinking his son is on a trip to the Lake District--and what Liam himself becomes on the space trip, allows his kids to grow up at their own pace and to have a little fun along the way.

I listened to Cosmic via an audible download because I could not wait for its July 30th release in the States. While the audiobook is fantastic, I wish I had the paper copy to quote from: There are so many funny and bittersweet lines on growing up and on being a dad in Cosmic. Still, narrator Daniel Ryan does a bang-up job bringing Liam and Cosmic to life. If you have a long roadtrip ahead of you, this audiobook is highly recommended for all children (and their parents) ages eight and up. As Liam would say--this book is cosmic!
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* Other than Frank Cottrell Boyce, only Ian McEwan, Kate Atkinson, and Philip Pullman could get me to read a book about space.
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+ I'm sure there is a better description than "cellphone shenanigans," but, again, as much as I love technology, I sure hate to read about it.
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Monica Edinger posted her review of Cosmic today too! You can find it here at educating alice.

Book Review: Love & Lies: Marisol's Story, by Ellen Wittlinger

Eighteen-year-old Marisol Guzman knows what she wants out of life and how to get it. She came out two years ago and is ready for adult life and true love. Marisol's been accepted to Stanford, but has deferred for a year to write her first novel. She's found a job in an old-school cafe in Harvard Square, signed up for a writing class, and moved into a rundown apartment with her best friend Birdie. Marisol is ready: Let life begin!

Only life's not that simple, is it? First Marisol falls prey to her older, glamorous writing teacher, Olivia Frost. Then Birdie brings a new (and large) boyfriend and a few scruffy pets into their already crowded apartment. Marisol's new friend Lee, a sweet teen from Indiana who is living temporarily with her sister in Boston, falls in love with Marisol, while Marisol just wants to be Lee's friend and mentor.

It's a teenagery mess, isn't it? But what makes Love & Lies: Marisol's Story stand out from the crowd is Wittlinger's characterization and unflinching eye for the truth. Marisol is no shrinking violet and never sells herself short, even when uncertain. She's not even scared on the first day of writing class when she's the youngest student in the room. Comparing herself to another student, Marisol says, "I'm a confident person, so I recognize a fellow egoist, and my ardent hope was that this guy couldn't tell a pronoun from an adjective." It's a pleasure to read a Young Adult novel with a protagonist as forthright and as confident as Marisol. Sure she makes mistakes, but she's always on the lookout for a new experience and something to write about.

And speaking of writing, the first novel plays a big role in Love & Lies. As Marisol writes her first novel, she finds she puts a lot of her own life in her scribblings. And by following Olivia's writing advice (which all turns out to be plagiarized), Marisol learns she has a story to tell even though she's just eighteen years old. Highly recommended.

Love & Lies: Marisol's Story is a companion book to Wittlinger's Hard Love (2001).

Love & Lies: Marisol's Story will be out in July 2008 from Simon & Schuster.
Review copy

Book Review: When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm

Have you read many children's books on the Silurian and and Devonian eras? Probably not as the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods are the real stars of children's non fiction. Hannah Bonner's When the Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before the Dinosaurs remedies Dino-dominance of the prehistory market with a focus on a fascinating period when the forests formed, dirt was born, and creatures scurried out from the seas.

Bonner begins with the oceans and what was happening 430 million years ago: "A warm, shallow sea covered most of North America. In it, zillions of animals were busy eating algae, plankton, and one another." Then we move to land--what was there first (lichens) and what "crawled out of the water to join the fun" (arthropods). Plants, bugs, and dirt come next, followed by a big change in the fish world--jaws. And you all know what comes with jaws, right? Sharks! (And other scary creatures like Placoderms and Acanthodians.) Forests (my favorite) and more bugs come next and, then, a section on "how we got feet."

Bonner's text is straightforward and lively--best suited for children ages seven through twelve. The central illustrations are realistic, but each two-page spread is accented with cartoons and silly jokes and sayings. ("Eek! There's a humongous fungus among us!") When the Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm serves up prehistory with panache and fun. Highly recommended.*
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*Is it a bad thing to admit I learned a lot from this book? I hope not, because it's true. Be kind: Literature is my field.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Suite 101 (review by Elizabeth Yetter)
Greg Leitich Smith

And don't miss Cynthia Leitich Smith's interview with Hannah Bonner at Cynsations.
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The Non Fiction Monday roundup is at Anastasia Suen's 6 Traits blog.

Book Review: The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine

Everything seems to be happening to Dylan Fontaine. He ends up in jail for carrying two bags of underwear out of a store before paying in an effort to avoid a chance meeting with his mother. Dylan's home life is a disaster: Mom's left home, Dad's working 24-7 as usual, and Dylan's older brother Randy is smoking more and more pot. To make matters worse, the members of Randy's rock band have moved into the Fontaine home turning it into a smelly (and loud) pigsty.

Dylan grew up in his brother's shadow: Randy, Dylan thinks, is smarter and a better musician than he is. But now Dylan is watching Randy self-combust. Randy's band only plays covers, instead of Randy's original music. Someone in the band, Dylan thinks, is dealing drugs. Could it be Randy?

Dylan's a confused mess when his best friend Angie shows up in his life again. A student taking a NYU film course, she wants Dylan to help her with a film project. Before long the film is about Dylan and is titled "The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine." In the midst of all this chaos, it's time for Dylan to come into his own. Angie sees it. A girl in his art class, who critiques Dylan's drawing, saying "I think Dylan is at a point in his artistic career where he should...find his own style," sees it. Finally, Dylan sees it too.

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine is a quick read, but one with lasting impact. Dylan is a normal kid with interests in music, sports, and art--"an ordinary dude...taking a few chances, finding humor in the world, and discovering who he is." Highly recommended.

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine
by April Lurie
Delacorte Press
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Other blog reviews:

Becky's Book Reviews
Hope's Bookshelf
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Best Book Review Ever: Tad Hills's What's Up Duck: A Book of Opposites

My nephew reviewed Tad Hills's newest toddler book, What's Up Duck?: A Book of Opposites, for me this week. Just press play! His reaction to What's Up Duck? tells more than any review I could ever write would. Enjoy!

I'm thinking of hiring my nephew. He's a great reviewer.

Book Review: What I Was, by Meg Rosoff

Count me amongst Meg Rosoff's fans: I appreciate her off-kilter view on the world, her odd protagonists, and the room she leaves in her novels for the reader to think while events unfold.

What I Was is Rosoff's third novel and the second with a male narrator. This narrator tells his tale from the vantage point of old age, though his story concerns a brief period in his life while a student at a sub par boarding school in the 1960s. St. Oswald's is the type of institution that takes boys who have failed elsewhere. It is a grim establishment with gates, gray food, cold dorms, rats, and cruel boys. It's not surprising, then, that the narrator--Hilary--becomes distracted by Finn, a boy his age who lives by himself in a hut on an island.

Finn is entirely self-sufficient and no one knows he lives alone in his hut by the sea. Hilary visits as often as he can, bringing food and supplies, enduring Finn's silences because Hilary simply can't help himself. He's attracted to Finn, wants to be Finn. Hilary sneaks out of school, violates curfews, and lies to his roommates--all to be with Finn. Hilary's movements don't go unnoticed, however. One of his roommates is as attracted to Hilary as Hilary is to Finn.

What I Was is a quiet story of adolescent obsession until events come to a head. Finn falls seriously ill and Hilary must decide whether or not to alert authorities, a violent storm floods the hut and kills Hilary's schoolboy stalker. And Hilary learns something about Finn that he (and the reader) never suspects.

Hilary is not a sympathetic narrator. He's distant--to himself and to others. But he does narrate the truth and his story is one worth reading. What I Was is highly recommended for teen and adult readers.
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Other Blog Reviews:

BookLove
In the Tower
Monsters and Critics
Lewiston Public Library
Slacks for Ella Funt

Book Review: Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World

Jan Greenberg's ambitious poetry anthology Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World is an excellent poetry choice for readers ages ten and up. Greenberg explains her goal is to share the tradition of ekphrasis, "poetry inspired by art," practiced by poets from all over the world. To this end, each poem (all by living artists except one--"The Girl with the Pitcher," by Aleksandr Pushkin) is presented in its original and in translation. Accompanying each set--the original and the translation--are reproductions, or photographs, of the famous works of art that inspired them.

Greenberg divides the book into four sections: Stories ("the poet looks at an artwork and imagines a story"); Voices ("the poet enters the canvas and speaks in the voice of the subject depicted there"); Expression ("the poet is interested in the transaction that takes place between the viewer and the art object"); and Impressions ("the poet identifies the subject of the artwork and describes what he or she sees in the elements of the composition..."). Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, the book is beautifully produced and will draw the young reader in.

Language Geeks--I use the term lovingly, as I am one myself--will particularly appreciate Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. It's a thrill to see the Polish, and the Russian, and the Arabic, and the Japanese there before you on the page. Art lovers will be drawn to this volume as well and will delight in the poetry that paintings and other works of art brought forth. Side by Side is a sophisticated work, but one artistic teens will find motivating. It's perfect for Middle School, Junior High, or High School English and Art classes.

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Today's Poetry Friday entry is the Pushkin poem included in Side by Side. First the Russian, and then the English translation (in part) by Carleton Copeland:

Царскосельская статуя

Урну с водой уронив, об утес ее дева разбила.
Дева печально сидит, праздный держа черепок,
Чудо! не сякнет вода, изливаясь из урны разбитой;
Дева, над вечной струей, вечно печальна сидит.

A Statue at Tsarskoye Selo

How did she let the jug slip? Now, alas, on the rock it lies broken.
Sorely the maiden laments, futilely lifting a shard.
....

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Other Blog Reviews:

A Fuse #8
And, hey! Jan Greenberg blogs at I.N.K.
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This week's roundup is over at The Well-Read Child. The schedule for the rest of April, May, and June will be up this weekend!

Book Review: What To Do About Alice?

Barbara Kerley takes on a spirited, uncontrollable historical figure for her latest picture book biography What To Do About Alice? Alice Roosevelt was the eldest child of President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, who said, famously, of his daughter, "I can be president of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."

Kerley focuses on Alice's childhood, youth, and early adulthood--when she tore up the household, refused to go to boarding school (homeschooling herself instead), traveled the world on behalf of her father, and eventually married a congressman. Kerley keeps the tone light and energetic, mirroring her subject: "From the time she was a little girl, Alice ate up the world....Father remarried and had more children. But every morning Alice still cried, 'Now Pig!' until Father gave her a piggyback ride downstairs to breakfast."

Edwin Fotheringham's illustrations are exuberant and colorful. His Teddy Roosevelt--grumpy moustache and all--is the perfect foil to Alice's spirited adventures as he scowls from the edges of many a page.

What to Do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy! is perfect for grade school readers. Spirited children--the ones who drive parents crazy everywhere--have met their match.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Wild Rose Reader
The Excelsior File
Becky's Book Reviews
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Barbara Kerley also has teaching and homeschooling materials available at her site. Check 'em out!

Graphic Novel Review: Flight Explorer Volume I

Flight Explorer Volume I is a collection of graphic shorts for the six-to twelve-year-old reader. Beautifully produced by Villard, this a collection that will appeal to boys and girls, to reluctant and proficient readers. There's something in this volume for everyone: traditional space battles (see cover), cute monsters, animals, boy and girl protagonists.

Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Flight Explorer Volume I contains ten stories from four to twenty pages long. Kazu Kibuishi's story (graphic story?) "Copper: Mushroom Crossing" is the first in the volume and my personal favorite of the ten stories. A boy and his dog are walking along a field of giant mushrooms. The boy can't resist the mushrooms, telling his dog, "Those mushrooms are practically screaming for us to jump on them." And they are, Kibuishi shows us visually. The mushrooms are thick forest of shiny, squishy, jumpy goodness. When the boy jumps into them, his more prudent dog follows. They jump from mushroom to mushroom until the dog falls below the mushroom caps. There the mushrooms give him a talking to, instructing him to take the bridge instead. The story closes with the little boy saying, "I was getting a little worried there. It looked like you were having too much FUN." And the dog replies, "Let's NEVER do that again." But you just know they will. Next time something as awesome as giant talking mushrooms calls them again.*

Johane Matte brings us a regal Egyptian cat, Kean Soo a monster named Jellaby, and Philip Craven an annoying-but-lovable Big Mouth creature. Jake Parker goes with nostalgic space fun in "Missile Mouse," while Steven Hamaker brings a new hero (a fish in a tank) to the space wars. Ben Hatke's "Zita the Space Girl" struggles with robot imitators, while Rad Sechrist's fat cat helps his human friend trick a bunch of neighborhood hecklers. Bannister's funny Tarzan story "Delivery" and Matthew S. Armstrong's charming and sweet "Snow Cap 2nd Verse" round out the collection with humor.

Flight Explorer Volume I is a book every school library and classroom should have on hand. If you're making donations, this is a great one to keep in mind.

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Speaking of reviews, Julie M. Prince reviewed Flight Explorer Volume I for this month's The Edge of the Forest. Also, I have a review of Eric Rohmann'sA Kitten Tale up today over at Book Buds .

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* Unless we read "Copper: Mushroom Crossing" as a drug (or, rather, drug prevention) allegory. Then, I guess, we should hope the boy and his dog don't give into temptation again.

Book Review: Doctor Ted

Ted is a sweet little bear with a strong imagination and an even stronger will. "One morning Ted woke up, got out of bed, and bumped his knee. That's not good, thought Ted. I need a doctor." Because Ted is good natured and resourceful, after looking everywhere and failing to find medical help, "he became a doctor." He collects supplies, creates an office, makes a bandage, sets up a waiting room. And waits. When Ted can't scare up business at home is he discouraged? No. He takes his show on the road to school where his "very germy" patients are "very thankful" for Ted's medical advice.

Until Doctor Ted tries to diagnose his principal, that is. Principal Bigham is not pleased to learn he has gingivitis and bad breath. Nor is he happy to hear he has a fever and foot odor. Principal Bigham sends Doctor Ted home where he takes two cookies and goes straight to bed. Fortunately for the reader, Doctor Ted is not daunted and he lives to heal another day.

Doctor Ted is a charming picture book for the young reader. Best suited for children ages three to seven, Beaty's wry humor shines in her optimistic text. Illustrator Pascal Lemaitre's rounded cartoonish animals and colorful pages complement Doctor Ted's journey through his day of healing perfectly. Read Doctor Ted aloud to a group of children (kindergarten is perfect) and let the pretending (and laughter) begin.


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When I received a copy of Doctor Ted from author Andrea Beaty, my first thought was man, I've missed doctor books. I mean, I've been reviewing children's books for over three years now and I haven't run into a playing doctor book (no, not that kind of playing doctor!) in all this time. The time has surely come for Doctor Ted.

Review: A Little Friendly Advice

Being a best girlfriend isn't easy. Having a best girlfriend isn't easy either. When one girlfriend experiences a crisis, the entire friendship is in jeopardy. This is the premise of Siobhan Vivian's A Little Friendly Advice, a smart Young Adult novel for readers ages thirteen and up.

16-year-old Ruby runs in a pack of four: There's artistic Ruby, smart and social Beth, basketball star and hothead Katherine, and flirtatious, boy-crazy Maria. But Beth and Ruby are best friends within this group and have been since grade school. In fact, Beth has been Ruby's best friend since Ruby's dad disappeared, leaving the family for good.

On the night of Ruby's 16th birthday party, the girls get together to have birthday cake and then head out to drink a smuggled bottle of champagne. And that's when Ruby's dad Jim shows up for the first time in years. Jim's arrival sets of a week-long crisis for Ruby during which Ruby tries to understand why her parents split up, why her dad left, and, most important, why her best friend Beth is keeping secrets from her about Jim.

During this week of turmoil, Ruby also meets her first real boyfriend, tries to come to terms with the volatile Katherine and Katherine's own family problems, and tries to stay afloat at school. But, the heart of the novel is Ruby and Beth’s friendship and what it means to be a best friend: When should you tell the truth, when should you shield your friend from potentially stressful information, and when you should you offer just a little friendly advice?

Told in Ruby's voice, A Little Friendly Advice explores rocky family relationships, first kisses and experiences with alcohol, and, most of all, best friendships. It's a not-to-be-missed honest read for teen girls.
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Other Blog Reviews:

Bildungsroman
Teen Book Review
The Page Flipper
Page Numbered
YPulse
The Book Muncher
Propernoun.net

If I've missed your review, please leave me a comment and I'll update.
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My sun overdose continues. I burned myself yesterday and it was wonderful.

Book Review: Build It Yourself (Non Fiction Monday)

The Do-It-Yourself bug starts early in some children. Certain projects have enduring appeal, like the old paint-your-own-room-with-markers job, or the build-an-igloo-out-of-wet-toilet-paper activity. But, maybe, just maybe, you as a guardian might prefer to channel the creative activity of your youngsters--and give them a little learning in the process to boot. So, if you have a crafty child in your home, classroom, or library, then I highly recommend Nomad Press's Build It Yourself Series.

I read Great Ancient Egypt Projects You can Build Yourself, by Carmella Van Vleet, and Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself, by Kris Bordessa. Both books follow a similar structure: They are organized around historical themes (Egypt--"Foundations of "Ancient Egypt," "Boats," "Hieroglyphs"; Colonial America--"The First Americans," "Life in a Colonial Home," "Colonial Farms and Gardens") and each chapter contains historical information and a few projects of varying complexity. Take, for example, Bordessa's chapter on "Life in a Colonial Home." In this chapter, projects include building your own model Wattle-and-Daub house, creating your own bricks, making straw ticking for a bed, making candles and candle holders, creating your own silhouette and braided rug, and making your own broom. There's something for everyone!

The Build It Yourself books also feature a number of games and toys a child can build, as well as information on the history of the toys and games and how to play them. The volumes also include brief asides on important historical figures, manners of the age, and on language. The Build It Yourself books are best suited for children ages 8 to 12 (third through sixth grades).

Now, get busy!
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Personal note: PJ Hoover! There's a make-your-own papyrus section in Great Ancient Egypt Projects.
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Anastasia Suen hosts the Non Fiction Monday roundups at Picture Book of the Day.

Book Review: Sweethearts

Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl (review here) was one of my favorite Young Adult novels of 2007. Now Zarr is back with her second book, Sweethearts (out February 1), and it is even better than her first.

Now that we're working with a second novel, we can talk about what's so wonderful about Zarr's writing: straightforward prose, emotional honesty, and fully drawn characters make Zarr's Young Adult novels stand out from the pack.

Sweethearts begins with the following premise: What if your childhood best friend--in fact, your only friend--disappears without saying goodbye. Shortly thereafter you hear a rumor at school that he--Cameron Quick--has died, a rumor your own mother confirms. Jennifer Harris suffers from her best friend's disappearance so much that by high school she has turned herself into an entirely different person.

True, other changes in Jennifer's life have contributed to her metamorphosis. She acquires a kind stepfather named Alan, switches schools, and gets her eating habits under control. In addition, her mother--who was so busy finishing nursing school and working at a diner when Jennifer was in elementary school--is now gainfully employed in a professional career and working semi-regular hours. Life is good for the now teenage Jenna. She's updated her name, is popular and thin, and even has a cute boyfriend.

And then Cameron Quick walks back into her life.

Cameron's reappearance causes Jenna to reexamine her current life and her past. Are her new friends as real and true as Cameron was? Do they accept her for who she really is? Why did Cameron leave and why is he back? Does he remember what happened with his father on Jenna's 9th birthday?

Sweethearts is about confronting your past and learning from it. Jenna, Cameron, Jenna's mother and stepfather, and some of Jenna's new friends are complex characters who make difficult and honest decisions. Sweethearts isn't a novel that operates on YA cliches--you won't know ahead of time how Jenna will come to terms with her past, present, and future. You won't be able to guess how her friends will behave and react to Jenna's situation. Even Jenna's parents are drawn with a finely-tipped brush, acting as people, not stereotypes, do.

Sweethearts is Young Adult fiction at its very best. Zarr has crafted an original and compelling story enhanced by unflinching emotional honesty and characters worth your time and care.

Don't miss Sweethearts.
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Other blog reviews:

The Page Flipper
Bildungsroman
Jen Robinson's Book Page
The Well-Read Child
Young Adult (&Kids) Book Central
Bookshop Girl
Kate Messner
Charlotte's Library
Teen Book Review
Bookami
A Patchwork of Books
Kids Lit
Booktopia
Shelf Elf (just posted!)

If I've missed your review, please let me know.
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Sara's on a blog tour at the moment and will stop by here next week. I'll have a roundup of the interviews for you at that time.

Non Fiction Monday: Ox, House, Stick

Anastasia Suen has instituted Non Fiction Mondays on the children's literature blogs: it's the hard-working Monday to the frivolity of Poetry Friday! Join in, won't you?

Today for Non Fiction Monday I bring you a review of a book my mother read and enjoyed greatly.

This review was written by Alice Herold.

Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet, by Don Robb, illustrated by Anne Smith

Scientists interested in the history of languages have traced our alphabet back about 4, 000 years. Ox, House, Stick tells the origin of some of the letters. I was surprised that A was named for an ox in the early Sinaitic alphabet. Turn it upside down and it shows the horns of an ox. Anne Smith contributes helpful pictures on the sides of each page of Ox, House, Stick showing what the letter looked like in Sinaitic, Phoenician, Early Greek, Classical Greek, and Roman Latin.

Robb explains that scientists are fairly certain that our D began as the Phoenician letter daleth meaning door. M in its original Sinaitic form means water. O, P, R, and S came from words for part of the head.

I found it interesting that Greeks wrote in both directions--called "boustrophedon"--which means "as the ox plows," turning at the end of the row to go back the other way.

The Romans became tired of reading words without spaces between them so they began to put a dot between sentences. The dot later became the punctuation mark we call a period.

Ox, House, Stick is an educational, fascinating book especially since I read it one day after visiting the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. Robb includes lists of websites and additional resources at the end of the book.