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The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
29 Wednesday Nov 2017
Posted in Children's Books, Fantasy
Category Archives: Children’s Books
Welcome to New Zealand: a Nature Journal by Sandra Morris
05 Thursday May 2016
Posted in Children's Books, Non-Fiction, science
When I found this book available for review, I hoped that this might be a book about the flora and fauna of New Zealand, a place that has long fascinated me. I was mistaken. It is about how to make a journal of one’s own environment. The author informs the reader what to look for in his/her own neighborhood, and gives examples of the materials needed. She also give suggestions of how to enter the findings into a nature journal.
The artwork is done by the writer. It is mostly watercolor and pen and ink drawings. It is very pretty and welcomes the eye to explore the pages, even as it encourages the reader to explore the out-of-doors. It does have a glossary and an index to aid in research. I recommend this book for the elementary reader, ages nine through twelve.
Jump Back, Paul by Sally Derby
08 Friday Jan 2016
Posted in Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction
This well-researched, excellently written biography of Paul Laurence Dunbar will be one that middle school and high school libraries will definitely want in their collection. Along with Dunbar’s life story, Derby also gives the reader a sampling Dunbar’s poetry. She tells the reader how to read the dialect poems so that the words sound like actual speech.
The facts about Dunbar’s life are delivered in a chatty style that make the reader feel as if Derby were talking directly to him or her. She even uses the first person pronoun, “I” at times to make the reader think that she has first-hand knowledge of what she is telling him about Dunbar. Sean Qaulls completes the book with his pen and ink sketches for the book. I loved the use of pen and ink as the medium for the drawings since the book itself is about a man whose life was using pen and ink. Derby presents us with a chronology of events that affected Dunbar’s life. She includes extra notes and information about each chapter, a bibliography for those who want to know more about him, and an index for the researcher.
I suppose that Derby could not cover everything about Dunbar’s life, and perhaps some of the facts, such as his alcoholism and drug addiction, might be difficult for younger readers to fully understand. However, I think she paints his wife, Alice, as more of a villain than she actually is. Her parents were upwardly-mobile blacks and were very upset that she had married a man with such dark skin. Dunbar’s mother was upset that he had chosen Alice over her and that Alice was very light in color. I believe that both sides had a great deal to do with their separation, and I think it was especially sad that Alice did not receive any communication from his mother when he became very ill. Alice had asked a family friend that she be notified if he got worse because she wasn’t on good terms with his mother; however, that friend suddenly died shortly before Dunbar passed away. None of this changes my opinion about the quality of this book. I still highly recommend it for upper elementary and high school readers.
Just a Teacher’s Pet by Mercer Mayer
16 Monday Nov 2015
Posted in Children's Books
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A new girl comes to school. She ingratiates herself to the teacher by doing all sorts of favors for her. She bosses the other kids around by telling them what to do and when to be quiet. These behaviors rankle the rest of the class. Then, when the children play a ballgame with the older kids, the statement is actually made,”But at least the teacher’s pet can’t tell us what to do.” However, the teacher tells them not to forget to invite the new girl to play. During the game, the new girl hits a home run, and their class wins the game. After that, all the kids want her on their team.
This is a cute little story about how children really do treat each other. It is a good beginning reader. I definitely recommend it for the primary school library.
Forces of Nature by Nate Ball
16 Monday Nov 2015
Posted in Children's Books, Science Fiction
This is number 6 of The Alien in My Pocket series. Zach McGee and Amp, the small alien that lives with him go on a family camping trip. Amp wasn’t supposed to go, but Zach’s little brother left the door to his room open, and Amp came along without Zach knowing it. Zach’s friend, Olivia, who knows about Amp, was allowed to come along with the family on the trip. Zach, Amp, and Olivia manage to get lost in the woods, but Amp teaches them how to make a compass that works, and they find their way out of the woods.
While the story, by itself is a interesting, I like the extra science information given both in the story and at the end of the book. Elementary readers will enjoy reading more of the adventures of Zach and Amp, and they will learn more about science as they read.
Bridget Wilder: Spy-in-Training by Jonathan Bernstein
16 Monday Nov 2015
Posted in Children's Books
Bridget Wilder’s family sometimes treats her as if she doesn’t exist. They even forgot her birthday. To be fair, they are only her adoptive family. They took her in when her own parents disappeared. However, someone knows it is her birthday because they gave her a goody bag with strange things in it: dorky glasses, gross-flavored lip gloss and a broken smartphone.
Her world begins to change – and so does she – when the phone begins to ring, and she receives her first assignment as a CIA super agent. She is introduced to Section 23, a covert CIA department so secret that the CIA doesn’t even acknowledge that it exists. She even finds out that her real father is Carter Strike, a top CIA agent involved in saving the world. However, she soon learns that things are not always as they seem; and not everyone can be trusted.
This is a cute little story for elementary readers in grades 4-8 that just might turn into a Bridget Wilder series
Petlandia by Peter Hannan
28 Thursday May 2015
Posted in Children's Books, Political fiction
When the Finkelblurts, the humans who live in the same house as the cat, Madame Wigglesworth, bring home a dog named Grub, Madame Wigglesworth is NOT pleased. She especially dislikes how much attention the dog is getting.
She begins to suffer from “stark-raving nutjob-it is” or AWK “aggravated wackadoodle disorder.” She decides the humans must be punished for hurting her so much. In order to do this she enlists the help Honeybaked, the hamster and Clowney, the fish. Together they cause so much chaos they kick out the humans and establish Petlandia.
But, when Grub, not Madame Wigglesworth, is elected as president of Petlandia, she goes into over-drive and sets out to bring in more voters to Petlandia to get her rightful position as president. She enlists the help of the rats who live in the basement, but Honeybaked then goes to the attic and enlists the bats. So, the battle for Petlandia begins. More and more voters are brought in until Petlandia actually falls. It is a cute little chapter book similar to Animal Farm about political power and the corruption it can bring.
Because of the upcoming presidential elections, it may pick up readership. One cannot help but see the similarities between Madame Wigglesworth and Hillary Clinton. A political fiction for little kids, is that is good idea.? You be the judge. It is a good story for the elementary reader in grades three- five. I recommend it for those readers.
A Penny For Your Thoughts by Pat Brown
01 Friday May 2015
Posted in Children's Books, Picture Books
Today we are experiencing much racial unrest and divide in our society. I would like to offer my book, A Penny for Your Thoughts, as a way of discussing racial differences with a Christian perspective. How a little boy begins to understand the reason for differences of skin color is theme of this story.
This book began to take root in my mind many years ago while I was attending college. I started to think that our racial problems would begin to disappear when enough intermarriage occurred so that we were all tan or brown in color.
However, as time went on I began to learn that we need to appreciate our differences, and that God didn’t make a mistake when He mad us different in color.
Time passed and my daughter married an African-American (He gets upset when I say that. He says, “I am an American, and I have black skin: I am not some hyphenated American). I use that phrase because it seems to be the most acceptable one for our culture in spite of what my son-in-law believes. My daughter had two boys. The older of the two has lighter skin than his brother. The younger boy asked me one day when he was about three, “Grandma, when will my skin look like yours and mom’s.” I told him that it would never look like ours, but that wasn’t a mistake because God made him just the way he should be.
From that conversation grew the story you will find in A Penny For Your Thoughts. It is available from me or through Amazon. A few libraries also carry it. It is a picture book intended for Pre-K through grade two – or as a read-aloud.
Fun Book of Scary Stuff by Emily Jenkins.
12 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Children's Books
This is a cute book about a boy who is afraid of most everything. His best friend, his dog, helps him to see that most of what he is afraid of hasn’t happened or can’t happen. He learns that when you “turn on the light” that is understand what is real and what isn’t – the fear goes away. I like this for a read-aloud for preschoolers and as a first reader for K-2.
Many children are afraid of things that they just really don’t know about, like witches and trolls and things in the dark. This book helps them understand that our mind makes us think things are worse than they are.
My Name is Truth: the life of Sojourner Truth by Ann Turner
10 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction, Picture Books
Finding non-fiction for young readers is sometimes challenging. Finding good biographies about women is also a challenge. This book meets those challenges in an exceptional way. Sojourner Truth’s belief in God shines through clearly without being “preachy.” Her strength of character is obvious, but she is also shown as having fears and sometimes doubts about herself. She is a very real woman.
Ann Turner tells the story of Sojourner Truth to younger readers using Truth’s own words. James Ransome has done a fantastic job with the illustrations. Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree. She was one of at least 10 children born to her parents. Her mother instilled in her a love for God and a good knowledge of right and wrong.
Her last owner was very cruel and worked Isabella like a draft horse because she was tall and strong. New York was set to abolish slavery in 1827 and her owner had told her that she would go free a year before that happened, but she was injured and her owner refused to let her go, so she escaped with her baby Sophia.
She had to leave her three other children with her former owner because she could not take all four of them on her flight to freedom. When she found out that Mr. Dumont, her former owner has sold her son, Peter, she went to court and won his release. (This was the first case of its kind in the U.S.).
She took the name Sojourner Truth many years later and became a strong voice in the abolitionist movement and with William Lloyd Garrison to free all slaves. I think the book will appeal to children of all ages; however, is specifically designed for grades 1-3. I would highly recommend its purchase for any elementary library.
