Stand There! She Shouted The Invincible Photographer

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2014

Review

Befitting its subject, this life story of one of the outstanding portraitists in the history of photography, this book is handsome and well designed with numerous illustrations in acrylic gouache and photographs, of course. Appended along with source notes, bibliography and index is an impressive list of major museums where Julia Cameron's photographs may be seen. An interesting description of her childhood and adult years makes meaningful the later account of Julia's unorthodox but highly successful skills. Of special interest to young people of about ten years and up with an interest in photography, the book includes careful drawings of the earliest cameras. Recommended to budding photographers as well as to both public and school libraries.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Rubin, Susan

Illustrator: Ibatoulline, Bagram

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography, graphic novel

Audience: grades 4-6, grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763657536

Price: 16.99

Harlem Renaissance Artists and Writers

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2014

Review

The Harlem Renaissance will not generally be a familiar historical period for most students. This book is devoted to ten outstanding African-American artists, writers and musicians who helped to make their art, writing, music and social commentary flourish in the Harlem section of New York City in the 1920's and 1930's. The book's overall appearance is excellent: modest in size, short, readable chapters having one and sometimes two photos, well-designed pages, good-sized type in addition to chapter notes, further reading suggestions, and two especially relevant internet addresses appended, along with the index. What is missing is being able to hear Duke Ellington or perhaps listen to Langston Hughes reading his poetry aloud. The two internet addresses help enormously in being capable of bringing the Harlem Renaissance alive for junior and senior high school students or any readers of about twelve years old and up. Recommended, especially to school and public libraries as an excellent introduction to an important era in American history.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Beckman, Wendy

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Enslow Publishers,Inc.

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography, graphic novel

Audience: grades 7-9, grades 10-12, adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780766041653

Price: 23.95

My Cousin's Keeper

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2014

Review

This contemporary story has a title that raises the question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" The story is narrated throughout by Kieran, an eleven year old boy who must slowly come to terms with his eleven year old cousin who arrives to live with both Kieran and his nearby grandmother. The cousin is cruelly bullied at Kieran's school making clear the biblical reference of the title. Bullying is the timely subject in this meaningful and focussed story. Small in size, brief, and without illustration, the book may work best as a read-aloud to third through fifth grade classes, having as it does, an appealing girl among the characters. It should also attract young readers of nine years and up who enjoy reading school stories. While even a few pen and ink drawings might have enriched the story, the book is recommended for its realistic treatment of an important issue and may encourage group discussion.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

French, Simon

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763662790

Price: 16.99

Because They Marched: The People's Campagin for Voting Rights That Changed America

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Retired librarian, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 7, 2014

Review

This book is a highly readable account of the Selma voting rights campaigns of the 1960's filled as it is with photos, drawings and lively quotes from the marchers. The campaigns led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a significant achievement in the civil rights history of the United States. A photo essay in picture book size, the book has eighty pages in eight chapters and includes a time line, source notes, a selected bibliography, index, and most notably, an epilogue that emphasizes the author's focus on bringing important persons and events in the history of the United States to young people. The epilogue makes this book especially timely by clearly describing the striking down of a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court in 2013. Recommended to school and public libraries and to all readers of about fourteen years through adult.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Freedman, Russell

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780823429219

Price: 20.00

The Glass Mountain Tales from Poland

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 10, 2014

Review

This is a highly attractive collection of Polish folktales, having as it does, brilliantly colored drawings in the famed illustrator's distinctive style, an appealing size, and an eye-catching title. It is the fourth book of folktales from other countries by a pair of friends, the author and the illustrator, who visited each country first before creating the retellings and the vibrant drawings. The tales from Poland, Pienkowski's birthplace, offer both mythical and magical explanations for Polish history. The eight stories are preceded by a foreword by Walser who says that he had the pleasure of hearing Pienkowski remembering some of the stories from his childhood followed by a brief essay on the artist's Polish childhood, and finally, most helpful, a short glossary with a pronunciation guide . The book is a winning collection for school and public libraries and for all ages of about eight years and up. It is recommended for consideration as a Cream of the Crop selection.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Walser, reteller, David

Illustrator: Pienkowski, Jan

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy, folklore

Audience: grades k-3, grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763673208

Price: 17.99

Outside In

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 1, 2014

Review

The author, Canadian, has written more than a dozen books for young readers, received a number of literature awards,and has had her books translated in Europe, Japan and China. Outside In is brief, just over two hundred pages, a highly readable story about likable , thirteen year old Lynn who has an unreliable, "free-spirited" mother who keeps her daughter's home life completely unstable. Lynn relies on her close friendship with two classmates until she accidentally meets another girl who lives in a most unusual family that has a very different kind of life. Presented realistically up until this point in the story, the novel now borders on fantasy as Lynn gets to see an "outside in", alternate and perhaps saner way of living than her own. Readers who stay with the story, those with a willing suspension of disbelief and guided by an adroit author will be rewarded. Recommended as an unusual and appealing story for junior high aged girls.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Ellis, Sarah

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Groundwood Books House of Anansi Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781554983674

Price: 16.95

Harriet the Spy

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Bunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 13, 2014

Review

In celebration of one of children's literature's most memorable characters, this special 50th anniversary edition displays the jacket art of the 1964 edition illustrated by the author, a map of Harriet's neighborhood with Harriet's spy route indicated, tributes by fourteen largely authors, and finally original correspondence from the publisher and editor to Louise Fitzhugh. For today's young readers of about ten years old and up and probably mostly girls, it is the story, of course, that will be of interest. It is also today's young readers who will determine whether or not the book remains a lively, realistic page turner. Much has changed in the world since Harriet's story of fifty years ago. If the problems Harriet experiences and their solutions as offered by Ole Golly remain engrossing and timeless ones, then young readers will easily accept Harriet's reaching for her notebook and not her cellphone for many years to come. Highly recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Fitzhugh, Louise

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780385376105

Price: 17.99

Children Growing Up with War

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 13, 2015

Review

The author, a free lance photo journalist, dedicates this book to the children growing up with war, to those inspired to change the world, and to those who want to be photographers. As such, the book then shows the ways in which war affects the lives of children, the helping organizations devoted to relieving their suffering, and the professional photographer's preparations and precautions before proceeding into dangerous areas. Picture book size and with forty eight pages of full-color photographs, the book's end pages display the author's passports, tickets and transfers and includes a map of eighteen of the largely middle eastern countries she has worked in, a list of main conflict areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq each accompanied by a paragraph of their histories, websites listing and describing helping organizations many of which use her photos such as Save the Children, a glossary and an index. Young readers of about fourteen years and up who are already aware that children are growing up with war in places far away from them may find the book's brevity still more than enough deprivation, injury and cruelty to view. War in many places is a part of the current world, and, as such, the book is recommended as one belonging in classrooms teaching history or social studies and certainly on school and public library shelves.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Matthews, Jenny

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763669423

Price: -17.99

Brothers

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Bruswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Brothers is a slight, sweet, sentimental and small-sized picture book, pages unnumbered , easily predicted to become a popular gift book as well as a minor classic, at least by adults. The full-color, often amusing drawings on every page are the work of its prolific author-illustrator and are done in ink and watercolor. The book is not quite a story but more a series of realistic episodes revealing a somewhat idealistic relationship between a pair of brothers of about five and seven years old. Parents of young sons may read Brothers aloud to encourage their own sons' compatibility. Read aloud to a group, the book could easily encourage laughter, comments and personal recollections. Recommended to all ages of about three years and up.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

McPhail, David

Illustrator: McPhail, David

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780544302006

Price: 12.99

Susan Marcus Bends the Rules

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Mmorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

The colorful Jacket illustration suggests a story about racial prejudice. Its narrator, ten year old Susan, recently transplanted from New York City to a small town in Missouri in 1943, makes the book also one of historical fiction. In just over one hundred pages divided into seventeen brief chapters, readers can learn a bit about FDR, the country's President in World War 11, that mailing a letter within the country cost a three cent stamp, what a Victory Garden was and a disease called polio. Adding to her surprise and then immediate opposition to Jim Crow laws, Susan personally encounters dislike of Jews, of the Japanese, of her beloved baseball team, the New York Yankees. The story offers young girls of about nine through eleven or twelve years a thoughtful account of a once feisty new resident who is learning much about the nature of friendships, her success in achieving, through small, realistic steps, with help from new friends, a move towards acceptance of all people. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Cutler, Jane

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780823430475

Price: 16.95

No Place to Fall

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 4, 2015

Review

The dust jacket with its bright red heart and the words: "A girl. A dream. A choice." written below it suggests that this is a romantic story, while the words neatly summarize the story's plot. Sixteen year old Amber is the girl, to use her amazing singing voice before large crowds her dream, and to stay or leave home to attend an arts school her choice. The book's setting is rural, a small town in the mountains of western North Carolina where part of the Appalachian Trail is located. Type size is generous and the chapters are short making for easy reading of the 350 pages of text. Descriptions, noticeably of Amber singing accompanied by banjo or guitar as well as the beauty of the mountain views and countryside, shine in this first novel written by a high school teacher. Buyers and readers do need, however, to be aware of the occasional rough dialogue that includes four letter words and the inclusion of underaged drinking, pot-infused butter in brownies, and first-time sex. As the story unfolds, Amber and her mother both grow and change so that before the book's end Amber is able to choose where her future lies next with confidence. High school aged girls and adults too, both parents and teachers especially, will find insightful the sometimes shocking, funny, or poignant reminders of the enormous amount of choices that confront high schoolers daily. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Brown, Jaye

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper Teen Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062270993

Price: 17.99

John Henry An American Legend

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 11, 2015

Review

John Henry is the story of the legendary steel-driving railroad man "born with a hammer in his hand". Pitted against a steel drill to blast a tunnel through a mountain so that train tracks might be laid, John Henry is faster than the machine but his victory ends his life. This edition, in celebration of the book's 50th anniversary, is large and handsome. Both the Keats retelling of the story and his full-color illustrations can each be described as vibrant, vivid, colorful, dramatic and bold. That is because both text and drawings work in absolute harmony to tell the tale. The reading level is broad. It is a book appropriate for young listeners of about five years and up and for all other readers of any age. Those interested in knowing American and African American literary forms, ballads, tall tales, myths and legends and/or are interested in America's history, especially the opening of the west, will be rewarded. This edition celebrates both the legendary hero, John Henry and the real author illustrator, Ezra Jack Keats for their extraordinary accomplishments. Highly recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Keats, Ezra

Illustrator: the author, the author

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Knopf

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: historical fiction,folklore

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,all ages,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 978055313073

Price: 17.99

Falling Up Special Edition

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 10, 2015

Review

Labelled "special edition", this edition of A Falling Up contains twelve new poems and drawings "the family of Shel Silverstein is pleased to share" from the Silverstein Archives. The twelve poems are in a final section and the eight member picking committee receive a "thank you all" signed by the poet that suggests he had agreed to additional poems and drawings of his to be published in the future. Like the posthumous collection of Silverstein's 2011 Everything On It, the twelve additional verses in this 2015 edition of Falling Up are entertaining and worthy of being included even if not by the poet's own choosing. Established fans are certain to welcome them. Recommended for all ages of about five years and up.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Silverstein, Shel

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Harper Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9,all ages,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780062321336

Price: 19.99

The Maine Coon's Haiku and Other Poems for Cat Lovers

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memoial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 10, 2015

Review

Comic and charming moments highlight the lives of twenty cat breeds. Illustrated digitally with appealing double page spreads throughout, this collection of poems concludes with interesting brief facts about each cat breed appended. While the breed of the cat is the title of each poem, there is neither page numbers nor an index making it necessary to thumb through the pages to find a particular selection. The poet and author of two other haiku collections, Michael Rosen has lifelong experience with animals. He arranges the cat verses in this book into two categories: outside cats and inside cats. With its attractive title, this may be a book that appeals to cat lovers, especially Maine ones, haiku fanciers, creative writing classes, and to reading aloud to primary school classes.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Rosen, Michael

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre: fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: grades 4-6,all ages,adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763664923

Price: 17.99

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine setting

Out and About: A First Book of Poems

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 10, 2015

Review

This is the first U.S. edition of a book first published in Great Britain in 1988. The collection is arranged into the four seasons of the year and it highlights what small children may find in each season when they are out and about. The pen and ink drawings are unmistakably Shirley Hughes. In an author's note Hughes says that for her, words and pictures go together. They do so here harmoniously and create a delightful first book of poems for three to five year olds. Recommended and what a great gift book it makes too!

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Hughes, Shirley

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: realistic fiction,fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763676445

Price: 16.99

Thrift Shopping Discovering Bargains and Hidden Treasures

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 14, 2015

Review

Thrift Shopping is a brief , informative book about shopping for clothing, jewelry, furniture,and other goods that have been previously worn or used by someone else. As such it is a useful book for teens who enjoy shopping in a way that allows their money to stretch further. With an eye-catching cover and full color photos on almost every page, the book's six chapters in sixty four pages include both a bibliography and a useful list of sources of further information. While the basics of thrift shopping are covered in the first two chapters, the other four focus on various types of consignment shops, tips on what is best to look for, how to judge quality, online sites, and how to set up an effective yard sale.The writing is clear, enthusiastic in tone and helpful. Both the pros and cons of using particular sites are outlined. For example, some of the online sites that require shoppers to be eighteen years old are mentioned. Recommended as a lively and attractive guide that may serve best by being on the shelves and readily available for browsing and checking out by teens in public and school libraries.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Donovan, Sandy

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books Lerner

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978146775783

Price: 24.99

My Secret Guide to Paris

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 14, 2015

Review

This brief and entertaining book is all about a first trip to Paris arranged by an adoring, wise, and good humored grandmother. Twelve year old Nora finds letters, three airplane tickets and a Paris "treasure map'' after her adored grandmother's unexpected death. Accompanied by her mother and her fourteen year old brother, the three are off to the famous city. Along the way, grandma's insightful guide offers up some of the city's treasures as well as new friends for Nora and her brother and for all three, mother included, a much more thoughtful understanding of what being a family member entails. In just over two hundred pages and twenty seven obviously short chapters, the book is both readable and carefully structured. Each chapter heading displays a sketch and beneath the drawing: French Lesson: followed by one French word and its English translation. That word, readers will recognize, becomes the focus of that chapter. Informative for enthusiasts of all things French and/or in the city of Paris, the book offers refreshing new places to know about. It is also a cheerful read for girls, especially, of about ages nine through twelve.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Schroeder, Lisa

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545708081

Price: 16.99

Julia and the Art of Practical Travel

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial LIbrary, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 18, 2015

Review

As it begins, this story about eleven year old Julia's trip across America with her aunt seems fresh and engaging. While Julia's aunt drives, it is her niece's voice that narrates just as it is photos from Julia's Brownie camera that illustrate the pages. Greenwich Village, New Orleans, a Texas cattle ranch and San Francisco are all stops along the way from New York and readers do get to meet colorful characters and get a sense of distinct geographical regions. However, readers also are confronted with phrases and with words such as "a badly mixed, too strong gin and tonic", voodoo and "hippie people" all treated stereotypically and making a frequently entertaining story seem inappropriate for the middle grade school audience of about nine through twelve years it is aimed. More disturbing are serious topics such as racial segregation in the south and Julia's mother's abandonment of her daughter being introduced only to be dismissed without any real comment. It is for these reasons that this initially promising, if also improbable story cannot be recommended by this reviewer at least for the young readers it was intended.

Overall Book Score: fair

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About the Book

Author:

Blume, Lesley

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Knopf imprint of Random House

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780385752824

Price: 16.99

The Case of the Vanishing Emerald Book 2

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 18, 2015

Review

Here is a brief but entertaining introduction to mystery stories in this second book in a series titled The Mysteries of Maisie Hitchens. Maisie is a twelve year old living in a boarding house owned and operated by her grandmother in 19th century London. Maisie enjoys puzzles and she wants to be a detective. In a book that can be read independently of other titles in the series, Maisie gets her chance to do some sleuthing when she is asked to be the dresser for an actress who has "lost" an emerald necklace and is also experiencing a series of accidents. Who is playing these tricks? Readers get to observe just how Maisie dismisses ghosts and the supernatural in favor of logical thinking and finding real evidence in order to solve mysteries. The chapters are written in generous-sized type and illustrated throughout with amusing and frequently helpful pen and ink illustrations. Girls of about nine through twelve years may find enough suspense to keep the under 200 pages turning rapidly. They will also get to note the title and some of the plot of the next book coming in the series.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Webb, Holly

Illustrator: Lindsay, Marion

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre: mystery,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780544339279

Price: 14.99

John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 9, 2015

Review

The eye catching title and cover illustration strongly suggest that an exciting adventure in picture book format follows. It does and the colorful drawings done in full color and pastel pencil tell of the naturalist John Muir's adventure when he scoots behind a huge waterfall in Yosemite Valley, California. The book also contains a brief account of some of the highlights of Muir's life. The waterfall adventure is told using generous-sized type along with the lively drawings. On some of the same pages, relevant facts about Muir are printed in smaller size type. While this format does interrupt or at least slow down the story, both younger and older readers are accommodated. The book is both a non-fiction picture book adventure and an intriguing introduction to an exceptional naturalist at a time of heightened interest in the environment. Appended is a two page spread about Muir's popular newspaper columns which described his enthusiasm for the beauty of Yosemite followed by a bibliography for learning more using online sources and books. Recommended to school and public libraries and to independent readers of about seven through twelve years. The book's brevity, illustrations and good story make it a fine choice for reading aloud to a class or one on one.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Danneberg, Julie

Illustrator: Hogan , Jamie

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: adventure,biography / autobiography

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781580895866

Price: 16.95

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine illustrator

I'm an Alien and I Want to Go Home

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 10, 2016

Review

Here is a book with an eye catching title that may attract boys of about ages eight through twelve who like the stories that they read to be funny. It has almost two hundred pages of cheerful sillinesses in thirty one brief chapters that are sprinkled with comic but clarifying black and white drawings. The title might be the words spoken by twelve year old Daniel who is convinced by his family and his school that he is an alien. He is determined to locate and to travel to his rightful home planet. Once readers can accept the unlikely possibility of any boy truly believing that he is an alien, the fun begins. Daniel and his two friends, one a generous boy and the other a smart one and a computer whiz as well, devise a plan to get Daniel to liftoff time.The book's broad humor and its brief chapters keep it lively. This first novel makes a good candidate for reading aloud to fourth and fifth grade classes as well as being an entertaining choice for individual reading.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Franklin, Jo

Illustrator: Kelley, Marty

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Clarion Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544442955

Price: 16.99

You Can Do It, Bert!

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 10, 2016

Review

Both the clarity and the simplicity of both the illustrations and the text in this picture book are remarkable. An entertaining story highlights the importance of words of encouragement to those about to attempt a new accomplishment. The Bert of the title is off to a hesitant beginning but by the book's final page he is about to demonstrate what encouraging remarks can inspire. Pages made bright by the unusually large expanses of white background also make exceptionally clear the colorful and amusing drawings and their details. While the book presents a welcomed message to all ages, its ideal audience are preschoolers and early grade school children. Recommended for sharing with groups as well as one on one reading, You Can Do It, Bert! will also make an appropriate gift book to those needing a bit of praise.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Konnecke, Ole

Illustrator: the author, the author

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Gecko Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9781927271032

Price: 13.49

The Safest Lie

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2016

Review

This story is written by the author to honor a real World War II spy credited with helping to smuggle food, clothing and medicine into the Warsaw ghetto and successfully smuggling out over twenty five hundred of its children. Nine year old Anna, Jewish and living in Warsaw, Poland is the story's narrator. She tells of having to leave her home, school, parents and friends and assume a new identity in order to escape the impending Nazi holocaust. She is taken first to a Catholic orphanage and later to a foster family, retaining her new Polish name and pretending to be a Christian. The book's short chapters written in under two hundred pages can be read independently by nine to twelve year olds. However, for this age group, World War II and the Warsaw ghetto may signify very little. What Anna's story does make very clear are the pain and the damaging effects of war on children like Anna who survive it. Sadly enough, it is a most timely focus since Anna is as much an immigrant child as those we read about in today's newspapers. At the novel's end Anna is about to leave for Canada to join an aunt she does not know but where she can reclaim her name and Jewish heritage. Teachers, parents and young people with a special interest in the book's setting and time period will find the story a rewarding one. Recommended .

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Cerrito, Angela

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780823433100

Price: 16.95

Duck's Vacation

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2016

Review

The fairly sophisticated end pages display a colorful variety of global vacation spots. That sophistication is echoed at the book's end where a note and drawing assure the reader that the duck of the title survived by having an experienced stunt double when needed. Translated from Hebrew, here is a picture book meant to amuse both the young listener and the older reader. By and large it does succeed and is generously helped by the bright and funny artwork done with colored pencils and graphite pencil on paper. The listener is pulled in at the outset by being asked "Who turned the page?" and continues to be addressed by the duck until a boat load of pirates appears. The duck leaves the book, literally, but wait! there is more and it is all fun to see and to hear. A winner, especially for 4's 5's and up and up. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Soffer, Gilad

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends/ Macmillan

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781250056474

Price: 1799

Mystery of the Missing Fox

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 8, 2016

Review

Mystery of the Missing Fox is the third book in the Cooper & Packrat Adventures. Like the first two stories, this one is set in the Maine woods that belong to Cooper's family where they run their campground. The exciting discovery of a fox caught in an illegal trap on the campground's land followed by a sudden accident Cooper's dad experiences open the story. Before the book ends readers learn much about the lives of foxes, the complicated feelings of a caring family, and the affects on the close friendship between three boys when a fourth friend, a girl, is added to the trio. Frequent black and white sketches, often comical ones, enliven the two hundred pages of text. Each of the thirty one brief chapters begins with a pertinent fact about foxes. Readers also learn about Items such as a motion-sensor camera with a memory card that records, as in this book, the fox kits' activities when no humans are there to watch them. The book is recommended as lively, informative, middle grade fiction to readers of nine to twelve year olds of both sexes.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Wight, Tamra

Illustrator: DiRocco, Carl

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Islandport Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781939017

Price: 16.95

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine author,Maine setting

Black? White! Day? Night!

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 8, 2016

Review

This sturdily bound picture book introduces more than a dozen pairs of opposites and much more on its colorful pages. Its author has been referred to as " the queen of the concept book" A variety of sizes and different placements of die-cut pages makes absolutely clear pairs of opposites such as black, white. Young preschoolers, the twos and threes, are both surprised and intrigued by the cleverly cut pages and the book may become a participation one with spontaneous answers given to examples such as happy? sad! Fours, fives and sixes recognize still more pairs of opposites, but, what about the opposite of mountain or extraordinary? Is a dog with bright pink paint the opposite of clean? Can black be both the opposite of white and of ...nothing? There is much to question and discuss on these pages for six and even seven year olds such as addition and subtraction using four fingers or the meaning of words like enormous. This concept book is recommended to librarians, teachers and parents for sharing with ages three through six or seven years.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Seeger, Laura

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Neal Porter Book/Roaring Brook Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781626722545

Price: 14.99

They're There on Their Vacation

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 11, 2016

Review

Here is a book for about grades two to five or for ages of about six to ten years that is both picture book fiction and non-fiction. The story is told in rhyming couplets about a family who choose to spend their vacations at unusual places. Full color, cartoon like drawings show mom, dad, older sister, younger brother and the unusual vacation spots. The book's title clearly suggests that the book is also about the English language and specifically about the often confusing trilogy of homophones, they're, their and there. That threesome appears on almost every page. Some of the words used in telling the story will challenge young readers and or listeners such as docent, narwhal, and contraction. The story ended, a final page simply and clearly defines each of the three homophones. This is an ambitious book, presenting itself as both entertaining fiction and instructive non-fiction. It may succeed best on public and school library shelves in the non-fiction sections since picture books, for the most part no longer appeal to the intended age group once they are reading independently. However, the book is recommended as a useful addition to school, public and home libraries as an entertaining resource aimed at reducing confusion and, as such, made available to children, parents,teachers and other adults.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Cleary, Brian

Illustrator: Paillot, Jim

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Millbrook Press/Lerner Publishing

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,adult / professional

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781467788472

Price: 19.99

Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 8, 2016

Review

School Library Journal calls it "a not-to-be-missed novel for middle graders looking for a satisfying mystery with a daring female heroine." It is a definite page-turner, all three hundred and thirty six pages in its ninety seven chapters offered in easy -on -the -eye sized type and with many of those chapters ending as cliff hangers. Isabel Feeney is a likable narrator of a murder set in 1920's Chicago, then full of gangsters and guns. She is also a newsgirl who dreams of one day becoming a star reporter like the one who is also featured in the story. An appended historical note reveals that the book's author was inspired by the lives of five real women who covered crime for the Chicago Tribune during the 1920's. Recommended to public and school libraries as well as to anyone looking for an exciting read, especially for girls, who enjoy mystery stories.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Fantaskey, Beth

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780544582491

Price: 17.99

Where the Red Fern Grows

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 8, 2016

Review

In 1916 The Saturday Evening Post serialized a story, "The Hounds of Youth" by Wilson Rawls, which was then published in hardcover as Where the Red Fern Grows. Now Delacorte Press has published a special anniversary edition of the book which is considered to be a modern classic to commemorate its having been in print for more than fifty years. A limited survey of local libraries in the Brunswick area reveals that several do have a circulating copy of Rawls' book on their juvenile fiction shelves. One library has a copy that was replaced in July of 2016 and has been checked out eight times since as well as a large print edition that also circulates. However, this story of a ten year old boy's adventures with two hound puppies he raises himself to become champion coon hunters in the Ozark Mountains now leads a relatively quiet life. While the story remains an exciting one, simply and engagingly written, much has changed in the years since it first appeared. Where the Red Fern Grows, for example, no longer shows up on "must read" lists as often as it once did. This anniversary edition is therefore especially recommended to libraries wanting to retain a historically significant book in children's twentieth century fiction or to anyone wanting a fresh copy of a still timeless story to share with a new generation of young readers. The brief historical materials appended in this anniversary edition are rewarding to read, particularly Rawls' encouraging letter to aspiring writers.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Rawls, Wilson

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Delacorte Press/imprint of Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780399551239

Price: 16.99

The Prize Winners of Piedmont Place

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2016

Review

Here is book one of an apparent new series about a family who enter and win contests by an author who is known for writing action-packed books. This is certainly one of them and a humorous story as well. There is a great deal of fast paced plot in its just under two hundred pages that is made livelier by black and white cartoon like drawings that offer both details and comedy. Cal is the eleven year old who is determined to get his family of five plus a dog to join a contest that he is certain his family can win. He is extremely proud of each member of what he believes to be his unusually talented family. While character development does not grow like the lively plot, a theme does emerge. Each family member demonstrates that caring for one another is far more important than coming in first in a contest. Girls and boys of about eight to twelve years old who like to laugh while reading pages that fly by quickly may very well enjoy this cheerful story that does also portray some really poor losers as well as the likable prize winners.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Doyle, Bill

Illustrator: Jack, Colin

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780553521771

Price: 15.99

Weekends with Max and His Dad

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2016

Review

While divorce-fiction is one of this book's suggested subject headings, the word divorce never appears in this moving story. By the book's end, eight year old, third grader Max understands that he has two safe and happy places to sleep and that one is at his mom's house and the other at his father's new apartment. Three weekends of Max visiting his dad are each detailed for the reader and they bring both Max and his father to a realistic acceptance of the recent changes in their new family life. Black and white drawings, some humorous and some touching, appear on most pages of the story's one hundred and fifty pages. Most suitable for boys of about seven to nine years old, the book would make a fine choice for parent or adult and child to read together. The book being read by a teacher to a class might promote both observations and discussion. Recommended as a timely and appropriate choice for home, school ad public libraries.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Urban, Linda

Illustrator: Kath, Katie

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544598171

Price: 16.99

Garvey's Choice

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2017

Review

Award winning poet Nikki Grimes has written a brief, feel-good story about a book loving son who with help from a good friend makes a difficult choice that succeeds in bringing father and son into a closer relationship. The story is written in tanka, an ancient poetry form from Japan, and the story reads easily in just over one hundred pages. So inviting is Grimes' explanation of the five line poems, each one titled and appearing on every page, that readers may be tempted to try writing some tanka themselves rather than turning away from what looks like a book of short poems. Readers who do not turn away will discover a story told in an easily read format. Recommended to boys of about twelve and up and to girls as well, to language arts teachers, to parents and for /.,mnbthe young adult shelves of both school and public libraries.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Grimes, Nikki

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: WordSong imprint of Highlights

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781629797403

Price: 16.95

Clayton Stone, Facing Off

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2017

Review

Here is a second book about Clayton Stone, the first being Clayton Stone At Your Service. By the end of this sequel readers know that a third story is in the making. Clayton is a thirteen year old "middle school spy" or junior undercover agent whose grandmother is Chief Stone of the Special Services. Clayton's assignment is to assume a new identity, change schools, and become the best friend of Kyle, son of the second African-American President of the United States. Both Clayton and Kyle are well trained lacrosse players and their abilities on the lacrosse field figure prominently in a fast-paced, action-packed plot. Sure to please fans of the first story or of spy school stories, or of over-the -top adventures, it is just the book for junior high aged boys. Kirkus Reviews said of the first Clayton Stone story, "What really makes this take on the kid-turned-spy story special is that it has heart." This second story does as well.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Jones, Ena

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,mystery,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780823436484

Price: 16.95

Paddington Marches On

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 7, 2017

Review

This is one of the seven books about Paddington Bear originally published in 1964 that have been entertaining children of all ages, eight years and up, for over fifty years. School, public and personal libraries should find these first Harper U.S. editions of 2016 attractive, well bound and reasonably priced. The first story in the series, A Bear Called Paddington, provides the background for the ones that follow. There are Britishisms such as "elevenses", treacle and suet pudding and cricket, for example, that will trip up young readers of seven to nine years, but Paddington remains funny, smart and resourceful . His exploits in Paddington Marches On may be tame ones in our current world but these new Harper editions are recommended to all who cannot do without this remarkable bear. "

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Bond, Michael

Illustrator: Fortnum, Peggy

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Harper/imprint of Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy,realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780062312327

Price: 9.99

Lost-But-Not-Least Lola and a Knot the Size of Texas

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curti Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 7, 2017

Review

School Library Journal calls this fourth in a series of Last-But-Not-Least stories about Lola "A great choice for early chapter book readers." It is cheerful and made more so by the plentiful and comic pen on paper drawings which appear on every double page spread. The title refers to a knot in Lola's curly hair which Lola vigorously resists brushing out and, yes, this series is for girls and the plot is a slight one involving Thanksgiving, which grandmother bakes the best pumpkin pie and Lola feeling she is always getting into trouble. The story does move right along and readers will get to know a few of Lola's classmates who are all listed alphabetically on the last page of the book with the final entry being Lola Zuckerman. Lola may not quite be the up-to-date heir to Beverly Cleary's Ramona as Booklist suggests, but she will have fans among the about six to nine year old readers of this series.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Pakkala, Christine

Illustrator: Hoppe, Paul

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Boyd Mills Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9781629793245

Price: 16.95

Making Friends with Billy Wong

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date:

Review

Eleven year old Azalea hates having her summer "on the road to ruin" when her mother orders her to spend it not in Texas but in a small town in Arkansas. There she is to help a grandmother Azalea hardly knows as she heals from a recent fall. In the same town is the Billy Wong of the title. He lives with his great-uncle, helping him in his grocery store. The year is 1952. Until the 1960's, Chinese-American students like Billy and living in the south, could not attend the public school system and take part in sports, clubs and activities. Friendships, seriously troubled children, family and racial issues all emerge in this story that is told by Azalea but interspersed with mostly one-page, almost poetic thoughts and descriptions by Billy. With its interesting title and most attractive dust jacket, girls primarily of about nine years old through twelve, should find the book a rewarding read. An Author's Note with photographs describes some of the writer's research into those years before civil rights legislation was passed.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Scattergood, Augusta

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545924252

Price: 16.99

The Baby

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 8, 2017

Review

The jacket cover describes the book as a "bittersweet drama about friends and family" but simply given its title and that jacket cover, young adult readers, especially girls, will be drawn to this debut novel written by a British author. It is a short read of five chapters, each chapter given the name of one of the five main characters and the name of the month. The stunning opening chapter, Olivia February, describes Olivia's parents leaving the start of their 17 year old daughter's birthday party, the alcohol, smoking and sex at those festivities, and a baby's unexpected birth which ends the party. Four months and four chapters later, the situation is not completely resolved, that was a life-changing party, but the original friends remain friends and the book ends with them enjoying still another birthday party to which the departing "mum" has contributed drinks. However, some of the adults in the story are extremely helpful, a grandmother too, the baby is thriving, and readers receive a serious consideration of the time, money, planning, and good care all infants require. The Baby is definitely not destined to be a shelf sitter and it is recommended to senior high aged readers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Drakeford, Lisa

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Chicken House. imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780545940276

Price: 17.99

Sam and Jump

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 8, 2017

Review

A picture book that will resonate with anyone who can remember loving and then losing a special toy or belonging as well as about best friends, both old ones and new ones. The author/illustrator's appealing watercolor, pencil and digital"magic"drawings are in absolute harmony with the clean, spare text. The illustrations grow noticeably larger to highlight significant moments in the story. Young preschoolers, three and four year olds especially, will be able to read the story by simply following the pictures. It is a book, then, especially appropriate for young three and four year olds, particularly boys but also for any age of admirers of well-done picture books. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Mann, Jennifer

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763679477

Price: 15.99

Crash the Cat

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 8, 2017

Review

This story, one of "unconditional pet love", was inspired by the author/illustrator David McPhail observing his granddaughters and their pet cat, Crash. Crash is a cat that is constantly crashing into things such as persons, toys, an elaborately decorated cake and an open bucket of paint. His actions may leave all but extreme cat lovers quite dubious about the story's final sentence, "Life with Crash is always fun." Really? The artwork in pen, umber ink and watercolors is both lively and amusing throughout. It is a book that should please at least three to seven year old girls who are especially fond of cats.

Overall Book Score: fair

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About the Book

Author:

McPhail, David

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Holiday House Book

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780823436491

Price: 16.95

Egg

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 12, 2017

Review

Having an attractive jacket and an easily remembered one word title, Egg is the story of three eggs and a fourth one that is a surprise. The book's full-color art in brown ink and watercolor paint shows each egg in a different pastel color. Three eggs hatch and three chicks that each match the color of their shells fly away. The fourth egg waits and a full page of the word waits certainly defines the word for those hearing the story. The three chicks return, listen, and then peck the egg until it hatches. A friendly looking baby alligator appears and frightens the chicks away. The rest of the story can be "read" by looking at the illustrations. As for the end of the story, a by then happy foursome observe the setting sun become egg-shaped, hatch, and fly away. The author offers the final word: maybe. The book is warmly recommended as an early picture book for young preschoolers.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Henkes, Kevin

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Greenwillow Books Imprint of HarperCollins

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: -61

Price: 17.99

The Homework Strike

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 12, 2017

Review

The Homework Strike is a sequel to Pincus' first book about Gregory, The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. Gregory is a likeable, first year middle school student who wants to do well in school but finds the daily three hours of homework leave him no time for the other things he cares about. His solution is to go on strike and he gradually learns meaningful lessons in civics and in holding steadfast to what one believes. The 14 chapters in under 300 pages are fast moving. Each chapter is headed up by Gregory's humorous, rhyming verse. Caring adults, an exceptional history teacher, and a group of loyal friends all aid Gregory in his cause which, realistically enough, has yet to be completely resolved by the story's end. Recommended to middle graders, both boys and girls of about ten years old and up. The book might make an excellent read-aloud, likely to prompt discussion.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Pincus, Greg

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books imprint of Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780439913010

Price: 16.99

One Good Thing about America

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 9, 2017

Review

The book is a must purchase for schools in Maine where immigrants and minority students face steady harassment and discrimination. Written by an author who lives in Maine working in Maine schools, the story is timely, sometimes funny and very real. Anais, who becomes Annie in America, is a nine year old African girl going to school in Maine for the first time. She has emigrated from the Congo with her mother and younger brother, leaving, among others, her beloved grandmother behind. She writes often to that grandmother about learning English, coping at school, and moving from motel to shelter to an apartment. Annie is asked by her grandmother to find one good thing about America everyday. Middle-grade students of nine through twelve will find the letters easy to read and often surprising. Small pen and ink sketches throughout the book's 152 pages display what is new and important to Annie such as pizza, ice-cream, the beach, the Goodwill store. Appended are four websites of information about immigration, a note from the author, and a list of words Annie is learning that sound one way but are spelled a different way. Excellent for both reading aloud as well as independently, the differences and similarities between cultures are presented in an easily understandable and entertaining style. Highly recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Freeman, Ruth

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780823436958

Price: 16.95

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine author,Maine setting

Muddle & Mo

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 4, 2017

Review

Muddle is the duck and Mo the goat in this brief and amusing picture book. Almost all of the pages display one bright yellow duck and one zany white goat against a solidly blue background also showing a few words. This uncluttered page design entreats listeners to notice the changes in expressions on Muddle and Mo. The words are mostly Muddles who perhaps because the two are best friends believes Mo is also a duck. Observations by Muddle such as "Your feet don't waddle." or "You have a wonky tail." are laugh out loud funny to three to five year olds unfamiliar with the word wonky as they are. First published in New Zealand, this is a delightful story about friendship best for all ages three years old and up and up and up.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Slade Robinson, Nikki

Illustrator: , the author

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Clarion Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre:

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780544716124

Price: 14.99

Journeys Young Readers' Letters to Authors Who Changed Their Lives

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 4, 2017

Review

Journeys contains fifty two letters grouped in three parts: upper elementary, middle school and high school written by students in grades four through twelve. The letters reveal how a particular book changed the student's view of the world or of themselves or both. Each letter briefly describes the letter writer and summarizes the chosen book. Journeys does not appear to be a book that would be readily picked up by students. It has no illustrations and no immediate and easily accessible list of the fifty titles chosen. Journeys is instead recommended to those adults, teachers and other professionals who may not be aware of this competitive program offered by the Library of Congress Center for the Book that receives thousands of the letters each year. A copy of Journeys in school and public libraries where it could be discussed might inspire classes to write their own letters.

Overall Book Score: fair

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About the Book

Author:

edited by Catherine Gourley, Library of Congress Center for the Book

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: realistic fiction,biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763681012

Price: 18.99

The Golden Gate Bridge

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 11, 2017

Review

In just thirty two pages this book describes the history and the construction of one of the world's most beautiful bridges. Brief as it is, aided by photographs in color and historic black and white ones, intriguing fact boxes and the author's enthusiastic account, the thirty two pages do succeed in telling the story well. The enormity of the obstacles encountered in the bridge's construction are included in captivating detail. Readers of about eight through twelve years and up should find the book just the right length for a fascinating introduction. A glossary and brief but up-to-date bibliography are appended. Recommended especially to young east coast residents who may look forward to seeing the west coast's famous sites if they have not already done so.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Blake, Kevin

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Bearport Publishing

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 139781944102449

Price: 17.95

The Impossible Clue

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2017

Review

The lively and colorful dust jacket showing twelve year old Alice Jones who is labelled "code maker, crime breaker" should attract upper grade school girls who enjoy reading mysteries. Math whiz Alice is not a "people person" but she is smart, fearless and likes both a challenge and figuring out problems. The problem here is the disappearance of a famous scientist from a locked room! Alice accepts the problem when asked by a classmate's egocentric father. She is determined to find the scientist. Readers are shown the difference between solving math problems and solving life's problems. Other problems that engage Alice are her journalist father who focuses entirely on his current assignment and her twin sister who wants only to be a star in show business. Recommended to readers in upper grade school and junior high who enjoy mysteries and perhaps math as well.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Rubin, Sarah

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Chicken House Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780545940252

Price: 17.99

The Infamous Ratsos are Not Afraid

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 9, 2018

Review

This second book about the infamous Ratsos, like the first, is a funny, thoughtful and smart early chapter book. Boys and girls of about five to eight , both listeners and readers should enjoy the Ratso brothers' new idea. The clear and amusing cartoon like drawings appear on almost every page.The bold print sentences and the drawings work together to make both listening and reading just right for this age group. The title suggests the theme. Older brother Louie is afraid of a house that may be haunted and have a ghost in it that Louie may have seen. His brother Ralph is being teased by a girl who has been given a cruel nickname. Their mama being gone but always in their hearts, it is their dad, big Lou, who observes, listens and talks about the things that he is afraid of and about checking on the facts when it comes to nicknames, among other things. Readers enjoy an entertaining story of how the brothers, together with other animal friends, clear out a vacant lot to make an arcade. The haunted house, the ghost and the nickname are all resolved within the story; no preaching occurs. The book makes an excellent read-aloud in a class room or at home and offers an opportunity to talk about what is scary and about nicknames and it also has some laugh-out-loud moments. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

LaReau, Kara

Illustrator: Myers, Matt

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763676377

Price: 14.99

Cody and the Rules of Life

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 29, 2018

Review

Cody and the Rules of Life is the third in a series for middle-grade readers of about seven to ten years old who are ready to move on from beginning books and early readers. Plentiful black on white illustrations in pen and watercolor are clear, detailed and well positioned to highlight the generous sized type. Cody's teacher has rules for everything which may be why Cody frequently shares some of the rules of life as she observes them throughout the book such as "in this life, time makes up its own rules". Readers who have already read and enjoyed the first two stories about Cody, her appealing family and friends at home and at school will enjoy this third story in which Cody is made to trade her favorite toy reluctantly and in which her brother's prized new bicycle is stolen. What are the rules about honesty? Here theme and plot are at odds. Cody's best friend at school forced Cody to make the disagreeable trade but that action is not dealt with in the story. Wanting her toy badly, is it all right if Cody takes it back without saying how it comes to be missing? The story suggests that sometimes lying is negotiable. Entertaining as the book is, serious issues do need to be examined carefully, not dismissed in favor of an all is well, cheerful ending as in this book. Disappointing.

Overall Book Score: fair

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About the Book

Author:

Springstubb, Tricia

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763679200

Price: 14.99

Jabari Jumps

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 13, 2018

Review

This story of a small boy eager to do a first jump from a diving board, who feels just a bit of hesitation, holds young listeners' complete attention, most seeming to identify with him immediately. Each of Jabari's movements is fully illustrated, page by page, in a book as large in size as Jabari's ambition. The author's drawings, done in pencil, watercolor and collage, then colored digitally, offer all the details; how high the ladder appears, all that Jabari can see as he stands at the very edge of the diving board including a remarkably presented city's skyline and his father and small sister watching him from below. Displayed too, again page by single page, are his splash, his going down, down, down and his smiling face as he comes back up. This debut picture book is a solid winner for preschoolers and many of the rest of us too.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Cornwall, Gaia

Illustrator: , author

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763678388

Price: 15.99

A Kid's Guide to America's First Ladies

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 13, 2018

Review

A seasoned author of non-fiction for young people has written a readable, informative and entertaining account of our country's First Ladies. Girls of about nine years old and perhaps their teachers and mothers as well may enjoy much of this anecdotal account offered in a conversational style and full of humorous illustrations with portraits that may not be quite as successful as the drawings. There is much American history here and readers may have their interest in past and current White House affairs increased by this lively non-fiction that does include a brief introduction to our present First Lady. It is gratifying to note what a mostly accomplished group of unique individuals these forty women are. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Krull, Kathleen

Illustrator: Divito, Anna

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 978006238107

Price: 16.99

Harry Miller's Run

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 11, 2018

Review

An absolutely stunning book in its telling, its full color illustrations , and its overall presentation. In its just over fifty pages, "ancient" Harry Miller tells eleven year old Liam who is practicing for a race and his mom all about Harry's memorable race run with three friends when he was also eleven years old. The joys of the sport of running and the means by which to live a long and happy life are the story's focus. Written by a much awarded English author, the book is published in a beautiful gift edition. Recommended to all ages of about nine years old and up.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Almond, David

Illustrator: Rubbino, Salvatore

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763689759

Price: 16.99

Whistling in the Dark

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 11, 2018

Review

Its intriguing title and a dramatic, colorful dust jacket may catch the attention of young readers, mainly girls, who have a special interest in war stories. Other young teens regard World War two as ancient history. Set in Liverpool, England beginning with the Liverpool Blitz of 1940-41, thirteen year old Joan relates some of the war's effects on her family, school, school friends and her community. The story opens on that year of almost nightly bombings by Nazi aircraft. Blackouts, bomb shelters, air raids , curfews food rationing and the black market are all present in this story, first published in England in 2015 by a well known British author and illustrator. This reviewer did not find the war time incidents offered in the novel as dramatic as the dust jacket suggested. The book's appeal to its intended readership will largely be determined by its subject matter.

Overall Book Score: fair

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About the Book

Author:

Hughes, Shirley

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763690724

Price: 16.99

The Good Fight The Feuds of the Founding Fathers and How They Shaped the Nation

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 30, 2018

Review

Its colorful and humorous book jacket is eye catching and displays two of our founding fathers arguing with one another which is the subject of this small-sized book. The jacket is a first glimpse of The Good Fight, which offers a good and an informal look at four of those founding fathers , Adams, Franklin, Jefferson and Hamilton in four stories that highlight each. The one hundred and eighteen pages have clever, cartoon like pen and ink drawings throughout , generous sized easy-to-read type, and a casual writing style, as in describing Benjamin Franklin as "America's favorite can-do guy". The stories are not new ones although who knew that Thomas Jefferson loved to shop or remembers that George Washington was first an English subject since he was born in Virginia when it was still an English colony? Notes and sources including online resources and a selected bibliography are appended. Lively and informative reading, the book is recommended to public and school libraries, to teachers of the American revolution, and to nine to twelve year old students especially interested in early United States history.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Quirk, Anne

Illustrator: Baddeley, Elizabeth

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781524700355

Price: 16.99

Waiting for Pumpsie

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 30, 2018

Review

This is a first picture book by an author who was eight years old when he heard the name Pumpsie Green. An eye catching jacket cover created by the book's illustrator shows a small black boy smiling as he looks out at Fenway Park during a game. The colorful illustrations are done in acrylic paint with touches of colored pencil. The boy tells the true story of the Red Sox having been the last major baseball team to hire black baseball players and of the excitement and pride the boy feels when Pumpsie Green, the first black Red Sox player, plays at Fenway Park. This is a timely book as well as historical. A racial incident is described that happens at Fenway Park in 1959 when the boy, his younger sister, and his parents are shouted at and insulted by two white men sitting behind the family. A policeman appears and scolds the family, not the two men. That kind of incident continues to occur, all too often, and not just at Fenway Park, in 2018. The jacket alone will cause youngsters' hands, boys' especially, to reach for this book. Both an author's note and sources are appended as well as a suggestion that readers can find a list of the first black players on each major -league team by searching online. Readers may wish to know more about Pumpsie's unusual name but overall, the book is recommended to all young baseball fans of about eight years up.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Wittenstein, Barry

Illustrator: Ladd, London

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: historical fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9781580895453

Price: 16.99

BAT and the Waiting Game

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 11, 2018

Review

The book is a second story about Bat, the first being A Boy Named Bat which was described in part as a non prescriptive glimpse of a boy on the autism spectrum. Like the first book, Bat and the Waiting Game is a second, warm and realistic family story about Bat, his older middle grade school sister, his parents who are separated, and his pet baby skunk. The book's twenty four titled and brief chapters in just under two hundred pages make it an easy-to-read story additionally helped by frequent pen and ink illustrations and generous-sized type. This sequel offers again a non prescriptive look at an endearing young boy in a funny, genuine- feeling family story. Recommended especially to boys and girls of about six to nine years old.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Arnold, Elana K.

Illustrator: Santoso, Charles

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Walden Pond Press/imprint of HarperCollins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062445858

Price: 16.99

The Greedy Goat

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 18, 2018

Review

The Greedy Goat is a large and attractive picture book, its cover displaying a cheerful looking goat with the capital letter G hanging from its mouth. By this farm tale's end, some readers and listeners stretching from two years old to five, will understand the meaning of the word greedy. All will have seen some common farm animals, basic colors, the days of the week, and even how it feels to be sick. A seasoned author/illustrator offers clear and brilliantly colored illustrations done in mixed media in a giggle producing story. Warmly recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Horacek, Petr

Illustrator: , author/illustrator

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780763694975

Price: 15.99

Road Trip with Max and His Mom

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 6, 2018

Review

Full of adventures for newly independent chapter book readers to enjoy, this book is a sequel to Weekends with Max and His Dad with a third book about Max to follow in 2019. Having chosen his hero Ernest Shackleton for his biography report, third grader Max decides to become an awesome explorer too. Max begins to imitate his hero's feats at the start of his weekend road trip with his mom who drives them to a birthday party and family reunion. Amusing pen and ink drawings are well placed and succeed in adding much to the text. While his parents are divorced, Max has a close and tender relationship with each of them, making the story both entertaining as well as reassuring to its readers and listeners. Recommended, CBRespecially to boys of about seven through nine years old and for reading aloud which may prompt useful discussion.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Urban, Linda

Illustrator: Kath, Katie

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544809123

Price: 16.99

Freddie Mole Lion Tamer

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 6, 2018

Review

The colorful book jacket showing on its front four lions sitting on stools just behind a small, cheerful boy may have early grade school readers, especially boys, eagerly reaching for this book. A friendly narrator will tell them the story of Freddie Mole, an exceptionally good boy who is around ten years old and gets a job at a circus to help out his family. Freddie's work ethic and his courage allow him to succeed amazingly well at all that he does including being a trapeze acrobat and a lion tamer. Six to nine year olds who like the circus are the book's best readers and listeners. Written as it is by a prolific author of well received books for adults and children, the telling is sure, entertaining, and informative, making it a good read- aloud as well. Newly independent readers will welcome numerous detailed and funny pen and ink drawings as well as generously sized type on the book's just over one hundred pages. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Smith, Alexander McCall

Illustrator: Hindley, Kate

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Delacorte Press / Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781524713775

Price: 15.99

Love Double Dutch!

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 3, 2018

Review

The colorful dust jacket, the book's only illustration, shows a smiling, pretty African American girl jumping double Dutch. She is thirteen year old Kayla, a caring sister to her younger brother and also frequently rude, bossy and a champion double Dutch jumper. She and her brother must leave Kayla's beloved Bronx and spend the rest of the summer in North Carolina with her aunt and her family when Kayla's parents separate. In this fast moving story of just over 200 pages, middle school girls attracted to that dust jacket will notice how city girl Kayla finds a southern suburb a quieter, friendlier place and is amazed at how hard she has to work and drop some "Brooklyn attitude" to coach her new double Dutch team to be able to compete against an excellent southern jumping team. Important issues, family problems, even a first romance may appear to be resolved too easily, but the book's emphasis is on creating an enjoyable, lively reading experience and it succeeds. Recommended.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Spicer-Dannelly, Doreen

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781524700003

Price: 16.99

Did You Eat the Parakeet?

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 6, 2018

Review

An attractive and funny book, generous in size for reading to a group and sporting brightly colored, uncluttered line drawings and tells its story in rhyming verse. A small girl accuses her astonished kitty of eating her parakeet. Preschoolers and the rest of us as well will enjoy seeing the bird right on top of the little girl's head. But is that really a cat with perhaps a fat tail and is it a mouse in the child's pocket? What is "a budgie brûlée and "a feathered flambe"? A few somewhat less than definitive drawings do get clearly identified in the text and while brûlées and a flambe will mean nothing to three to five year olds, the words do satisfy the rhyme scheme and may very well entertain older readers. These few weaknesses do not altogether mar a genuinely amusing book, a first picture book for its author, illustrator that should be great fun for sharing with a group as well as one to one.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Iacolina, Mark

Illustrator: , author

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux imprint of Macmillan

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780374305888

Price: 17.99