ES

Pete is a pink poodle who stars in a circus. He has a falling out with his partner, Rita the chimp, who tries to upstage him. Pete gets angry and in the chaos ends up biting the ringmaster. As a result, all of the animals in the show give Pete the silent treatment until he apologizes, which he refuses to do. Pete decides to run away, but as he is arguing with Rita about his plan, the two of them get caught up in a twister (one of a number of references to The Wizard of Oz). They end up on a farm, but are so happy to see each other alive they become friends again. They also befriend Quackers, a duck who has always wanted to be in show biz. They find out they are in Kansas, but know that their circus was heading south to Florida, so with Quackers pointing the way, they begin their journey. Along the way, they encounter and overcome many obstacles, while making more friends. Eventually they find their way back to their circus friends who give them a hero’s welcome. Not only do Peter and Rita become partners again, Quackers joins their act to make them a star trio. Readers will enjoy the humorous characters and dialogue, as well as their zany adventure. Pete realizes in the end, “Sometimes you have to lose a thing to find out how much it means to you. . . . There really is no place like home.”

HB, SLJ, K: Recommended
 

ES

This is a nice story for helping children who are starting school for the first time get over their jitters. The perspective is a bit different from other stories covering this familiar topic in that the child is the one helping someone else, Dinosaur, getting over his fears. It’s told in a question and answer format: “What would you do if on the very first day of school Dinosaur wasn’t smiling his big, toothy dinosaur smile? You’d say, ‘Don’t worry, Dinosaur. School will be fun!’” A wide range of worries are covered, including fear of getting lost, fear of not finding something good to eat in the cafeteria, and fear of not finding someone to play with on the playground. Dinosaur and the child who is helping him overcome his fears both find someone who is also a bit shy. They become friends and by the end of the day Dinosaur is excited to return to school the following day.

SLJ: Marginal
K: Recommended

ES

All of the poems in this collection perfectly capture many of the moments and feelings of young ball players. They span a full year of baseball dreams, memories, and experiences. The book begins with a poem called “Snow Baseball” where a group of friends fling snowballs on their snow-covered ball field. This is followed by “Fielder’s Mitt”, about a baseball glove waiting on the shelf until winter is over. As the baseball season begins, the reader is treated to poems about “First Practice”, “Gramps’s Tough Pitches”, and “First Loss”, as well as poems about a Dad hitting pop-ups on a summer evening, a Mom who enjoys playing, watching, and reading about baseball as much as her son, and Ted, a teammate who spends most of his time on the bench, but still loves being a member of the team. Several other poems, such as those about superstitions, playing ball at dusk, and being rained out, also describe emotions and experiences with which all ball players are familiar. Finally, the book ends with poems describing the last game of the season, a barren field in December, and a snow-covered field in February waiting for spring to arrive again. Many of the poems do not rhyme, emphasizing to children that a poem simply needs to be descriptive enough to create an image in one’s mind and/or make one feel like they are actually there. The colorful, playful illustrations nicely complement the poems as well.

BL, HB, SLJ, K: Recommended

ES, MS

This is a very interesting and well-written book about Charles Darwin’s studies as a naturalist and how he developed his theory of evolution. The book does not mention religion at all but simply notes that his theory, which he referred to as transmutation, was controversial when he first proposed it and remains an issue of debate today. The author indicates that the debate is between those who believe each living thing was created exactly as it is today and those who support the idea that animals and plants have changed over time. The bulk of the book follows Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, identifying the locations he visited, the plants and animals he studied, and the observations he made that led to his questions about whether animals adapted to their environment or were created for that environment. The text is presented on colorful pages with illustrations of the many environments Darwin experienced on his journey. Every other page includes a box with an additional in triguing fact about an animal that Darwin studied. A map of the Beagle’s journey, a glossary, an index, and a list of books and websites for additional information round out this informative book.

 

ES
Fans of this series will enjoy this installment with the usual cast of unusual characters: private eye Chet Gecko, his partner Natalie the crow, librarian Cool Beans, principal Zero, teacher Mr. Ratnose, and a menagerie of other humorously named folks. Jokes, puns, and other plays on words run rampant throughout the story. But the story itself gets lost at times as this book has a group of Wicca students performing spells, a Russian inventor creating machines to replace various workers at the school, and strange behavior occurring among the whole student body, which Chet and Natalie suspect could be the result of someone putting something funny in the cafeteria food. The convoluted solution to the mystery may be confusing for some readers, but if they are fans of Chet Gecko, they will enjoy the humor throughout the book.

BL: Recommended

ES
This is a beautifully told and illustrated story about a boy whose family lives in an area reduced to rubble. It is never explained why this is or where exactly his family is located, but it appears to be an area ravaged by war and divided by a barbed wire fence. One day the boy notices a small sprout of green among the rubble and he finds a bucket of rain with which to water it. He creates protection for it so it can get some shade and eventually the sprout becomes a flowing vine that covers the wire fence. The area becomes a colorful playground for the children as the ever-spreading vine attracts birds and butterflies. But one day soldiers from the other side of the fence tear the vine down, saddening the boy. After a long winter, the boy notices some sprouts on the other side of the fence that must have been created from seeds that his vine dropped the previous spring. A girl on the other side of the fence begins taking care of the sprouts. As her vine grows, the soldiers don’t seem to mind the plant growing on that side of the fence. Eventually sprouts also begin to grow on the boy’s side. Again color, life, and beauty are brought to the ravaged landscape, and this time the boy thinks to himself, “Let the soldiers return. . . . Roots are deep, and seeds spread.” His vine gives him hope that someday the fence will be torn down and he will be free to walk throughout the land. This is not only a beautiful story in and of itself, but can also be a discussion starter for units about war and peace.

BL, SLJ, K: Recommended
PW: Marginal

P.S. & E.S. The author/illustrator of "Bats at the Beach" has created another winning picture book with "Bats at the Library." It will take several readings to catch all the little details in the illustrations that make these books so charming. In this installment, the playful bats are having a night out at the library. They romp through the water fountain, make pictures of themselves in the photo copier, and explore the pop-up gingerbread house before settling in for storytime. Some of the best illustrations are those in which the bats imagine themselves in classic stories. There are bat versions of such tales as Peter Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Make Way for Ducklings, and Winnie the Pooh. The illustrations for each are reminiscent of the style used in the original versions. This is a delightful picture book, great for sharing.

E.S. A lovely inter-generational story about the longing a young girl has for her Grandma's beautiful hat. Clara B. seeks out the hat at church and always positions herself right behind it so as to copy every movement that hat makes. Then comes a test of patience when Grandma must shop for, prepare, serve and clean up Sunday Supper and Clara B. is forced to wait to put the beautiful hat away in its hatbox. Of course, a conflict arises when Clara B. takes the hat from the lap of her sleeping Grandma and attempts to put it away herself. I enjoyed this story, the warmth of the family depicted and the joyous mood of the church. A thoughtful touch is the explanation of "Mother's Sunday", a tradition in many Baptist churches, given at the end of this book. Frank Morrison's colorful, personality filled art was the perfect complement to this story.

P.S. "Harriet's Had Enough!" tells the story of a young raccoon who does not feel like picking her toys up and putting them away. She talks back to her mother and an angry moment ensues. Unfortunately I did not find Harriet a likable enough character to warrant much sympathy. After the disagreement with her mother, Harriet packs her things and is intent on running away. She then experiences very obviously written life lessons from her grandmother and father and ultimately everyone "pitches in" to clean up the house and garden and live happily ever after. Paul Meisel's semi-primitive style artwork, rendered in watercolor, acrylic and gouache, is pleasant enough on the eyes, too bad Harriet wasn't an equally pleasant character to read about.

E.S.

The illustrations in this book are in keeping with some of Valerie Gorbachev’s other books, very colorful and whimsical with the scratchy pen marks overlaying the color pictures. If you are familiar with this author’s work, the illustrations are very recognizable.

The book starts off with Mother Hen hanging up laundry with her 7 chicks. Mrs. Duck comes by and says hello and comments on how busy everyone is and as it turns out, one of the baby chicks is missing. Well from here, the story takes on a bit of panic as they proceed to search for the missing chick.

An expectant cast of characters is introduced; Neighbor Goat, Neighbor Sheep, Neighbor Pig, as they all begin to help search for the chick. The police arrive on the scene, a couple of uniformed dogs. A detective came on the case and starts questioning the neighbors, looking for footprints, and talking to the little chick’s brothers and sisters. The chick was nowhere to be found.

As the book progresses, the search becomes more dramatic and more and more people get involved. Everyone is in a panic, frantically searching and calling out for “little chick.” As you can well expect, there is a happy ending, though I found it to be very dull and anti-climactic. Everyone is very happy when little chick is found and Mrs. Duck says, “Don’t get lost again, little chick!” Then the book ends with little chick’s reply, “Oh, I won’t, Mrs. Duck! I promise!”

This book is cute and mildly entertaining, with colorful pictures. I would say a pre-school audience would likely find this story silly and fun, but first graders and up may begin to find it dull and babyish, for lack of a better word.
 

E.S.

This was a very powerful story of slavery and the Underground Railroad told from the perspective of a little girl, as she sees the life her mother, is living as a slave. “Mama works hard in the field, Mama’s hands are bleeding ‘cause she pick so much cotton. I’m too little, but I wish I could help.”

Dialogue likes this continues throughout the book as the daughter shows amazing compassion and empathy for her mama. On the opposite side, her mama shows deep compassion for her daughter. After her long days of slaving in the fields, she would “come home and pick up her needle and thread. Mama’s gonna make a new quilt.”

One day when Mama came home, she had whip marks and “her shirt is torn where the whip cut her back. Mama takes off her shirt and cuts out a big heart.” We later find out that the quilt she is making is going to act as directions for her daughter as she sends her off with the Underground Railroad. “A log cabin means a place is safe. This star is the brightest in the sky; it’s for you to follow. The moss should only be growin’ on the side of the tree in the direction you are headed” and “This little girl…is the most loved in all the world.” She wakes her daughter up in the middle of the night and takes her to a “meeting” deep in the forest. “You must go with these people, child. I can’t go with you, but they’ll help you find freedom.” The little girl goes but does not want to and the mama cries and the little girl asks, “Why can’t you come, too?” Mama responds, “I got to stay, help others find Freedom.”

The interest level is indicated as grades K-3, however I feel this story is better suited for grades 3-6. The content, while told from a little girl’s point of view, is heavy and complex. The pictures are dark and dreary, but beautifully painted and blend very well with the overall theme and tone of the story. It is a beautiful and well told story that while it is fiction, centers on a very real time in our history.