Who is as tall as a pine tree, strong as a dozen moose and fast enough to run back to yesterday and return to today before anyone knows she’s gone? Paula Bunyan, of course. When Paul’s sister sets off into the wilderness, she revels in the beautiful wide-open spaces until she discovers a group of lumberjacks clear cutting the forest. Her solution to the problem of deforestation is as unique as the rest of her larger than life adventures. The illustrations have a vintage, cartoon-like appearance in keeping with the old time feel of the story. Although the plot is slight, this original tall tale is a fun addition to a library collection.

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
 

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.

The team who gave us "Armadilly Chilly" (2004)., a Texas version of the " Little Red Hen," is back with this retelling of "The Three Little Pigs."
Big Bottomed Boar threatens the little gators who have built homes of sand and sticks with "Wiggle my rump with a Bump, Bump, Bump and smash your house." When the Boar comes to the gator who has built his house of rocks they build a fire so that Boar gets grill marks on his rump and is never seen again. Illustrated with big-eyed, colorful characters this will be a great read aloud especially when paired with The Three Little Pigs and/or Ken Geist's "Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark,"
Recommended

H.S. Told in first person, each chapter is narrated by one of three girls who live at the Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage and music school during 18th century Venice, Italy. The story takes place during a six year period of Antonio Vivaldi’s life, where he worked as a violin teacher for the girls who lived at the orphanage. The three girls, Anetta, Rosalba, who are 15 years old, and Luisa who is almost 14, are all searching for love while contemplating their futures. Nurturing Anetta is a doting friend to Luisa where at times it is overbearing for her. Rosalba is a high-spirited girl, always looking for ways to escape from her lessons to see the “wild” side of life, but when she is raped, she grows up quickly since she is forbidden to return to the Ospedale. Luisa is the illegitimate daughter of a duke who had an affair with her mother. At a very young age, Luisa was sent to the Ospedale to live and develop her voice. When she comes down with a near-fatal illness, she is sent to the country to heal. There she meets a boy who she has a brief affair with before sent back to the Ospedale. Each girl develops in her own way throughout the novel. The author paints a beautiful picture of life in the orphanage/music school during in the early 1700s in Venice. The novel brings in musical themes and Italian phrases in this historical novel, which adds much color to the story. Readers of historical fiction will enjoy the unique setting of Venice, the spirited Vivaldi, and the friendship of these three girls as they come of age.