This charming picture book is told in the first person. The older sibling professes his unending love and loyalty toward his younger brother.
The book is written in rhyme. While I believe the story
would be just as effective if told in verse, the rhyme succeeds for the most
part. This older brother promises to protect his brother from harm, and teach
him new skills like how to fish, ride a bike, and play games. He promises lots
of adventures. The older sibling injects realism and humor into the story. He
admits there will be times when they play pranks on their parents or get into
trouble for drawing on the table or bringing bugs into the house.
Many books written on siblings focus on the rivalry and adjustment issues when a new sibling enters the family. This one focuses on the family’s love for one another. The soft, gentle illustrations work to enhance the mood. Recommended for any age reader.
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Samantha enjoys being unique. She doesn’t need to fit in with the crowd. Every day she wears a different outfit to school. It doesn’t bother her that her classmates criticize her for not wearing clothes like them.
One day, Samantha’s teacher arrives strangely dressed. It is School Dress up day. All her classmates have forgotten. Only Samantha has dressed appropriately. What will happen?
Samantha has the confidence and courage to be true to herself and not depend on the opinions of others. This message is an important one for elementary and middle-school children to understand. This book contains black and white images that the reader may dress and color to their own preference.
Recommended especially for children ages six through twelve, but certainly appropriate for any age.
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Nobody’s Cats: How One Little Black Kitty Came in from the Cold
Written by Valerie Ingram and Alistair Schroff
The authors wrote this book based on a true story and contribute the proceeds of sales to animal welfare.
One day a little boy finds a hungry black kitten in the snow next to an old shed. He notices that there are many other cats there. Children passing the cats throw rocks at them. The boy asks neighbors in the area who owns the cats. They tell him that these cats are feral cats that belong to no one.
A few months pass by before a visitor to the boy’s schools comes to teach them about animal rescue. The boy learns he can become a superhero. He can spearhead a community effort to care for these abandoned animals. What will happen to the black kitty? How can the community solve the problem of overpopulation and animal neglect?
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Scaredy Bat and the Frozen Vampires: An Illustrated Mystery Chapter Book for Kids 8-12 (Scaredy Bat: A Vampire Detective Series 1) Written by Marina J. Bowman Illustrated by Yevheniia Lisavoya
Ellie is a twelve-year-old vampire who loves to solve mysteries. The fact that she is afraid of almost everything fails to deter her. Ellie fears loud noises, spiders, and clowns, among many other things. One thing she does have is a large network of friends who come to her aid. When Ellie attends a vampire wedding, everyone freezes solid. How can she overcome her fears and solve the mystery before it is too late?
The author includes bonuses for budding detective readers. She offers a quiz to test if the reader qualifies to be a detective. Readers receive a guide to analyzing suspects and recording evidence.
Lisavoya draws excellent black and white illustrations to sustain interest levels. The book is not too lengthy, which encourages reluctant readers. One caveat, I read the Kindle version which contains formatting errors. I would rate the book three stars in the Kindle version, but five stars in the paperback edition.
Recommended for middle-grade readers in the print version.
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Three Days at the Brink: FDR’s Daring Gamble to Win World War II (Three Days Series)
Yesterday, I went to the FDR Presidential Home & Museum to hear Bret Baier speak about his newest book. Mr. Baier is Chief Political Anchor and anchor of Special Report with Brett Baier at Fox News.
The author explained how and why he chose to write this book Baier discussed FDR, Churchill, and Stalin’s secret meeting at The Teheran Conference. He spoke about their fears and expectations. Baier revealed overlooked “nuggets” of history that often change the course of history.
The book emphasizes FDR’s strength of character but also suggests his doubts and fears. Both Churchill and FDR distrusted Stalin. Still, they realized that they could not win the War without his help.
FDR gambled with his life to travel halfway across the world across enemy lines to talk. Here the three world giants would lay the groundwork to win the War.
I met with Mr. Baier, and presented him with my own book, Little Miss HISTORY Travels to Hyde Park, Home of FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT & Presidential Library.
Mr. Baier and I share common goals to restore teaching history and civics in our schools from a very young age.
The Gold Egg Written by Ule B. Wise (Dan Wyson) Illustrated by Jaimee Lee
This is a wonderful book for children of all ages. The author writes in crisp rhymes and the illustrations are colorful and appealing. At first, group of multicultural children is sitting under their favorite tree. An old man carrying a cane comes along. He tells the children to look up high in the tree. They notice the abandoned nest of the Kloonee bird high in the tree. The old man tells them the nest is so high because it contains a gold egg. All the children scoff at this, except for Devan who decides to find out for himself.
Devan finds the task daunting. He falls from the tree but gets up and tries again. His friends make fun of him. When Devan finally gets to the top, will he find a gold egg? What does he learn about himself and his friends? This book teaches children the importance of courage and persistence. Reaching goals is possible if one believes in himself and persists despite obstacles. While this book might appear to be a picture book, its message is one for children of all ages. Recommended as an inspirational read-aloud for children and adults.
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One day, Daniel breaks his pencil while drawing and goes searching for a replacement. He finds a pencil stump in the attic. When he begins drawing, Daniel is astounded when the cat he draws comes to life. Daniel continues to draw objects like a pizza robot and aliens from the planet, Beezo. His artwork awakens. Daniel tells Annie about his treasure. She is angry that he won’t share it with her.
Now Annie ignores Daniel. He is sad and frustrated. Daniel confides in his
mother. She gives him some good advice. One day bullies torment Annie on the
school playground. How will Daniel react? Will Annie ever forgive Daniel?
This is a fun middle-grade read. It has lots of humor combined with fantasy.
Daniel and Annie face common preteen problems like sibling and peer rivalry.
It also discusses how to handle bullying. Recommended especially for boys
and girls ages eight through twelve.
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This
book discusses mindfulness for children. It contains six stories about
students in a classroom who experience different troubling situations.
It begins with Sam, who is terribly shy and afraid to talk with anyone
at school. Eve is frustrated because she views herself not smart enough
to learn. Jane talks too much in class and can’t concentrate. Nick is
grumpy, unhappy and cannot focus. Kate excels in school and sports, but
cannot see the worth of other students. Will is a shy boy, who is often
the victim of others who take advantage of him with unkind words and
acts. In each situation, one of the other students approaches the child
with a problem and reminds him that he can talk to his brain and take
control of the situation to remedy the problem.
This book can be used by parents or teachers to guide discussions with individual children or a classroom group. It could be an effective resource for elementary and middle school students who are struggling with individual emotions and peer relationships. It is particularly recommended for students in the six to twelve age range.
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Publisher’s Synopsis: A haunted mansion. A community at risk. A group of teens with mysterious abilities. Strange sightings at the Payne mansion and baffling incidents in the countryside place the community of Kingston on edge. Did opening the portal to Paragon draw evil entities to Kingston? In facing this new threat, Matt Monroe soon realizes he is not the only one who has secret talents. Many of his companions have hidden abilities that are exposed as Matt and his friends confront a terrifying, ethereal foe.
Ages 9-12 | Publisher: All Points Press, LLC | October 15, 2019 | ISBN-13: 978-0985082765
This book is the second in the middle-grade adventure series featuring the Monroe boys and their select group of friends known as The Brotherhood. Matt and his older brother, Josh, live in the town of Kingston located in rural Pennsylvania. In Book One of the series, the boys discover wooden tablets and a mysterious ring in the attic of the family home. Together with their five friends who all have special talents, they move through a portal to a magical dimension, Paragon. Here they battle the evil one, Damien. During the battle, Josh is wounded by a dragon and still suffers from the injury.
Book Two opens with Matt discovering two children, Annabelle
and Nathaniel, dressed in early twentieth century clothing, who a hiding from
their evil stepfather. Matt has been experiencing strange dreams and is
determined to save these children. At school, there are some curious new
additions to the faculty. As the story evolves, new friends are introduced,
each of which possesses a strange power. Rico Steele, the school bully, plagues
and conspires against Matt and the Brotherhood. The parents of the children
also have connections to Paragon.
The story contains magic, tarot readings, fantasy, and time
travel as well as the usual conflicts of peer and student relationships. When
Halloween arrives, they must all meet at the Payne house once again to confront
the evil forces of Paragon. Will the Monroe family and their friends be able to
overcome them?
There are many different story elements in this adventure that will appeal to a wide variety of preteen and teen readers. Many twists and turns keep the plot exciting and keep the reader in suspense. For me, the only con was it took a while to get up to speed on the characters because I did not read Book One.
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Familiar Shadows: A tale from The Federal Witch Series
Written by Taki Drake and T S Paul
This is the first book in an interesting series featuring
magic, fantasy, and witches. The narrator is a Russian blue cat named Dascha.
At the outset, Dascha has just had an argument with the members of her clowder.
She comes from a long line of magical cats, but Dascha just wants to live a
normal life. As she walks away, she is swept up by an eagle. Her vision is
blurred, her hip is pierced, and she senses imminent death.
Suddenly another larger steppe eagle comes along and
snatches Dascha away from her captor. When Dascha awakens, she finds herself in
the company of the eagle named Glenfry and his familiar, a witch named Henley.
These two live apart from a small village, which they try to protect. Dascha
learns to love and revere her protectors, who will entice her to embrace her
magical lineage. There will be an adventure, danger, and magic along the
perilous journey.
This book of fewer than one hundred pages contains interesting characters and plotlines. I would recommend it for readers ages eight and older.
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November 17, 2019
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