Two more winners in the Easy Reader and Early Chapter categories:

Easy Reader

ONE SENTENCE SAYS IT ALL

I Like the Farm

Written and illustrated by Shelley Rotner

This book is a Step A Guided Reading book which features one sentence I like the…… Blanks are filled in with the names of familiar farm animals. There are full-page multicultural photographs of a child with the associated animal. Especially recommended for preschool and kindergarten children just beginning to read who love animals.

Early Chapter Book

No Need to Be Perfect

Princess Cora and the Crocodile

Written by Laura Amy Schlitz

Illustrated by Brian Floca

Poor Princess Cora is a victim of parents who are obsessed with her development into the role of future ruler of the kingdom. Cora is beset with a nanny who is obsessed with cleanliness and forces her to take three baths a day, a mother who forces her to read boring books all day, and a father who wants her to be strong and forces her to skip rope every day. When Cora requests a dog for a pet, her parents are horrified. She writes a note to her fairy godmother asking her to intervene. To her surprise and dismay, the next day a crocodile is delivered to her in a cardboard box.

This crocodile assures her that he will take charge and teach her tormentors a lesson. He demands only to be fed cream puffs as payment. So, Cora escapes into the woods for a day of adventure, climbing trees, eating strawberries, picking buttercups, and getting dirty. In the meantime, her pet crocodile is taking revenge on the nanny, the queen, and the king. At the end of the day when Cora returns she makes her request once more. What has happened at the castle? Have the adults learned a lesson? How will Cora be treated in the future?

This story presents the inner conflicts of Cora, and the adult versus child conflict clearly. Cora is a strong female role model, who is also obedient and respectful. The soft watercolor illustrations with a vintage feel are soft and appealing. The crocodile character adds humor and a hint of naughtiness. I would especially recommend this chapter book for second and third graders who are comfortable with the seventy-page length and some challenging vocabulary.

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Title: Magelica’s Voyage: Book  One

Author: Louise Courey Nadeau

At the beginning of the story we meet Magelica who has supposedly been hatched from a sapphire egg. She wants to know where she really came from. Tris, her pet dragon, and she go on a journey through the woods when darkness falls. Magelica calls on her guardian angel to guide them home. A strange creature named Odin retrieves her feather necklace and takes her on a journey in a flying bathtub to an island inhabited by a wizard. Odin teaches her to fly to the Isle of Dreams where she will meet Queen Raya and learn about the lost prince. Magelica realizes that wonderful things happen when you open your heart, use your imagination and trust in love. She no longer worries about where she came from, but now understands that it is more important to know where you are going. Young children will enjoy this book as a read aloud. Older children will find it a challenging independent reader.

Magelica’s Rescue

The Second Book is the series written by Louise Courey Nadeau

In her second adventure, Magelica has a dream shortly after being tucked into bed by her guardian, Gri. Magelica dreams that Prince Will is in trouble; she sees him washed ashore on The Island of Darkness. Together with her pet dragon, Tris, she embarks in her magical bathtub on a voyage back to the island where she met Queen Raya and discovered her power to make effective changes once she believed in herself. Magelica does indeed find that the prince is stranded. The people of the kingdom learn how to stay positive and use the power of laughter to achieve their goals. Magelica teaches the prince a song of inspiration. By the time Prince Will is returned home and Magelica is tucked back into her bed, they discover a very special connection that not only will help them to protect each other, but one that might help Magelica discover her true origin and birth family. Future books hold the promise of many new adventures and the seeds of inspiration for Magelica’s readers to achieve great things.

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Robby’s Quest :Ocean Bound

Written by D.C. Rush

Illustrated by Daniela Frongia

Robby’s Quest:Ocean Bound is the second book in the four book series featuring Robby as the protagonist and leader of a diverse flock of bird adventurers. I enjoyed this second chapter book even more than the first. It is more richly illustrated and the story flows seamlessly.

The fourteen feathered friends have arrived in Arizona to which they fled after a hurricane destroyed their winter home in Florida. Lately, the weather has been getting quite warm so the birds have a conference and eventually vote to migrate further west to San Diego where they can take advantage of the cool ocean breezes and plentiful food supply. Ruby has been there with her last flock; she offers to serve as a guide.

Less than a week later, the flock arrives in San Diego, where each group goes off to explore the sights. Two of the younger birds, a robin named Joy and her friend Josie, the sparrow, fly out to investigate a cruise ship, only to fall asleep and find themselves stranded at sea. Robby leads a group of six rescue birds in a search party. The reader follows the adventures of both groups. Will Joy and Josie ever rejoin their group of faithful friends?

This early chapter book story contains endearing story characters and a well integrated plot with just the right amount of challenge for an early elementary school reader. Color illustrations are simple but add interest to the story. Qualities like friendship, team work, bravery, cooperation and loyalty are seen as valuable traits. The ending to this adventure involves a new discussion among the birds as to future plans. Will the friends remain together or find new adventures on their own? Stay tuned.

BENTLEY: Bags The Bear (Bentley and Friends)

Written by Michael Owen Jones

Illustrated by Emz Wright

First in a series of early chapter books for beginning readers. Children will enjoy reading the large print and chapters of a few pages each. The main character is Bentley the dog who has adventures with animal friends and enemies like Rodney the Cat and Meezel the Weasel.

In the first chapter readers are introduced to the family including the children Rebecca and Jonathan as well as Aunt Fanny who promptly sits on the couch and breaks it. Bentley, the puppy, is always blamed for breaking things and getting into mischief; all he wants is to be helpful and loved. When Rebecca loses her stuffed bear named Old Fur Face, Bentley hatches an ambitious plan to seek out and find it. This leads to a series of adventures with Rodney, the cat who despises him, a swim in the ocean, an encounter with a weasel, and an unexpected surprise upon arriving home that evening. Does Bentley ever get the recognition he deserves and will Rebecca find the missing teddy bear? At the conclusion of the adventure, Jones gives an enticing preview of the next book in the series in which Bentley observes a monster looking in the window!

This promises to be a wonderful series for beginning readers. Jones seems to have found winning elements, a combination of endearing animal and family characters, humor, adventure, and family lessons to be shared. Highly recommend for young readers ages six through nine and for teachers looking to refresh their read aloud selections. Parents might also read a chapter a night as a bedtime story.

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Tommy Goes Trick-Or-Treating (Bird Brain Books 4)

Written by Emlyn Chand

Illustrated by Noelle Giffin

Story revolves around two animal friends, a woodpecker named Tommy and his raccoon friend, Michael. Both enjoy watching humans for amusement. One day Tommy notices something strange; all the children are dressing in weird costumes and knocking on neighbors’ doors asking for candy. Michael tells Woody that this is the custom on Halloween.

Woody is jealous; he wants some of his own candy. So he enlists Michael to go trick or treating with him. At first they are unsuccessful, until they figure out that they need their own costumes and must say the magic words, “Trick or Treat.” Once they get the hang of it, the two animal friends go off the deep end and abuse the custom. Read the book and find out what happens to them and what lessons they learn.

Illustrations cleverly done in Halloween colors are interspersed throughout and will hold the interest of younger readers. The book is an excellent choice for an early chapter book. Don’t be fooled by the length; half the pages are not part of the actual story but rather author background and summaries of other books in their series. Teachers might use the book as a read aloud for Halloween and parents might want to discuss its lessons before their children go trick or treating. I would recommend it especially for ages six through nine. This book is also available in Spanish. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe by clicking on the word Follow or by hitting the orange RSS Feed button in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Mrs. Trimble’s Magic Tea-Pot!

Written and illustrated by Steven-Watson-Morris

This book is really an early chapter book which could also be used as a classroom read aloud or bedtime story. All the stories center around Mrs. Trimble, her assistant Rose and her twin nephews, John and Jack. Mrs. Trimble owns a tea shop where she serves tea and delicious home baked cakes. While working one day in her shop, suddenly a giant cloud of smoke arose and a giant tea-pot appeared in the center of the shop. A wizard wearing a pointed cap adorned with stars popped out. Walter the Wizard needs her help because the king’s cook is ill, and he is in need of someone to bake cakes for his party. They all climb into his tea-pot and are whisked away to the kingdom where Mrs. Trimble saves the day by baking the cakes. Walter is so grateful that he gives her a magic tea-pot as a gift that will take her anywhere in the world she wants to visit. The magic words are magic teapot backwards—“Top eat Cigam!” So begins the magical adventures of our characters.

In the first book of adventures, they decide to visit a spooky house and some ghosts where they meet Arthur Halloween, they take a trip to the moon and visit four purple men who are in need of polishing dust to keep the moon shiny and then visit another moon to gather supplies, convince a greedy dragon that he is eating too much and needs to go on a diet, and visit a land of dwarfs where Jack and John receive some surprise birthday presents. Mrs. Trimble even manages to confront an ogre and rescue the key to the city for the mayor. Perhaps my favorite adventure involves her ingenious solution to save the day when Santa Claus is unable to deliver presents on Christmas Day because his reindeer are sick.

There are just enough black and white pencil drawings to hold the interest of young readers just getting accustomed to longer story books. I like the mixture of conversation and prose. Neither one overpowers the other so that the story flows

The Further Adventures of Mrs. Trimble’s Magic Teapot!

Written and illustrated by Steven-Watson Morris

So delighted that the author is giving us a sequel. In Book Two the reader is treated to seven more magical adventures. This time the reader will meet a one-eyed giant, a silver snake, a naughty goblin, the Easter bunny, an alien planet, some bubbles, and a castle of dreams. The children will learn through Mrs. Trimble that we should be kind and understanding toward others even when others are angry with us, but she also teaches us that when we are naughty like the goblin, we need to undo the harm we have done to others, apologize, and make restitution for our mistakes. When Mrs. Trimble meets the Dream Maker, she learns how to drink hot chocolate as well as tea and sees how sweets can be turned into healthy fruits. What child would not like to have a bubble adventure! Mrs. Trimble and the twins are astonished when the Easter bunny oversleeps one year; they must rescue him and save the day! In their last adventure the stalwart group get to land on the Teapot planet where everything is shaped like a teapot, and where they are introduced to Earlgrey who will restore the magic to their teapot. To return his kindness, Mrs. Trimble will leave them with a special gift of her own. As in the first book, there are delightful pencil drawings. At the end of the book, readers will find a special bonus, coloring pages that feature all the characters in the book’s stories.

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Sir Princess Petra’s TALENT: Book Two The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Written by Diane Mae Robinson

This is the second book in The Pen Pieyu adventure series. The author provides a synopsis of Book One to get all readers up to speed though the book can stand on its own. Sir Princess Petra is no ordinary princess; she is spirited, stubborn, sensitive, and devoted to her friends and subjects. In the last book, the reader met a nine year old girl who was determined to become the first knight in her magical kingdom. Petra achieved knighthood by slaying the howling dragon named Snarls in a series of adventures; he later becomes her friend and master connoisseur in the palace kitchen.

At the beginning of Book Two, the king and queen summon Petra informing her that she must go away to the Land of Lost Donkeys to attend training in a Talent School in order to become a “proper princess.” This does not sit well with Petra, but she is an obedient daughter and loyal subject and so she acquiesces to her parents’ request. On her journey she meets Prince Duce Crablips who is secretly betrothed to her, but who would really like to go to school to learn how to crochet. The selection of talents available to Petra at the school are all unappealing, sewing, etiquette and knitting are not her cup of tea. Together with Snarls and Prince Duce, they eventually find a satisfactory course and complete certificates before being forced to make a quick exit. The three compatriots become embroiled in an adventure with the ganutes on their way home to the kingdom. Petra assists all her friends in employing their new found talents; Pen Pieyu attains subjects with new talents in the process. Petra enthralls her parents and her subjects with her new abilities, which I suspect might be the start of a new adventure.

This series is the perfect chapter book for new or reluctant readers. Because I write picture books, I have a definite preference for illustration in children’s books; the black and white pencil drawings in this book are a definite enhancement to the plot. The short length of the chapters are perfect for serial read alouds in the classroom or multiple bedtime stories. Petra is a strong role model for encouraging a young girl’s potential. Her strength of character along with the other rich and humorous characters extend the book’s appeal to boys as well. There is humor, adventure, magic, fantasy and just enough silliness to appeal to children and parents of children from early elementary through middle grades. I anticipate a lot more exciting adventures and lessons in store for Petra’s fans as she matures. Another good chapter book by award-winning author, Diane Mae Robinson.

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