A Gaggle of Book Reviews

The books that leave you feeling cheery and uplifted are fewer and farther between than you would think. We happened across two in one night that we want to keep, rather than returning to the library. That was a special night.

I have a soft spot in my heart for puns, and this book had me giggling. Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story, by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Janie Bynam. This is the story of a porcupine who is lonely in the petting zoo, as he isn’t allowed to be petted. Cushion goes out in search of a wife, and approaches different creatures, singing “I’ve been so lonesome all my life … I’m porcupining for a wife …”, and eventually finds a perfect match. This is a good book to read alongside a deeper or scarier book, as it is purely sweet and punny. A very gentle book, but not so gentle that it is insipid – it is engaging and fun while being gentle.

Our library is participating in a Community Read focusing on books from Haiti. They chose a book for adults, a book for young adults, and several books for kids. We read Circles Of Hope, by Karen Lynn Williams, illustrated by Linda Saport. This book about replanting trees in Haiti is heartwarming, sweet, and wonderful. The story is about a little boy who has the only mango tree on the mountain. He has a new baby sister, but she becomes sick and the parents and sister need to leave the mountain to go to a doctor. While his parents are gone, the little boy wants to grow a mango tree as a present for his sister. He tries various ways suggested by others to protect the tree, without success. Then he figures out the best way, and has a beautiful tree waiting for his sister. The author says this is based on the tree replanting going on throughout Haiti.

Both of these books entertained all 3 of the Gaggle of Girls, ages 3, 6, and 8. We highly recommend them! We’ve also read other books by aren Lynn Williams, and suggest you check those out, too.

These are not books that treat death the way you would expect. Our librarian pointed out these two books, and asked for my opinion on them when we finished.

Earlier this week, we read Keeper Of Soles, by Teresa Bateman, illustrations by Yayo. This is a witty and sweet book about a very special cobbler, and what happens when Death comes to visit. The cobbler’s response to Death is to start making him shoes (with soles, of course). I know there are other books in which the character tries to avoid death because they are too busy doing worthwhile deeds (see below for another), but this one is incredibly colorful and uplifting. It is a unique and surprisingly lovely book. The play between “soul” and “sole” is well appreciated, as is the view of Death as a character, rather than something that happens.

Another book that has Death as a character is Grandy Thaxter’s Helper, by Douglas Rees, illustrated by S.D. Schindler. This book is set in an older time (think Colonial time period), and Grandy Thaxter takes care of her own grandchildren and some of the other children in town. “Mr. Death” comes to carry off Grandy, but as with the cobbler in the previous story, she has too much work. Grandy, however, asks Death to help her. What follows is a great description of all the work women performed – making soap, cleaning house, cooking meals, etc. Grandy exhausts Death. Another surprisingly sweet and engaging book.

Both books kept all 3 of the Gaggle of Girls (3, 6, 8 ) entertained. We’d give both of these 5 stars, and have added them to our list of books to purchase.

These are 4 lovely ABC books that entertained all three children (3, 6, 8 ), and the designated reader. That’s a bit of a challenge, as certain older children think that ABC books are babyish. One of these books has now been read 4 nights in succession. That’s a big kudo to any book, but an ABC book that all 3 kids clamber to read? That’s cool.

First, a classic. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert? This is a well loved story that has amused children and adults since 1989 – the storyline and illustrations are so vivid and enthusiastic, I think it will be loved for many more years. If you haven’t had a chance to read this one, the lowercase letters climb up the coconut tree – “chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room?” The coconut tree becomes too heavy with all 26 letters up there, and they fall down, getting hurt and tangled as their (uppercase letter) parents come to help them. “Next from the pileup skinned-knee D and stubbed-toe E and patched-up F. Then comes G all out of breath.” Of course, at the end of the story, “A is out of bed” daring the other letters to go back up the coconut tree! The rhythm of the writing and the bright colors make a perennial favorite.

A different twist on the ABC book is B Is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC by June Sobel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai. The story greets you “Do you see the Asphalt for paving the road, or the big shiny Bulldozer pushing a load?” The story continues with the construction of something as children watch on the sides of the illustrations, waiting to see what is built – “The welders won’t Quit till the metal is bent, and the new safety Rails are placed in cement.” Finally, “Now Visitors enter – it’s opening day!” You have watched the construction crew build “Wonderland” – a new amusement park, all while having letters stand out from the words, yet telling a story. My kids (3, 6, 8 ) and I were all just as excited as the children in the book to see the go “Z oom!!!” down the newly built rollercoaster!

We were so amused to see the title of AlphaOops!: The Day Z Went First, by Alethea Kontis, illustrated by Bob Kolar. The book begins with the traditional “A is for app-”, but Z is tired of being last, so he insists on going first. Things become more chaotic when P, N, and M complain that they are always stuck in the middle, even if they start with Z. So the letters just jump with what words they are associated with, as the little character at the bottom of the page fills in the ABC chart so you know which letters have spoken. The little “discussions” between the letters are hilarious. This was a really funny read, and we all laughed quite a bit.

Our favorite ABC book, though is now SuperHero ABC by Bob McLeod. We all love superheroes here, and in this book there is a superhero for each letter! It is illustrated like a comic book, with fun asides about each superhero. We love everyone, from: “Astro-man is Always Alert for An Alien Attack” to “The Firefly Fights Felons in the Forest” and “Jumping Jack Just Jails Jaywalkers”. Each letter is also shown at the corner of the page in capitol and lower case, so there is the alphabet reinforcement, but the book is also just fun on its own. As a warning, there are some rather icky superheroes: emetophobes should really avoid the letter V.

Overall, these are four really fun ABC books that are fun stories rather than the traditional “A is for Apple, B is for balloon” type books. These books were fun for all three kids (3, 6, 8 ) and several readers. They were also fun for the kids to look through on their own, enjoying the images.

I completely and utterly loved Pamela Ribon’s first book – Why Girls Are Weird : A Novel, despite some reluctance to read it based on the book synopsis on the back. The synopsis sounded somewhat annoying, but the book itself was a wonderful fun, amusing, read that was hard to put down. Our library system had no copies, so I donated mine to the library so other people could read her wonderful book.

I was thrilled to receive Why Moms Are Weird, by Pamela Ribon through the library system. It is another fun read, and is also very difficult to put down. I had thought that this was a sequel to the first book, but it isn’t – it is a completely different story. This book is about a daughter who leaves her life in LA to help her mother and sister in Virginia after her mother has been hurt and lost a job. The book follows her mother’s oddities (collecting everything on earth, for one), and the daughter’s various coping mechanisms. The characters are very well developed, and I truly cared about what happened to each of them. It’s lovely to see a fun, lighter novel that still has very well-developed secondary characters.

I highly recommend both of Pamela Ribon’s books – they are a great way to unwind after a day spent chasing children or some other exhausting work!

Some books (like another book I reviewed, Labyrinth) draw you into their world so much that you can’t put them down. And then there are the books that draw you so far into their world that you start to think that you are in that world. One book that hit me like that was On the Beach – it took me a while to shake off the feeling we were living in a post-nuclear-war society. This is also how Parable of the Sower hit me.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is an amazing piece of science fiction. It is one of those books that will draw you into its world – several people recommended it to me, even people who don’t like science fiction.

The setting is in the late 2020s, in California, outside LA. The economy and the climate have changed so much that people have created walls around their neighborhoods to protect themselves from looters. Dogs have become feral and dangerous. Only the very wealthy have cars – most people have bicycles. Guns are required to survive, and you have to protect your food and water. Water is a rare commodity, and is very expensive. People are robbed and killed for their belongings, and it is dangerous to go outside your walled community.

The narrator is a young African-American woman named Lauren. She is living in one of the walled neighborhoods, her father is a minister and a college professor, and her neighbors have grouped together to help eachother. Lauren’s biological mother took drugs during her pregnancy, and Lauren is a “sharer” – she feels the pain of the people around her. This is seen as a weakness (what if she had to hurt someone when guarding the neighborhood?), so it is a family secret. Lauren has a step-mother and younger brothers who she tries to protect. She and her step-mother hold a school for the neighborhood children, as it is too dangerous to leave the neighborhood to go to a school.

The world has changed so much – and Lauren expects more change, so she creates a pack filled with supplies she can grab in case there is an emergency. When an emergency does come and forces her to follow her dream of going North, Lauren finds herself using her poems to help others see her dream of her new belief system (”EarthSeed”). Her experiences walking on the main highways of California were amazing.

I highly recommend Parable of the Sower to anyone who wants a book that will pull them in and let them live in another world. however, I suggest having a lighter book to read next, as this is an easy read, but one that leaves you with a lot of thoughts about the world and how it needs to be changed.

We’ve recently read two retellings of legends/fairy tales. Each has had a twist we weren’t expecting. When you are used to reading legends/fairy tales, you are pretty sure what will happen next. Books that stray from what is expected will always win a place in my heart.

The first book is The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend From Alaska, retold by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. I thought this was going to be a slight variation on the many frog prince books (and please check out the princess-with-a-twist books by Frances Minters), but it wasn’t. Instead this is a gorgeous book from the Tlingit (pronounced KLINK-it) people in Alaska about a Headman’s daughter who kept turning down every young man who came to ask her to marry him. She finally ended up saying in disgust with her suitors, “I’d rather marry a frog in our pond than any of you!”

This leads to a courtship with a young man who is one of the frog people, and the princess falls in love. When the Headman talks to the leader of the frogs, he wants his daughter back. The frog leader contends that the daughter is happily married with children, but the Headman persists. When the young woman comes back, she is quiet until the shaman gives her a potion that has her cough up the food she ate with the frog people (cue shades of the Persephone story from D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths). The Frog Princess then continues and finishes in a way I wasn’t expecting. The ending is told in a way that encourages girls to be strong and stick with their convictions, which is something we are trying to teach our girls, while still indulging in their love of princesses.

The other book we read made me think of the Anansi the Spider books by Eric Kimmel. It is a Haitian tale called Please, Malese! A Trickster Tale from Haiti, by Amy MacDonald, illustrated by Emily Lisker. Our local library is participating in a Community Read with books about Haiti. I am so happy they are including the children in this program – it is really opening doors I hadn’t thought about.

As with the Anansi stories, Malese is a trickster. He is lazy and would rather trick people than do even the slightest amount of work. The girls and I talked about how much work it takes Malese to be a trickster, though – and we think it takes more effort than if he actually worked. Malese connives his way into a pair of shoes, and several other things. When the townspeople figure out what is going on, they actually confront Malese, and his response reminds me of the Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit stories, rather than most trickster stories.

In this day and age, you expect the trickster to get caught and teach you a moral and a lesson. That is not the ending of the Please, Malese book! It reminds me much more of the books my parents read to me – the story is there for the story’s sake, not to teach you a moral. You also expect books to be somewhat subdued in color. This book is incredibly lively and the illustrations jump out at you in a wonderful way. There is also a black & white cat which you find on every page, and Malese’s shoes have green & white polka dots!

Both of these books are fun stories that are enjoyable for the children and for the adults over multiple readings. The words and pictures are lovely. Both highly recommended. The first book may be best suited for children with interests in princesses, but the second book should amuse anyone.

We love fun monsters. My daughters are pretty easily scared, but we love the fuzzy monsters and the ugly ones that are still not scary. These are two funny books with monsters in them that don’t upset people at all.

We were lucky enough to be given an autographed copy of Three Nasty Gnarlies by Keith Graves. It’s a great story about three gnarlies (odd, buggy-type monsters), who are very happy. But then along comes Snooty Judy Butterfly, who tells them, “You Gnarlies are not beautiful. You exude a rank bouquet. You’re untidy, and your style is oh so tres passé!” Judy convinces them that they can use metamorphosis to change into beautiful creatures, so they try her tricks. Of course, it doesn’t work, and they are sad at first, then realize that they are happy being nasty gnarlies!

My kids love being nasty gnarlies, and I bet yours will too. There is a great song in the book, a cool recipe on the back cover, and the illustrations are simply fabulous. While you’re at Amazon, you may want to get some more of Keith Graves’ books, as they are all wonderful. Truly a delight for the audience and the reader. Our copies are well-loved.

Thelonius Monster’s Sky-High Fly-Pie is a fun book by Judy Sierra, with illustrations by Edward Koren. This is a story done in a repeating rhyme (like the Old Woman who swallows a fly), so the children can “help” you read the story as it continues. Thelonius Monster creates a pie that is filled with various animals, which he is going to bake for his friends and family, “Please come to my mansion this Sunday for pie. Don’t wear a tie.” However, when the monsters all arrive, we find out that Thelonius Monster had forgotten to bake the pie! The flies and the pie “whizzed out the window. It whooshed to the sky. Bye-bye fly pie!” But there is a happy ending – the flies become unstuck from the pie, and the “eleventeen monsters devoured the crust.” This has fun, black and white drawings with incredibly descriptive text. We really enjoyed several readings of this one.

We highly recommend these funny monster books!