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Bertie Was a Watchdog-Rick Walton August 29, 2007

A horrible robber+a watchdog named only for his watch-size stature=a problem. Enter the I-may-be-small-but-I’m-a-darn-sight-more-clever-than-you dog (Bertie) and the Horrible Robber with a “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha” response. The chase is on. Literally. Will Bertie be able to stop the robbery? Will the robber be able to stop laughing at Bertie? How will Bertie’s challenge “Bet I can bite harder than you.” pan out? Bertie Was a Watchdog by Rick Walton is a great read-aloud. You can dust off your weensy voice, your loud gruff voice and finally be able to amaze all with your secretly practiced siren voice. The illustrations are colorful and bold and just right for the younger crowd. I really hesitate concluding things with saying something trite like size doesn’t matter; it’s brains that count. I mean, look at our duly-elected officials. Scheesh. But I digress. To sum it all up: Bertie Was a Watchdog=a very enjoyable book.

Bertie Was a Watchdog
Written by Rick Walton
Illustrated by Arthur Robins
Accelerated Reader RL 2.1

• Bertie Was a Watchdog at Amazon
• Rick Walton Homepage

Traction Man Is Here!-Mini Grey August 26, 2007

A boy has written a letter to Santa requesting Santa replace his old Traction Man which seems, unfortunately, to have had a “…terrible parachute accident.” The replacement? A new (Zap! Bam! Pow!) version of the Dazzle (TM) Traction Man. Exit reality. From Traction Man rescuing the Farm Animals held captive by the Evil Pillows to Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush (his sidekick/pet) relaxing after their latest mission, we’re sped along into a fun (and funny) imaginative romp. It’s impossible not to be delighted by the adventures, pictures and narration. (I still can’t get over the “Traction Man is guarding some toast.” illustration with the little toast eyes worriedly checking him out.) Be prepared to have a great time with Traction Man Is Here by Mini Grey. Oh, and for those of you who were owned by a GI Joe or a Luke Skywalker or even that (Hey, how come she keeps falling over?) Barbie, be prepared to visit your own “Don’t bother me, I’ve just invaded the outer moon of Planet Imago!” memories.

Traction Man Is Here!
Written and Illustrated by Mini Grey
Accelerated Reader RL 3.6

• Traction Man Is Here! at Amazon

Voices in the Park-Anthony Browne August 24, 2007

Anthony Browne writes good books. He writes good books for children and for any adults lucky enough to read them. Mr. Brown, also, has a thing about gorillas-but that’s between him and any anthropoid apes he may encounter. Now having said this, I openly admit the gorillas in his books are sometimes more human than, well, humans. One of my favorites, Voices in the Park, is not one of those razzle-dazzle-wham-bam books; it’s a story with voice and point of view and, well, subtlety. There are four characters in this story relating in first person narration about their day in the park. Each character has a distinct outlook and this outlook creates the unique atmosphere for the story. We’ve all noticed that unmistakable atmospheric change when some people walk into a room. There’s Gloomy Gus. There’s Sparkling Sal. (Always a little borderline annoying is Sal.) There’s Heartbreak Harold. In Voices in the Park, the atmosphere, too, changes with each personality. Anthony Browne even helps us along these paths of change with some unique “seasoning” in his illustrations. Can you imagine the excellent lessons and talks and the I don’t really get its this book may inspire? Ah, I’ve become effusive-move over Sal.

Voices in the Park
Written and Illustrated by Anthony Browne
Accelerated Reader RL 2.8

• Voices in the Park at Amazon
• Anthony Browne Interview

C D B!-William Steig August 22, 2007

C D B! is a very enjoyable non-fiction book written by William Steig of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Shrek fame. It is a book of letters and numbers that create the sounds of words and sentences. “C D B! D B S A B-Z B.” Wha-a-t? Try this: See the bee! The bee is a busy bee. Picture clues guide us along each page of puzzling delight. C D B! is very popular at my library and difficult to keep on the shelves. N Q, William Steig, U R O-K. C D B!
Written and Illustrated by William Steig                    

• C D B! at Amazon
• William Steig

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!-Mo Willems August 21, 2007

Mo Willems’ (I do love this guy.) book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, creates the most interesting problem in my library. The story shows us a very determined pigeon yearning to drive a bus. As the bus driver has asked us not to let that happen, we’ve got our work cut out for us. The students are the “No!” people and I get to do the pleading. The problem? The word “No.” Now, as any child knows, the word must be used just right. We can’t have a wimpy “No.”-you know, the one that has a question mark at the end, the one that says to the child, “Ahh, just two and a half more deliciously annoying whines and she’s toast.” nor can we have the yelled “NO!”. (There are classes next door, for Pete’s sake.) So we settle for the firm “I mean it but I’m not going to maim you No.” So it begins. The pleadings, (Oh, I’m so good at this.) the “No’s”. The pleadings, the “No’s”. This until the bus driver comes back and (Da-Dah!) success. The pigeon disconsolately fades into the…Wait! What’s that? A Semi?

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems
Accelerated Reader RL 0.9
(Review by Letha)

The Giving Tree-Shel Silverstein August 20, 2007

“Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy.” And so it begins. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a children’s classic that takes us on a trip through life and as life itself, it isn’t always bright and cheerful. After I’ve read the book to students (usually around Mother’s Day), I ask their opinions about the story. “Did you like the boy?” “Did you like the tree?” “Do you know anyone who gives without getting anything back like the tree in the story?” (My favorite answer, by the way, to this question was “Yeah, my dog.” Well, you can’t win them all.) And interestingly, the student’s seem to really like the boy in The Giving Tree. With kids, it sometimes is “all about me.” I, also, ask if the pictures would have been better in color. The younger students pretty much agree they would be better in color, but the older students feel the black and white illustrations are necessary for the atmosphere of the book. Again, a book for all. “Sit down, Boy, sit down and rest. And the boy did.” And so it ends.

The Giving Tree
Written and Illustrated by Shel Silverstein
Accelerated Reader RL 2.6

• The Giving Tree at Amazon
• Shel Silverstein Official Site

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy-Jeanne Birdsall

The subtitle alone pulled me into this one and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s Little Women uproariously updated for this century. Kids will love the soccer-match-of-destruction into the snooty lady’s garden competition. It’s “two-on-one slaughter, a combination of cross-country running, guerilla warfare, and monkey-in-the-middle” complete with war cries of “FISH HEAD!”, “KNAVE!” AND “CHURL!” “Did anyone think then about the Garden Club competition? Did anyone hesitate, vaguely remembering what they’d been told over and over-stay out of the gardens that day?” If that doesn’t have you turning pages, the death race between Hound and one of the aforementioned rabbits, will. It’s a hard book to set down. So pick it up already and get started on a fun read. For you grown-ups, there’s conflict, there’s injustice, and kids learn to handle both with help from wise adults.

The Penderwicks
Written by Jeanne Birdsall
Accelerated Reader RL 4.7-Middle Grade interest level
(Review by DeEtte)

• The Penderwicks at Amazon
  
• Jeanne Birdsall ’s Website

Bark, George-Jules Feiffer

George is a dog with a problem. “George’s mother said: ‘Bark George’. George went: ‘Meow.’” George’s increasingly frustrated Mother keeps “encouraging” George to bark, but the results produce anything but an arf. Time to dust off the Health Net card and take the misvoiced dog to the doctor, er, vet. After some pretty invasive “surgery” (Dr. R., please don’t get any ideas.), George is cured. Did I say cured? Hmm. Bark, George is written by Jules Feiffer and is a great book to read to students, but in my James Bond super-spy mode, I’ve overheard students reading it to themselves with some rather realistic quacks and oinks and, no surprise here, giggles.

Bark, George
Written and Illustrated by Jules Feiffer

• Bark, George at Amazon
• Jules Feiffer Website

The Baby Beebee Bird-Diane Redfield Massie

Please say the following in a high-pitched baby bird voice: (Yes, there is such a thing.) “Beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi.” And therein lies the premise for The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie. The animals at the zoo “…were all asleep. The zoo was very still …until…” well, see above repetition. The zoo creatures, of course being unable to sleep, devise a scheme to, um, help the Baby Beebee Bird adjust his wakeful hours to a more reasonable time. After all, “Nighttime is really best for sleeping…especially for very little birds.” Alas, if nothing else, the kids at school can really relate to the annoying part-visualize a virtual plethora of sly grins. I should mention that I’ve been stricken from best friend status of many a teacher as their students “Beebeebobbibobbi” all the way back to class. The illustrations by Steven Kellogg-How could it be anyone else?-are colorful and kid-friendly. You know what? I probably should have written this review at a different time of day. Oh, well, beebeebobbibobbi beebeebobbibobbi beebe…

The Baby Beebee Bird
Written by Diane Redfield Massie
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Accelerated Reader RL 2.5

• The Baby Beebee Bird at Amazon
• Steven Kellogg-Illustrator

The Gingerbread Boy-Richard Egielski August 19, 2007

In Richard Egielski’s The Gingerbread Boy, the title character is running loose in New York City. In this modern version of the gingerbread story, the Gingerbread Boy taunts a rat, some construction workers, a few street musicians and, well, the rest of us with “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man!” Then he meets a fox (Why is it in these stories I’m always rooting for the fox?) and the fox, again, outsmarts the annoying escapee. The students really get into this version and are chanting right along with the Gingerbread Boy. The illustrations are bright and detailed and the kids love them, especially one of the clothesline items. The ending? Well, all expectations (Or fears, if you’re a softy) are met. “…and the Gingerbread Boy was all gone.” (Hee. Hee.)

The Gingerbread Boy
Written and Illustrated by Richard Egielski
Accelerated Read RL 2.5

• The Gingerbread Boy at Amazon
• About Richard Egielski