A sweet, simple story, useful for addressing bullying problems.  Carly and Sandy are two sisters who enjoy playing together until a new neighbor moves into the neighborhood.  Lily Jean seems to enjoy being on a power trip, and only wants to play with Sandy.  She will only allow Carly to play if she takes on the demeaning roles Lily assigns.  Sandy sort of half-hearedly tries to stick up for Carly a few times, but gets over-ruled.  In the end, when Lily Jean tries to exclude Carly altogether and tells Sandy to come over to her house to play, Sandy finally says no, and insists she’s going to stay and play with Sandy.  Then Lily Jean wants to play badly enough she declares she’ll be anything they want, so Carly and Sandy demand she be nice, and she agrees.  Though perhaps unrealistically simplistic in finding resolution to a big problem that is usually not so easily solved, it is a good conversation starter, and illustrates well how easily bullying can get started.

This was not as painful to read as I expected it to be.  I picked it up because I knew I have students who are interested in the series, but I thought it would be a real chore for me to read.  Though I certainly wouldn’t call it great literature (a bit cheesy, two-dimensional characters, predictable plot), it was really a reasonable, nice little undemanding story for those who aren’t really strong readers. While it’s able to build off the popularity of the Disney movies on which it is based, I would certainly recommend having it in your collection for those fans.  However, though the binding on Spotlight’s edition is certainly nice and sturdy, I doubt the popularity of the series is likely to last as long as this binding, so I probably wouldn’t bother investing in the reinforced library bound unless you really expect a lot of hard wear and tear — probably the paperbacks would suffice long enough.

Beautiful illustrations of painted paper collage support this story as Lucky Mouse recounts for his friend Lucy all the ways his lucky feather has proven itself lucky since he found it.  Lucy is skeptical — to her, each incident sounds like coincidence or bad luck, etc.  But each time Lucky is able to correct her and explain just why it was really good luck.  In the end, when the lucky feather saves them both, Lucky presents it as a gift to Lucy.  A delightful tale about looking on the bright side.

Often I don’t like when books mix English and Spanish, but this book does so in a very deliberate way, which helps to teach a few Spanish words in a mostly English text.  Building off a repeating pattern, similar to “This Is the House that Jack Built,” each new phrase is first introduced in English, and then subsequently repeated with the nouns in Spanish.  Picture clues in the illustration support comprehension of the new vocabulary.  By the end of the story all the ingredients have been added to the pot to form rice pudding, which the farm maiden shares with all those who helped contribute.  At the back of the book is a recipe for rice pudding and a glossary of the Spanish vocabulary used in the story. It’s bright & cheerful & fun, and could be useful for language learners, both English and Spanish.

A few Spanish words are sprinkled throughout mostly English text as a young girl describes some of the things found in her barrio, or neighborhood, the last of which are paletas in every color of the sarape.  The bright, bold illustrations to support the text, so that readers unfamiliar with the Spanish words would be able to use picture clues and context to deduce their meaning (an just in case, there’s a glossary in the back).  The bulk of the book consists of the young girl listing all that one can do with a paleta (similar to a popsicle), including painting your tongue and cooling down and learning to make tough decisions.

Told from the perspective and in the voice of a preschooler who’s having a sleepover at Gramma’s house, it tells of her excitement and preparations and all the things they do together.  Because it’s being told in the preschooler’s voice, it’s full of baby-talk and it’s poorly punctuated, making it difficult to read aloud.  I wasn’t impressed.

The interplay between text and illustrations in this story is important, as it is a tale about imaginary play.  Basically, it is the story of two sisters having a campout in their back yard, but that’s just on the surface.  In the world of imagination, it is a princess setting off with her panther to cross deserts and drink from wide blue lakes and pitch their silk tent in the night to keep out the leaf-snakes and the owl-witch and the frog-monster.  Throughout all the adventures, the princess (i.e. big sister) is brave, and the panther (i.e. little sister) tries to be.  In the illustrations the reader gets to connect reality to imagination:  the wagon on one page becomes a camel on the next, the wading pool becomes the sea, the grand red silk tent becomes a blanket thrown over a rope, etc.  A good story for encouraging imaginary play and acknowledging that backyard sleepovers can be a bit scary if you let your imagination run loose.

Benjamin Middlemouse’s mother disappears while doing errands.  He and his friend Bumper, the elephant, gather supplies and prepare for the search.  They learn Sir Pouncelot, the cat, is hunting mice and moles for dinner.  They find Benjamin’s mother in a cage in Sir Pouncelot’s tower.  They trick the cat, free mother, and convince Sir Pouncelot to eat new favorite foods.  Molly Cox is the author of several children’s books.  As a child, she made clothes and furnishings for stuffed animals.  The charm of this book are in all the details she has included on each page.  Oliver Toppin’s photographs do an excellent job of adding intrigue to the adventure.  Some of the supplies Benjamin and Bumper took with them are a ladder for Benjamin made from matchsticks, a ladder for Bumper made with nails and strips of cloth, and a slingshot with popcorn ammunition.Molly Coxe’s attention to details is incredible.  This book is a visual treat.

Julie Andrews, a life-long entertainer, has written many books for children, as well as several with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  This book is for all fairy princesses!  Geraldine knows exactly what is required of a fairy princess.  Her sparkle really shines when she sings and dances.  In ballet, she is disappointed when another girl, Tiffany, is chosen to be th Crystal Princess.  Geraldine’s costume is for the jester and, disheartened, she loses her sparkle.  However, she still wears her crown under the jester’s hat.  She falters and trips during her solo.  But when Tiffany’s crown is broken, Geraldine saves the day as she loans her crown to Tiffany.  Her sparkle returns.  Christine Davenier’s ink and colored pencil illustrations include lots of pink and purple – fairy princess colors!

A great book for teaching young children that monsters aren’t real, it tells of a young boy walking alone through a forest where people say there lives a terrible monster.  He acknowledges the existence of bears and wolves and snakes in the forest, but he’s not afraid of them because he knows they aren’t really interested in attacking him.  Much of the story consists of the boy’ dialogue with the monster who is following him, trying to convince him he should be scared, but the boy keeps walking calmly along, insisting he doesn’t believe in the monster.  Eventually, as the monster fails to convince the boy to believe in him, he grows smaller, until he starts to look like a kitten, as he begs the boy to believe in him just a little bit.  In the end the boy picks up the kitten, agrees that maybe he could believe in him just a little bit, and asks his mom if he can keep the kitten he found in the forest.  The writing in the story is good: it’s got good voice and fluency, and it does a great job using text features such as larger, bolder print to help it be read aloud with expression.  The trouble is with the illustrations, which I found rather off-putting.  I think if I were to use it with a group of students, I would choose not to show them the illustrations and ask them to use their own imagination to create mind pictures that go with the words — maybe even have them draw their own illustrations.

“Four Friends at Christmas” is a reprinting of a chapter from Tomie dePaola’s book,”Four Stories for Four Seasons”, which was first published in 1977.  Mister Frog normally slept through the winter.  His friends told him about the joyous holiday of Christmas.  So, this year, Mister Frog decided to stay up to join in the celebration.  He made lists and plans to make everything perfect.  All the work made him tired, so he lay down for a nap.  He awoke with a start on Christmas Eve.  Stores were closed and Mister Frog had no food or decorations. As he wondered how his friends were celebrating, the doorbell began to ring and three Santas (his friends) brought everything needed for a fine celebration.  Tomie dePaola’s delightful illustrations add details to the story with visual hints about each Santa’s arrival.  No Tomie dePaola collection would be complete without this new edition of this Christmas tale.

Mike Huckabee, politician, has written many books for adults.  This is his first one for children.  He relates the true story of talking his sister into helping him open their presents before Christmas.  Mike wanted a football.  Sister Pat wanted a chemistry set.  They played with them for almost two weeks while their parents were at work.  Although they acted surprised Christmas morning, their parents noticed the football was dirty and the chemistry set was used.  This led to a discussion of when one does something sneaky, it takes the joy out of the celebration.  Jed Henry’s colorful illustrations show the warmth in the Huckabee household.  The cat and dog share joy with the mischievous children.  This is a wholesome holiday story with a moral about patience.

Emily Green has written many nonfiction books for young readers.  This book on raccoons contains large, full-page photographs on one side of the spread, and one or two large font sentences on the other.  Photographs are well matched with the text.  A colorful top border creates a pleasing look to the spread.  Books listed for further information are a a slightly higher independent reading level.  Factsurfer.com website provides an online opportunity for learning.  Some material is at a much higher reading level.  A glossary and index are included.  This nonfiction book is a good resource for emergent readers.

In another of her nonfiction animal books for young readers, Emily Green describes skunks.  Each spread contains a full-page photograph and one or two sentences written in large font.  Photographs are well-matched to the text.  A colorful top border unites the pages.  Books listed for further reading are written at a higher independent reading level.  One is fiction instead of another nonfiction.  Factsurfer.com website is listed for additional information however the reading level is for more proficient readers.  A glossary and index are included with photo credits in the back.  Recommended for beginning readers looking for factual information on skunks.

Derek Zobel has written many books for Scholastic Blastoff! Readers.  This one on deer is for emergent readers.  There are one or two large-font sentences accompanying a full page photo.  A pleasing top border ties the pages together.  Books recommended for further information are at a higher reading level – not for beginning readers to read independently.  There are related sites found on the factsurfer.com site.  Photos are small, text is for more advanced readers.  However, this book by Derek Zobel is a good introduction to deer for younger readers.

When sister and brother, Susi and Bobby, are outside playing one day, they discover a yellow butterfly that sings.  They are so amazed that they share their experience with their grandfather at dinner, who in turn shares a legend that says that yellow butterflies are magical and can grant wishes, if those wishes come from the heart.  Bobby and Susi immediately start plotting and planning what they’d like to wish for, and spend days trying to catch the butterfly.  When they finally catch it in their net, they start spouting their wishes, but get no response and notice that the butterfly is in distress.  Unable to convince her brother to set the butterfly free, Susi wishes the butterfly free, and so it happens.  In gratitude, the free butterfly decides to grant them both a wish, and the story ends there, asking the reader, “What would you wish for?”  It reads aloud well, and would make a great conversation starter, as so many kids love to ponder the ending question, and it has a good message to offer about unselfish actions getting rewarded in the end, but that message is a bit muddled in that Bobby gets granted a wish, too, even though he was the one arguing to keep the butterfly captive.

Animal lovers will find plenty of information in this book.  Each title is in question form which encourages learning by inquiry.  Each spread includes a full-page photo of the animal, three or four sentences for younger readers, a colored box with more information for more fluent readers, and a smaller related photo insert of the animal.  Words to know for new readers and for fluent readers are introduced in the front of the book.  Pronunciation is provided for some words.  Twelve animals are represented.  Books recommended for further reading are of a similar reading level as this book.  Three websites are mentioned.  Two are very good and one did not work at the time of this review.  Index included in the back with the photo credits.

Spanish and English are mixed in the text, as the author tries to adapt the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas carol to count in spanish, naming gifts from her own Mexican-American traditions.  In the back of the book are notes from the author and illustrator describing how they crafted the book, along with a glossary describing the traditional gifts and translating the numbers.  Unfortunately, the song itself is hard to sing, as the rhythm is somewhat thrown off with the new word choices at times, and I fear that there may be some stereotyping or over-gereralization happening, as many Latin-American cultures vary in their traditions, and one Hispanic friend I consulted was unfamiliar with some of those listed here.  Also, I don’t like the way the two languages were jumbled together.  I will say that the illustrations are bold and colorful.

A sweet (though perhaps a bit cotton-candy-sweet), story of a boy’s little stuffed lamb who is curiously poking about Santa’s great big bag when Santa stops by on Christmas Eve, and accidently falls into the bag.  Throughout the rest of the evening, as Santa continues on his rounds, Lamb visits with the other toys in the bag, calming their fears and offering the wise council of an experienced toy.  At the end of the night, when Lamb is the only toy left in Santa’s bag, he fears Santa may give him away to another child and wonders how he will get home to his own boy, but of course Santa knows better, and Lamb finds himself safely returned home.  A good addition to Christmas collections.

In this book of food, author Jen Green includes much information about the history, climate, culture, traditions, and religions of the islands that make up the Caribbean.  A map shows the location and names of islands in the Caribbean, also known as the West Indies.  Green colored boxes on many pages provide additional information.  There are 3 recipes for traditional favorites with measurements in both American and metric systems written for children to follow.  Other recipes and further information can be found in recommended books and websites.  Photos are well chosen and captions offer additional information.  Also included is a glossary and index.  This book is a good resource for those looking for a variety of information on the Caribbean.

In a family full of folks who are expert multi-taskers, always in a rush, Fiona is a slowpoke who likes to take her time.  One day when her dawdling has made her miss the bus one too many times, her mother insists she attend Speed School.  Then Fiona finds herself multi-tasking with the best of them, rushing through life with her head spinning so much one day it gets stuck.  When she can’t take it anymore she makes a deal with her parents that she will be on time if the rest of the family will attend Slow School, where she teaches them to slow down and taste their food and notice flowers.  It’s a simple easy-reader book with a nice message we can all relate to on one end of the story or the other.  I just wish the internal illustrations were in color.

The Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, decide to enter their dog, Watch, in a competition to star in dog food commercials.  Watch’s main opponents are Ninja, the star in a TV show, and Buffalo, owned by a boy.  As the story unfolds, there are a couple of mysteries about the contest for the children to solve.  This is book 121 of t he Boxcar Children series created by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

Author Ann Malaspina tells of an incident that connects General Washington and poet, Phillis Wheatley.  In 1775, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, General Washington was guiding his rag-tag group of men and boys into becoming soldiers to fight the well-disciplined British troops.  At the same time, Phillis Wheatley sat in Providence, Rhode Island, struggling with her own thoughts about the British, the colonists, and freedom.  Looking for a way to support the colonists’ desire to be free of British tyranny, on Oct. 26, 1775, she wrote a poem to encourage General Washington.  Her words remained with Washington as he and his men struggled to prepare for battle.  In Feb. 1776, Washington sent her a letter thanking her for her words of encouragement and admiring her talent as a poet.  A month later, Washington aimed real and pretend cannons at the British in Boston.  Surprised at the supposed strength of the Continental Army, the British retreated and the Army won its first victory.  No one knows if Washington and Wheatley ever met and their lives then followed different paths.  This short picture book tells details from the lives of two important people at one point in the history of our country.

This book is intended for very young, pre-school audiences.  It has only a few words per page, sometimes only a phrase, sometimes a couple sentences.  It tells of a three-year-old proclaiming all he can do now that he is three.  The problem is that many of the things he declares he can do would be things he could do before he was three (e.g. cuddle, wiggle, flop, giggle).  The colors in the illustrations are rather drab, and they don’t always clearly support the text:  it took the second reading of the book before I could even figure out the picture on the “now I can swing” page.

A delightful book that stays true to the characters and artwork of the original Peanuts comic strip while creating a bridge to tradition text for early readers.  It tells the story of Lucy’s frustration over her little brother Linus’s dependence on his trusty blanket.  Lucy tries calling in Grandma as backup; she tries taking it away; Linus tries asking Snoopy to hold it for him.  In the end, Linus decides that though he may have to give up his blanket someday, that day is not today.  The story is one that so many children can relate to, and in the end, they can be reassured that it is okay to have a comfort object.  This is an early reader that is also a good story. And the binding is nice and durable.