This book contains an interesting mix of jokes, tongue twisters, riddles, limericks, knock-knock jokes, and non-fiction fun facts – all with a focus on science.  Other books in the series are Animal Jokes, Ha-Ha Holiday Jokes, and Sports Jokes to Tickle Your Funny Bone.  Most of the artwork is from clipart.com.

Emma the dog’s perfect life is upset when she believes her owner, George, is being kidnapped by a woman.  She emails Queenie, an advice columnist, for recommendations.  After several attempts to rid the house of Loretta, Emma discovers Loretta is a pizza chef and decides a compromise might be the best plan.  This story may help others adjusting to a blended family while dealing with feelings of jealousy and the need to belong.  Eileen Christelow’s humorous illustrations are drawn in a comic book style and are engaging from the first page to the last.

Muskrat cork lives in the middle of a pond.  His friend Fuzz, a possum, never visits because he is afraid to swim.  Cork is encouraging and gives him some on-the-ground lessons.  Fuzz decides instead to crawl out on a tree branch that extends toward Cork’s house.  Fuzz fall into the water, but after a moment of panic, uses cork’s instructions and paddles to Cork’s house.  Chaconas portrays a supportive friendship as well as the satisfaction of compromise.  Lisa McCue’s ink and watercolor illustrations are expressive and endearing.

Cork, a muskrat, is babysitting a baby porcupine.  He needs his friend Fuzz, a possum, to help but Fuzz is too busy.  Only when Fuzz gets in trouble and the baby porcupine is the one to rescue him, does Fuzz relent.  This book is a level 3 in Viking’s Ready-to-Read program and is directed toward young, independent readers.  Lisa McCue’s ink and watercolor illustrations are colorful and expressive.  This book is a good beginning chapter book for those ready to move away from picture books.

When I first picked this book up, I thought it would show you an inkblot and you were to try to figure out what it looked like.  Then the book would profile you based on your answers.  Boy, was I wrong!  This book has beautiful examples of seeing ‘things’ in random shapes created by an inkblot.  Think of it as trying to decide what cloud shapes resemble.  The book gives a list of supplies plus directions of how to create the blots and then SEE the shapes within them and begin to draw from that.  The results are amazing.  Kids will love to give this a try and I’m hoping teachers will, too!  I know I will.

Organized in chronological order, this is a brief introduction to 13 famous people in American history, and famous quotations uttered by each along the theme of courage.  Each beautifully illustrated two-page spread is dedicated to a different individual, beginning with their name, one of their famous quotes, and the date it was given; then it gives one paragraph of introduction giving the context for when and where the quotation comes from.  Two more pages in the back give extra blurbs on all the individuals, providing further background.  It’s a good introduction to spur student interest, but there’s not enough meat to make it an R*. One question left unanswered in both information paragraphs is why Rosa Parks’s quote came from 1990.

Humorous author Robin Palmer doesn’t disappoint in this third book in the “Yours Truly, Lucy B. Parker” series.  “Vote for Me” has Lucy running for class president, pushing to make a name for herself.  (Lucy’s step-sister is a teen superstar, to whom popularity comes easily.)  Lucy’s attempt to be out-going battles her insecurities in a charming sort of way.

The only down-side to the book for young readers is that Lucy’s father’s girlfriend is pregnant.  While this takes away from the wholesomeness of the story, it just adds to the drama (the baby shower falls on the same day as the election.)  Everything is always a struggle for Lucy, which makes her even more enduring.

It’s lame.  It claims to be a book about courage, but the big brave thing that Ben manages to do is to ride his bike to his friend’s house by himself, exactly 6 houses from his own, while Mom is standing there watching.  It just doesn’t qualify as an actual story, because there’s no actual plot. But the binding is sturdy and the illustrations are cute.

The limited target audience makes this an Additional Purchase for school libraries, though it may count more as a Recommended for public libraries.  Intended for very young children, both illustrations and text are simple and spare, but the character and plot are certainly something preschool children will relate to:  every time Mommy suggests helping Mimi in some way, Mimi shouts no and insists on doing it herself (I’m guessing she’s two).

It’s crude and crass and tacky.  It started out as a bedtime story a dad told his that made them laugh, and I can see that — there are certainly some who will get a kick out of this kind of humor, but I certainly wouldn’t spend money on it.  They told us in library school that if we don’t have any books in our library that offend us then we are guilty of unconscious censorship, so I’ll keep this in my library to keep me from censorship, but I’m glad it was free and I wouldn’t recommend it to others.  It tells the story of an overweight woman who has a bad case of gas but hasn’t farted in years, and when she finally passes gas in the produce section of the local market all the produce changes colors, resulting in a new trend.

Set in Elizabethan England, this is the tale of girl who is shuffled between disinterested parents, and left to look after herself much of the time.  To make things extra challenging, Meggy has a disability during an historical time period in which such struggles were viewed as just punishment from God sent down upon someone who had it coming.  But Meggy’s got spunk and she faces things head on, making friends along the way, and coming to the rescue when she discovers her drip of a dad is about to be unwittingly used by some thugs to play the key role in a dastardly deed.  There’s a lot about Meggy that kids today can relate to, but there’s a lot about the setting that students will find so very different from their own world, that many may have trouble understanding.  Best suited for more sophisticated readers who have some background knowledge of this time period or used as a read-aloud or literature-circle shared reading experience with an adult who can explain/interpret as questions arise.

Seventeen-year-old Willow and her mom move back to Georgia from Las Vegas.  Willow, like her mother, is a hypnotist.  Right before Willow departed from Georgia to Las Vegas, she hypnotized Max, her best friend into believing that they would be best friends forever.  While she is in Las Vegas, Willow realizes that her feelings for Max have grown into more than just friends. When she goes back to Georgia, expecting to start a relationship with Max, she finds out that he has a girlfriend.  Will Willow and Max ever find each other?

The author creates a real-life drama amongst the teens.  Readers will be able to relate to the “feeling something more for your best friend” relationship.  Although the plot was entertaining and engaging, the story’s ending lacked imagination; very unrealistic even with the hypnotist story-line.  Fans of Jabaley’s Lipstick Apology will not be disappointed with her witty writing style and creative plot.

Christina D.

Five 4ths of July is an historical fiction geared towards young adults. The main character, 15 yr. old Jake Mallery, is based on an ancestor of the author’s husband.  The novel covers five 4ths of July, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781 and each is a pivotal day in the life of a teenaged boy living on the Connecticut coast during the Revolutionary War.

The story is filled with rebellion, young romance, adventure, danger and fear, as Jake progresses from a boy to a rebel to a soldier to a prisoner to a patriot. Most gripping is the prisoner section, as it depicts the often overlooked and very grim history of the British prison ships. The author notes that while approximately 4,500 Americans died on the battle fields during the Revolutionary War, another 11,500 died horrific deaths in the holds of British prison ships in the New York harbor.

Government and Social Class in Colonial America covers the time period of 1620 through 1776 and examines social rank in British America, the development of Colonial government, the impact of Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion, the changing social status of blacks, the impact of the Enlightenment, and the growing disputes with the Mother Country that led to the American Revolution.

Of particular interest is the discussion of the changing social status of white indentured servants, as well as black servants, who before stricter laws were enacted, were able to earn their freedom alongside the white servants. Also discussed were the unsuccessful attempts by colonists to enslave Native Americans.

The restrictions upon, and discrimination against, women is examined. Details of rules on clothing and housing styles, based on social class, are outlined.

This book is filled with interesting and relatively easy to read historical information, and does not gloss over or minimize the suffering of the lower classes, the Native Americans, or the black slaves.

There are numerous pictures, a time line, index, and an extensive bibliography by chapter.

Up and Down is a funny little story about friendship.  The story deals with two friends and how their choices effect each other.  There are lessons showing the consequences that follow choices.  The story is cute, light, and filled with great pictures.  I like this short story.

This book is a great resource for young readers to learn about avalanches.  The pictures are big and clear.  The information is simple and easy to understand.  This book is a quick read, and will hold the attention of young readers as well as older ones with the interesting details.  The glossary is an excellent resource at the end to increase vocabulary and comprehension.

This book is full of beautiful pictures of large and deadly animals.  It is a quick read, so will hold the attention of younger children, but also older readers will enjoy learning the interesting facts about each animal.  The glossary at the end is a wonderful resource to increase the readers understanding and vocabulary.

This is a fun story about good vs. evil, and saving the world from destruction.  It would be a good read for 4th graders and up.  The biography at the end gives details about the characters that are not in the story line,  a fun way for kids to see the creative side of writing a character.  The biographies about the author and illustrator are also written in a way kids would enjoy.  This is a good book for looking at how people with different views can work together to accomplish an end all will be happy with .

Life after death.  Only a very few get to go to the underworld and see make it back to the real world.  Pierce did.  Prolific author Meg Cabot begins her new Abandon trilogy with Pierce Oliveria as a real world Persephone, who is being tracked by John Hayden, organizer of the underworld, aka Hades.  None of Pierce’s meetings with John were by chance, for when she was seven years old, John fell in love with her and gave her the gift of a color-changing diamond necklace. But when he had his opportunity to keep her in the underworld, out of fear she ran back through the door to the real world, still wearing the diamond necklace.  Parental divorce and issues at her previous school land her back to the island where she first met John.  Though he comes in and out of her life, both scaring her and kindling her love, he has told her the diamond will protect her from those who will want to harm her.  But Pierce is more head strong than heart weary and the battle of head over heart will drive this grinding love story because at the age of 17, Pierce is more flattered than enamored by his fondness for her.  This twisting tale always has more coming, and by the end of this installment, readers know it’s not over.  This cleverly crafted connection to mythology will definitely be a hit with those who are kin to such stories.  Strongly recommended for all libraries.

It’s an adequate, though limited biography of President Obama, designed for early readers, presented in both English and Spanish, illustrated with photos from the president’s life.  Along the bottom of each page, a timeline grows throughout the book, with new dates/events added to accompany the text.  But as a teaching tool, the timeline failed to represent the passage of time with distance along the line:  all dates were evenly spaced regardless of whether they represented a 4-year or a 7-year gap, and some important events described in the text were left off of the timeline, leaving me as a reader wondering why.

Each two-page spread consists of one full-page color photo of a real kid, accompanied by 2-3 simple sentences (in both English and Spanish), describing some of the behaviors and challenges that autistic children experience.  It is careful to use words like “some” and “may” so as to avoid generalizations lumping all autistic children together.  A useful tool for teaching students about children they may encounter around them but not understand.

A good tool for supporting early childhood social studies curriculum teaching about community workers, the simple text in this book, supported by simple illustrations, clearly describes many facets of the job of garbage collectors. These are members of the community that young children will be aware of, but likely know little about.  I even learned something.

Friendships between two friends are always easier than when a third friend comes along.  Learning to navigate the politics and power-plays that arise in such situations is one of the essential lessons of childhood.  All students will recognize the simple dilemma in this story of two friends playing, and the tensions that arise when a third joins but tries to push one aside.  The illustrations are cute.  The text is spare and simple and direct. The situation is common.

Bright, bold, graphic illustrations accompany very simple rhyming text walking readers through the noises one might encounter on a typical day in the city, from alarm clock ringing, through trash cans knocking, and on through the day until street lights are blinking and children are dreaming.  Useful for teaching about rhymes, nouns, verbs, and observing sounds.

If you need something in your non-fiction section to support dental health curriculum for young students, this would fit the bill well.  The binding is sturdy.  The text is simple and straight forward, presented in both English and Spanish — just a couple sentences per two-page spread, opposite large color photographs supporting the text.  It’s unlikely to be chosen by students for recreational reading, but could be useful as a teaching tool. One gripe: they could have left “tooth” out of the glossary, and included “enamel” instead, given that it’s more likely to be an unfamiliar vocabulary word for students.