Imagination flies again as two brothers and two sisters go out on a fall evening dresses=d in costumes. The youngest, Gretchen, suddenly becomes frightened when the crescent moon disappears. Mitchell, the oldest, dressed in a wizard costume announces, ” ‘Only the Sorcerer of Space can ride the Moon Ladder [ belonging to the swing set] of Magic and Mystery.’ ” With a zoomity up! zappity snap! and zippity snatch! Mitchell’s lightning-wand lassoes the moon. Two Jack O’ Jerks [ extra large orange lawn refuge bags] are eating the moon until the lightning-wand POPs them. Safely back on Earth, Gretchen and MItchell with Annabelle and Clark “headed out into the moon-bright evening.”

Halloween is never mentioned, but the illustrations show the children are on their way to trick-or-treat.

Gretchen, the youngest, goes to the beach with her two brothers and sister. While her sister and brothers play in the surf, Gretchen plays in the sand until her hat flies away. Gretchen catches hold of the hat’s ribbon. Together they sail up into the clouds. Gretchen is able to swim in “the wispy wave-clouds”. A gull flies her away from a thunder storm until Gretchen sees her hat again.”With her hat as a parachute Gretchen… drifted down, down, down to the beach.” As the family picnics, Gretchen states, ” ‘ Big clouds are better than big waves.’ ”

Gretchen’s private adventure above the beach is quite fun, especially with the faraway beach shown in such great perspective down below.

What imagination these four children exhibit on a rainy spring day while playing on their porch. Gretchen, the youngest, calls for a circus, when her stuffed bear falls off the porch into the wet yard. Clark jumps off the porch and into the (now) sea to rescue the bear. Their dog becomes a “hungry Fur-Shark.” Then, the bear is swept “into the Fur-Shark’s ghastly dark cave.” Next, the garden hose becomes a Million-Mile Eel. Mitchell and Annabelle join the action, as the Sea Patrol, coming to Clark’s and bear’s rescue. Soon they are safely back from the sea and on the porch waiting “for the rain to stop.”

Marvelous colorfully artistic transitions from real to imaginary take place and which will keep the reader delighted!

Stickmen do not have much meat on their bones, so having them in the title makes perfect sense. There are little bits and pieces of information in this book, but nothing in great quantity (meat on their bones). I enjoyed this book most for its colorful active  artwork. The mountains are drawn in a cubism style, with lines and angles drawn in showing the mountain’s many facets. The little stickmen are a fun addition to the geologic information being presented, as they parachute, hang glide, scale down, ski and observe flora and fauna on the mountain. A fully clad person would detract from the information and fun.

The top left corner of each page has a color coded tab to help the reader determine which part of the mountain or valley is being presented: mountaintops, plains, under the crust, and earth’s core. There are labels, labels, and more labels on every page to help with topography, man-built structures, and stickmen’s gear, as the three interrelate to each other in the cross sections of terrain.

The examples in the book come from Asia, Africa, North America, and South and Central America. I wonder how accurate the locations mentioned are because on page 19 the author states that Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is in California, which is not correct. Yellowstone is in Wyoming and Montana. Is this a one time mistake? When I wrote the publisher in February/March 2017 about this error, I did not get a response back from them. There is, also, a typo on page 29: ‘exract’ should be ‘extract’ in the “Going for Gold” section.

The book does have a glossary and an index to help track down the trivia that abounds on this book’s pages.

June tells this story. On page one June states, ” I have the only ears in the whole world that can hear Sammy talk.” Sammy is her dog. They do everything together.

June is on a mission to find a new friend who must meet her 3F criteria: fun, friendly, and full of adventure. In the meantime, Grandma Penny has sent June a present with instruction on how to use it. ” ‘It’s a spinning wheel, like on Wheel of Fortune.’ ” (23) June is to write on the wheel’s chalkboard surface, dividing it into six equal parts. Inside each section, June is to write a specific word, then spin the wheel once each morning. Once the wheel stops, June will open the envelope with that word on it. Inside the envelope will be directions describing what she is to do is connection with the ‘word’  and let the wheel’s directions guide her actions that day.  The words on the six sections are: questions, animal, dance/spin again, hand, poem, and collection. Little do June and Sammy realize how much the wheel will help her on her mission to find a new friend.

New neighbors move into the house across the street from June’s house. Mae (the new girl) shows up in June’s class at school. How convenient, but no, April has already latched onto Mae by the time June gets to class. April and Mae are a pair for the first few days. June thinks Mae and June would be a better combination. Little by little with the help of Grandma Penny’s Wonder Wheel and human nature, Mae and June are new best friends by the last page of the book.

I predict this becoming a new series- Mae & June.

Ashley Spires’ illustrations on almost every other page are a delight.

I do not know how many times when driving through Seattle, I have wondered how those big cranes get on top of the skyscrapers being built. This little book answered that question for me in its first section.  The second section states that there are different types of cranes for different types of jobs and locations. And the third section names the crane’s basic parts and what each part does.  Cranes come in all shapes and sizes, and they all are meant for heavy lifting.

Short, sweet, and to the point!

Includes: www.factsurfer.com, a glossary, and an index.

This book is meant for early readers with its nine pages of text and nine pages of illustrations/photos.The text pages average three sentences per page.

The book states pterodactyls were not dinosaurs, though they were reptiles. After three page turns, the author switches from using the term ‘pterodactyl’ to using ‘flying reptiles’.

When I shared this page with kindergarten and first grade, the students were very enthusiastic about answering two of the three sidebar questions: “Do you know the names of any dinosaurs?” and “Do you know any other animals that live in flocks?”

One little boy believes dinosaurs did not become extinct by a “fiery blast”. He thinks dinosaurs are in hiding. Everywhere he goes he looks for dinosaurs in disguise.

Readers will spend their time finding the dinosaurs. There is one dinosaur disguised as the Sphinx, another as a knight’s horse, another as a Pilgrim, Santa, and the Statue of Liberty.

Slowly, the little boy comes to realize the time might not be right for the dinosaurs to show themselves: too much fast food, stress, and pollution, but “Their secret is safe with me,” he says.

Illustrator Lynn Munsinger’s dinosaur disguises will keep you looking and laughing.

In this science fiction novel, teenage Cardinal Cassidy struggles to survive in a small town called Black River. Many people in the town have been struck with the Plague which erases one’s memories. Cardinal wears a black mask, giving him the nickname Black Mask Man. He must be constantly cautious so as not to get infected by the virus. Every time Cardinal ventures into the downtown area, he comes face to face with individuals who have been infected by the Plague or are people from his personal past who are also infected. He must go on a journey to find out about those that he knows personally from his past…But those folks do not remember their past at all! Once he investigates “the infected,” he must chose to tell each one about their past or not.

The characters were very relateable which helps the reader stay intrigued and interested. The author’s diction brings the reader wanting more of the story. This book will motivate the reader to understand that everything happens for a reason. Fans of science fiction will definitely want to read this book.

— Emma S.

The book begins with Mother Goose sailing into view.  The introductory poem explains that the intent is to “remix old songs anew to turn them into something true fro modern singer, wingers, readings.”  The authors take 14 selected nursery rhymes from around the world and reinvent them in two unique poems with different voices, playing with points of view.  The dog complaining about the snoring when its pouring (It’s Raining, It’s Pouring), a pie tuckered out from all the thumbs (Little Jack Horner) a happy fiddle (Old King Cole) are just a few of the fun twists on the originals.  This book is similar to the author’s first book Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist.

A great choice for teaching point of view or for writers workshop.

The end of the book includes the original nursery rhymes as well as background on each original.  The book wraps up with a farewell poem from Mother Goose.

Maxi is a brand new taxi, flashy and bright.  He heads out for his first day of work with an enthusiastic smile.  In all his zipping and zooming he found lots of puddles, sticky fingers, and even a friendly pigeon left her mark. Now Maxi no longer sparkled – he looked more like Mr. Gooey-Goo.  No one wanted to ride is a dirty taxi! When he saw a boy and his mother wave, he zoomed over and stopped.  They weren’t excited about such a dirty taxi, but they had a solution – a car wash across the way.  Max was afraid to enter, but got sucked in anyway.  With a rumm, pish, flip-flop and blip blop the brushes tickled his muffler, bumper, and hubs. Out he zoomed, shining again.  The day ends with Maxi returning home without a bump or scratch.  His friend Mr. Buddy gives him an extra polish before tucking him in.

Fun rhyming language make this a good read aloud for young children.