The Little Blue Truck is going into the big city and everyone is in a hurry and thinks they they are the most important person on the road.  The cars and trucks make angry sounds at Little Blue to get out of their way.  But then the limmo’s engine dies and Little Blue takes the major, who echoes Little Blue’s advice — ‘one at a time, single file, we’ll all get there, don’t be impatient or mad’.  Lesson to be learned is to slow down the pace of life; it isn’t worth getting in a rage being in a hurry.  Great illustrations, vehicles have humanistic faces, told in rhyme.

Includes a table of contents page and glossary; interesting book which very young students will enjoy.  Well explained, good examples to go along.  It’s a very small book and would like it to be large and life size.

Another book in the “Emma” realistic series, which follows a 3rd grader who is upset and jealous of her father’s new wife’s niece.  This niece is her age and excels at horseback riding.  What makes Emma even more upset is that her father lives in England and she rarely gets to see him and the ‘new’ niece sees him often.  At school they will be participating in a winter games competition (supposedly for exercise) but it’s important for Emma to win and excel at something so that her dad doesn’t forget about her.  Very real, funny and a clever insight into the minds of both boys and girls.

Absolutely riveting photos!!!  Amazing details, some interesting facts, but lacks oomph!  Needs more photos and facts; feels insubstantial.  Too costly of a purchase with today’s limited library budgets.

Annie is going to be in a school play and Henry and Mudge help her practice.  She still gets butterflies in her tummy just before she goes on.  This book will make a nice addition to a collection of beginning to read books.

A gentle book with terrific illustrations–clear and defined, but not too much detail.  When mouse is down in the dumps, he calls his friends and they make elephant soup.  First, they get the elephant and scrub him — the look on elephant’s face while he’s being bathed is priceless, pure bliss.  But once the water starts getting too hot and he catches on to what is happening, he gets outta there!  It turns more into a swimming party and all have fun, even elephant.

A very upbeat happy book told in rhyme about a little girl who wants to bake a cake.  No one in the house or family will help, so she’s on her own and adds bizarre ingredients.  She shapes it like a crocodile and pops it into the oven.  As it bakes it turns real and out comes a hungry crocodile.  She is fearful but then realizes he’s just a cake and she eats him to get rid of him.  Very clever.

In a quiet, peacefultown, where everyone was happy, it was suddenly decided that the townspeople should do something different, something important.  They decided to build a tall tower that would reach all the way to heaven.  As the tower grew taller and taller, the people became more and more confident of being able to rule over earth and heaven.  A thunder storm shook the tower and lightning struck.  Afterwards the people all began to ‘babble’ or speak in different languages. Eventually, unable to communicate, they left for various continents to make their own land.  No one was left in the town except for one old professor.

I had to look up this Bible story in order to understand the relevance.  Apparently, up to this point in the Bible, people all spoke the same language.  But with the building of the tower, God recognized their intentions of going away from God, wanting to rule themselves.  With his command, they suddenly could not communicate nor get along, thwarting their plans.  This is the story that explains how God made the different continents and languages.

They’re baaaaacccckkkk!   This is the original story introducing the Smurfs.  The story takes place in the Middle Ages and Peewit, an oftentimes pesky lad (and, I believe, the king’s son), loves music and thinks he is the best musician in all the land.  No one else thinks that and they run and hide to avoid listening to him, no one brave enough to tell him the truth.  He comes across a flute that when played makes people dance.  Peewit thinks this is the funniest thing ever, but it is stolen by a thief who uses it to steal from the bank and other wealthy institutions, and uses the gold to arm armies to invade Lord Mumford.  Enter the Smurfs….a help or a distraction, hmmmm?  Anyway, a long story short, the Smurfs give Peewit another magic flute, he duels with the thief, gets back the original flute and saves the day.  I remember the Smurf cartoons from 20 years ago and they were pretty cute and funny then.  They are still cute, but I think if the Smurfs are new to you, you really need to be able to hear and see them in action.

Jerome’s mom is a sailor and spends much of her time at sea.  When her ship is at port, she lives at home and does many things with the family.  When she leaves, she gives Jerome big kisses, a hug, and tells him to be brave.  Jerome misses his mother a lot and does not feel brave.  The books is divided into mini-chapters describing Jerome’s life when Mom is gone.  One day, Jerome took his dog, Duffy, to a pet show at school.  Duffy was afraid of all the other dogs and kids and hid behind Jerome until it was time to perform.  Jerome was surprised when his teacher gave Duffy a ribbon for being the bravest.  His teacher explained that being brave does not mean being un-afraid.  It means doing what is expected even when one is afraid.  As he reflected on all he did when he was worried about his mom, he decided, “sometimes we were brave”.  France Brassard’s awesome watercolor illustrations capture the life and emotions of Jerome and his family beautifully.  The point of view changes on each page which adds interest and drama.  Brassard’s paintings are perfectly paired with Pat Brisson’s endearing story.