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.