Author Archives: Candy Ranney

About Candy Ranney

Candy is an elementary school librarian in Shelton, WA at the school where she was a student (so many years ago!). Her library is unique in that she brings her background and love of biology to her students in many ways. Not only does she have an awesome selection of science books; she also has a beaver, bobcat and mink sitting on her shelves and a variety of jarred specimens for her students to study. When she's not in the library, she is taking care of her baby trees on her tree farm and hanging out with her family and many pets. * 2025 WA Library Association School Librarian of the Year

Flubby Will NOT Play with That

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Flubby is a typical cat and Kami discovers that fact when she brings home an assortment of cat toys from the pet store. She introduces each toy to Flubby with cat-like results…no interest on Flubby’s part. She tries a singing toy, rolling toy, swinging toy and a surprise toy. But, Flubby is just not interested. Kami gives up and walks away and then Flubby discovers the best toy of all – the paper bag from the pet store. What a fantastic toy for a cat!

Drawings are cartoon-like and text is simple. Occasionally, there are two to three panels on a page, giving the ‘feel’ of a graphic novel. Pet- loving young readers will enjoy this short, easy book about a girl and her cat and they can look forward to more, because there is another Flubby book cover shown on the back.

Chris Pratt

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This slim, yet informative biography details the life and career of movie star, Chris Pratt. We learn that he was born in Minnesota and grew up in WA State, dropped out of college his freshman year and lived in his van, working at restaurants until his movie career took off. From there, we learn about his movie and television career and his legacy in public service, specifically his volunteerism with terminally ill children.

One of Abdo Zoom’s Star Biography series, it has all the typical nonfiction features – table of contents, index, glossary, further internet information and a nice mixture of color photographs and short paragraphs (unfamiliar words in red). The text is fairly simple, and the content is engaging for the older elementary/middle school reader. So, this is a good purchase for struggling readers as well as other fans. While I typically don’t buy many ‘trendy’ biographies, I would pick this one up for its local connection, since he grew up in the Lake Stevens area and the fact that he appears to be continuing his rise in fame.

Kiwi Cannot Reach!

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Kiwi has a problem – he wants to pull the rope and he cannot reach it! Will the reader help? This interactive beginning reader is written with cartoon-like illustrations and word bubbles. The sentences are short and the words are accessible, while still moving the story along. Readers who enjoy Elephant & Piggie will giggle along with this fun story about an engaging, but helpless, little kiwi.

Magic Tricks with Cards

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Magic Tricks with Cards explains a variety of card tricks that range from “not so tricky” to “terrifically tricky” with step-by-step instructions and diagrams throughout. Budding magicians will enjoy the playing card trivia and magician biography near the end of the book as well as the internet links for further study.

Typical nonfiction features, such as table of contents, glossary and index are included. This well-organized book will keep young magicians busy as they learn and practice some fun magic. Take a look at the other titles in the series, which includes disappearing acts, optical illusions and magic with props. These books won’t be on the shelves for long!

Crab Cake

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Crab Cake, written by the author of Accident! starts out innocently enough. The sea creatures are doing what sea creatures normally do – “Seahorse pretends to be seaweed” and “Puffer fish puffs up” and “Crab bakes cakes’ – what?? Yes, crab is a different sort of sea creature and bakes lovely cakes. This comes in handy when disaster strikes their lovely undersea world. A boat comes by and dumps a huge amount of trash into their home. Everything turns dark and they all freeze! Then, crab does what crab does best – he bakes a cake. The other sea creatures come out of hiding and begin to relax, brainstorming ideas as they eat his yummy creation. They are united in their resolve and each works with the others to clean up the terrible mess. They deposit the pile of garbage on the dock with a sign that reads “Come get your junk!’. And, life turns back to normal. The sea is clean and bright, the animals are doing what they do and crab is baking cakes (with some help from his friends!).

This story is so multifaceted in its message! While it is a lovely little narrative about a crab that doesn’t act like his fellow sea creatures, it is also a powerful reminder that individuals can come together to solve a big problem and highlights that individuals can all contribute in some way to the solution. In this case, “Snapper shoves”, “Clownfish rolls”, “Clam encourages” and all the other sea creatures help in their own ways to clean up their home and send a message to the humans above. This book is also a reminder that we shouldn’t stand by and let the others destroy the earth. All of this begins with a crab that bakes!

The last page has some great links to a variety of ocean environmental websites that are appropriate for kids. Read this book during Earth Day or any day that you are empowering your students to work together to benefit the world!

Ocean Friends

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Ocean Friends is a combination of two types of books – a drawing instruction book and a story. And, it involves mermaids, which are hot characters at the moment (along with unicorns)! The book begins with simple instructions and a materials list, pictured. It continues with the story, interspersed with instructions for drawing different ocean creatures that are introduced along the way. In the story, we meet Alana, a charming young mermaid that introduces herself and her friends to a dolphin names Aqua that is new in the area.

The story is charming and has a good message about making new friends welcome and the drawing instructions are fairly simple to follow. There are not many drawing books for the primary level and this one is quite suitable for that grade range. This will be a fun book to read with students and go back to draw with them. Purchase this book if you want update your drawing books.

30 – Minute Rainy Day Science Projects

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Ten simple science projects with materials that are easily found and clear, numbered (and, often illustrated) steps, make this book a necessary addition to the library. The directions are clear, a time frame is noted and a ‘science takeaway’ is given for each accessible project. There are typical nonfiction features, such as index, glossary, and further information. There are QR codes with more digital content, including more projects. Parents and teachers will appreciate the safety notes at the beginning of the book and the wrap-up (clean up!) notes at the end. There are very few pictures of children (one Caucasian girl and one Asian boy). The rest of the illustrations feature hands performing the steps of the project or just the materials used.

This book is part of a STEM maker series that includes five other books on topics like robotics, sustainable science, chemistry, edible science and outdoor science projects that are all 30 minutes or less. This book will not be on the shelf very long.

Boats on the Bay

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With artwork reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keats, this book details a day on the Bay (San Francisco?). Simple text details the action of different types of boats, like tugs, kayaks, and fishing boats. The day culminates in a beautiful fireworks display in a gatefold fired from the deck of a barge.

Young readers will enjoy the many different boats and the activity around them as they ply the water of the bay. The more observant readers will notice that the sentences on the first two pages are quite similar to the sentences on the last two pages, moving the story into a somewhat circular manner. Artwork is muted and the reader does not see expression of the characters’ faces. But, the real art is in the boats and they are done beautifully.

Flubby is NOT a Good Pet

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Flubby is a cat. He won’t sing like a bird, fetch like a dog or jump like a frog, because he’s a cat. And, cats do what they want to do. Does that make him a bad pet? His owner wonders about that until a thunderstorm comes and Flubby and his owner realize that they need each other. That’s what pets and their owners do, right?

Sentences are short and illustrations are cartoon-like with a mixture of full page and comic book style panels. The simple drawings do a nice job of conveying the characters’ emotions. Flubby looks bored (mostly) and his owner looks happy, sad, frustrated and scared, depending on the current actions (or inaction) of the pet in question. Readers will enjoy this simple book about a very normal pet cat.

Nobody Hugs a Cactus

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Hank was the epitome of a prickly cactus. He was grumpy, mean and wanted to be alone. He grumps at all manner of possible friends, from tumbleweed to coyote, until a cowboy strolls by and says “Nobody hugs a cactus”. It is at that moment that Hank wonders if a hug might be a nice thing to have. He goes from grumpy and mean to sad and lonely. One day, a cup flies by in the breeze and gets stuck on his face and he can’t get it off. Fortunately, Rosie the tumbleweed tumbles by and knocks it off. Her act of kindness kindles a yearning for friendship and reciprocity. So, Hank grows a lovely little flower to thank Rosie. When she next tumbles by he reaches out to give it her and she hugs him. Oops, he’s a cactus and can’t let go of Rosie! But, Hank decides that “…it’s better to be stuck in a hug than stuck all alone”.

This pictures in this lovely book are done in earth tones with water color. The characters are typical of a desert – cactus, tumbleweed, tortoise, hare, coyote and cowboy. Interestingly, one can see (and believe) the emotions playing out on the cactus’ face as he transforms from a grumpy guy to a friendly hug-lover. Students will enjoy his change of heart and hope that the other characters come back for hugs, too!