Penny and her dog,Jelly, are SO excited! An invitation to a sleepover under the stars at the local recreation center comes in the mail and they can’t wait, until…Jelly unrolls the invitation and Penny sees the bottom words “No Pets”. Suddenly, the sleepover doesn’t sound as fun, unless Penny can make a substitute Jelly to take along. She tries to construct a dog out of paper, yarn, marshmallows, vegetables, recyclables and many, many other versions. But, none of them are as perfect as Jelly. Penny packs her backpack and heads for the door as Jelly looks on sadly. But, wait! Penny can solve this problem another way and it works out beautifully for everyone. Penny, Jelly and all their friends (of varying ethnicity and species) end up having a great time all due to Penny’s thinking outside the box to solve the problem. Readers will be impressed by Jenny’s tenacity as she works hard to include Jelly (or, initially, some form of Jelly) in her sleepover plans.
Artwork is realistic and the reader will notice the characters’ emotions as they read through the story. Recommended

(Blue)Squirrel and (Red)Rabbit are new to their neighborhood and each longs for a friend. They wander through the pages of the story, always missing each other as they search a friend. Each is accompanied by tiny caterpillar that offers to help, but is not heard. And, while Squirrel is busy doing things like lugging some nuts over a bridge or rowing a boat, the reader (and the little caterpillar) see Rabbit engaged in his solo activities. Rabbit is equally oblivious to Squirrel in the background as he plays golf or plays in the creek under the bridge. In the end, all is well as the two literally run into each other and become friends. The caterpillars are there, too, commenting that Squirrel and Rabbit should have listened to them. But, “perhaps they don’t speak bug!”. Endpapers are worth a look, as they detail the places Squirrel and Rabbit visit in their quest for friendship and the paths they took while barely missing each other.
Young readers will enjoy this sweet book about finding friends and will delight in knowing what the main characters can’t see right in front of them. Sharing secrets with the caterpillars adds to the fun! Recommended.

It is a grey, dreary day outside. But, it is a different story inside the house, where three friends are deciding what to play…shall they be princesses? or fairies? Why don’t they play ballerina? Each girl is determined that the group play her suggested role=playing game and each girl has very valid points to make about her idea. Discussion gets somewhat heated and compromise seems unlikely until they look out the window at the frogs (who were part of of the story throughout the book) playing in the rain and they decide to play together outside.

Dialog is color-coded to match each girl’s outfit, so young readers will have no difficulty following the interchange of words. Illustrations are soft and sweet and the added glitter on the cover will be a big hit. This story about friendship and playing together will resonate with younger students. Recommended.

This second book about two friends and their adventures together is told in a gentle dialog between the snail and worm. There are three short stories and young readers will delight in the misconceptions of the mundane (feather, penny and the snail’s shell), which become much more to these darling creatures. Each character has a signature “voice” color in the story, so that young readers will know that Snail is speaking when the words are brown and Worm is speaking the purple words. Illustrations are simple, yet nicely convey the emotions of the two characters (hint:watch Snail’s eyes!). This book is perfect for fans of Elephant and Piggie and kids will be eagerly awaiting the next adventures of Snail & Worm. Highly recommended

This book really begins on the title page, as we see an endearing little pup gazing out of a cage. He is picked up by human hands and rides in a car, ending up in a new home (we know that because, the person attached to the arms we see in the illustration state that it’s Frankie’s home). But, there could be a problem…this place is already home to Nico, a dog that doesn’t like to share. Every time Frankie moves toward something (ball, bed, bone, etc.), Nico is there to lay claim. Frankie finally gives up and scrounges for items to call his own, until he hears his name and runs to a room loaded with Frankie’s new stuff. He is thrilled and wallows in his new possessions. Soon, Nico comes in, looks at Frankie’s frog and asks “Nico’s frog?” as Frankie looks askance. What will happen? Will Frankie share and Nico finally share? The story ends with the new housemates sharing happily sharing toys.

This is a lovely book with very few words, but does a wonderful job of conveying the story of two new doggy siblings and the notion of sharing. The reader will sympathize with Frankie as he looks for something to call his own as ‘big brother’ Nico continually shuts him down. The happy ending shows that sharing is the most fun for all. Highly recommended

This book is an introduction to ghost sightings in hotels. There is not much text and dark, scary pictures will give chills to the younger ghost-hunting reader. It ends without definitively stating whether ghosts are real or not, leaving that up to the reader. The final pages include a glossary, index and ‘more information’. Historical notes and maps with plotted locations round out a short, adequate visit to ghostly hotels. Buy this book if you need to update your 133 section or replace worn books.

This lovely little book is written by J. Patrick Lewis, Children’s Poet Laoureate. There are eight two page spreads with an informative poem on one page and a photo with a fact box on the facing page. Language is accessible, with a glossary at the back as well as a few pages of facts to correspond to the animals/habitats featured. This is a nicely done nonfiction book, with the combined poetry/fact writing working well together. Students will enjoy the playful language and the information presented, learning some facts along the way. Recommended.

The Curse of Time is #3 in the Time Twisters series about Luis, Casey, and Tyler and their travels to 1920 Egypt with their robot cat, Steel. They use Nikola Tesla’s Time Twister as they try to help Uncle Cyrus, who is trapped in time and leaves clues along the way. The three adventurers encounter a curse, a mummy, Anubis and an archaeologist intent on fame along the way. This adventure is well-written and leaves the reader wondering what is next when the last sentences of the book say “Smoke drifted from Steel’s ears. His eyes glowed red and a voice whispered Luis’s name.” Oh, my gosh…the story can’t end this way…what is next?
This book is a fun, fast paced read for struggling readers and will keep them in suspense along the way. Cartoon-like illustrations enhance the text. Recommended

Clydesdale Horses provides a short history and attributes of that breed. Each two page spread contains a large well-done photo and two to three simple sentences that correlate to the picture. Highlighted words are defined in the glossary. “More Facts” is a nice addition to the information in the body of the book. Typical nonfiction features include: Table of Contents, index and glossary. Young horse enthusiasts will enjoy this book as well as the others in the Abdo Kids Horses series.

A cook book that has recipes for “charred zombie-skin snacks” and “popped brains” is a book that will not stay on your library shelves. This book, part of Little Kitchen of Horrors series, begins with a discussion of kitchen safety, tools and metric conversions. It moves into setting the scene for your yucky (yummy) snacks and then moves into the nine recipes. Despite the disgusting names, many of the snacks use fairly normal ingredients and sound quite tasty. Directions are numbered with several illustrations. It is fair to say that Halloween will be a lot more fun after eating “booger sticks” washed down with “slime cocktails”. Buy this book and watch the kids giggle and gag their way to the kitchen!