Four of V. Woolf’s books are critiqued in this book.  Each book’s synopsis is given, and then a type of criticism is employed:  historical criticism for Mrs. Dalloway, feminist criticism for A Room of One’s Own , biographical criticism for To the Lighthouse and gender criticism for Orlando.  Each chapter helps the student learn and examine how to critique a book.  Includes a biography and timeline of her life, glossary, resources, source notes, index, and photos.

The prayers are selected from the Bible and from the heritage of the Christian faith.  Both written and compiled by Mary Joslin

A compliation of three dog stories for the preschool crowd.  Molly brings a young girl safely home from being lost in the woods.  Ginger gets lost while exploring on a family outing.  And Yuki, who after her owner dies, forms a close bond with a young boy whose famly is struggling to make ends meet.  The soft, beautiful illustrations compliment the gentle tone of the short narratives.  I also appreciated the ethnic and socio economic diversity in the stories.  Here are three bedtime stories, in one book, that the wee ones will ask for time and time again.

Pig loves to play Princess where she is granted any wish she has by her friend Twig who is playing a fairy mouse.  Pig gets wish after wish until finally Twig wants a turn.  Pig says no and Twig turns to leave.  When Pig sees that Twig is serious, she relents and trades places.  The whole story is focused on words using the short voweli.  Pig and Twig are adorable wool felt animals with a setting of found objects.   The 3D look is different and attractive.  Young students who are beginning readers are able to sound out the words and feel confident being able to read a story.  This book should be in every primary grade classroom.

Rat Attack is a new Brave Mouse Reader which focuses the learner on the short vowel ‘a‘.  Coxe manages to write an exciting story of Gram who is making jam and rats keep showing up trying to get the jam.  Gram is a mouse with grandmice, however they are all dolls (I think).  Finally, Gram thinks of a way to scare off the rats and they create a cat attack to restore peace.  Their home and kitchen are all handmade from found objects and the effect of 3D is very noticeable and pleasing.  Young children will enjoy the story as well as the setting.  How fun if they could make something similar with the story they’ve written from one of the story starters at the end of the book. Rat Attack is a fun, new series helping young readers with the vowels, one at a time.

Cat Fanciers here is a relatively new breed of cat for you- Singapura.  They are the “smallest pedigree cat breed. . This breed was first recognized by the Cat Fanciers’ Association in 1982.

This breed is highly affectionate, wanting for constant attention or interaction, and highly intelligent. Singapuras are sepia agouti in color, quiet voiced, large eared, and have almond-shaped eyes. They are climbers and active.

Facts about the season of Autumn in relationship to sun are presented in an uninteresting way.

The hand-drawn childlike illustrations suggest a pre-school audience , but the vocabulary is for upper primary to intermediate readers.

There are basically two different types of people:  those who love cats or those who love dogs.  In The Pet Wars Otto and his older sister Lexi are at war with one another.  Lexi wants a cat and Otto wants a dog.  Their mother decides that whomever earns $500 first will get to buy the pet of their choice.  Lexi is pretty bright, not only at school, but very clever as well.  She starts up a tutoring program with the help of her teachers who recommend to failing students that they hire Lexi to help them study and before long she is raking in the money.  Otto is totally off the wall and really cannot come up with a moneymaking plan.  All of his ideas cost him money and are actually very funny (from an adult perspective–I’m not sure if kids will get the humor).  Until he hits on a dog-walking business.  Now, this would be a terrific business for him if he were somewhat organized and responsible.  But Otto is the total opposite of Lexi and he is always scrambling to make it right.  This is a story that kids who love pets will love regardless if they are a cat lover or a dog lover.

I had a dog for over 16 years and she was as much a part of our family as my kids.  I lost her four years ago and I still mourn her.  In this story, which takes place in Seattle during WWII, Hobie is 12 years old and has a German Shepherd named Duke.  Hobie’s father is overseas fighting in the war and it seemed that although the war was halfway around the world, it still affected Americans deeply.  They sacrificed much to help their soldiers and families changed.  The same can’t be said for today’s wars as many of us don’t even think about the fighting going on in the Middle East.  During WWII an organization called Dogs for Defense was formed in which Americans donated their pet dogs to the cause.  The dogs were sent overseas to help the soldiers.  Currently dogs are trained and used for sniffing out explosives and drugs, but they aren’t acquired by donation of an American.  During WWII dogs actually served in combat by sniffing out bombs and using their loyalty to help soldiers.  In this story, Hobie struggles with the decision as to whether or not to send Duke to war.  It seemed as though everyone he encountered was doing something to help the war effort and it seemed almost traitorous not to do something.  He agreed to send Duke in the hopes it would help to get his father back safe.  Thankfully Duke returned safe and sound, a hero.  I don’t think I could have been as brave as Hobie.

Just opposite the dedication page, illustrator Chuck Groenink has us looking down upon an old typewriter, possibly from the 1920s or 1930s , with a typed letter explaining what a haiku is and how Santa loves them. Thus begins Santa’s own collection of haiku, “one for each day from December 1 to December 25, and catch a glimpse of life at the North Pole.”

December 7’s might be my personal favorite:

Navigating by

the stars, Comet and I drag

this year’s tree homeward.

Each of the 25 haiku is nestled in a muted sepia tinted illustration ( with some navy blue, red, and green) with a touch of Scandinavian influence and nostalgia.