The sheriff and his deputy have a special assignment to safely deliver a dozen donuts home.  The sheriff, a young boy, and his deputy, his dog, decide to check the package for quality.  Oh my!  One plump, powdery donut appeared a little smushed.  The only logical thing to do was to try to even it up.  Oh no!  Now it was missing!  Hoping no one would notice, the sheriff and his deputy hurried home.  Many citizens smiled and asked how he like the donut.  How did they know?!  Arriving home, his parents casually asked about the delivery minus one donut.  Confessing, the sheriff asked how they knew he had eaten one.  Readers will know the answer!  The sheriff has powdery sugar all around his mouth.  Case solved.  Digitally colored artwork is humorous and expressive.  Text is fun as it keeps the young boy in sheriff-mode while the illustrations tell the secret.  Could also be used to start discussions about honesty and responsibility.  Fun and recommended.

Olive’s perfect world involves doing anything and everything with her best friend Emily.  But things are not always perfect in the real world.  When Eva came, things were no longer perfect.  Emily and Eva began doing many things together: taking ballet classes, wearing the same clothes, and eating the same things – all without Olive.  Olive suggested doing things together but Emily and Eva did not want to.  As Olive’s perfect world dissolved, the real world became too much and her eyes filled with tears.  Eva and Emily realize that they have not been including Olive in any of their activities.  Olive realizes that a perfect world can involve more than one friend.  As they started talking, it didn’t take long for the world to become  perfect again as they started laughing and doing things together.  The pastel pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations show the girls as young cats spot-lighted on largely while pages.  Feeling left out is common.  This story lightly shows that a perfect world is possible with more than one best friend.

People have been ice fishing for thousands of years on frozen lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers.  Although not a dangerous sport, ice fishermen need to know how to be safe.  A variety of equipment measures ice thickness, drill holes, and attract fish.  Some people take tents or small houses out on the ice to protect them from cold wind.  Some even provide heat and other comforts.  Insulated clothing is a must, as well as rescue gear in case of an accident.  Ice anglers clean up after they leave and mark abandoned holes so others will be safe.  Minnesota is a popular ice fishing state because of its cold winters and thousands of lakes and streams.  This short book gives very basic information but does not go into much detail.  Photographs are large and a good match to the text.  Some photos also have labels.  Words to know are in bold, red font and are defined in the glossary.  The layout is pleasing.  Many pages have additional facts.

Beginning on a stormy afternoon, the Alden children take a shortcut through the Greenfield Cemetery.  A shadowy figure appears briefly and the children run to the local café.  They join Miss Wolfson who tells them about the legend of the LaFonte’s.  Madame LaFonte had a dress shop and was a benefactor to families with ailing children and to the hospital.  After her death,  according to legend, it is good luck to leave gifts at the cemetery once a year.  The Boxcar children decide to solve this mystery of the ghost, Madame LaFonte, and the gifts required to avoid bad luck.  Using local legend, newspaper reports, and interviews with friends of the historical society, the Aldens bravely push toward the truth.  What is the truth, what is just superstition?  Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote 19 stories before her death in 1979.  This story follows her formula.  The characters are not as developed as many of those in popular literature.  This is #133 in a series that has touched many readers.  Nothing new, but a comfortable new adventure in a reliable series.

Anna, Jose, and Henry are junior members of the secret Silver Jaguar Society and swear to protect important artifacts from around the world.  In this fast-paced adventure set in Costa Rica, a gold Jaguar Cup has been stolen and replaced with a copy.  All members of the Society try to discover the thief and regain the cup.  They travel to Costa Rica and meet Sophia and her family who own the lodge where they will be staying.  Their parents then fly to San Jose to check out the gold museum, where the cup went missing.  Sophia becomes their guide and fellow investigator.  The focus shifts from one suspect to another as the teens track down clues.  Messner’s description of the rainforest and its animals bring the reader right into the scene – sweating in the sultry humidity, stumbling upon biting ants, avoiding poisonous snakes, spotting incredible, yet camouflaged animals within the wilds, as well as running out of breath and energy during riveting chase scenes near the end.  An author’s note in the back includes photos of some of the animals and scenery mentioned in the book.  This is book two in the series, although they do not need to be read in order.  Great series for those who enjoy action adventures and mysteries.

Curious George has his heart set on a red train engine at the toy store only to find he did not have enough money.  Although he does not know how long it will take to earn it, he is determined to do odd jobs and save money.  He learns about addition and hard work along the way.  Finally able to buy the engine, he sees children trying to get a windsock out of a tree.  George sets his piggy bank on a bench and helps retrieve the windsock.  He forgets all about his bank as they all play together the rest of the afternoon.  When he returns to the bench, the bank is gone.  As he sadly walks home, he passes the toy store and sees a little girl holding his bank.  He rushes inside and discovers she and her mother saw it in the park and were returning it to the store whose label was on the bottom.  As George hurries over to get “his” engine, he realizes he should thank the girl and reward her for her honesty.  He buys a less expensive train for himself and another for his new friend and fellow train-lover.  Money facts are included in the back.  Illustration style is reminiscent of other books by Margret and H. A. Rey.

Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi are the free-thinkers that publish The Cruiser, an independent school paper at the Da Vinci Academy for he Gifted and Talented in Harlem.  Once again they dip into hot water.  Their paper outranked the official school paper, The Palette.  Kambui took candid photos and happened to catch another student talking with some boys accused of robbing the mall theater.  The Cruisers have to decide what to do with the photo.  Innocent or guilty?  Should they let the police go through their own procedures?  LaShonda is trying to start a small fashion design business and needs to get the attention of the stores.  Bobbi presents a math problem involving geometry and Fibonacci for the class to solve that pops up throughout the book.  Students share their opinions and thoughts in articles published by both papers.  Dialogue is realistic and the content includes many thought-provoking incidents.  Although this is the fourth in the series, none of the books need to be read in order.

Calef Brown has written and illustrated 18 poems on all types of friendship – some silly, some clever.  Each are first-person poems but illustrated as people, animals, or aliens.  The poems are cheerful and upbeat and point out the qualities that make one person appreciate another.  “I cackle and you chortle.  Together we chorkle.”  ” Noticing things about me, especially, seems to be your specialty.”  “… then my heart twinkles.”  The colorful acrylic illustrations are a great match for the some silly, some clever poems.  This is a fun collection to read to or with a friend.

!  CAUTION  This book contains slime, snot, mud, and other trollific treats!  Crude (finger up your nose)  upper primary and lower intermediate grade humor is laced throughout this collection of three – 4 chapter stories dealing with the lives of two trolls – The Grunt and Grouch.

In story one – ‘ Pick ‘n’ Mix! The Grunt and Grouch are excited about the new movie showing at the theater. They cut to the front of the ticket line by making a terrible smell after eating moldy cheese. The theater’s snack bar has a sign reading ‘ Pick ‘n’ Mix” , which they take to mean they should add some of their own ear wax, real-worms, long slimy booger, and belly-button lint snacks to those already in the snack bar. The Grunt and Grouch get escorted out of the theater by the manager, but they re-enter dressed in the movie’s monsters’ costumes. The audience is scared away, so The Grunt and Grouch are able to watch the rest of the movie by themselves.

In story two- ‘Spick and Span!’ Aunt Greta comes for a long visit and begins cleaning up their house. She sends them to bed without dinner for their terrible ‘dinner-table behavior’. The Grunt and Grouch decide to scare Aunt Greta away using ghost costumed, but that doesn’t work. Finally, they figure out that to beat Aunt Greta’s cleaning, they should keep the house clean themselves, then she won’t have a reason the stay. It works. Aunt Greta is out the door, The Grunt and Grouch mess up the entire house only to have Aunt Greta ring the door bell saying she’s forgotten her purse.

In story three- ‘RAT RACE!’ A teacher becomes ill on his way to school and The Grunt and Grouch decide to take his place at school when they learn it is RATS Award Day. Little do they know RATS stands for Reading and Thinking Silently. The Grunt and Grouch turn the children and their classroom upside down making rats’ nests, an obstacle course, and rat masks.

Almost every page turn reveals some of Lee Wildish’s black, white, and grey illustrations.

Here is a book with a few new twists in dealing with bullying, children with divorced parents, being a twin,  and a teacher who ‘means well’.

Fourth grade Monty (Montana) and his twin Sierra live in Portland, Maine. Sierra is athletic and decisive, while Monty can’t seem to make a decision on anything. Monty needs to make decisions on : choosing a pet, a writing topic, choosing a place to seat for lunch at school, choosing a book for silent reading in class and sticking with it, choosing a name for his new pet rat, and choosing an instrument for band class among other things.

Monty’s indecisiveness has earned him a trip to the school office where his well-meaning teacher decides to put three ‘band-aids’ on his arm as an aid in helping him make decisions. Each time Monty changes his mind in class, the teacher will rip off a band-aid, now known as “decision-aids”. Ouch – both physically and psychologically. While in the office, the principal gets involved calling Monty a waffler. Then, “Principal Edwards said, ‘Well, Jasmine, a waffler is somebody who waffles. They can’t make up their mind. They go back and forth from one thing to another, wasting their time and everybody else’s.’ She pointed to the big clock on the wall, ‘And we don’t have time to waste! It’s time to be learning! So, Jasmine –Monty–off you go!’ (p. 25)” Soon,thanks to Jasmine the ‘town-crier’, the whole school is calling Monty “waffle” , which he doesn’t like.

Next, Monty’s mother wants to start flip-flopping the twins, so one twin is with her, while the other twin is with their father. Now the plot has step-parents and step-siblings involved, in addition to splitting up that special bond between twins (they are already in different classrooms at school).

Kindergarten Reading Buddies are assigned to Monty’s fourth grade class, one per person. Monty feels sorry for the kindergarteners who weren’t assigned a buddy due to the fact these kindergarteners are in their pull-out special education class, or ELL, or some other pull-out program during Reading Buddy time. One by one, Monty gains 3 “unofficial” reading buddies which he meets with during his recess time unbeknownst to his teacher, who insists Monty and all other children may only have ONE buddy.

Special bonds form between Monty and his official and ‘unofficial’ Reading Buddies. When the Reading Buddy -Culminating Event is about to take place, Monty is forced by his teacher to choose only one buddy for the event. How will Monty ever choose and not break the hearts of his other three buddies? Parents, teachers, classmates, and buddies all help in this with multiple twists!

reading buddies.