Tara is an unhappy child who says unkind things to everyone.  For her seventh birthday, her granny gave her a special gift – a little grey kitten.  When deciding on a name for the cat, she gets a strange feeling in her forehead and is stunned to hear her cat talk.  The kitten tells Tara his name is Ash-ting and proceeds to guide Tara towards being more pleasant and being a better friend.  Ash-ting’s psychic comments act as Tara’s conscience.  He mentions Tara’s aura is pink when she is happy and black when she is cross.  Tara discovers how good it feels when she does something that makes someone else happy.  With Ash-ting’s help, Tara makes new friends at school and finally begins to think about helping others.  Kate Shannon’s simple, pen and ink drawings compliment the story and are on almost every page.  The value of this book lies in the common-sense suggestions of how to be a friend.

This is a longer version of the traditional three little pigs story.  The three Pygg brothers, Marvin, Lester, and James, built a strong, brick house to keep out wolves.  Wilfong Wolf showed up and wanted in.  When the Pyggs would not let him in (and he couldn’t blow the house down) Wilfong decided not to let them out.  All winter he stayed by the window listening to stories, watching them play games, and sharing their food.   By spring, Wilfong had reformed and the Pygg brothers, while not afraid of him any longer, still would not let him come in.  In the summer, the Pyggs built an additional room on their house with an outside door  for Wilfong.  They also decided to let him go with them on vacation to the beach.  After a daring rescue from a rafting accident, the Pyggs finally accepted Wilfong as a friend. One morning, hungry wolves surrounded the house and once again Wilfong used his ingenuity to rescue the Pyggs.  Readers familiar with the three little pigs story will enjoy this humorous, more sophisticated, ending.  Illustrations are watercolor, pencil and digital.  While engaging, they are somewhat abstract.  Buildings and heads are two-dimensional.  While the Pyggs are brothers, sometimes they appear to be mother, father, an child.  Even so, this version of the three little pigs is charming.

   This novel for young artists features, fourth grade Noonie, feeling alone in the world.  Her mother died when Noonie was five and her father is off on archeology digs, so Noonie lives with her aunt, uncle, and cousin.  Not a great student, Noonie doodles during class and lands herself in the principal’s office far too often.  The bright spot in her life comes when there’s an art contest at school.  Noonie thinks if she wins, it will bring her father home.  The charm of this book is the artwork decorating  nearly every page.  Sometimes the page is artistic because the text font is in different colors, sometimes the page is in a color other than white, but mostly there’s colorful abstract artwork to help tell the story in Noonie’s world.  This book will attract the attention of kids who love to draw.

I love this story.  It is written as notes back and forth between a boy and his parents.  it is creative and funny.  The solution is wonderful and the life lesson so meaningful.  We all like to be with others.

The pictures are as fun as the story.

This is a well done. Book!

This is the story of Baboushka, who lets 3 men stay in her home on their way to Bethlehem.  With all her cleaning and getting ready to go she misses her chance to follow them. So as she searches she gives presents to children who are pleased to receive a lovely gift.  She is still searching and giving gifts.

The pictures are beautiful and colorful.

Tennis superstar Serena Williams had a lot to overcome when she, and her sister Venus, took to the tennis courts.  A predominately white sport, these athletic sisters were encourage by their father, Richard Williams, to pursue tennis, when he learned that the winner of the French Open earned $22,000 for this feat.  He coached and supported first Venus, and then younger sister Serena throughout their lives.  This book chronicles Serena’s tennis career, which. obviously includes much of Venus’ successes as they often played against each other in tournaments.  Family love is a recurring theme throughout this book.  Sadly, one of Serena’s sisters was murdered, sending her into depression, pausing her from tennis as she battled depression.  The author does a thorough job logging Serena’s career.  The layout of the book, rich with photographs, makes this an informative and interesting read.

In this traditional retelling of Rapunzel, it is the artist, Sarah Gibb, who is making her mark by her delicate, clear, crisp, and highly detailed illustrations.  The use of sillouettes   against harmonious pastels tells the story.  Just beautiful!  I hope to see more picture books illustrated by this artist.

The komodo dragon lives on a small island in Indonesia, actually called Komodo Island.  Throughout the centuries rumors and stories have existed about these giant dragons.  Komodo dragons aren’t actual dragons, but are monitor lizards, the largest species of lizard.  And until the last 100 years or so, not too much was known about them.  People traveled to Komodo Island to capture and kill these creatures pretty much for sport.  By the late 1960’s, scientists were worried about them becoming extinct.  Interestingly enough, female lizards are able to lay eggs, hatching only males, without fertilization from males.  She and a male can then mate and create more males and females and keep the species going.  Studies done have shown that komodos in the wild are quite different than those in captivity.  Those in captivity can be quite docile and gentle, whereas those in the wild can be dangerous, and often are.  The photographs in this book are amazing.  Plus, it’s so interesting to find that the environment really affects the personality of this creature.  A portion of the proceeds of this book are donated to the Komodo Survival Program.  It is also noted that komods are protected under international law and they nor their skins can be taken from the wild, neither alive nor dead.

Ruby Valentine’s favorite day is Valentine’s Day, February 14–gee, who knew?  See plans for a big party in her new house and decorates big time.  She paints, hangs new curtains, bakes, cooks, every room gets a makeover.  She anticipates every need.  But as the day dawns, she wakes up to a mountain full of snow.  The party is cancelled because no one can make it up to her place.  Lovebird, her feathered friend, says that they should move the party to town.  So they do.  They find that a party is only important when you have friends with which to celebrate.  Who knew?  The coloring of the pages elicit a feeling of comfort and coziness.  Same message as countless other stories, just set in mid-winter and Valentine’s Day.

Earth’s biomes is a science focus for our district’s third graders.  I am relieved to find a book which so clearly defines the six biomes and gives detailed descriptions of each one.  Also included for each biome is a very do-able, kid-oriented science experiment, with clear directions for set up, what to observe, and questions to ask and answer.  Fabulous resource for science fairs.  This book is a must for all elementary school libraries.