Miss Katherine (Kat) Stephenson is a 12-year-old girl, the youngest of four children, living in Regency England (early 1800’s).  Her mama died shortly after her birth, and her father, a poor village vicar, remarried a woman who is trying her hardest to bring up the girls properly.  The only son, Kat’s brother, is a lazy do-nothing who has gambled and lost and is threatened with going to debtor’s prison, unless he (or the family) can make restitution.  That would surely cause a scandal and the future would forever be cast in doom.  The only hope, according to Stepmama, is for the oldest girl, Elissa, aged 17, to marry a wealthy man who can pay the debt.  This part of the book is pretty much like reading an adult novel, but without the coarse language and sex.  Here’s the appealing twist, the children’s mama was a witch, actually a ‘Guardian’, who is more powerful than a witch.  The two younger girls, without each other’s knowledge, sneak into the locked cabinet and pilfer through the items looking for magical items to help them.  Angeline, the middle sister, finds two books of magic spells, and becomes quite adept at using them.  Kat unintentionally finds a golden hand mirror, actually it finds her, which she discovers is a portal to the Guardians’ secret lair.  In the meantime, the wealthy man Elissa is supposed to marry is also a witch, an evil one, who wants to steal the girls’ magical legacy.  With all the turns and twists, the characters are nicely developed and interesting, and the story line keeps you wanting more.  The book jackets states for ages 10 and up, however, I’m hard put to find a 10-year-old mature enough to read this book.  Also, the art on the book jacket will appeal to younger girls, not the middle-school age girls who are the true audience.

This book would appeal to young girls.  There are situations that would be common to the average girl in school, and also a sci-fi  side to the story.  It was an easy read, and full of colorful cartoon style pictures.  It is a light read.  The bully vs. the nice girl was the main story line.  It was just ok.

This is a very informative book on the African Americans in the 1950’s.  When they traveled,especially in the South, it was hard to find a place to eat, sleep, or buy gas for the car.  Many places refused services to black people.

As a result The Green Book became the travelers guide, with places that would allow blacks to come and be safe.

This is a good book for students to read and understand how it was for the blacks in the early history of our country.

This is a great book!  It is exciting and fun.  The pictures are colorful and bright, with lots to look at. The book is written in rhyme and is fun to read.

This book is quite different.  It is about a little bird who doesn’t like being the smallest until he learns he can sing (or warble)  as big as anyone and he does.

The drawing are wonderful and different.  Sometimes I couldn’t find the little bird but I guess that is the point of the book.

I love the pictures in this book.  They are stitched with felt and are beautifully done.  They have a 3-D look to the and It makes you want to feel the pages.

This is a very cute nursery rhyme book. Anyone would love to read and look at the is book.

Big Bear Hug is Nicholas Oldland’s first picture book.  The Photoshopped illustrations are simple and charming.  Blues, greens. and browns predominate with plenty of white space.  The story shows a bear lovingly hugging every living thing he meets.  The comical expressions on the faces of those not expecting a hug from a bear are humorous.  What the bear loved to hug most were trees.  When a man with an axe came and stared at the most beautiful tree in the forest, bear thought he loved trees, too.  Angered when the man started to chop the tree, bear found he could only do what he did best – hug.  The man was so surprised, he ran far away.  Themes include conservation and the power of a hug.

Chicken Big is a funny twist on the traditional tale.  When a humongous chick hatches in the itty-bitty coop, the smaller chickens think he is an elephant and exclude him from the coop.  As the chicks panic when things fall on the smallest chicken’s head, bug chicken calmly takes control.  They think he is a squirrel, an umbrella, a sweater, and a hippopotamus.  When big chicken rescues their eggs, they realize that the only thing that could be so smart, kind, warm, and brave… is a chicken!  The illustrations are mostly pastel blue, taupe, and yellow.  The text font is playful when the small chickens are frantic.  The smallest chicken has personlity to spare!

In this graphic version of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, Sherlock tussles with an evil villain and they both fall off of a cliff, which leads Watson to believe both men are dead.  Three years pass, and during that time the police have asked Watson to fill Holmes’ shoes, but he is unavailable to be as effective as the clever detective.  When a murder occurs, Holmes shows up, unannounced and explains that he’s been in hiding for the past three years to draw out the others who want him dead.  It looks like it’s back to business as usual.  More interesting dialogue and artwork when compared the the previous Sherlock Holmes graphic novel I reviewed by Graphic Universe.

In this graphic novel, Holmes and Watson are on an errand for the King of Bohemia who feels a need to retrieve an incriminating photo of he and a young lady.  The young lady outsmarts Holmes, runs off and gets married and takes the photo with her.  I’m not really sure why the photo was so incriminating; it’s a little confusing.  Not much else happening in the story.  It didn’t hold my attention and I don’t think it will hold students’ attention either.