Author / illustrator Arthur Howard provides us with a whimsical story line showing the double meaning of this book’s title.  A young boy with his ‘dream’ pet, a dog: play together in the sprinkler, tail wagging with friends, growling at something disliked, following commands, getting drinks from the toilet, hiding under a chair when scared by thunder, and always wanting to play some more. Then, there is the question, ‘What does my dog dream about when he is asleep?’ Is it food, or riding in the car, or chasing things, or going to school, or various smells and sounds only a dog can smell and hear, or as Grandpa says, ” ‘ Maybe Scooter dreams about you.’  ”

A single simple sentence per page with a big friendly dog rollicking across the page is shear joy.

I recognized Arthur Howard’s illustrations from his book HOODWINKED and from Cynthia Rylant’s series “Mr. Putter and Tabby” .

There must be a hundred or more alphabet books out in circulation at all times.  An author picks a topic and then proceeds to write about said topic using each of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet usually as an individual entry. Often the letters ‘q’ and ‘x’  are quite contrived to complete the book. So what makes this book better than most? Author- Ramon Olivera’s passion for all things with wheels for one. Second, he usually has two consecutive letters in a double page spread being highlighted. Three of these pairs of letters are showing opposites: “E e is for empty.  F f is for full.” ( A man pushes his truck with the empty gas tank to the filling station where another man is filling his truck’s gas tank), “C c is for compact. D d is for double decker.” (Where  a mini-Cooper is next to a double decker bus.), AND “N n is for new. O o is for old.” ( A young man purchasing his new car is getting the keys, followed by the now old man selling the same car and handing over the keys.) The consecutive letters j and k show a tow truck taken a ‘kaput’ car to a ‘junkyard’. L and M show a presidential ‘limousine’ in a ‘motorcade’. P and q show a ‘plugged in’ electric car purring with a technician measuring how ‘quiet’ it is. The four letters t,u,v,and w take up four pages with a NASCAR theme for track, underdog, victory lane and winner. The finale comes as a yellow cab zooms off with the fare it has just picked up.

SIMPLY CLEVER from start to finish or should I say from A to Z!

If you have younger students who enjoyed last summer’s revived GHOSTBUSTERS movie, then this book is for them. The book is written in six short chapters, in large text font, and with photos from the movie on every page turn.

It all began when 8 yr. old Erin was visited by a ghost. Then, Erin and Abby did a school science fair project together on the barrier that separates ghosts and living people.  Erin and Abby later wrote a book on ghosts. Years later, Abby and Erin met up again at the Aldridge Mansion Museum in time to see their first ghost, as adults.

The next ghost they saw was in the New York City subway. Erin, Abby,  her friend Holtzmann, and now Patty (the subway worker) became the Ghostbusters team. The team’s first ghost was at a rock concert. Next, a fellow named Rowan became a ghost. Rowan gets ghost after ghost through the barrier. The ghostbusters successfully close this portal between worlds.

Bart lives in Norway with his mother who is overweight and lives in low income housing with drug addicts.  He sings opera songs in the shower.  His teacher wants him to sing in the end of the year show but he is too nervous.  His friend, Ada is his support.  When his classmates find out he lives in public housing, they go to his home to ridicule him and then he swings a punch at one of the boys and misses, but the boy breaks his nose. Bart does not let this stop him.

This story celebrates the underdog and it would be a good read aloud for 4th or 5th grade.

Set on the shores of Scotland, this debut novel tells a heartbreaking story of a family: Elsie, her twin brother Eddie, her older brother Dillon, their parents, and how the family deals with the drowning of Eddie. Blame, guilt, teen romance, an extra-marital affair, mental illness, and eating disorders all feature in this drama.

Rider Woofson is the leader of the P.I. Pack, who investigates crimes.

Westie Barker, a member of the P.I. Pack,  is testing to earn his yellow belt at Pawston Martial Arts Dojo in Bark-Jitsu. Westie is unsuccessful at each stage of the trial, but the next student, a cat, succeeds easily. After the night of testing, Sensei Hiro sets the high-tech security system on his way out of the dojo. Then, Sensei Hiro hears a noise outside. He looks into a store window. “Suddenly a scary face popped into view. It had a huge hairy nose, pointy ears, green skin, and large red eyes. ‘Oh no!’ Sensei Hiro cried out. ‘It cannot be! The ancient Goji Goblin has come for the sacred Scroll of Bark-Jitsu!’   ” (24-25)

Sensei Hiro seeks out the help of his student, Westie, and the rest of the P.I. Pack to protect the ancient scroll, which the Goji Goblin has been after for generations.

Mr. Meow, the P.I. Pack nemesis, has cat burglar ninjas breaking into the dojo to steal the scroll. Mr. Meow has arranged to have the P.I. Pack, who are on stake-out at the dojo, taken into the police station for questioning while the cat ninjis are at work. Westie, the Pack’s inventor, is able to stop the ninjis. Then, Gus dressed up as the Goji Goblin enters. Westie takes off with the scroll heading towards the police station. The rest of the P.I. Pack emerge from their police questioning just in time to catch Gus.

” ‘Westie, my student,’ Sensei Hiro said. ‘You were very brave in the face of great danger. You protected the Scroll of Bark-Jitsu and stopped the bad guys. To accomplish such a feat, you must have a pure and brave heart. For that you deserve this…’ The sensei pulled out the yellow belt.” (113-114)

Across town, Mr. Meow is not happy that P.I. Pack has ruined his plans again.

Gray-tone pencil pictures are on almost every page.

Under the Lights is the second in The Field Party series, following Until Friday Night, published in 2015. Set is a small southern town, Under the Lights  is a teen romance with a love triangle between two football players and a girl who is back in town after being away for six following a family tragedy.

Filled with teen angst and drama, this second book in the series can actually be read without having read the first book, as the major characters in the first book are not the major characters in the second. Glines’ novels are formulaic, and this one is no exception.

Author- Walker Styles fills his Rider Woofson series full of word play dealing with all things ‘dog’.

Rider Woofson is the lead dog in P.I. Pack.  The P.I. Pack is called in to help “Mega- famous rock star, David Bow-Wowie” (6) whose instruments have been stolen by a ghost. The security video at the Bow-Wow Club shows David Bow-Wowie ‘s instruments start to move on their own and out the door.

Across the street Mr. Meow wants to turn the Bow-Wow Club’s building back into the dentist office it once was. Mr. Meow’s dream will come true if the club can not come up with the money it owes the bank in just one day.

Many years before, David’s family were dentists in the building. Back then, dentists filled cavities with gold. When the gold shipment disappeared one day, the family sold the building.

The P.I. Pack follows some clues to a music store, but they do not pan out. Meanwhile, one of the pack has been investigating in the building’s basement where he has found some ants.

It turns out David puts drops of maple syrup on his instruments before each show in honor of his uncle who told him to follow his dreams. The syrup attracted the ants from the basement who took the instruments, but the ants were too small to be seen. As it turned out, the ants had also taken the gold and buried it in the basement. “After the great discovery, David Bow-Wowie used the gold to pay the bank.” (115) Across the street Mr. Meow is hissing at the moon. He is upset with the P.I. Pack for finding the gold and the instruments. Mr. Meow wants that building! He is the one who put the maple syrup on the instruments.

There are gray-tone pencil drawings on almost every page by illustrator Ben Whitehouse.

Jasper John Dooley is quite excited when he finds his dad’s old toy mouse, Marcel. Jasper loves Marcel so much he keeps him on a long string and wears him around his neck. But sometimes Jasper has to take Marcel off, and that leads to all kinds of worry. Marcel turns up missing from under Jasper’s pillow, and again when Jasper is sent to the principal’s office.
Finally, Marcel has a serious accident, and it seems like he may be gone forever! This is a super sweet story about a boy with a special bond.

Kelsey, Becca and Leo have very different personalities and generally don’t hang out, until they rescue three kittens which forms a bond of friendship. They decide to form a club committed to solving mysteries. Becca’s mother runs the Wild Oaks Sanctuary for animals. They have a zorse (cross between a zebra and horse) that was abused and brought to them for rehabilitation wearing a sparkly fly mask. However, a man shows up to claim the zorse. This sends the trio into action to solve the mystery of who abused the zorse, which turns into a dangerous situation. The trio work to solve a twisted, double mystery; who abused the zorse, and why is the sparkly fly mask so important. This is the second book in “The Curious Cats Spy Club” series.