Kitten wants a basket, a pillow, a blanket AND a puppy.  “No, no, no, Kitten.  You cannot have a puppy.  You are a cat!  Cats do not have pets.”  But this is one insatiable kitten who also wants a helmet, engines, gadgets and lasers and then wants to blast off to Jupiter!  When the Jupiter launch actually goes off (unsuccessfully), the kitten’s owner decides that maybe kitten can have a puppy.  But the plot thickens when puppy wants a bowl, some kibble, a bone, and a dinosaur!  This is an engaging story with vibrant illustrations and will thrill young cat lovers!

Here is a book to recommend to a child looking to purchase a cat as a pet. There is all of the general information needed to take of a cat of almost any breed, mixed in with specific information on the Turkish Van. Some of the general information includes size, care of, feeding, and kittens.  This includes the number of kittens to expect in a litter, the type of foods out on the market, and medical care; such as, vaccinations, and spay and/or neuter.

Some of the specific information, “Turkish Vans are often compared to dogs. They can fetch toys, growl, and learn tricks. Turkish Vans can also be taught to walk on a leash.” (p. 8) Turkish Vans enjoy water, are semi-long haired, white in color with some color on head and tail, and don’t like to be cuddled. “With regular care, plenty of love, and good food, your Turkish Van will be an active addition to your family for 15 to 20 years.” ( p. 21)

The book usually has three paragraphs on the left hand page opposite a full color photo on the right hand page.

Here is a little boy, with an over-exaggerated big head, who is trying to be a spy, but without much luck. He isn’t good at sneaking up on people because he bumps into table lamps, has squeaky shoes, is in need of a disguise, sneezes, and burps. His “Chief”, aka father, helps him get new quiet shoes, but that does not help because the shoes are so colorfully awesome. Then, he tries “some camouflage”, but the tree branches make him sneeze. Finally, because he has been persistent he is able to sneak up on his “Chief”.

”  ‘The secret to spying,’ said Spy Guy, ‘is never stop trying!’  ”

Throughout the book, on every page turn, there is a spider who finally comes into play at the very end to help out Spy Guy. Children will enjoy finding the spider as the read the story.

In some ways the illustrations remind me of those by Tedd Arnold.

I find watching big-screen action movies quite enjoyable. Here is a book that takes the reader behind the  scenes into the world of big budget action movies. The three or four sentences of information given on a page is very basic, but the photo opposite the text helps the reader interpret the information. One of the special effects includes filming the actor in blue make-up in front of a blue  screen. In this way, the computer later adds the desired detail over the top of the blue areas. Another effect deals with placing small computer markers on an actor to use as reference points for the computer to use in post-production to add features or help in the animation of cartoon characters. Freezing an actor in space is dealt with through the use of filming with multiple cameras on a track. The seven sidebars sprinkled throughout the book labeled “FACT” include one dealing with ‘freeze-action” on page 20, “The 1999 movie The Matrix used more than 100 cameras to make actors freeze in place.”

The FACT sidebars always are bits of trivia about a specific movie which used the special effect being talked about on that page.

Includes: www.facthound.com

TanTan Math Story publishes story books detailing math concepts. This particular book is the best in their series I have read to date. Who Eats First deals with comparing, sorting, and measuring.  The illustrations have soft backgrounds, while the characters are colorfully vibrant and full of action.

The story begins, ” The rain forest animals were hungry. They followed a sweet scent… And there was a BIG round peach! Surely, it was a delicious peach. But who would eat the first bite?”  Giraffe convinces the other animals the first bite should go to ‘the tallest animal’. The animals measure their heights using the lines ( like a ruler) etched into the tree trunks. Just when giraffe is about to take the first bite, rhino wants to sort the animals by weight. They use a seesaw as a weighing balance. “The animal balanced by the most rocks is the heaviest!” When rhino is about to eat the peach, gator wants to sort by ” the animal with the biggest mouth to eat first.” Soon the rabbit wants the sorting to go by who has the longest ears, followed by monkey wanting to sort by who has the longest tail.  Each time the illustrations cutely show the animals process of measuring. Finally the caterpillar asks, “Why should the biggest… or the heaviest… biggest mouth, or longest ears” eat first? “If we measure from the shortest… lightest, shortest ears… smallest mouth” I’m first every time. And caterpillar ate first.

Two adult guidance pages follow the story with suggestions for further use with children, the second page is a game.

Then, there are four more pages for the young child showing items in order by shortest, lightest, smallest mouth, shortest ears, tallest, heaviest, longest nose, and most legs.

Lily loves to draw!  She draws “cats and girls, birds and boats, and houses and hearts.”  When Lily drew a bear, the picture came to life.  The bear loved all of the things that Lily did, like royal tea parties, drawing big pictures, and racing around on tricycles.  Best of all, they loved to sing while the bear played the banjo!  But after a while, the bear decided that he wanted to do bear things so he took Lily by the hand and they picked huckleberries, caught slippery fish, and scratched their backs on knotty pine trees.  But then it was time to sleep and dream of their next adventure.  This book celebrates the power of imagination, love and friendship.  “I love you Bear.”  “And I love you, Lily.”

“I have a dog….an inconvenient dog.”  This story tells the tale of a boy and his dog.  His dog is often inconvenient, making messes and creating obstacles everywhere he goes.  At times, the dog is less inconvenient, like when he takes the blame when the boy accidentally breaks something.  But when it is time for bed, and snuggling, the dog is always convenient!

Larry was a legend, as least for a rooster.  When Larry left Sunrise Farm, Clyde (the new rooster) soon learned that Larry would be a very hard act to follow.  Could Clyde live up to Larry’s legacy?  “Could he put on a show of a crow?”  Every attempt to outshine Larry ended in disaster.  Finally, Roberta (the maternal goose) told Clyde to “Forget about Larry.  Just crow your own crow.”  When he did, the whole barnyard sang with him.  This delightful farmyard tale reinforces the age-old truth about the value of being true to yourself.

I don’t think that there is an ideal “intended” audience for this book.  By appearance, one would think that this is a delightful story about a pet goldfish.  But as the pages turn, we learn that April’s parents “were aquaholics” and that life had no meaning and she “even tried to end things.”  In a children’s book!!!!  I realize that this book was originally published in French and translated; the translation did not work.

Dressed as a dragon, a young boy boasts that he is a big, scary, fire-breathing dragon.  When two dragons visit, he is horribly disappointed when they inform him that he isn’t big, or scary, and that he certainly doesn’t breathe fire.  But he is soon cheered when they tell him about all of the things he CAN do that they can’t, like play hide and seek, turn cartwheels, and eat ice cream.  But the real fun starts when they decide that there are many things that they can do together, like make a silly face, act like Frankenstein, and do the funky monkey dance.  This book, with it’s vibrant illustrations, will prompt the imagination of young readers and spur some imaginative play!