Every parent/teacher has seen it.  The terrible temper that comes out of the kid that can’t handle a situation.  This is a cute story about Sam’s temper.  But he doesn’t own it.  He’s totally separated from it.  The temper finds him one day on the playground and he thinks it will be his pet.  At first the temper makes it fun because the temper scares the kids off the toys so he can have them all to himself.  But when they get home, the pet temper causes problems with his mother and father.  When Sam tries to blame his actions of “the temper”, he only receives a harsher punishment.  The next day the temper gets Sam in so much trouble he is sent home from school.  By Saturday, Sam tries to make the temper stay away, but that only fuels the temper.  Sam then uses 3 different strategies to calm himself.  This is the stand out factor for this book.  First he tries counting to 10 like he’d seen his father do, but the temper squirms away.   Next he says the alphabet backwards as his teacher has had them do in class.  The temper fights even harder not to be suppressed.  Finally Sam tells the temper he is stronger than it and lets out a huge, deep breath.    The temper finally gives up.  The whimsical illustrations keep the story playful and interesting, especially as the temper morphs into a dragon during the final strategy used to calm down.  There are other children’s books about the almighty temper, but this one’s focus on management strategies makes it an R*.  Highly recommended.

The Story of Spider-Man, a level 2 reading book, is quite the step up from a level 1 reading book, many more multi-syllabic words.  The story is told in basic simple sentences, but the story itself is much more complex and actually tells how Peter Parker became Spider-Man as well as solving a crime.  The illustrations are also more complex to go along with the story.  Those who love Spider-Man will love this book.

Very seldom do I recommend a book based on a Marvel Super Hero character, but This is Spider-Man is a great beginning to read book and hooks young readers, especially boys, into reading.  Macri uses repetitive words and most are single syllable; the illustrations are clean and clear and depict the text.  Young children familiar with Spiderman and beginning to read will eat it up.

A whisper is heard, and so a star comments about the whisper, as well as the moon, the sun, clouds, the sea, and the earth, each determining a characteristic the whisper will have. This caused all the animals to search for the wonderful whisper and inquire who might have all the amazing attributes. As it turns out, the wonderful whisper is the reader. This sweet story has many examples of similes. The illustrations are beautifully painted.

Ever since Birdbrain scored the lowest score on the Quiz Wiz TV show, he is out for revenge. He created the Zombie Zapper that turns smart chickens into zombies so, at last, Birdbrain could be the smartest chicken around. Soon zombies are found around every corner. No worries, Gordon Blue, also known as Kung Pow Chicken, and his little brother Egg Drop will save the day with the help of their friend, Annie who is know as Beak Girl. This book has a fun play of words and colorful, silly illustrations!

This storybook and music CD collection begins with a picture book telling of the title’s namesake.  This super silly song is matched in wits with PisHier’s bold, geometric and whimsy illustrations of what could be happening in the old lady’s stomach.  Following the song-tale are 11 more children’s songs, with words on one page and an illustration on the other.  A music CD accompanies the book.  I could see librarians using this with K-1 grades and having students asking again and again to read/sing along.  Fun!

John M. Feirerabend only changed a small amount of the original tune to flow with the beautifully crafted scratchboard etchings.  Any librarian who can carry a tune will thrill k-3 grade students with this traditional call and response songtale, perhaps before they leave for the summer with thoughts of camping and hiking in their future plans.  The last page of the book gives a brief history of the song and a small paragraph about the artwork.  Smart teacher-librarians will explain the art before the reading/singing of the song so that students appreciate the amount of time it took to create these illustrations.  The music for the original tune and a set of the lyrics are also at the back and two free mp3s of the song are available for download.  This is  one of ten in a series of picture books from GIA Publications, Inc. in an effort to preserve children’s folk songs.  Recommended.

Jennifer Anne Moses’ author bio in the back of this book has more girth than the 300 pages prior in Tales from My Closet.  This is the story of five teenage girls, none of whom are good friends with each other, but all of whom will influence the others in terms of fashion, body image and self-confidence.  Each chapter is told in one of the girls’ points-of-view, with multiple chapters examining the same event from different character’s eyes.  Moses’ does keep the plot moving despite these varying entries that feel very diary-esc. But he cover says it all.  Clothes. Drama. Friends.  Most of this is so “Oh My!” that readers that don’t regularly watch Bravo or E Entertainment television channels will probably bring it back.  There are some in your face real life drama that real teens deal with such as an alcoholic parent, a parent that cheats on their spouse, or romantic feelings for a sports coach, but the drama that spins the entire story is really the focus of the book.  When the teens have their moments of reckoning, the moments happen too fast and non-realistically.  This is definitely an additional purchase for most libraries.

Part of The Alternative series, Patrick Jones’ book explores the effects upon a ‘normal’ but emotionally-stunted family as they take in a damaged, out-of-control niece, Misty, upon the death of her neglectful, troubled, drug-addicted mother.

Rachel, attending Woodbury High School, wants to help her pushy cousin, but Misty’s arrival turns out to be more than challenging, bordering on outright mental illness, while Rachel’s life is orderly, planned, and relatively quiet. As her father and mother become embroiled in Misty’s blatant disrespect, Rachel begins to empathize with her cousin in the face of her straight-laced parents’ inability to fathom Misty’s wild, sexually dangerous, self-abusive behavior: Misty cuts herself.

Expelled from Woodbury, CPS sends Misty to Rondo Alternative School, but even here she cannot cope, and when rules at home prove too much, Misty flees, ending up in a horrible situation from which she needs rescuing by Rachel.

When Rachel needs rescue herself, it is Misty who comes for her since Rachel’s perfect friends have deserted her. As their understanding grows, it is not enough to keep Misty from being admitted, as a final resort, to a mental health facility with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder that fits Misty like a glove. Misty has the chance to overcome her illness with hard work, and Rachel will be her friend as they learn to care for themselves.

This book is a convincing and easy-to-read look at what is at stake when a child, neglected from the start, must learn to cope in whatever way she can while exposing the difficulties for a family taking in such a damaged person for whom rules are meaningless.

Recommended, of course.  It’s Patrick Jones!

A young Japanese-American girl named Mitsi is sent off to a containment camp located at the Puyallup Fairgounds in Washington State during World War II. While at the camp, she keeps in contact with her dog, Dash, who she could not take to the camp with her. She hopes to be reunited with Dash at some point in time. During her stay at the camp, her family is slowly splitting apart due to other relationship. The contact with her dog keeps Mitsi’s hope of reuniting her broken family alive.
This is an emotional novel that keeps the reader turning the pages to learn how Mitsi deals with the problems of the camp. The characters are well-developed where the reader is able to make a connection with them. This book is highly recommended to those who enjoy World War II historical fiction books.

— Kellyn S.