Dinosaurs and race cars! What could be better?! Dino-Racing is a fun, action-packed book about different kinds of car races with wildly colorful dinosaurs as the drivers. Shown are drag racing, off road racing, speedway racing and stock car racing. The rhyming verses entertain as the action moves through the scenes of different race styles. Both boy and girl dinos drive and repair the cars. There is a lot of behind the scenes action to interest young readers of any age. A dynamic, fun book, sure to be a winner!
Category Archives: Reviewer’s Library Type
Max Speed
Max uses his “super secret” powers to overcome obstacles that appear during his adventures. The illustrations reflect the movement of Max as whooshes with his jet pack or zooms in his race car. He meets and defeats each challenge until he dead-ends at the door with a secret combination, broken with the code word, HOME! The author/illustrator, Stephen Shaskan, does a beautiful job of combining movement, sound and story to carry a young boy on an exciting adventure using his “super-secret” imagination. A delightful book.
The Saddest Toilet in the World
The colorful illustrations in primary colors with whimsical facial expressions on the toilet are the saving feature of the book, The Saddest Toilet in the World. In an attempt to help a child overcome his fear of potty training, the toilet is personified as having feelings and emotions. The toilet “runs away” from the home because the boy would not sit on it. A search ensues for where the toilet could be. In the attempt to be playful, the antics of the toilet become a bit absurd. Maybe a child would find it entertaining to make the potty topic humorous but the delivery falls short. This is not a book that would be recommended.
Extremely Cute Animals Operating Heavy Machinery
Extremely cute animals face off against extremely mean bullies with extremely heavy machines. Just ‘cause you’re cute doesn’t mean you can’t defeat the big bad bullies, especially if you’re smart and you have friends. The illustration of the pink tutu-clad girl bunny welding a steel beam shows how to overcome bullies: with strength and determination. Bullies are mean, they hurt feelings, but they can be defeated and even reformed. The happy ending includes letting the bullies share in the fun of the grandest sand castle/amusement park built by biggest, baddest machines ever. It is a simple story with a powerful message: facing challenges with compassion and forgiveness. A worthwhile, fun read from David Gordon.
Super Happy Magic Forest
Another take on the quest for treasure, good vs. evil genre of children’s books. The illustrations are in a “video game” style with different levels to survive and unusual terrains to traverse. The multitude of little characters and side humor jokes keeps the book interesting in spite of the rather usual story line. Heroes such as a Unicorn and a Gnome add to its appeal for children. A silly reason for the theft–the Old Oak stole the Mystical Crystals of Life to buy a speedboat–lessen the depth, therefore the interest in the story. It is an okay book for a possible one or two time read, not destined to be the long-held treasured favorite, read every night book.
Are Pirates Polite?
A delightful, rough-edged presentation of basic manners. Pirates are pirates: they burp and fight and plunder but they don’t forget to say “please” and “thank you” or share fairly or use their “inside voice”. Zany, colorful illustrations plus humorous rhyming text add to the message of manners amid chaos. This would be a fun book to read to children around three to eight-year-old. Thoroughly entertaining! Bravo to Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig.
Surviving Middle School: Navigating the Halls, Riding the Social Roller Coaster, and Unmasking the Real You
Luke Reynolds approaches readers with advice for surviving middle school. As a middle school teacher and a former middle school student himself, Reynolds knows his way around a middle school and the behaviors and attitudes that are prevalent in most of these institutions. He draws on his personal adolescent experiences as well as those from his time as a teacher, to outline middle school survival strategies. He intersperses quotations from famous people and regularly references space gnomes who try to steal your garlic bread to capture and hold the reader’s attention. This book is an additional purchase which will help round out this section of a library’s offerings.
Girl About Town
Lucille O’Malley teen years are not footloose and fancy-free. In the heart of the Depression, the O’Malley family barely makes it by on the small profits from doing other people’s dirty business – their laundry. Lucille’s mother always has a happy outlook, but Lucille desperately wants to find other means to support her family. Unfortunately, it was another kind of dirty business that allows her an opportunity. While delivering garments one afternoon, Lucille witnesses a New York mobster, Salvatore Benedetto, kill another man. With the police already on Sal’s heals, he doesn’t shoot Lucille too. But when the police question Lucille, she covers for Sal. Impressed but still worried she might spill the beans at some point, Sal grants her wish to move to Hollywood and arranges for her to become an actress with an agent.
In a parallel storyline, Frederick Preston Aloysius van der Waals, the heir to a business and lifestyle of power and extreme wealth in New York, is learning that he doesn’t like his life either. He appreciates his betrothed girlfriend who wants to marry the 17-year-old but he doesn’t love her. He used to love his father but learns that he is a back-stabbing, lying, money-hungry power monger who has no sense of remorse or empathy for others. Wanting nothing to do with the family “business” anymore, he disappears and begins to cross the country, heading for California.
The 2 plot lines remain separate for part 1 and 2 of the book. Lucille learns what it takes to be a Hollywood starlet and Frederick bums his way across the country with the aid of a companion named Ben. How their paths cross is unique and it is quickly realized that they will eventually couple up. But each keeps their secret of how they ended up in California from each other until the fates push out the truth. Frederick’s greedy father and notorious Sal both make resurgences to bring about the climax. How the issue with Sal is wrapped up feels rushed and weak considering his gangster status but the relief of tension between Frederick and his father is satisfying. Authors Adam Shankman and Laura Sullivan keep this plot driving forward, especially in part 3 as another gunshot puts Lucille in the center of a high-profile Hollywood scandal. Looking at these author’s own profiles helps explain why this text is such a well-written young adult novel that feels like it could go straight to a screenplay. Both male and female teens would enjoy this story if only the publisher hadn’t put a picture of a female on the front. Why do they do that??? Highly recommended for middle or high school libraries.
When Friendship Followed Me Home
When Friendship Followed Me Home is a story about friendship and growing up. Ben Coffin spent many years in the foster care system. Finally finding a home to call his own, his life progresses steadily. He mostly keeps to himself and enjoys spending time at the local library. Books are his friends; the library his domain. The librarian knows his reading preferences and suggests books to check out. One day, a small dog follows Ben into the library and then home. On that same day, Ben meets the most amazing girl he has ever met, Halley – like the comet. A friendship blooms and a creative partnership is born. Together Ben and Halley embark on a journey to write a story. Then, when life is progressing smoothly, Ben’s adoptive mother dies, Ben and his four-legged friend, Flip, find themselves living with his aunt and her husband. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal situation as Leo doesn’t have the temperament to be a father. Halley’s family ends up opening their home and hearts to Ben and Flip.The relationship that develops between Ben and Halley’s family is heartwarming. Halley is sick, and the Lorentz’ are struggling with Halley’s physical decline. Ben learns that unlike writing a story, you cannot write a new ending to life. You can, however, choose your path and the people you call family. This was a touching story that is a great choice for realistic fiction lovers.
Lost in the Pacific, 1942
Lost in the Pacific, 1942 retells a story of survival at sea during the second World War. The year was 1942, and the US was in heated battle with Japan for control of the Pacific ocean. This nonfiction survival and suspense story retells the events that led to the crash landing of a B-17 bomber into the Pacific ocean and the attempted survival and rescue of the crew and VIP passengers. This page turner provides facts about the aircraft, the crew, and the events both before and after the crash. The book is put together in a manner that makes it easy to follow and understand. Features include: table of contents, cast of characters – complete with photos of crew and passengers, maps and photos for historical context, glossary, author’s note and sources.