The cartoon Tom and Jerry are at least 50 years old and what was funny then, isn’t so funny now.  The characters got away with a lot that we laughed at, but nowadays those same actions will get you in trouble.  This is called an interactive book because Tom appears to be speaking to the reader(s).  Not so fun for the reader with a class of 25 kiddos.  At the end, Jerry lures Tom to come closer and closer and then burps loudly in his ear.  Kids don’t even know if they can laugh at this anymore.  Not everything old is fondly remembered.

Fairy tales are often rewritten but this is a fresh take on four classic princesses who are tired of their story and want to switch places.  This tale is a perfect fit for the idiomthe grass isn’t always greener on the other side.  As they switch the princesses think the other girl has it better, but it doesn’t take long for them to long for their own home.  Of course, they switch back.  The book is a good example for girls that if you are unhappy with your lot in life, change is possible, and you don’t have to move.  The illustrations are colorful and appealing to kids.  The rhyming text sometimes gets awkward, but the story is worth it.

It’s a story within a story, with multiple levels of meaning.  The introductory story is of a young mouse who is frightened during a storm, having previously experienced a destructive hurricane; her papa calms her with a story, a nod to the power of books.  The story he shares, told in rhyme, tells of a violent storm that destroys all a rhino holds dear, and the rhino reacts by swallowing the storm, but as a result finds himself alone at the bottom of a very deep hole.  The rest of the story, which involves the other animals helping to rescue Rhino from the hole, coming together to starting putting their world to rights, and counseling Rhino to let go of the storm he’s holding inside, is both a literal and a figurative story, both about communities working together to assist each other after devestation does occur, and about the dangers of holding our emotions bottled up inside.  It’s a comforting story to help young children recognize that bad things do happen, but we’re never really left alone to cope with them.

The big-eyed, big-nosed, brightly colored, cartoonish illustrations will be familiar to students who are fans of Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book, A Gold Star for Zog, the Gruffalo, or any of Scheffler’s other work.  The story, told in rhyme, describes two scarecrows who fall in love and decide to marry.  After wandering the farm to find the things they need for their wedding, Betty stays behind while Harry sets off to find the last thing on their list, pink flowers, and water to keep them fresh.  The search takes Harry longer than he expected, and while he’s gone the farmer builds a new scarecrow to take his place, who goes by the name of Reginald Rake.  Needless to say, Rake proves to be an arrogant cad, who nearly sets Betty on fire when he drops his cigar, but Harry returns just in time with his bucket of water and flowers, which he dumps on the flames to save Betty’s life.  It’s cute.

I am disappointed in Kids Can Press.  I usually like their stuff, but I can’t figure out the  purpose of this book.  It’s a Halloween book, with cute illustrations that will attract children, but story is nothing but gobblety-gook.  I’m a fan of the classic nonsense poem, The Jabberwocky, and Dr. Seuss of course created wonderful books full of made-up words, but this just doesn’t hold together.  It doesn’t even have good rhythm to read aloud smoothly, let alone create any meaning.  Ugh!

For kids who live in or near Sydney, Australia, or as a souvenir for a child visiting the city, I would recommend this book:  it’s told in rhyme, and the illustrations are kinda cool, mixed-media creations that support the text.  But for American school libraries, I don’t think it contains enough information to either be useful or garner much interest. The best I could think would be as a supplementary introduction tool before starting a unit on Australia, to have students gather unfamiliar terms/places that they would maybe be learning about in the coming unit.

The audience for Triceratops is preschool through first grade.  The text is large and the vocabulary is geared for the earliest of readers.  The information is adequate for a young child.  The photos are obviously taken from exhibits featuring life-like dinosaurs.  Younger boys usually can’t get enough of dinosaurs so this book is perfect for them.

Caterina loves riding her scooter and wants to buy another one.  She decides to make a lemonade stand but she knows that in order to make money she will have to have outstanding lemonade and a stand that will attract customers.  Erin Kono is the author and illustrator of this book and her creativity is clearly seen in her beautiful designs and colors.  You have to admire Caterina’s creativity and work ethic, but at the end of the story you’ll see that Caterina isn’t doing this for herself.  She is buying a scooter for Leo, her little brother.  The message is a good one for kids to read about.

Kids are fascinated by robots and this book, Zoobots, explain how scientists have studied animals and applied the animal’s skills to a machine.  Each pair of pages depicts a real animal and the robot which mimics it.  A picture of the animal, it’s characteristics and behavior are explained and then a picture of the robot, it’s abilities and purposes are explained.  Scientists have really tried to replicate features which will be able to do jobs to help mankind.  Those kids scientifically oriented will love this book.

The Queen and Mr. Brown is a charming picture book about Queen Elizabeth of England and her corgi, Mr. Brown, who decide to spend the day at the Natural History Museum.  After a long walk, they arrive and see all sorts of dinosaur skeletons.  Getting tired, the Queen sits on a bench and falls asleep dreaming of Ascot, a horse racing venue in England, and she is riding a dinosaur.  She is awakened by a guard who tells her it’s closing time and she and Mr. Brown goes home.  The illustrations are colored pencil drawings, and it’s easy to recognize the Queen, but all the dinosaurs look the same.  The text/story does give some brief facts about dinosaurs, but not much. American students who heard the story did not know who the Queen was, and it would not have made any difference.  This is probably a book best used in England.