Category Archives: Recommendation

The Forest Fairy Pony by Sarah Kilbride

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Princess Evie is worried. She starts a new school soon and wonders if she’ll make friends. Luckily, she has a stable full of magic ponies to take her mind off that worry. She saddles up Willow and heads down the magical tunnel of trees to an enchanted forest, where she meets her friend, Holly, the fairy. Holly is preparing for a new group of fairies, who will be taking her class. As Evie helps Holly prepare for the student fairies and takes part in the magical class with her fairy partner, she realizes that her new school will be a source of new friendships and adventures. She returns home in a better frame of mind for her first day at her new school.

Short chapters and numerous illustrations make this short book a nice transition book for young readers. The elements of magic, ponies and princesses will entice readers and they will learn something at the end with pony and phoenix facts as well as a short discussion piece to share thoughts and knowledge. Part of the Princess Evie series – recommended.

Elvis and the World As It Stands by Lisa Frenkel Riddiough

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This is the story of a kitten, his new animal family and the humans that adopted him. Elvis and his sister, Etta, have always been together. But, at a July 4th adoption event, Elvis is adopted by Georgina and her mother. Georgina seems sad and that is because her parents have recently divorced and things are so different now. So, Georgina immerses herself in her LEGOS, building famous structures that have some meaning to her family. She does so with the help of Mo, the hamster, under the watchful eye of Laverne, the goldfish, and Clementine, a grumpy adult cat.

Elvis wants to be happy. But, more than anything, he wants to see Etta. He tries to communicate with the humans and it doesn’t work. Ever-helpful Mo tells him that he can communicate, just in a different way. After a few nearly disastrous escapes in an attempt to return to the shelter to find her, he discovers on a visit to Georgina’s dad’s apartment that the shelter is across the street. Clementine opens up about her time there and her kittens that were adopted before her. Together, they attempt to start a LEGO shelter to help explain to Georgina and she understands their actions, taking them to the shelter the next day. Elvis finds out that Etta was adopted by a wonderful family that loves her and Clementine finds one of her kittens, who is added to the family right then and there.

While Elvis is not reunited with Etta, he knows she’s happy and he allows himself to begin to enjoy his life with his family. At the same time, Georgina and her parents start to find some peace with their new family life in separate homes. Along the way, 9/11 is gently discussed after Georgina builds the Twin Towers in homage to her parents’ visit so many years before.

Told from the perspective of a young kitten, Elvis and the World As It Stands is an animal story and so much more. It is a story of healing for families torn apart and things we don’t understand. Illustrations and occasional text messages help move the story along nicely. An author’s note at the end gives a little more information about 9/11 and details the author’s motivation for writing the story. Recommended

Princess Unlimited by Jacob Sager Weinstein

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In a major swerve away from your typical “princess” stories, Princess Susan is the heroine of the day. This young princess has very caring parents, who spend all the royal gold on sparkles and frilly dresses for her. Unfortunately, that means that their knights are woefully unprepared to fight the dragon that comes to town and destroys everything. All they have are hedgehogs, mops and other inadequate armaments. Princess Susan takes on a job as a scullery maid in the castle to earn gold for swords and stuff. But, there’s no gold to pay her, just lemons. So, she and her new friend, Eleanor (a real scullery maid), start a lemonade business. They get lots of gold, only to have the king and queen buy MORE frilly dresses and sparkles. Ever the problem-solver, Princess Susan takes Eleanor to take on the dragon themselves with some sparkles and a contract. All ends well, with the dragon joining their new business, providing dragon breath heat to a few thousand customers. Her parents are so thrilled that they get her some business cards.

Princess Susan is a spunky, bright royal, who doesn’t have a problem rolling up her frilly sleeves and getting to work. Her sidekicks, Eleanor and Max (her faithful pup) do a great job of keeping up with her and end up with their own business cards (so does the dragon). It’s nice to see a princess story where the princess saves the day. And, it’s even nicer to see her parents encourage her ingenuity and business acumen.

The story flows nicely and the accompanying illustrations are vibrant and move the story along. This book is a wonderful addition to school libraries, where young readers clamor for the newest “princess” books. It might just make them think outside the box just like Princess Susan did!

Kat Hats by Daniel Pinkwater

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Kat Hats Incorporated is a special training facility where special cats learn to be “living hats” for specific purposes. These cats are rented out to mountain climbers, Arctic explorers and other extreme adventurers. It is owned by Matt Kats, his wife, Glamorella, and their children, Pocketmouse and Lambkin.

Their most prized cat is Thermal Herman 67/8ths, who is the warmest cat ever known (a good thing, since over 90% of the the body’s heat is lost through the head). In this story, it’s a good thing he wasn’t on an expedition, because he was sent on an emergency mission – to find and help Thirdbeard’s mother, Chickarina (the witch), who walked off licking a fruitsicle. He was worried that she might get a brain freeze. So, Thermal Herman 67/8ths hurried up the mountain, encountered his own adventures on the way and saved Chickarina in the knick of time by pretending to be a witch’s hat. She put him on and warmed up enough to save herself!

This very silly story is engaging, helped along by the outrageously colorful illustrations. Young readers will need to spend extra time on each page, because there is so much going on. Kat Hats is a goofy book and is sure to make kids wonder why the notion of Cat Hats hasn’t been invented yet.

The Swallows’ Flight, by Hilary McKay

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The Swallows' Flight by [Hilary McKay]

This book follows four ordinary children, Eric, Hans, Kate and Ruby (& one dog) as they grow up and find their lives intertwined in the years leading up to and during World War II. Eric and Hans come from Berlin, so the reader sees what life was like leading up to the war in Germany. Kate and Ruby are from Britain. All struggle through pretty normal bits of childhood set in a time of approaching conflict. I loved the book once it got going, though I found it a bit slow and confusing to keep track of the various characters at the beginning of the book. Once the book caught its stride and various characters met each other, it was not a problem, and the action pulled the reader along. Seeing family life from the two countries will help readers understand that war is made of regular people – not all evil or good Just ordinary folks caught in extraordinary times. The book has one of those satisfying endings that lets the reader know what happened to characters years after the main conflict is over. At least I always like to know that! The author also gives some background information at the end of the book of some historical facts about the world the children have inhabited. There is also a family tree at the end, indicating some of the characters may have been in another book by this author, The Skylark’s War.  (Perhaps keeping track of all Kate’s family members would have been easier if I’d read this earlier book.) Definitely one to include for students interested in historical fiction about WWII, especially because it includes a look at both sides of the war.

10 Spooky Pumpkins by Gris Grimly

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A little red haired girl steps out of her house on Halloween, dressed as a cute little clown and walks into a story that begins with “10 Spooky Pumpkins”. She saunters through the pages of the story as the countdown ensues through nine black cats, eight screeching bats and so on. The story ends when the moon scares them all off and the girl goes safely home to bed.

Reminiscent of “Five Little Pumpkins” and “Five Little Monkeys” in cadence and rhyme, the story is somewhat more eerie with its darkly humorous illustrations. Yet, the cute little clown breezes through each two page spread, adding a bit of lightness.

The author adds an artist’s note at the end of the book with information and background. Black and white drawings surround the note, giving readers another look at the spooky characters within the story. This is a nice addition to fall books. Recommended.

Before We Stood Tall: From Small Seed to Mighty Tree by Jessica Kulekjian

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The story of a deciduous tree’s life in reverse, beginning with the giant tree in the “kingdom of trees” is a unique change from typical nonfiction life cycle books. Told from the tree’s perspective and working backwards, the spare text explores each step of the tree’s life. Accompanying illustrations are from a variety of perspectives – looking up, down and even underground.

Young readers will enjoy this ‘counterclockwise’ life cycle book. There are just a sentence or two on each page. So, there is no chance of getting bogged down in facts. There is a fairly technical author’s note that goes much more in depth. This is better shared with an adult, who can explain some of the more difficult concepts. A resource list of books, videos and websites are also included for further exploration. Recommended.

The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson

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This story follows a brother and sister, who become bored one stormy summer day and start to argue. Their grandmother offers advice “Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing.” They come to realize that their imaginations can take them anywhere as they imagine themselves flying over their city, which is full of color. They relive this experience many times over through the fall and winter and they realize that they can use their imaginations in a wonderful way.

Grandmother “had learned to fly from the people who came before. They were aunts and uncles and cousins who were brought here on huge ships,their wrists and ankles cuffed in iron.” She reminds them “But, nobody can ever cuff your beautiful and brilliant mind.” 

They move to a new neighborhood and remember their grandmother’s advice when they feel lonely. They aren’t alone for long as they share with their new friends, who ‘One by one they too learned to fly.”

This is a poetic piece that reminds all of us to close our eyes and use our imaginations. There are so many possibilities and the challenges can be overcome. We have that power to look to a brighter future.

Text is accessible and accompanying illustrations are bold, bright and engaging. The author’s afterward gives credit to Virginia Hamilton’s “The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales” for her inspiration. The Main characters are Black and supporting characters are diverse. This is the second book by the author/illustrator duo of Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael Lopez (“The Day You Begin”) and it is just as richly created. Highly recommended.

A is for Oboe : The Orchestra’s Alphabet by Lera Auerbach and Marilyn Nelson

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“A is for Oboe: The Orchestra’s Alphabet” is a poetic journey through music and instruments. Each letter is on a page or two page spread with at least one musical word. Many are recognizable, such as drum and clarinet. Others are less obvious, like meter and motif. We are introduced to the notion that musical instruments can be a ‘he’ or ‘she’ or even somewhat gender-bending (glockenspiel) because to musicians the instruments are ‘beings’ with character and mood.

Illustrations are vibrant and full of detail, with a great diversity in orchestra members. Text flows and is rich in tone and meaning. This book, while not necessarily a quick read for a student, will be a wonderful read aloud for music teachers as an introduction to the orchestra and all its members/instruments. Recommended

Thunder and Cluck. Friends do not eat friends by Jill Esbaum

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Thunder and Cluck are an unlikely pair of friends. Of course, they don’t start out as friends, as told in this easy-to-read graphic novel. Big, toothy dino Thunder comes upon small, birdlike dinosaur Cluck and prepares to eat him. But, Cluck doesn’t do what he is supposed to do – run! A discussion ensues, with Cluck attempting to strike up a friendship and Thunder giving all kinds of excuses about how this can’t happen. Suddenly, another large, toothy dinosaur sidles up to eat Cluck and Thunder protects his “little buddy” (his words). He finally acquiesces to a friendship experiment, muttering something about hanging out with Cluck will be …interesting.

This beginning graphic novel is a perfect starting point for new readers. The book’s introduction explains how to read a graphic novel, describing panels and word versus thought bubbles. Each page has one to three panels on it and the colors are bright and bold. The main characters are cartoon dinosaurs – can it get any better? Buy this one for your youngest readers. They will be hooked! Highly recommended.