Tag Archives: friendship

Fly Guy’s Amazing Tricks

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Buzz has an unusual pet, a fly, whom he names “Fly Guy”.  Fly Guy is a very intelligent fly and he has learned several new tricks. Buzz decides to set up a circus act to entertain his friends and to show off Fly Guy’s talent. Fly Guy swims the backstroke in the bird bath, he flies in circles around the head of a one of the kids in the audience, and then he hangs from Buzz’s nose upside down.

At dinner that night Buzz tells his parents that Fly Guy has learned some new tricks, at which point Fly Guy does a repeat performance of the day’s show. Unfortunately, Fly Guy  makes a rather messy disaster of the dinner table. Buzz decides that Fly Guy should only perform his tricks when he hears the word “NOW.”   Fly Guy’s performing on command helps Buzz get rid of a potential bully that very night.

In this amusing beginner reader, Buzz and Fly Guy once again prove that together they can overcome all kinds of obstacles. The story is divided into short chapters and it is illustrated with full color drawings.

The Good, The Bad and The Monkeys

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Jake has an unusual job of herding monkeys.  When monkey rustlers come and try to steal his “herd”, Jake acts responsibly to tend to his small group.

I feel comic books and graphic novels are a great way to draw reluctant readers into reading.  Comics Land stories I believe are trying to do just that – draw in reluctant readers.  The stories are brightly colored, easy to read and follow and are written with a touch of unexpected humor.

I like that the back matter includes a “word power” section where readers can check the glossary for unknown words.  Here they will also find a pronunciation guide as well as the meaning of the word.  Each book in this series also contains questions to aid in critical thinking skills, vocabulary scramble, word/picture match, find the hidden objects and a how to draw section.

Yes the story line does not hold much weight, but the beauty in these little gems (the Comics Land series that is) is that this format is highly appealing to young readers.  Beginning readers will gain confidence in their skills in a easy to access manner and learn along the way.

Drops of Life

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The first thing I noticed were the beautiful illustrations in this book. It is was initially drew my attention.

Secondly, I was drawn in by the message described on the back pages.  Here I learned about an organization called ENO (Environment Online) that helps spread awareness and knowledge about sustainable development.  This online environment allows students around the world to share their learning with our global community.  This piqued my curiosity and thought this would be a wonderful resource for teachers and students.

And lastly, once again from the back page, I learned that this story is a well-known children’s play that has been performed in over eighty countries.

With all these positive attributes, I felt I really should have liked this book more; however, I found it to be choppy and unremarkable.  It is easy to envision this as a play by the way it is written, but it makes for stilted reading.  Perhaps something was lost in the translation, but as I was reading through this I couldn’t help but feel as if the dialogue is something that the students themselves would have created.  For this reason, I think students may like it as a play, but will have a difficult time being engaged for reading pleasure.

One Cool Friend

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 Elliot and his father visit an aquarium for the day. Elliot politely asks his father for a penguin.  When his father agrees, Elliot hurries off to get one.  What Elliot failed to realize is that his father may have been thinking of the stuffed penguins on sale in the gift shop, not the real one he manages to stuff into his backpack.  This is a layered story with subtle clues that are missed on the first read through. Children and adults alike will enjoy it even more the second and third time as they will now clearly see the signs that were missed on the first read through.  David Small’s choice of cool, pale blues and sparse color compliment the story nicely and evoke a wintry feel. This is an enjoyable story that children and adults will love.

A curriculum guide can also be found at:
http://www.tonibuzzeo.com/onecoolfriendcurriculumguide.pdf

Tabby McTat: The musical cat

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Synopsis:  Fred the street singer and musician and his cat Tabby McTat are purr-fectly happy singing or “busking” for tips in the town square.  One day while the cat is roaming, Fred is robbed of his money and chases the thief, breaks his leg and ends up in the hospital.  When Tabby returns Fred is gone.  Tabby finally wanders away and finds a new home with a family, but he never forgets Fred.

What I liked about it and who would like it:   This a lovely story about a long lasting friendship.  Scheffler’s illustrations have great appeal, especially the cat and kitten faces.  Also look for interesting detail in drawings and the clever “cat” endpapers that look like they are stamped on the book!  On a whole this is a very enjoyable story and cleverly illustrated.