New Juvenile Chapter Book Review: Ruby Lu, star of the show

By Lenore Look

Call Number: J LOOK, L

Pages: 136

Grades 1-3



Ruby Lu is back and starting the 3rd grade! In the latest of the Ruby Lu series, we follow Ruby as she deals not only with the changes of starting a new school year but with the changes that come when her father loses his job. Her cousin, Flying Duck, who communicates through Chinese sign language, her brother Oscar, dog Elvis, and neighborhood friends as usual, are always there to help her get through these changes.



When Ruby realizes how desperately the family needs extra money, she and her friends come up with some ideas that can save the family. Though Ruby has the best of intentions, some of these schemes are more troublesome than helpful and produce hilarious results. The author takes a realistic look at a family struggling with a job loss and treats it with humor, sensitivity, and a lightheartedness that keeps the story uplifting. Ruby is charming and entertaining and the cartoonish illustrations add humor to the text.



As a Chinese American who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I love reading the Chinese words, phrases, and cultural references that are sprinkled throughout the books and would have enjoyed reading a series with a character like Ruby Lu when I was a girl.



Click here to view this title in the catalog.



If you enjoy this book, check out the others in the series!



Ruby Lu, brave and true



Ruby Lu, empress of everything



~ML

New Book Review: I feel Better with a frog in my throat: History’s Strangest Cures

By Carlyn Beccia

Call Number: J 615.88 BEC

Pages: 48

Best for grades 1-5

Pop-Quiz time!

Did any of these cures help with a cough?

A. Caterpillar fungus (Ancient China)

B. Frog Soup (Sixteenth-century England)

C. Cherry Bark (Ancient Native American)



In a multiple choice format “I feel better with a frog in my throat: History’s Strangest Curse” presents many common maladies like colds, sore throats, wounds, stomachache, fevers, and headaches with a verity of cures and treatments that people throughout time relied on. You’ll find out that some worked better than others.

My favorite was learning about how people throughout time cured and treated wounds: from moldy bread, honey, silver, puppy kisses, spider’s webs, mummy powder, maggots, a bulls mouth, and a dead man’s skill (ugh!—which apparently actually worked, who would have thought?!)

Each question is presented, and then each multiple choice option is explained with a “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” with comical illustrations depicting not only the curse, but also the dress , art, and architecture of the time and place from Ancient Egypt and China to Early twentieth century America.

“I feel better with a frog in my throat” is the sort of book that makes the non-fiction collection so much fun! Be sure to check it out!

Click here to view this title in the catalog.

Answers: A: maybe. B: No. C: Yes!



-JW-

New Book Review: 13 Photos Children Should Know

By Brad Finger

Call number J 909.82 FIN

45 pages

Best for ages 8-12



What better way to learn history than by learning through the eyes of the people who lived through it? In 13 photos children should know momentous events are captured on film and presented on a large page spread complete with information surrounding the event and a little bit about the photograph.



Some moments children may already be familiar with through school or popular culture, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, or they may even remember the event such as the 2008 Olympic games in China or last year’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.



Others might not be so familiar to them, such as the importance Nelson Mandela being released from prison or how the world changed when the Berlin Wall came down. Each photo is accompanied by a short explanation (with unfamiliar words available in a glossary) and supporting photographs both large and small. Running along the top of each page is a timeline showing important moments leading up to the featured on, and what came after, as well as world events that affect how each event is remembered.



What is especially great about 13 Photos Children Should Know is it gives a great jumping off point to talk more about momentous events of the last century and the people and times surrounding them through real photographs of real people and places. Beatlemania, The Lindbergh flight, the Moon Landing, and so many others children want to know about.



You might even ask the question of what photos do you think are missing… What events are significant enough to change the world?



Click here to view this title in the catalog.



-JW-

New Book Review: Amazing Cows

By Sarah Boyton
89 pages
Best for kids ages 6-10 (or all ages up to a hundred and moo)
Call Number: J 818.54 BOY

“Knock knock”
“Whose there”
“Interrupting Cow”
“Interrupt—“
“Moooo!”

Part graphic novel, part joke book Sandra Boyton’s Amazing Cows has everything you (n)ever wanted to know about cows full of cow puns, jokes, stories, graphic novel (the cow version of superman), and many pages of miscellaneous cow related humor fills the pages.

My favorite page shows the “four stages of metamoophosis” for the species: Lepidoptra Bovinae. (spoiler alert: it becomes an “undderfly”).

With quirky pictures and funny puns your little joksters are sure to get their giggle full of all cow related humor imaginable.

It’s amazing what one can find in the non-fiction collection!

Click here to view this title in the catalog.


-JW-

New Book Review: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette

By Jeanne Birdsall
Pages: 295
Best for Ages: 8-13 (and younger for read-aloud!)
Call Number: J Birdsall, J.

The Penderwicks are back! But this time torn apart—Mr. Penderwick has flown off to England with the lovely Iantha for their honeymoon, Rosalind is going on a much needed vacation to New Jersey with a school friend, leaving soccer and science loving Skye as the Oldest Available Penderwick (or OAP) for the first time to take care of younger sisters Jane and Batty as they visit Main with Aunt Claire.

This is the longest that the sisters have ever been apart and Skye isn’t sure she’s up to the challenge—Can she keep Jane from falling in love head over heels (literally) for the first boy who rolls by on his skate board? Can she keep Hoover, the small dog next door from terrorizing their own dog Hound? Can she keep Batty from blowing up? Luckily the Penderwicks good friend Jeffery is back and loving his music more than ever (especially when the next door neighbor lets him play his piano). But Jeffery has some discoveries of his own to make…

What I like best about the Penderwick series is that each sister gets to tell part of the story—Not only do we know the stress that Skye is under, but also how much Batty misses Rosalind, and what motivates Jane to learn all about love for her writing. While this third installment will make most sense if you’re already familiar with the Penderwicks from their first or second book, each character is fully developed and important points are revisited so even if you jump in with number three you’ll enjoy the vacationing sisters as their lives change at Point Mouette.

The perfect start to Summer Vacation!

Click here to view this title in the catalog.

-JW-

New Fiction Book Review: Small Persons With Wings

(They hate to be called fairies)

By Ellen Booraem
302 pages
Best For Grades 4-8
J Booraem

When Mellie Turpin was in kindergarten she had a fairy friend named Fidius. Only they don’t like being called “fairies” they are “Small Persons with Wings” and they speak Latin. But when Mellie tried to take Fidius to school for show-and-tell he got mad and left. When she showed up at school without a fairy her classmates call her “Fairy Fat.” Not very nice, right? The bullying gets so bad that Mellie herself even starts to believe that Fidius never existed.

This continues for years until the summer after 7th grade when Mellie and her parents receive a phone call that her Grand-père had passed away and they have inherited his Inn. They move to away, far from the mean classmates and people who called her “fairy fat.” Mellie is excited to make a new life for herself and is just about ready to settle to the hard work of cleaning the Inn with her parents when what do they uncover but another Small Person With Wings.

This starts all the Turpins on a great adventure involving a whole colony of Small Persons, a missing magical ring, a grandfather clock that doesn’t tell time, and a walking store front mannequin that enchants men. All the Turpin’s lives are at stake until Mellie can come up with a plan to save them.

What I liked most about Small Persons with Wings is how Mellie grows into her grandeur and makes a few real friends along the way. Told entirely in her voice this fun read gets more exciting with each chapter as more secrets of magic are reviled.

Just a few weeks of school are left! Time to get into the mood of summer with a fast paced fun book full of adventure, magic, and fun.

Click here to view this title in the catalog

-JW-

New Picture Book Review: The Last Day of Kindergarten

By Nancy Loewen
Illustrated by Sachico Yoshikawa
Call Number: E Loeman, N.
Best for Ages 4-7

I’ve been waiting for summer and now it’s just around the corner! Time to review one of our new picture books: Nancy Loewen’s Last Day of Kindergarten.

In this story we follow a girl through her last day of kindergarten with all of her colorful pink-cheeked friends in Mrs. Popinski class—she reminisces about what it was like on the first day of kindergarten—when her crayons were all pointy and new, and all the fun things they did in the school year like playing Grocery Store, or dressing up for Halloween, and even losing her first tooth.

During the last day of kindergarten her class cleans up the room, then dons mortarboards (those funny flat graduation hats) made from construction paper and yarn and has a graduation ceremony for friends and family (which explains the predominance of little boys wearing neck ties to kindergarten—something that didn’t seem quite normal in the first few pages.)

My favorite part about The Last Day of Kindergarten is that it really captures the feelings of the last day of school: sadness that something is ending, but excitement for summer, and anticipating what the next school year will bring. In first grade the class will eat lunch in the cafeteria, make new friends and play on the big kid’s playground. While the details of this girls’ story may not fit exactly with what happens with your child’s last day of kindergarten this certainly is a great book to check out and discuss with your class or to read one-on-one with your child getting ready for their last day of school.

Click here to view this title in the catalog

-JW-

Fortune Cookies

by Albert Bitterman (2011)

A little girl receives a box of seven fortune cookies, one for each day of the week. Each day she opens one up and reads the typical fortune cookie message, for example on monday the cookie says, "You will lose something you don't need." Then she loses a tooth!

Each cookie on the page actually has a pull out message that you can slide out and then back in. After you see the message there is the repeating phrase, "And guess what?" The next page tells you. Each fortune seems to come true and the story is adorable.

The book has little text and bright simple pictures that will appeal to young children. On the cute meter, this one's reading is way up there.-SC-

Check our catalog for this title.

New Picture Book Review: Ribbit Rabbit

By Candace Ryan

Illustrated by Mike Lowery

Call Number: E Ryan

Best for ages 2-8

Frog and Bunny are best friends, and they do practically everything together from swimming, eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, fighting monsters, to playing with robots. But like most friendships, sometimes they don’t get along very well.

In fun playful language*, we learn not only about sharing, but about friendship, compromise. Frog and Bunny’s play is creative and Mike Lowery’s illustrations are simple enough for a child to emulate, and still full of movement and emotion. Whether you’re needing books on sharing and friendships, or just looking for a fun word-play check out Ribbit Rabbit and enjoy.

Click here to view this title in the catalog

* Well, with a title like “Ribbit, Rabbit” we KNOW there’s going to be some awesome word play to build up phonological awareness. If you aren’t sure what Phonological Awareness means be sure to check out the Early Literacy workshops happening this month!

-JW-

New Book Review: Moon Over Manifest

By Clare Vanderpool
Pages: 351
Call number: J Vanderpool, C.
Best for grades 5-8

As soon as I heard that Moon over Manifest won the Newbery Medal this year I added my name to the hold-list and just finished reading it. This historical fiction novel alternates between over two time periods in the small fictional town of Manifest, Kansas. We start in the depression—the summer of 1936 with Abilene Tucker, 12, who’s father sends her to Manifest while he works on the railroad.

Abilene stays with Pastor Shady who is, well… shady, and has been the interim Pastor/bartender for the last 14 years, and much to her dismay she has to go to school, even if it is just the last day. Assigned with the summer homework of writing a story and a couple of cousins to help, Abilene visits Miss Sadie, the fortune teller who begins to tell her stories of Manifest in 1918, during WWI when her father was in town.

Miss Sadie tells her the stories of Jinx and Ned and all the trouble they get into. While is starts with the predictable hijynx of small-town boyhood we soon learn that there’s more to the story than meets the eye, and that these boys could not only bring terrible trouble to Manifest, but also could become the town’s salvation. Not only during WWI, but also 18 years later during the depression.

Moon over Manifest brings to life the fact that everyone has a story, and there is more to every story than can ever really be told. This is a book you can read again and again and always find something new.

Click here to view this title in the catalog
-JW-

New Non Fiction Review: Kakapo Rescue

Kakapo Rescue : Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Text by Sy Montgomery

Photographs by Nic Bishop
Best for grades 4 and up

Call number J 639.978 MON

I didn't quite know what to expect from the Seibert Medal winner this year. I'm not what you'd call a bird person, but this book made the plight of the kakapo very accessible to me.

These strange parrots found their way to New Zealand, and without any mammals around, and very few predators began to fill niches never thought possible. They lots the ability to fly and grew to enormous sizes for birds (between 5 and 10 pounds), with very soft feathers and a very distinctive sweet smell. They can live up to be over 100 years old, but unlike other parrots, they are nocturnal -- sleeping during the day and wake up and look for food during the night. When faced with an unusual situation is to remain perfectly still and see what happens. These adaptations did not pose well when mammals DID make their way to New Zealand in about 1150 AD.

At the time this book was written there were only 87 known kakapo left on the entire planet! All are currently on Codfish Island near New Zealand, and have round the clock staff and volunteers to care for them and their eggs. Sy Montgomery spend a lot of time talking about the kakapo Lisa-- a first time mom and her egg. Volunteers set up an infrared camera in her nest, and sleep in a tent not far away. When Lisa goes on the move to look for food the team moves in and sets up and electric blanket around the egg to keep it warm-- when there are only 87 of something left in the world they don't take any chances that something can go wrong.

I learned so much about a bird I never new existed, and I learned the great lengths that people go to to protect an entire species, as well as how easily a species once numbered in the millions, can be wiped down to less than 100 birds in just a few centuries.

Nic Bishop's photographs are extraordinary, and certainly make this title worth wining the Seibert award, especially along side Sy Montgomery's easy and informative writing.

You won't want to miss the Kakapo!

Click here to view this title in the catalog

To learn more about this remarkable bird and the efforts of humans to save it, visit the kakapo recovery programme webiste. It keeps a current kakapo count and gives updates on information presented in the book. The efforts of the folks on Codfish island-- Today the Kakapo count is up to 120!

-JW-

New Picture Book Review: Monsters Eat Whiny Children

By Bruce Eric Kaplan
Best for Ages: 4-8
Call Number: E Kaplan, B.

Need a good New Year’s resolution-- How about less whining? These kids probably should have had that as their goal BEFORE the monsters came to eat them.

In this book we learn how a monster steals Henry and Eve away from their home and takes them back to his lair to make a delicious whiny child salad. But the monster’s wife has doesn't like the salad he's prepared, and the monster’s neighbor would much prefer whiny child burgers. Between whiny child salads, whiny child burgers, whiny child cake, and whiny child vindaloo we discover that grown up monsters can be just as whiny as whiny children. And, boy is whining ridiculous!

Using simple line drawings with accents of color, you might recognize Kaplan’s drawings from the New Yorker, or his kooky style of writing from the tv show Seinfeld. For example “The Monster’s wife said she couldn’t eat sweets because her bottom was too big. Everyone told her she was crazy.”

Making good food choices, less whining, and more reading time, are all perfectly good New Year’s resolutions, and checking out “Monsters Eat Whiny Children” is a great way of starting out the year with lots of laughter.

Click here to view this title in the catalog
-JW-

New Book Review: Mockingbird

by Kathryn Erskine
235 pages
Best for 4th grade and up
Call number: J Erskine

This year’s National Book Award winner, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine is one of the best (and fastest) books I have read in a long time. Aimed at 4th-6th grade readers, Mockingbird deals with issues that even adults and teens struggle with. It is a great read for late elementary and middle school book clubs, as well for teens and adults to discuss.

Caitlin, 11, is a wonderful artist that only draws pictures in black and white—it’s easier than using colors, because colors are messy. Caitlin could very well be the best artist in the state, at least her brother and dad think so. That is, until "The Day Our Life Fell Apart" when her brother is a victim of a shooting at his middle school. Now Caitlin, her father, and the rest of their small town have to deal with the aftermath and attempt to find closure. A tragic event told through the eyes of a child with Asperger’s, we can see how Caitlin views her classmates and how they treat each other. We see her interact with her councilor, her teachers, and try to make friends in the wake of tragedy all the while remembering her brother’s favorite movie “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Click here to view this title in the catalog

-JW-

How To Raise a Dinosaur

How To Raise a Dinosaur

by Natasha Wing (2010)

There are lots of different kinds of pets you could get: dogs, cats, gerbils and even lizards. But why not get a dinosaur? First you need to figure out what size of dinosaur you want, and what size a space you have to put him in. You need to know how many times to walk and feed him a day. You need to pick up after him, if you know what I mean. You'll need lots of toys for him, too. Most importantly, you need to love him.

The tips in this book are useful no matter what kind of pet you decide upon. The pages add a lot of interest with unusually sized and shaped pages, and lift-the-flaps. The graphics are colorful and vibrant, and sure to catch your child's attention. This book is perfect for dinosaur lovers, or pet lovers in general! -sc-

Check our catalog for this title.

New Book Review: The Cow Loves Cookies

By Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Marcellus Hall
Call Number E Willson
Best for ages 2-8

I, for one, love cookies. And so does the cow. We follow the farmer feeding all the animals what they like to eat, in a wonderful rhythm and rhyme that build a pattern on one another through the entire story. The illustrations have bold black lines and bright water colors and have a nostalgic- old-fashioned feel to them.

This is a great book for read-aloud both for groups and one-on-one with a great refrain that kids will want to read along with- after all “the Cow loves Cookies.”
Click here to view this title in the catalog

-JW-

We Are in a Book!

By Mo Willems
Call number: ER Willems
Best for kids ages 4-8

He has done it again! Mo Willems has produced another book that makes me laugh my pants off. You may remember Mo from his excellent Pigeon books.* His early reader series Elephant & Piggie is a great introduction for first time readers, with Gerald the Elephant and his dear friend Piggie speak in simple speech bubbles and solve complex problems such as having a bird on one’s head and being invited to a party for the first time. (What if it is a fancy-pool-costume party? You MUST be ready!)

In this newest installment, Elephant and Piggie realize they are in a book. They discover they can make the Reader say ANY word they want… but what happens when the book comes to an end?

Check out We are in a Book to find out!

Click here to view this title in the catalog

-JW-

*Psst! Don’t forget to sign up for the Pigeon Party! Registration begins Oct. 22.

The Pirate Cruncher

The Pirate Cruncher
by Jonny Duddle (New Childrens Books)(2009)
for ages 3 and up

Aaarg! Who is ready for another pirate story? Some greedy pirates led by Captain Purplebeard are lured by the promise of treasure, of course. A mysterious fiddler tells the tale in rhyme, but only after boarding ship does he caution them about a certain pirate crunching monster. The pirates are naturally undeterred, "And if there's a beast, it better beware. I can smell that gold! We're almost there!" They finally find the tiny island and a giant fold out page contains the surprise at the end. Throughout visual clues tip the reader off about what may lay ahead and it's fun to go back and look again after you've gotten to the end. The drawings are amazing, especially the ocean waves. Any kid who likes pirates will like this book!
-SC-

Check our catalog for this title.

New Fiction Book Review: The Dancing Pancake

By Eileen Spinelli
Best for grades 3-6
Call number: J Spinelli, E.
Copyright 2010


Bindi's whole life is changing. First her father, after months of frusterating unemployment moves out, then her aunt has a great idea to open a pancake restaurant with her mother as a partner. What follows is a novel in verse with a colorful cast of characters, from her little cousin and Inky, his pet rubber spider, to Grace a regular at the restaurant who pushes a cart with all the stuff she owns inside. Bindi must come to terms with her feelings about her parents, having to move, and the new responsibilities and relationships she finds herself in.

The Dancing Pancake is a first-person realistic fiction story set in short free-verse poems so it is easy to start and stop. It is a great choice if there is a reader in your life who only has a few minutes to read here and there, or who prefer short reading sessions, or anyone wanting to experiment with a novel in verse with a excellent storyline.

The following box contains notes to parents/guardians and teachers about The Dancing Pancake. Because it contains spoilers you must select (or "highlight") the box with your mouse to read the following text.

Parents and Teachers be advised: This book deals with the feelings of both the children and the parents when parents try separation. At the end of this story Bindi's Dad comes back to town, and while he's not quite ready to move back in with the family, it is implied that Bindi's parents will remain married and work out their problems. Because not every separation ends this way, children may want to talk about how theirs or their friends experiences are similar or different to the ones in The Dancing Pancake.

There's just enough time before school starts to sneak in a few more fun reads!

Check our catalog for this title.

-JW-

New Book Review: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

By: Maryrose Wood

Best for: 4th grade and up or as a read aloud for 2nd grade and up
Copyright: 2010
Call number: J Wood (also in J Holiday: Christmas)

Miss Penelope Lumley has recently graduated from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females and has just landed her first job as a governess for three children at the Ashton Place. But these are no ordinary children. In fact Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia Incorrigible were found in the woods and believed to have been raised by wolves.

Not only must Miss Lumley teach the children English, how to wear clothing, and not to chase squirrels, she must also get them ready to be the guests of honor at Mrs. Ashton’s Christmas party with all the dancing and small talk that even some grown-ups have trouble with. It’s a good think Miss Lumley is a Swanburne Girl and able to handle it all!

The Incorrigible Children of the Ashton Place is what I imagine Jane Eyre would be had it been written by Lemony Snicket. I can’t wait for the second book in the series to see how the mystery unfolds!

To view this in our catalog click here

-JW-

Book Review: Our Grandparents: A Global Album

By Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kinkade, and Cynthia Pon
Call Number: J 306.8745
Best for: Ages 2 and up
Copyright: 2010

This summer I’ve spent a lot of time with my grandfather, so when I saw the new non fiction book Our Grandparents on the shelf I had to pick it up. The high quality photographs show the differences in the cultures around the world that we all find interesting, and more importantly the text and photos show the similarities of how grandparents and grandchildren interact, like playing, listening, telling stories, and even exploring and learning about the world around us. Our Grandparents is a great book to share with your grandchildren, both near and far. I’ve even checked out Our Grandparents to share with my own grandfather. I'm sure he will love looking at the photos and telling me stories from the countries he has traveled to.

To view this in our catalog click here

-JW-