1, 2 at the Zoo - Sue DiCicco

1, 2 at the Zoo
Sue DiCicco
Cartwheel Books an Imprint of
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545432399

This book repeats counting 1, 2 through various animals as you journey through the Zoo. Penguins, monkeys, giraffes and elephants are the animals you will visit. Flaps that open to the right, to the top and even a double flap unfold. The unique flaps and wonderful illustrations will fast become family favorites. The book will work on counting, animal identification and dexterity. It is a great book that children love and will ask for many times over.

The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin
Penguin
ISBN 9781101157459

When I started this book, the story seemed slow and disjointed. Compared to other books by Raskin that I have read, I did not enjoy the beginning. But I am very lucky I did not give up; part way through, the story grabbed my attention and became very addictive. By the end it was towards the top of the list of the 125 books I have read in the first half of this year.

The story begins with a number of people being offered a chance to move into an exclusive condo. Some are also offered offices or business space in the building. Shortly after moving in, the tenants are informed that they are in the will of the reclusive millionaire and founder of the Westing Paper Empire, and that they are all descendants or heirs to the money. But as the will is read they are joined into teams and must work together to solve puzzles and more clues are doled out and small stipends are given to play the game.

This story is full of quirky twists and little details. As you read further into the book you might find yourself going back and rereading some sections to put together the clues yourself. The greatest strength of the book is the characters; they are so quirky and different but have all been drawn together for this game. The book does start slowly but once it picks up, it really races on. It is very well written, exciting and fun.

Books by Ellen Raskin:
Novels:
The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)
Figgs & Phantoms
The Tatooed Potato & Other Clues
The Westing Game

Picture Books:
Nothing Ever Happens on My Block
Silly Songs and Sad
Spectacles
Ghost in a Four-Room Apartment
And It Rained. Atheneum, 1969.
A & The, or, William T. C. Baumgarten Comes to Town. Atheneum, 1970.
The World's Greatest Freak Show. Atheneum, 1971.
Franklin Stein. Atheneum, 1972.
Moe Q. McClutch, He Smoked Too Much. Parents, 1973.
Who, Said Sue, Said Whoo? Atheneum, 1973.
Moose, Goose & Little Nobody. Atheneum, 1976.
Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three. Atheneum, 1976.

Illustrated by Ellen Raskin
Happy Christmas: Tales for Boys and Girls. Edited by Claire H. Bishop
A Child's Christmas in Wales. By Dylan Thomas
Mama, I Wish I Was Snow, Child You'd Be Very Cold. By Ruth Krauss
Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Selected by Dwight MacDonald
We Dickinsons. By Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe
The Jewish Sabbath. By Molly Cone
Paths of Poetry: Twenty-Five Poets and Their Poems. Edited by Louis Untermeyer
Songs of Innocence. (Two volumes) By William Blake. Music and illustrations by Ellen Raskin
D. H. Lawrence: Poems selected for Young People. Edited by William Cole
Ellen Grae. By Vera and Bill Cleaver
Poems of Robert Herrick. Edited by Winfield T. Scott
Probability. By Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. Watts
This Is Four: The Idea of a Number. By Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. Watts
Books: A Book to Begin on. By Susan Bartlett
Inatuk's Friend. By Suzanne Stark Morrow
Lady Ellen Grae. By Vera and Bill Cleaver
A Paper Zoo: A Collection of Animal Poems by Modern American Poets. Edited by Renee K
Piping Down the Valleys Wild: Poetry for the Young of All Ages. Edited by Nancy Larrick
Symmetry. By Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. Watts
We Alcotts. By Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe
Circles and Curves. By Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. Watts
Come Along! By Rebecca Caudill
Shrieks at Midnight: Macabre Poems, Eerie and Humorous. Edited by Sara and John E. Brewton
Three and the Shape of Three. By Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. Watts
Elidor. By Alan Garner
Goblin Market. By Christine Rosetti

The Smurfs: The Snow Giant - Peyo

The Smurfs: The Snow Giant
Peyo
Simon Spotlight
ISBN 9781442428928

It's always interesting going to a book store with my children, for I never know what they will pick to read and buy. On a recent visit to the bookstore this is the first book my 5 year old son picked to read. He wanted to find out more about the Smurfs, having seen the recent live action movie at Grandma's house. It is also weird going back and seeing new books with the Smurfs. It was almost like a trip back to childhood. This short story is a Leveled reader; it is intended to help children with reading development.

In this story Papa Smurf hurts his leg, and Clumsy drops the cure in the river. So an expedition must take place to harvest a flower for the cure. While on this journey they encounter the Abominable Snowman and he takes a fancy to Smurfette. Can they get the cure for Papa? Can they rescue Smurfette? Read and find out.

This book was great fun. My son loved it and had had it read to him a number of times.

Ant and Honey Bee: A Pair of Friends at Halloween - Megan McDonald and G. Brian Karas

Ant and Honey Bee
A Pair of Friends at Halloween
Megan McDonald (Author)
G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)
Candlewick Press
ISBN 9780763646622

This was a wonderful picture book for our children. My daughter is 5 and just finishing senior kindergarten. She loved that she could sight read so many of the words in this book. The illustrations are bright and vibrant with a great variety in colors and backgrounds. The story crafted in word and image is wonderful. Megan McDonald and Brian Karas have created a great book. I hope they create more stories with either Ant and Honey Bee or other books together. Ant and Honey Bee are best friends and they have always dressed up as pilgrims for Halloween. But Ant wants a change; they decided to go as a pair, but a pair of what. They create new costumes and no one can tell what they are. So come join Ant and Bee as they spend Halloween together.

Books by Megan McDonald and Peter H Reynolds:
Judy Moody books:
1. Judy Moody
2. Judy Moody Gets Famous!
3. Judy Moody Saves the World!
4. Judy Moody Predicts the Future
5. Judy Moody, M.D. The Doctor Is In
6. Judy Moody Declares Independence
7. Judy Moody Around the World in 8½ Days
8. Judy Moody Goes to College
9. Judy Moody: Girl Detective
10. Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer
10a. Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (Movie Tie-In Edition)
11. Judy Moody and the Bad Luck Charm

Judy Moody Activity Books:
Judy Moody's Double Rare Way Not Boring Book of Fun Stuff to Do
Judy Moody's Way Wacky Uber Awesome Book of MORE Fun Stuff to Do
Judy Moody's Mini-Mysteries and Other Sneaky Stuff for Super-Sleuths

Stink Moody Books:
1. Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid
2. Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker
3. Stink and the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers
4. Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express
5. Stink: Solar System Superhero'
6. Stink and The Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown
7. Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk

Stink-O-Pedia Volume 1: Super Stink-y Stuff from A to Z
Stink-O-Pedia Volume 2: More Stink-y Stuff from A to Z

Judy and Stink Books:
Judy Moody & Stink: The Holly Joliday
Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt

Stink and Judy Moody a Visual Bibliography

Books by Megan McDonald:
Sisters Club:
Sisters Club 1
Sisters Club 2 Rule of Three
Sisters Club 3 Cloudy With a Chance of Boys

A Mother's Love - Brave - Melissa Lagonegro and Maria Elena Naggi

A Mother's Love
Brave
Melissa Lagonegro (Author)
Maria Elena Naggi (Illustrator)
and Studio IBOIX
Random House
ISBN 9780736429160

This 2nd Step reader builds upon the level one readers. It has short sentences and easy sight words. It does an amazing job of summarizing the whole movie in 29 pages. The illustrations are vibrant and fun. The story is a great adaptation. Both my older children loved the book and currently are asking for it frequently, in part, because Brave was the first movie we took both of them to see. We picked up a few of the Brave books to read. Right now they are incredibly popular in our house. This one is great for the older child to practice and work on her reading skills. A fun book and a family favorite!

Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Louis Sachar and Adam McCauley

Sideways Stories from Wayside School 

Louis Sachar (Author) 

Adam McCauley (Illustrator) 

Harper Collins 

Browse Inside 

ISBN 9780380731480 

 I need to be completely honest; this was the first of Sachar's books I have read that I did not love. I was really looking forward to the Wayside School books but after reading this one have not bothered with the others yet and they dropped way down in my pile of to-be-read books. Maybe I came in expecting too much, maybe the absurd does not ring for me in children's literature? But for whatever reason this book is towards the bottom of my list of the 120 I have read the first half of this year. The book contains 30 chapters and each chapter is a different story about Wayside school. Each chapter is also named after the teacher, student or students that are the focus of the story. In the introduction it states: "Wayside School was accidentally built sideways. It was supposed to be only one story high, with thirty classrooms all in a row. Instead it is thirty stories high, with one classroom on each story. The builder said he was very sorry. The children at Wayside like having a sideways school. They have an extra-large playground." They may like the building and the playground but I did not like the stories. In fact when I went to write my review not a single story stood out enough to comment upon it. And that is my sideways review of the stories from wayside school! 

Books by Louis Sachar:

Sideways Stories From Wayside School:

Sideways Stories From Wayside School (1978)

Wayside School is Falling Down (1989)

Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (1989)

More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (1994)

Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger (1995)

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom (2020)

…

Marvin Redpost:

Kidnapped at Birth? (1992)

Why Pick on Me? (1993)

Is He a Girl? (1993)

Alone In His Teacher's House (1994)

Class President(1999)

A Flying Birthday Cake? (1999)

Super Fast Out of Control! (2000)

A Magic Crystal? (2000)

…

Holes:

Holes (1998)

Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (2003)

Small Steps (2006)

…

Other Books:

Johnny's in the Basement (1981)

Someday Angeline (1983)

Sixth Grade Secrets (1987)

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom (1988)

The Boy Who Lost His Face (1989)

Dogs Don't Tell Jokes (1991)

Monkey Soup (1992) (illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith)

The Cardturner (May 11, 2010)

Fuzzy Mud (2015)

…

 

Barbie and the Diamond Castle - Mary Man-Kong

Barbie and the Diamond Castle
Mary Man-Kong
Barbie
Golden Books an imprint of
Random House
ISBN 9780375875052

I find that the Barbie books are either very good or very bad. Unfortunately this was one that disappointed, and this time both my daughter and I found it lacking and usually she is much more forgiving than I. First, Slider the dragon- like creature is much more viscious and mean looking in the books than in the movie. Lydia is much harsher and even darker. And to be honest trying to do a full length movie in 24 pages is ludicrous. The story is somewhat fragmented and a little disjointed. My daughter and I were both left wanting with this book.