Pigsticks and Harold Lost in Time! by Alex Milway

For this week's Timeslip Tuesday, one for younger readers--Pigsticks and Harold Lost in Time! by Alex Milway (Candlewick, 2017).  This was the first time I met this pig and hamster duo, and I enjoyed the fun of their adventures in time!

It starts with Pigsticks trying to build a space ship, so that he can win the Best Invention competition.  With an hour to go, the space ship is nowhere near finished, and he is understandably worried (so relatable!).  When Harold stops by to see how it's going, he notices a strange machine in the workshop that Pigsticks had never paid much attention to. Turns out it's a time machine, invented by Pigsticks' Great Aunt Ada.  Immediately Pigsticks knows how to get his space ship working--travel to future for future tech!  He persuades the reluctant Harold to join him on the machine, pulls the rusty lever....and they are off! 

They land far back in the past, in the era of the fearsome dinopigs, and disaster strikes--the lever breaks.  A stick gets them out of there, but isn't enough for full functionality.  So they time hop through history, at last crashing through the roof of a Viking longhouse.  There Harold's famous cake, that he happened to have brought with him, saves the day--the Viking ax they get in exchange for the recipe is strong enough to bring them home...and then send Harold on a perilous journey all by himself!

All ends well (though oddly Harold comes back with a beard....).

It's fun and light, great for young newly independent readers, especially those interested in the past and in cake, which many emergent readers are.   A good "first time machine" book, although not a great representation of the past--Cleopatra was much later than the pyramids.

Lightning Girl, and its sequel, Lightning Girl: Superhero Squad, by Alesha Dixon

Alesha Dixon, a celebrity in the UK, has brought a new middle grade superhero to town--Lightning Girl!  (whose adventures continue in Superhero Squad).  Aurora is an ordinary kid, perhaps a bit more klutzy than most 10-year-olds, but still within the parameters of "normal." Until she looses her temper when she sees her little sister being bullied, and beams of light start flying out of hands. She tries to write it off to herself as just part of growing up, but a little later, in her own back yard brooding at being laughed at at school for her failure as gymnast, the same thing happens.  And this time, her parents know about it.

And Aurora's life is up-ended.  Turns out, her mom's a superhero, with the same power, using it to foil bad guys around the world.  Not just that, but she comes from a long line of superheroes, and apparently, once she gets her own powers under control, she'll be one of them.

But life is a bit more complicated than that.  Her aunt Lucinda, for instance, shows up with her ostrich companion...Lucinda has the family knack, and an extra gift of her own, and instead of fighting crime, she's committing it.  But when Aurora gets wind of a plot to steal precious gems from the major exhibit her father's curating, she knows she wants to be one of the good guys.

Fortuantly, she doesn't have to foil the theft by herself; other kids at school, including some who never gave her the time of day before, have banded around her, making themselves into her support staff.   From fashion help, that bolsters her confidence, to help with logistics and detective work, the kids save the day, and Aurora is on her path toward super-heroism.

The second book sees Aurora and her squad involved in another plot that needs foiling.  The world was watching when Aurora used her lightning gifts to foil the robbery,and now she's besieged by the media.  After a break at her grandmother's house in the south of England, she's off to a conference of superheros, exited to belong to the group, and nervous about it too.  Turns out there's a lot to be nervous about--a plot is underway to undermine the society.  The grown-ups are pretty clueless about what's going on, and so it ends up being Aurora, with the help of her squad, who show up just in time, to save the day.

These are fun, fast reads, with a bi-racial, big-haired heroine who is still very much a kid.  Sure she has powers, but she doesn't have a lot of confidence in herself.  Although not everyone has problems controlling their lightning powers, many of us can relate to her worries about her parents' marriage (they separate in the first book), and though not all of us have criminal aunts with flamboyant ostrich sidekicks undermining our parents, we all have to committee, or not, to our family's values and traditions. And the friend drama that's so much a part of the middle school experience is here too, with Aurora having to accept that girls who didn't have time for her before will now be on her side, not just because she's a superhero, although that was the catalyst, but because they like being her friend.

What I liked best though was the matrilineal line of black superheros, and the revelations about Aurora's grandmother in the second book!  If you are looking for a tech savvy, lightning-wielding, smart as all get out granny, look no further.

In short, these should go down very easily indeed for younger middle school readers.  Two more books in the series are out in the UK, for those who can't wait for more.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher.

The Kitten Kingdom is a fun new fantasy series for elementary readers

I don't tend to seek out books for early elementary grade kids, but I'm by no means averse to reading them when they come my way (not just because it's a fast way to notch a few more books read with an eye to meeting my Goodreads goal for the year).  I just read the first two books in a new series for kids 5-8ish--Kitten Kingdom: Tabby's First Quest, and the second book, Tabby and the Pup Prince, by Mia Bell (Scholastic, May 2019) and am happy to recommend them!

Tabby is a kitten princess, but she and her brothers sometimes find it hard to behave with royal decorum (they are kittens, after all).  And Tabby dreams of having wild adventures...One day an adventure falls into the kittens' paws when the evil lord of the rats, Gorgonzola, steals the magic scroll that confers the power to rule on their parents.  If it isn't recovered, the rats will take over the kingdom of Mewtopia!  So Tabby squelches a bit of self-doubt and transforms herself and her brothers into heroes (the Whiskered Wonders) and leads her brothers on a quest into the subterranean rat realm to find it....and saves the day.

In her second adventure, Tabby and her brothers are apprehensive when a state visit from the neighboring dog royalty means they'll have to entertain a puppy, something they've never even met before.  Fortunately the cat royals have a magic orb that will allow them to produce all the food cats and dogs love best.  But then the orb is stolen by Gorgonzola and his rat minions!  The puppy prince joins the Whiskered Wonders, using his gifts of sniffing and fetching to bring the orb back safely.

These are entertaining books, with fast paced adventures and entertaining illustrations.  The text is substantial without being overwhelming for readers still finding their feet, and the second book has the added bonus of the kittens and puppy working together despite their differences.  There's no nuance in the villainy of the rats, but Gorgonzola is an age-appropriate enemy.

Well I remember the relief I felt when my boys would find a new series they liked, and I could relax for a bit about what to give them to read next! Books 3 of Kitten Kingdom, Tabby and the Catfish, is out this July, and book 4, Tabby Takes the Crown, comes out in October.

Charming fun.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher

Time Jumpers: Stealing the Sword, by Wendy Mass, for Timeslip Tuesday

Time Jumpers: Stealing the Sword, by Wendy Mass (August 2018), is the start of a new series in the Scholastic Branches line, aimed at kids just beginning to read easy chapter books independently.  It's the story of two siblings, Chase and Ava, who we meet in a flea market where they are helping sell their mom's art.  Exploring the flea market, they spot an old suitcase that has a strange appeal for them...and the manager of that stall lets them have it for nothing.  An angry man comes demanding that she give him that very suitcase, but she stands her ground and claims she doesn't know what he's talking about.

Clearly, it is a special piece of luggage....and when Chase and Ava open it, they find an array of strange objects, one of which looks like a dragon-headed doorknob.  When it almost flies into Chase's hand, the two kids find themselves whisked back in time to the court of King Arthur!

All is not well back in the past; Merlin and the King are both in trouble, and the same angry man from the flea market is back in the past as well, and seems just as angry....  But the dragon-headed doorknob (which is Not a doorknob!) is just what it needed to save the day.

It is a perfectly fine story for what it is; it's meant for an audience still not quite ready for the Magic Tree House book (I actually found the writing, on a very basic work level, more interesting than Magic Treehouse, but I am scarred for life by having to listen to MTH books on audio where the fact that it is "….said Jack" and …."said Annie" over and over is inescapable).   The siblings are supportive of each other, and though there's not quite enough time for them to become fully developed characters, Mass does quite bit in that direction, rather skillfully.  The addition of the sinister bad guy adds interest to the story, and a mystery that is yet to be resolved.  

So it's fine, like I said, and the illustrations on every page will help kids still acquiring reading conviction enjoy the book.

But as a fan of time travel and medieval fiction...it was disappointing.  We don't get any educational value out of the time travel experience; there's almost no detail about the past, except that this being King Arthur's court, there are tapestries and knights and stone walls....And of course it's not even a real past, though never does the story acknowledge that this high medieval King Arthur is just a story.  I feel Wendy Mass could have pushed her word limit to get a bit more history in there....Oh well.

Gordon: Bark to the Future, by Ashley Spires (a PURST adventure for Timeslip Tuesday)

I utterly adored Binky the Space Cat, the first book of Ashley Spires PURST (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel) graphic novels perfect for early elementary readers (who can read but still not up to large text blocks), but not having readers of that age in my life for a while now, I hadn't kept up with the series.   Browsing in my local library (where I try to check out a few books every time I go in to pick up all my holds so as to support circulation numbers) I was very pleased to find Gordon: Bark to the Future, the newest PURST book (Kids Can Press, May 2018), because it filled two immediate needs--a dog book (for possible use in post I'm working on elsewhere) and a time travel book that I could read in one night (because that is the planning level at which I operate).

Gordon shares a space station/house with Binky and Gracie, the cat commanding officer, working tirelessly to keep out alien invaders (house flies).  But disaster strikes! A horde of aliens descends, Binky is captured, and Gracie neutralized, so it's up to Gordon to save the day!

Gordon is not a PURST of vigorous action; he's a thinker, not a fighter, and on top of that he's a dog, with a short doggy attention span.  He is, however, not a bad scientist for a dog, and has on hand a working time machine!  He uses it to go back five years, to warn Binky so the disaster can be forestalled.  But things go badly wrong when he accidently meddles with the path of the past, and Binky never becomes a space cat.   He has to go back in time to try again...but doesn't have enough fuel.  Is everything doomed?  Of course not.

So it's a cute graphic novel for the young, and it's also a very nice introduction to time travel paradoxes and convolutions.  It might not be fully understood by the young reader, but I think the fact that the pictures show what's happening helps, and most young readers in my experience (basically me and my own children, so an admittedly limited sample) are happy to accept not understanding, absorbing rather than dissecting things that don't make sense.

Personally I liked the conceit of the original Binky book (that Binky just thinks he's a space cat, but isn't really) better than the actual sci fi story of this one.  I like cats better than dogs too (favorite part of this one-- seeing kitten Binky!).  But it's still fun.

Sort answer: a really good time travel story for a demographic with few time travel books to choose from.

Crafty Cat and the Crafty Camp Crisis, by Chairse Mericle Harper

Crafty Cat and the Crafty Camp Crisis, by Charise Mericle Harper (First Second, August 2017) was the first Crafty Cat book I've read (it's a sequel to The Amazing Crafty Cat), and I found this graphic novel for the young (6-9 year olds) utterly charming.

Birdie is a little girl who loves crafting, and when she assumes her alter ego as Crafty Cat, there's no stopping her clever paws!  She's thrilled to be going to a day long Crafty Camp at her school along with her somewhat reluctant best friend Evan....but her hopes for a perfect day are dashed when mean girl Anya shows up at camp too.  Anya appropriates Birdie's pencils, and thrusts herself into Evan and Birdie's partnership, spoiling everything.  The last straw is a game of dodgeball (why would there even be recess during Crafty Camp, thinks Birdie?) when her new monster crown gets wrecked.  Dark depression and anger settle over Birdie, but she is still Crafty Cat, and crafting is still her passion, she has her cloud friend to talk to about it all, and Evan is a good friend. So all is not lost.

The illustrations are tremendously appealing, and Crafty Cat/Birdie is a character to love. This particular story of a perfect day almost wrecked by tension was emotionally intense, hitting almost too close to home,  but the illustrations, and the assumption that it would all work out in the end (which it does) kept me going.

If you have a young child at hand who loves making things, offer the Crafty Cat books!  Even my 14-year-old son was almost, but not quite, drawn to pick up the book because of its appealing cover and title.  If this second book is anything to go on (and why would it not be), they are delightful and inspiring, and kids still getting comfortable with the whole reading thing will find them friendly and accessible.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Two new board books from Ripley's Believe It or Not

Believe it or not--Ripley's has branched out into boardbooks with Wacky 123 and Oddphabet!   And the books are as odd and quirky as one might expect.

Wacky 123 takes a fairly standard counting format and oddifies it, pairing a picture of an unusual animal, or animals, and a picture of items to count.  So alongside the picture of a narwhal, for one, is
a picture of its single tooth, a two-headed cow has two hats, three little pigs in a teacup sport three bowties, and so on.  It's quirkiness made me chuckle.

Oddphabet goes through all the letters with four lines of (sometimes somewhat forced) descriptive rhyme accompanying a bevy of interesting animals.  It's fun to see critters like blobfish and umbrella bird, and there are quite a few eyebrow-raising oddities, like a two-headed viper and a turtle with hair on its head. 

The bright pictures are easy on the eye, though nothing extraordinary; their cheerful colors go just fine with the words.

I didn't personally find them particularly outstanding, mostly because some of the oddities seemed somewhat random and not based on real life peculiarities, like a hippo seated at a table eating cupcakes (as opposed to rabbits engaged in competitive rabbit jumping, and an elephant painting, which have a basis in reality).   That being said, these are fun novelty picks for grown-ups who appreciate quirkiness,  who want to liven up their educational boardbook selections.   Little kids might be bemused, but since much is probably bemusing to them in any event, why not.

disclaimer: review copies received from the publisher

The Infamous Ratsos, by Kara LaReau

The Infamous Ratsos, by Kara LaReaua (Candlewick August 2016) is a lovely early reader/first chapter book that is both funny in its words and pictures, and sweet in a valuable life lesson offering way.

Two young rats, Louie and Ralphie, want to be Tough, like their dad, Big Lou.  Their mama is no longer with them, and Big Lou is Tough, and encourages his boys to be too.  They walk to school (buses are for softies), they spend recess leaning against that wall, glaring and spitting (playing is for softies).  But then they decide the time has come to prove to the world how tough they are, by setting out to do bad things.  Each chapter tells of a new effort to be rotten, and how every time they try to be unkind, it backfires and they find they have done something good and made someone happy.

Their father finds out...but instead of being disappointed that his boys weren't tough, Big Lou shows his own soft side.  "Being tough all the time is so...so....tough," he says, and pulls them in for a hug.  And the Ratso family figures that life is tough enough without making it harder on folks, so you might as well do what you can to make things easier for them  (just on the off chance you're missing the point, that's the life lesson mentioned above, and I really do like it, but the Ratso family don't all become goody two shoes, so don't worry about it getting too much).

The illustrations by Matt Myers add the humor of the story, with lots of nice details for the observant child to appreciate it (the beaver teacher's dress is decorated with logs, the "hug someone" on their mugs has been changed to "slug someone" and "bug someone", etc.).  So the whole package is very nicely age appropriate and diverting for the 5 -7 year old emerging reader.

Which is basically what Kirkus said too "A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers" but Kara LaReau and Matt Myers manage to be amusing without forced puns (although thinking about it Harder and Deeper, Matt Myers dances on the edge at times--like the graffiti reading "I am a Bad Ger." But Myers is working within the story, and Kirkus is just being cute for no good reason.....)

(nb--I don't know anyone who is actually counting the dead mothers in this year's crop of children's books, but here's another one; there are almost enough of them to constitute an army of the undead! In this case, a dead and much missed Mama Ratso, who was the sweet softness in the Ratso home, is much more powerful than a live one, preaching at her family, would have been....but still, dead is dead for the purposes of counting).

disclaimer:  Kara is one of the masterminds of Providence's own Kidlit Drink night, which I have been enjoying very much (thank you Kara!) which is the reason why I have now read and posted about The Infamous Ratsos, but I think I would have said much the same sort of thing regardless of my favorable bias.

Also thanks to Kara's book launch, I find myself in a picture at Publishers Weekly (I am fourth from the left), which doesn't happen every day...

Little Robot, by Ben Hatke

Little Robot, by Ben Hatke (First Second, Sept. 2015), is a lovely graphic novel for the young (1st or 2nd grade) reader, that can, like all of Ben Hatke's books, be enjoyed by older readers too.

A little girl, still in her white nightie, climbs out her bedroom window.  She's too little to be one of the kids getting on the school bus, so she heads out to explore.  In the junkyard she finds a tool belt, which she dons, and her lonely path takes her on to the edge of a stream.  There, in a cardboard box in the water, she finds a robot!  Now she has a companion, and she and the little robot explore nature together.

But the Big Factory of Robots has noticed little Robot is gone, and a scary bot is sent out to find and retrieve him.  And the little robot himself isn't sure about his own situation; he misses the company of others like himself.

When the scary bot seizes little Robot and takes him back to the factory, the girl follows....and with tons of gumption, she saves her friend. 

The nearly wordless story is an utterly charming story of ingenuity, friendship, and pluck!  I love Ben Hatke's art--his characters, whether robot or girl, all have such endearing personalities (unless they are scary hunter robots!), and this story is a particularly satisfying one for any kid who wants a best friend.  The little girl is also a great role model for anyone who's wanted to be a maker and a tinkerer with tools!  Her skills with a wrench and her confidence in her abilities are what makes the happy ending as happy as it is.  It's a good book to give emergent readers, to give them the habit of turning pages and becoming immersed in a story, without the possible stress having to read words might bring! 

What makes this book stand out (apart from the great pictures, great story, and appealing protagonists) is that the little girl is not only a kid of color, but she's from a family that isn't economically advantaged--she lives in a mobile home park, and the grown-ups in her life aren't helicopter parents lavishing her with round-the-clock attention and material possessions.  (The only thing that negatively impacted my enjoyment of the story was my very deep maternal concern that the little girl was going to end up with tetanus from wandering around the junkyard in bare feet, although I realize that the target audience won't share this anxiety).  But in any event, it's lovely to see the possibilities of fantasy adventure expanded to include kids like her!

Here's the starred Kirkus review.

disclaimer:  signed copy received at Book Expo America, but I was so excited to be meeting Ben Hatke and Gina Gagliano from First Second that I became overcome, and like a derp I left my signed copy behind at the signing desk.  Gina was kind enough to mail it on to me.  Thank you so much, Gina!

Owl Diaries: Eva Sees a Ghost, by Rebecca Elliott

I bumped Eva Sees a Ghost, by Rebecca Elliott (Scholastic, May 26, 2015), to the top of my reading and review pile when it came in, not just because it is a slim volume written for kids who have just barely moved past the really easy "easy readers" and therefore but the work of minutes for me to read.  No, the reason I want it out of my house tout suite is that I know a little 6 year old girl who loved the first book about Eva the Owl (Eva's Treetop Festival) and will be thrilled to get this one (and making kids happy with books is a lovely thing).

In any event, this second book in the Owl Diaries series follows a young owlet, Eva, as she tells in her diary about the mysterious happenings in her feathered community.  No one really believes she's seen a ghost, but when spooky things happen at school, too, they realize Eva probably did see something truly out of the ordinary...

It's not a Scary ghost book, but there is a smidge of spookiness.  Mainly, though, it's a story about friendship, and Eva and her pals make for good company!  The illustrations are just as cute as they were in the first book, but somewhat less Pink...do offer Eva's stories to boys as well!  Big eyed cuteness has cross-gender appeal....

The Shark King, a Toon Book by R. Kikuo Johnson

The Shark King, a Toon Book by R. Kikuo Johnson (April, 2012, 40 pages), is an easy reader graphic novel that's multicultural, intellectually interesting, and emotionally engaging, which is just about the swellest combination of descriptive phrases I can imagine combining (and the pictures are nice too!).

It's the story of Kalei, a girl in long ago Hawaii, who all unwittingly marries the Shark King, a shape-shifting deity. On the night before their child is born, her husband returns to the sea, leaving her to raise the boy alone. But Nanaue is no ordinary child. His inherited enough of his father's shape shifting magic so as to appear monstrous at times (jaws snapping from his back!), and his appetite is insatiable. So much so that the fisher folk of the nearby village grow hungry....and when they realize Nanaue is to blame, they try to hunt him down.

But the father Nanaue longed to meet is waiting for him, and so all ends well. Except that poor Kalei is left alone, which I found sad (in as much as I automatically relate, quite naturally, to the mother. I would be very sad if my boys dove off into the sea and I never saw them again, and the handful of shells Kalei gets as a memento would not be much comfort. Young readers doubtless won't have this particular issue).

The story is simple enough so that the young reader can read it independently, and enjoy it as an adventure story, but complex enough, with it's themes of finding one's true self, parent/child relationships, and being different, that the young mind will be fed on a deeper level. As a bonus feature, there's a little guide at the end on how to read comics with kids.

I'd have loved another bonus feature giving more information about the original myth, but that's my only complaint.



disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

Charlie and Kiwi: an Evolutionary Adventure, for Timeslip Tuesday

Looking for a great book to use to help your young child understand the driving force behind evolution? Try Charlie and Kiwi: an Evolutionary Adventure (Atheneum, June, 2011, 48 pages). Peter H. Reynolds, Fablevision, and the New York Hall of Science teamed up to create a picture book that does a brilliant job clearly explaining the principle of survival of the fittest, with the science set in an engaging narrative of a time-travel adventure.

Young Charlie picks the kiwi as the subject of his bird report in school, bringing in his own newly acquired stuffed kiwi as an example. But the other children are doubtful--"Izzat a bird? Where's the wings?" asks one. And Charlie, when asked why the kiwi is so very different from other birds, draws a blank.

Fortunately, his stuffed kiwi is ready to help out, taking Charlie back in time (the box Kiwi came in magically becomes a time travel machine) to meet his many times great grandfather. Together Charles Darwin, Kiwi, and Charlie go on an evolutionary adventure, to observe first hand the ancestral proto-kiwis of New Zealand. And then they head back even further in time, to see for themselves how birds evolved from dinosaurs.

My kids and I thought this was a great book--we were charmed by the stuffed kiwi, and thought the explanation of natural selection/survival of the fittest was interesting and clearly explained. It might be a bit wordy for some picture book affectionados, but for kids with an interest in science and nature, I recommend it highly.

Here's Grandpa Charles beginning his explanation of natural selection:

"Long ago, maybe kiwis were more like regular birds.
Maybe they had wings and flew.
But say one family was a little bit different.
Say some stayed on the ground a little more and smelled bugs
a little better. They'd be safer, and catch more dinner...."

I love the idea of using a time-travel story in an educational way--I vaguely feel that lots of books say "let's go back in time," but one like this, that uses a fictional narrative, with engaging characters and touches of humor, is very rare indeed. (It's the first time I've ever applied my fantasy label and my non-fiction label simultaneously!)

(and it's awfully nice that Charlie is a kid of color)

Ferret Fun, by Karen Rostoker-Gruber, illustrated by Paul Ratz de Tagyos

Due to the exigencies* of life, I do not have my beautifully insightful, articulate etc review extolling the virtues (and they are many) of The Midnight Gate, by Helen Stringer, ready to post yet. So some ferrets are filling in.

As far as I'm concerned, the only drawback to Ferret Fun, by Karen Rostoker-Gruber, illustrated by Paul Ratz de Tagyos (Marshall Cavendish, 2011) is that it will make your child pine for a ferret of their own. This utterly charming picture book, presented in graphic novel-esque panels, tells of two ferret friends who are confronted with a visiting cat. The cat is not a friend; when he sees the ferrets, he sees "double-rat snack pack."

And so the ferrets must determine just how they can survive the visit of this malevolent predator.

"We could ignore her." says one.

"She'll bug us more." says the other.

"We could run away."

"Then who would feed us raisins?"

"It's no use. We're doomed."

But soon the courage of the ferrets is revitalized, and in a bold full page spread that underlines the power of Determination in the face of Bullying, the ferrets take a stand. (Yay, ferrets!)

And all becomes well.

Share this one to your little one who is learning to read. It's perfect for the sort of reading in which your child takes one or two parts to read, and you take the rest. You can also leave this one around for your eight and ten year old boys to read and re-read--my boys got a kick out of it, as did I!

The pictures of the ferrets are awfully charming. I almost want one, or two, ferret friends myself....

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

*(how is exigencies pronounced, btw? EXigencies or exIgencies?)

Meet Monster, by Ellen Blance and Ann Cook

Meet Monster: Six Stories About the World's Friendliest Monster, by Ellen Blance and Ann Cook, illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Back in 1973, Blance and Cook teamed up with ordinary kids to create the six stories about a kindly, friendly monster--stories prefect for the young reader just finding their reading feet. Marshall Cavendish has just brought it out again for a new generation to enjoy.

"A monster comes to this city to live.

Monster is not ugly like other monsters. He's very tall, and his head is skinny."

And monster needs a house to live in, so he looks and looks till he finds one that's just right. Some are not right.

"This house is dark all over. Not many things happen in this house.

He can't live here."

(isn't that rather brilliant?)

But he finds a tall, thin house that's perfect for a tall, thin monster.

And monster needs to make his house tidy, and he needs a friend, and it's always nice to meet another monster....

Quentin Blake's illustrations bring Monster to charming life in true Blake style. And the end result is an easy chapter book that seems to me just utterly spot on for a kid learning how to read.

Knowing that this was a reissue of an earlier book, I read with gimlet eyes, looking for things that might seem odd to a reader in 2011. The only thing I noticed was that the authors use "fine" quite a bit, as in "it will look really fine." "Fine" seems to be falling by the wayside these days....nice, I guess, rules supreme!

At any event, if Marshall Cavendish had released this just three years earlier, I would have bought it in a shot for my little one! It is just fine (actually, what with Blake's illustrations, it's considerably more than fine--I'd go so far as to say very nice indeed).

(I'd especially recommend this one to the five year old (or thereabouts) who's moving to the big city. It makes the big city seem like a place in which one might be able to live....although I still have my doubts).

disclaimer: book received (just yesterday! It was the first one I read from the big box I got--I was drawn to it) from the publisher.

Adventures in Cartooning Activity Book!

Adventures in Cartooning Activity Book, by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost (First Second, 2010).


Adventures in Cartooning, published last year, introduced young illustrators to an un-named knight and his trusty steed, Edward. The first book didn't have much story, qua story--it was clearly a book designed to build cartooning confidence, which it did with much delightful humor. Although this sequel sounds like it should have less story, in as much as it is an "activity book," the activity sections are embedded into a coherent cartoon narrative, that tells of an adventure the young knight (and Edward) find in their own castle one rainy day (there are robots! a cookie monster! a giant!). Even once all the pages of activities are filled, this is a book that will be read again and again. It is the just the sort of fun, easy reader to give to your 1st or 2nd grader.

The tips for cartooning are both useful and clearly presented, and the knowledge gained is not only applicable to creating comics, but also to reading them (the types of speech balloons, for instance, are all explained, and neither my house guests, my children, or I knew that a dashed line balloon meant a whisper).

Of all the books that I brought back from ALA, this is the one that brought most happiness home with it. For the past few days, my seven year old has spent hours (literally) absorbed by this slim yet tightly packed paperback (63 pages of the book proper, then several pages of blank comic boxes to draw in). By extension, I love it too, but even if I hadn't had a seven year old to hand it over to, I would be writing a glowing review of it for its own sake...(well, actually, in large measure for Edward's sake, because he is my favorite graphic novel horse ever).

Zig and Wikki, in Something Ate My Homework, and Benny & Penny, in The Toy Breaker

Toon Books are among the loveliest early readers I know off. These graphic novels for the very young reader are, in general, smart, funny, and engaging, and I just had the pleasure of reading two recent titles.

Zig and Wikki, in Something Ate My Homework (by Nadja Spigleman and Trade Loeffler) tells of two alien kids who take a wrong turn in their space ship, and find themselves on earth. Zig had been hoping to arrive at his grandmother's house, where he planned to snag on of her puffle pups (his homework assignment, which is already late, was to find a class pet). Perhaps, think Zig and Wikki, Earth will have something to offer...but can two small aliens capture a fly? or a dragonfly? or a toad? Definitely Not a raccoon...

Interspersed with tidbits of nature lore (I didn't know that toads ate their own skins) it's a fun alien adventure that ends happily...(sample pages here)

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker (by Geoffrey Hayes) brings back the engaging mouse siblings for another backyard tale. When Cousin Bo comes over, Benny and Penny hurry to hide their toys, and, even more importantly, their treasure map. Because Cousin Bo is a Toy Breaker! But with Bo around, how can Benny and Penny find the loot? And will Penny's poor Monkey, ripped by the careless paws of Bo, recover?

When Bo gets into trouble of his own, he (somewhat miraculously) becomes a nicer mouse, and all ends well. A pleasant story of the perils of group play. (sample pages here)

But, although these are both books that I enthusiastically placed in the eager hands of my six year old, and he enjoyed them a lot, neither of these knocked Stinky, by Eleanor Davis, off its place as my family's favorite Toon Book of all...

(review copies received from the publisher)

The Adventures of Benny, by Steve Shreve

The Adventures of Benny, by Steve Shreve (Marshall Cavendish, 2009, 159 pages, ages 7-10)

First, the description. In the five stories that make up this book, a boy named Benny has various fantastical adventures, encountering Big Foot, a mummy named King Butt, a giant squid, the Booger-man, and some nervous monkeys. The stories are relaxed, over-the-top, and occasionally gross; they also are very easy to read, with relatively few words per page and lots of illustrations (you can get an idea of the book here at its website).

"They started back toward the door, but it was too late--they heard a noise outside.

"Now what?" asked Benny, "King Butt has caught up to us!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," said Uncle Howard. "The snakes will probably finish us off long before he gets in." (page 55)

Second, the personal experience part.

Is your emergent boy reader uninterested in the Magic Treehouse books? Obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid (but too young for it, really)? The Adventures of Benny is an easy to read, copiously illustrated, kind of gross, chuckle producing, alternative. The short chapters, each of which stands on its on, make the book particularly friendly for the young reader.

Is your nine year old boy reader driving you absolutely mad by refusing to read any of the books you carefully find for him, after hours of blog reading to find possibilities, chats with the librarian, etc etc? Leave The Adventures of Benny casually draped on the sofa, and he will read it eagerly. In about ten minutes flat too, proving that he can read after all, which you might have been wondering.

If you are an adult reader, reading The Adventures of Benny with an eye toward a blog review, you might not find it a life-changing experience, and you might find smelly socks, farts, eating snakes, etc . don't in fact make you chuckle. But you might also acknowledge that the stories and pictures are not without amusing charm, and the reactions of your children will dispose you fondly toward the book. And it was a nice touch to name the Egyptologist uncle "Howard" (as in Howard Carter, of King Tut fame).

The Adventures of Benny is on the short-list of the Children's Choice Book Awards (chosen by kids), in the 5th and 6th category.

Here's the full list for those grades:
The Adventures of Benny by Steve Shreve (Marshall Cavendish)
Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster)
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (Atheneum/Richard Jackson/Simon & Schuster)
Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee, Sam Hart, and Artur Fujita (Candlewick)
Zoobreak by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Press)

The link above shows all the lists. Kids can vote for their favorite until May 3, at libraries, book stores, schools, and at BookWeekOnline.com.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

Agnes and the Giant, by Anne Adeney

Agnes and the Giant, by Anne Adeney, illustrated Daniel Postgate (Franklin Watts, 2009, 31pp). Here's a great learning-to-read adventure from the UK, one of the Hopscotch series of books that tell the stories of Britain in easy reader form.

Sometimes it takes a brave and clever girl to stop a rampaging giant. Bolster is just such a giant, terrorizing the countryside of Cornwall, always on the lookout for a tasty child to eat for his supper. Knight after knight has tried to slay him, to no avail.

So little Agnes takes matters into her own hands.

"Where's Bolster, the cowardly giant?" she shouted. "I hear even a sheep is cleverer than him."

Bolster roared with rage.

"I can beat anyone and do anything!" (pp 16-17)

So Agnes challenges him to fill a small pool with his blood, and Bolster is sure it will be but the work of minutes. Little does he know that Agnes has tricked him! The pool is actually joined to the sea by a cleft in the rock cliffs, and Bolster grows weaker and weaker as his blood pours into the ocean...and at last, he tumbles off the side himself, leaving the rocks stained red.

And if you go to the Cornish town of St. Agnes, and walk along the seaside, you can still see those red rocks today.

It's a fun and interesting story for the kid who's just becoming an independent reader, and who wants a touch of fantastical gore to spice things up! It hasn't been published in the US yet, as far as I can see, but it's available here at a reasonable price.

Disclaimer: my copy of the book was sent to me by the author, who I am very proud to say is my sister-in-law!

The Goblin King--Twisted Journeys #10

I vividly remember my first Choose Your Own Adventure Book (The Forbidden Castle, published way back in 1982), mainly because I chose correctly every time and ended up safely home again, unlike my sisters, who died. Most of the endings, if I remember correctly, lead to Death.

The same concept of reader directed story has been given new life in the Twisted Journey Series (Graphic Universe/Lerner), with a much more interesting half text/half colorful graphic novel format, and, speaking from limited experience, less death. I recently read the tenth of the series, The Goblin King (by Alaya Johnson, illustrated by Meg Gandy, 2009), and out of the ten different endings I reached, I only died once (she says proudly)!

The Goblin King is a fantasy adventure that's exciting without being scary, casting the reader as a kid on a school trip to a Scotland where the magical realm of fairie is very real. I fought in a battle against goblins, risked my life by agreeing to answer a dragon's riddle, was transformed into a frog, and tried to save a selkie...

Even more fun than reading this to myself was watching my 8 year old read it. Because there are so many endings, he kept going back to it, without loosing interest halfway and putting it down forever, as sadly happens with so many other books. I'm sure another part of its appeal was the way the narrative is split into pages of straight text and pages of graphics--the visuals offer a pleasant break from concentrated reading. The "you" is never shown, allowing readers to be themselves (my first time through, I was given the opportunity to chose exactly the path that I would have followed in real life, which, I am happy to say, worked out for me). Probably some of the words were to hard for my third grader (Lerner rates the series at the fourth grade reading level, and indeed, I had no problems), but here again the graphics helped to keep him reading.

After the (hopefully) successful completion of our next library book sale, I shall ask our children's librarian if she would like to buy more Twisted Journeys for the library (although I am a little leery of Number 9, "Agent Mongoose and the Hypno-Beam Scheme"). And if we just happen to be the first patrons to check them out, so be it...

Here's the riddle the dragon asked me:

I went and I got it.
I sat and I sought it.
When I couldn't find it,
I brought it home.

I didn't know the answer...

Two new Toon Books

We were very happy that Stinky, a Toon Book, was named a Geisel Award Honor Book a few weeks ago. We are very fond of it in our house (it gave my older son the title for his own blog, Pickled Bananas).

Last week two new Toon Books-The Big No-No, and Luke on the Loose-came our way, and we read them with great enthusiasm and enjoyment. They are pretty darn excellent young reader books for the child just getting going on independent reading, coupling good stories with lavish graphic novel type spreads of pictures. They are also fun to read aloud.

Luke On The Loose, by Harry Bliss, is a wild and wacky pigeon chase through the streets of New York. In Central Park one day, young Luke's father strikes up a boring conversation with another adult. A flock of pigeons catches Luke's eye, and with a blood curdling YAAH! he sends them flying. Off he goes in pursuit-YAAH! YAAH! flap flap flap through Manhattan and into Brooklyn, leaving a trail of feathers and startled byststanders. His father and the police and the firefighters set off to the rescue...Fun!

Benny And Penny: The Big No-No, by Geoffry Hayes, has less mayhem, but a more character driven plot. Benny and Penny, two mice siblings, embark on a series of no-nos that leads to a mud war with the new neighbor child. When the misunderstanding is resolved, they become friends.

We like them both lots--perhaps Luke more so, just because of the wonderful insanity of it...