Mini Monday #54

Stalling by Alan Katz
Illustrated by Elwood H. Smith

Release Date: September 21st 2010
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website |  Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon
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Mom says it’s time to go to bed, but master staller Dan has other plans in mind. He’s got to visit the Nile, tame a crocodile, munch on some noodles, do a few doodles, ring a chime, solve a crime, mix leftovers till they’re slime! Zoweeeeeee! With so much to do, anyone would get tired at some point. But luckily, by the time Dan is finally ready for bed, someone else is already fast asleep . . . his parents!

 

This was a cute book about a little boy that is trying his hardest to stall so he doesn’t have to go to bed. He does any and everything he can think of. The entire book is rhyming, which was my son’s favorite part.

The cool thing about the book is the illustrations. There is a mixture of hand drawn pictures with things that looked like real photographs and even some pictures that looked like comic book graphics. The different styles gave something neat to look at as we were reading the story. I definitely recommend checking this one out.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

 

Flea Circus by Monica Carretero

Release Date: May 1st 2011
Publisher: Cuento de Luz SL
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 36
Source: Library
Author: Website | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Encouraging children to not judge by appearances, this story portrays a group of fleas who decide to start a circus. From Anuska on the trapeze to the Mighty Marusz—strongest flea in the world—this beautifully illustrated book follows clowns, acrobats, jugglers, and cannonball fleas as they perform death-defying stunts and amaze fleas from all over the world.

This book is about a bunch of fleas that are tired of living off animals and dealing with all the normal flea things. So they decide to start a flea circus! The book goes on to show each of the characters within the circus and what their talent it.  All of the pages have graphics on them. Most of them are full page graphics.  

My son enjoyed the book and gave it a thumbs up, however I wasn’t as big a fan of it. Even though it is only 36 pages, quite a few of the pages are full pages of words. I don’t expect that in a children’s picture book. I know my three year old would have lost focus on it almost right off the bat. I even had trouble finishing the book because I was getting a little bored. It wasn’t funny and it didn’t really teach any lessons or anything. It was just a story. So I would recommend this book for children that are a little older or would be able to sit and actually listen to the book or even read it themselves.

Rating:
Middle Thumb!

 

Mini Monday #53

Blackout by John Rocco

Release Date: May 24th 2011
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, "Mommm!" His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can't work on her computer, and Dad can't finish cooking dinner. What's a family to do? When they go up to the roof to escape the heat, they find the lights--in stars that can be seen for a change--and so many neighbors it's like a block party in the sky! On the street below, people are having just as much fun--talking, rollerblading, and eating ice cream before it melts. The boy and his family enjoy being not so busy for once. They even have time to play a board game together. When the electricity is restored, everything can go back to normal . . . but not everyone likes normal. The boy switches off the lights, and out comes the board game again.

Using a combination of panels and full bleed illustrations that move from color to black-and-white and back to color, John Rocco shows that if we are willing to put our cares aside for a while, there is party potential in a summer blackout.

This was a cute story about a little boy that just wanted someone to play with but his whole family was just too busy for him. Then when the power in the entire city goes out, he gets the opportunity. They find out what fun stuff can go on in the dark. There are rooftop parties and parties on the street. That is, until the power comes back on.

This has a good moral to it. Make sure you are spending quality time with your children and don’t let electronics distract you. Both my son’s enjoyed this story. My older son actually said they had read that in school also.

The illustrations in this book are nice but I like the layout more. It is set up almost comic books style with different panels on each page. Some pages only have a couple words written on them so this was a nice quick story and I do recommend it.

On a little side note. This is a Caldecott Honor book and the writer was also the illustrator of Rick Riodan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Crhonicles, and The Heroes of Olympus series.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

 

Dirtball Pete by Eileen Brennan

Release Date: August 24th, 2010
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Source: Library
Author: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

A hilarious read-aloud picture book for boys and girls who just can’t seem to stay clean! (And the parents who love their little dirtballs regardless.)

It’s a fact. Dirtball Pete stinks to high heaven.

His sister, Amanda, says so, and her friend Janine totally agrees. Even with a good scrubbing from his mom, Dirtball Pete usually manages to revert to his dirtball self in no time. But today is no ordinary day—it’s THE FIFTY STATES AND WHY THEY’RE GREAT! day at school, and Dirtball Pete has a speech to recite in the school play.

Will he remember his lines? Will he manage to avoid his dog’s muddy paws? Will the stink of his pet ferret, Eggroll, cling to his Pennsylvania costume? And can Dirtball Pete make his mom proud even if he is a dirtball?

Eileen Brennan’s funny picture book has a refreshingly original voice and style and a lovable new character in Dirtball Pete, who, with his unassuming, carefree ways, will charm kids and adults alike.

This book was about a very dirty boy who had a speech to recite at school. His main goal was to stay clean so everyone could see how special he was. This of course is not how the day ended up. I would say the moral to this would be not to judge people because just because they look one way on the outside doesn’t affect what kind of person they are.

The illustrations were cute and my sons enjoyed the book. My older one had actually read it right before I did so he obviously liked it if he was willing to sit through it again.

On a side note for this book. I just found out that this author passed away on July 28, 2013 at the age of 80.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

 

Mini Monday #52

Backbeard and the Birthday Suit: The Hairiest Pirate Who Ever Lived by Matthew McElligott

Release Date: March 21st 2006
Publisher: Walker Children's
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Source: Library
Author: Website | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

Set sail for a hairy adventure.

Sure, pirates are rough and tough and stinky. But after one particularly rowdy birthday party, even Backbeard must admit that it's time for him to buy a new suit.

With the local clothing shop out of all the traditional pirate garb, even a pirate as ornery as Backbeard can't always get what he wants. Backbeard's unusual new birthday suit will either make him the laughingstock of the whole ship, or the most stylish pirate to ever raise the Jolly Roger.

 

This was a cute book about a very disgusting pirate who gets even filthier after his birthday party. He goes into town and gets himself a new very colorful suit and a new pet (one that will actually stay with him). He then has to prove to his pirates who he really is.

My son enjoyed this book and found the beginning pretty funny. Especially when he talked about frosting in his underwear. We enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book. Most pages had words on one page with a full page picture on the other, although there were a couple pages with full spread pictures and a couple sentence across the bottom.

There is another Backbeard the Pirate book that I would like to check out also.

Rating:

Thumbs up!

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

Release Date: June 7th 2011
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

The New York Times bestseller -- a giggle-inducing tale of everything tossed, thrown, and hurled in order to free a kite!

When Floyd's kite gets stuck in a tree, he's determined to get it out. But how? Well, by knocking it down with his shoe, of course. But strangely enough, it too gets stuck. And the only logical course of action . . . is to throw his other shoe. Only now it's stuck! Surely there must be something he can use to get his kite unstuck. An orangutan? A boat? His front door? Yes, yes, and yes. And that's only the beginning. Stuck is Oliver Jeffers' most absurdly funny story since The Incredible Book-Eating Boy. Childlike in concept and vibrantly illustrated as only Oliver Jeffers could, here is a picture book worth rescuing from any tree.

 

This was a very funny book. My son was cracking up laughing throughout the entire thing. The illustrations were fun and the writing looked like handwriting. I like books that are made like that. I really can’t say enough about this book except for that we both really loved it.

I just review a book by Oliver Jeffers, The Hueys in The New Sweater, which we also really enjoyed. I can’t wait to check out more books by this author.

Rating:

Thumbs up!

 

Mini Monday #51

Cowlick by Christin Ditchfield
Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

Release Date: January 9th 2007
Publisher: Golden Books Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Source: Library
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

. . . She comes in the middle of the night, when everyone is sleeping. When she sees a smooth little head on a pillow, she can't resist giving it a cow kiss—sluuurrrp! Cowlick! gives young readers an imaginative and playful explanation for the "bedhead" that afflicts us all!

This is a very quick read about a cow that sneaks in the middle of the night and licks you! That’s really about it. The illustrations were nice and my son enjoyed the story. He of course thought it was pretty funny when the cow licked the little kids head.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

The Mighty Lalouche by Matthew Olshan

Release Date: May 14th 2013
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

In Paris, France, there lived a humble postman named Lalouche. He was small, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong. When his job was replaced by an electric car, he turned to boxing to support himself and his pet finch, Genevieve. But--"You? A boxer?" the fighters asked. "I could sneeze and knock you down!" Still, Lalouche refused to give up. And perhaps small Lalouche was just nimble . . . just fast . . . and just strong enough to beat his fierce competitors. This is a marvelous story, full of humor and heart, and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Award.

 

This is a story about a mailman in France who loses his job because of the motor vehicle. Wanting to do anything to get some money he decides to join a boxing club. He is laughed at for his size and everyone expects him to get beaten up but he shows how strong, fast, and nimble he can be. He will do anything to save his bird. He becomes way more famous than he could imagine.

My son thought the fights were funny when the postman ties one of the bigger fighters into a pretzel. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this story. They looked like paper cut outs put on top of a background. I’m not sure I can really explain it but was neat and I haven’t seen anything like it before.

My only problem with this book was the French names and phrases. Of course anyone who speaks French will be fine but it was rather tough for me and I know my son wouldn’t be able to read them. Even with the slight pauses from me figuring out how to pronounce something it was still a fun read.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

Mini Monday #50

The Hueys in The New Sweater by Oliver Jeffers

Release Date: May 24^th 2012
Publisher: Philomel
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Source: Library
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

A brand-new series and cast of characters from the mind of Oliver Jeffers

The Hueys are small and mischievous, unique compared to the world's other creatures--but hardly unique to one another. You see, each Huey looks the same, thinks the same, and does the same exact things. So you can imagine the chaos when one of them has the idea of knitting a sweater! It seems like a good idea at the time--he is quite proud of it, in fact--but it does make him different from the others. So the rest of the Hueys, in turn, decide that they want to be different too! How? By knitting the exact same sweater, of course!

The first in a series of child-and-consumer-friendly books, Oliver Jeffers proves that standing apart can be accomplished even when standing together.

This was a cute story about a group of creatures that liked doing everything the same. Until one day when Rupert decided that he wanted to nit himself a sweater. This of course was frowned upon by the other Hueys until they saw Gillespie also with a sweater. Then everyone decides they want to be different by wearing a sweater too.

This book was a good lesson that it is ok to be different sometimes. However, you are no longer different when everyone else is doing the same thing. Both of my sons liked the book and my three year old even sat through it. He liked pointing out Rupert when he first started wearing the sweater. The illustrations are just pencil drawings with splashes of color every couple pages.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

 

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Release Date: October 9^th 2012
Publisher: Candlewick
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it's a good thing that enormous fish won't wake up. And even if he does, it's not like he'll ever know what happened...

Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.

This was a very simple story about a little fish that steals a big fish’s hat and thinks that he is going to swim away and keep it for himself. Even though he knows that steeling is wrong. The illustrations are pretty minimalistic. Just the fish and some sea weed. My older son was pretty sure that the little fish gets eaten in the end although it doesn’t actually show.

Rating:
Thumbs up!

 

 

 

Mini Monday #49

Where my son and I do “mini” reviews on two children’s books. Each book will get a Thumbs up, Middle Thumb, or Thumbs down rating!

E-mergency by Tom Lichtenhel & Ezra Fields-Meyer

Release Date: June 7th 2011
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Source: Library
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

It's an E-mergency! The letter E took a tumble and the only way to get her back on her foot is for people to stop using her. But who can take her place? The other letters have to make a decision ASAP. Z is too sleepy and Y asks way too many questions. Thankfully, O rolls in to try and save the day. Now E can rost up and got bottor . . . as long as ovorybody follows the rulos. Chock-full of verbal and visual puns, this zany book is sure to tickle both the brain and the funny bone.

I picked this book up randomly from the library and when I showed it to my son he got all excited and said that they read that book at school. So I went ahead and still got it so my younger son could hear it since my older son seemed to like it.

This book is all about the letter E and what would happen if the letter E was hurt and we couldn’t use it anymore. It was really fun reading all the little comments that the other letters (and a couple punctuation marks) were making. Going through the book and having to use the letter O for any word that used the letter E was really hard but pretty funny.

There is a graph at the end of the book that shows the percentages of each letter used in the English language and E is definitely used more than any other letter. That was a neat thing to include in the book. I actually learned something.

As I said before, my son really enjoyed this book and we both liked the illustrations. 

Rating:

Thumbs up!

Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack
Illustrated by Henry Cole

Release Date: March 1st 2011
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 29
Source: Library
Author: Website | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

When life on the Tucker farm is disrupted by the arrival of a peacock, whose shrieking and strutting bring many welcome visitors, the hens complain that they are doing all of the work until the hound suggests a trade.

Since we were so busy this last weekend I didn’t get a chance to read this one to my boys but I did pick it up myself and I think they would have enjoyed it. This book has won an CCBA Book of the Year Award so that should say something.

This book is all about a peacock that falls off the back of a truck. He has never been on a farm before so he is not sure what to do. He decides to ruffle is feathers and walk around squawking, which in turn brings visitors to the farm’s produce stand. The hen’s get a little angry feeling that they are doing all the work so the peacock and the hens work out an agreement. This is where the book gets a little funny.  

I enjoyed the illustrations and the book has a good message that everyone’s job is important even if someone else doesn’t think it is.

Rating:

Thumbs up!

Mini Monday #48

Mini Monday: Where my son and I do two “mini” reviews on two children’s books. Each book will get a Thumbs up, Middle Thumb, or Thumbs down rating!

Jack the Tripper by Gene Barretta Hardcover, 44 pages
Published August 1st 2008 by HMH Books for Young Readers
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

A mysterious villain is tripping the poor, innocent students at Dizzie Day Elementary School. They’re tripping; they’re flipping; they’re flying through the air! Worst of all, they’re losing their homework as they fall. The whole town is in a frenzy searching for the boot-wearing culprit . . . until one student makes a startling confession. With vivid illustrations—and plenty of clues for readers to do their own detective work—Gene Barretta has created a hilarious, creepy tale about the perils (and sometime rewards!) of following the crowd.

 

My son and I were big fans of the artwork in this book. The story was cute and showed the repercussions of lying but did it in a funny way.

 

It all started with Polly and her book report, then Winston and his box of candy. Soon everyone in class was being tripped! People were searching everywhere but no one could find this “Jack the Tripper”.  Then when they feel it is too dangerous for students to be out on Dizzie Day, the cancel the parade. This is something the students don’t want and so the truth starts to come out.

 

Rating:

 

FIND THE AUTHOR:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

 

First Grade Stinks by Mary Ann Rodman
Illustrated by Beth Spiegel
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published September 1st 2006 by Peachtree Publishers
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

First-grader Haley wishes she were back having fun in kindergarten with her old teacher--until she finds out that first grade is special, too. Full color.

 

Since my older son just started his first grade year I thought this book was perfect. Haley and her friend are so excited to start first grade. They think all the kindergarteners are babies and they feel sorry for them. This doesn’t start for long though. Haley starts to realize that she doesn’t get two recesses. She doesn’t get to eat lunch first. She also doesn’t like the way the books end.

She finally gets so mad that she stands up and yells “First Grade Stinks!” in front of the whole class. Her teacher kneels down and calmly explains how things in first grade work. Haley soon learns that first grade is better than she thought.

 

Rating:

 

FIND THE AUTHOR:
Goodreads