Dear Zoo: A great book unless you're really trying to avoid a pet

Title: Dear Zoo
Author: Rod Campbell
Illustrator: Rod Campbell
Age Range: 1-3
Genre: lift the flap, picture book

This is a very cute book about a boy who has written to the zoo to ask for a pet, and repeatedly the zoo sends him things that are a bit inappropriate as pets, such as a Lion, an Elephant, and a Monkey.  The flaps allow the kids to see a peek of the animal and then they can reveal the flaps to see what is underneath.  It is a very fun book that all three of my kids have enjoyed.  They like the illustrations as they are nice and clean, but more importantly they love the Ta-DA reveal of the animals which usually sends them into peals of laughter.

It's a great book for 1 year olds as they really do enjoy the whole lift the flap thing (Think peek-a-boo) and they will get into it.  Sometimes they get into it a BIT too much and flaps get ripped but it's nothing that a bit of scotch tape can't handle.  It's a great book to give as a gift for a 1 year old birthday!

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: A book I missed in my childhood

Title: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Author: E.L. Konigsburg
Age range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction

I thought I'd review this book even though it is an older classic, simply because I didn't read it as a child.  Somehow with all the extensive reading, reading under the covers with a flashlight, reading on the sofa for hours, I missed this book as a child.  It surprises me even now that somehow I didn't read this book.  I remember seeing it, and being a bit scared of it for some reason, not for any good reason, but just because I was a chicken.   I missed out.

It wasn't until about 3 years ago that one of my students wanted to read it, so I had to read it with her.  I finished the book really quickly, as it wasn't a hard read for me, but I remember being completely excited and drawn into the book, even as an adult.  In the book, a young girl, Claudia Kincaid, decides that living at home is too much of a cross to bear and decides to run away.  The only problem is that she has spent too much of her allowance and doesn't have enough of her own so she is forced to take along with her, someone who does have some disposable income, her younger brother Jamie.

She carefully plans their runaway, down to where they will run away to...the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They live there, hide there, sleep in there and roam the museum after it has closed.  While in the museum the fall upon a mystery, trying to figure out if a statue is actually real or a hoax.  In the investigation of this mystery they learn about themselves and meet some key people along the way.

The only minor parent warning that I have is that the Claudia runs away without even looking back.  She doesn't consider her parents' feelings and just leaves without worrying about what they will do.  It's a rather selfish gesture and one that shows that she isn't very considerate.  Some parents may find this a bit hard to swallow, but it's rather a minor detail in the book. More of the book is surrounding all the amazing things they see and learn about while at the museum.  They do take a bath in one of the museum fountains, so you may have to teach your child not to do THAT after they've read the book.

Pigs Make Me Sneeze: Can you say Achoo!

Title: Pigs Make Me Sneeze
Author: Mo Willems
Illustrator: Mo Willems
Age Range: 4-8
Genre: Emerging readers

This book cracks me up.  The first time I read it I was laughing so hard I couldn't even read the words to my children.  It doesn't even have that many words.  It's much more about the expressions that Mo Willems paints on the Piggie and Elephant's faces that are so priceless.

If you're not familiar with the Mo Willems' series Elephant and Piggie, you should be.  They are funny, well-illustrated and loads of fun for emerging readers to read.  The humor is great even for adults, as it is slightly melodramatic and even slightly cynical, but altogether a great package.  There are 12 or so books in the series and each one is funny and delightful in its own way.

This book is about the fact that Gerald. the elephant, begins sneezing.  He immediately jumps to the conclusion that it is his best friend Piggie that is causing these outrageous crazy sneezes.  Piggie isn't sure but Elephant goes on the idea that the two can no longer be friends as Piggie makes him sneeze.  It turns out that Elephant has a cold which he has also managed to give to Piggie, as he was sneezing all over him in the beginning of the book.

All three of my kids (ages 2-6) love this book and think it hysterical.  I of course, exaggerate the sneezing sounds and make funny voices for both Gerald and Piggie.  They love it and ask me to read this one over and over again.  My daughter who is 4 will read this book over and over to herself as she just laughs and giggles as she reads it.  It's STILL funny after the 20th read by the way.  I know.  Because I still laugh.  (It's just not AS funny as the first time.)

Rooster Can't Cockle-doodle-do: Animal sounds make my kids laugh

Title: Rooster Can't Cock-a-Doodle-Doo
Author: Karen Rostker-Gruber
Illustrator: Paul Ratz de Tagyos
Age Range: 2-5

This book completely cracked me up.  As I was reading it to my 4 year old daughter, my 2 year old son heard the funny animal sounds I was making and crawled into my lap and wiggled his butt until he was comfortable.  He was pointing at all the animals and laughing as I read the story with the different animal sounds.  It is udder-ly charming and pretty funny to boot.

In the story, Rooster wakes up with a sore throat and is unable to perform his duties to wake up the entire farm.  Realizing that he HAS to do something to help get the farm up, he goes from animal group to animal group, waking them up with a cough and whispering for some help.  Each animal group then sympathizes with Rooster, but also realize that if he can't do his job the farm is in trouble.  Consequently they all begin walking through the farm waking up hens, cows, sheep and pigs all in order to keep the farm going. The final person they have to wake up is Farmer Ted and their approach is funny.

I really liked the underlying message of the book.  Everyone has a responsibility and if someone doesn't fulfill it, the rest of the people relying on that person can't do their jobs either.  It was refreshing to read that when so many kids (including mine) say, "It's not my fault and I don't care."  Rooster is concerned about not being able to fulfill his duties and the rest of the animals support him and try and help him find a way to do his job.   The end has a funny twist where the animals are concerned about the Farmer being able to do his job so they all chip in to help.

My Side of the Mountain: A book from my childhood

Title: My Side of the Mountain
Author: Jean Craighead George
Age Range: 9-12
Genre:  Fiction, Adventure

I read this book when I was a child.  Actually, I read it because my younger brother was reading it, and I figured since he said it was good, I should read it as well.  And I loved it.  I still re-read it when I'm at my parents' house as the story is one that is full of interesting ideas as well as a great story.  It is the story of a young boy named Sam, who is tired of his urban life, so decides to go and live in the Catskills Mountains, using his wits, his knowledge, and his guts to survive.  He lives in this fabulous tree and creates a life for himself in the woods.  It is fun and exciting to see what he can do with the resources he has.

It is a great book for boys and girls alike, but it is a book that is unlike modern young adult literature, in that it is not filled with a lot of dialogue, a lot of action, or a lot of drama.  It is really the thoughts and the plans of a young man who decides to live in a tree. I read it as a young person and just imagined what it would be like to live somewhere without parents and on my own, and it quickly made me think that I'd rather be at home with my family. It is slower paced compared to many of the books that I find kids reading now, but I think it is a wonderful book that should be read, even if the child may think it is boring. 

The only possible "worry" spot in this book is the idea of just leaving home and going out on your own.  Sam does it with his parents' blessing and his father even visits him at one point.  I'm pretty sure that most kids wouldn't read that and immediately think about how to do it and execute on that, but perhaps it would allow them to stretch their imagination and think of a life without the modern conveniences to which they have grown so accustomed.

There is a trilogy, but I've not read the other two yet.



Second in the series


Final, told from the perspective of a bird

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Green: The cute alligator couple that makes for great laughs

Title:  Meet Mr. and Mrs. Green
Author:  Keith Baker
Illustrator: Keith Baker
Age Range: 4-8
Genre: Beginning Chapter Books

You never met a cuter couple of alligators than Mr. and Mrs. Green.  They do many interesting things together and all the while have fun.  The stories are wonderfully heartwarming, thoughtful and have a great message.  I love the books because while they challenge the reader, they are so entertaining that my girls want to keep reading.  The book is divided into three chapters: Camping, 100 Pancakes, and County Fair.  Each chapter has a problem and resolves itself with some sort of wonderful or unexpected solution.  I love the drawings and the pictures are wonderful as each chapter is filled with many beautiful pictures.

Both my 4 year old and 5 year old daughter enjoy reading these and enjoy having them read to them.  In fact, my 4 year old loves it so much, she has begged to get the entire series of books, of which there are four.  As an adult, you won't regret reading about them as they are entertaining enough for you too.

This is a lesser known series (you can tell on Amazon by the scant number of reviews) but is a series that will be loved by both boys and girls.




The other books in the series - in order.
Second Book


Third Book


Fourth Book

Brand New Readers: Great book packs for emerging readers

Title:  Brand New Readers (a variety of boxed sets)
Author:  Various
Illustrator: Various
Age Range: 2-5
Genre: Emerging readers

I happened to stumble upon these book sets when I was trying to get my older daughter reading.  She had done all the necessary phonics and could sound out words, but needed practice with interesting books.  These series of books have great word repetition, engaging pictures, and an interesting enough storyline that the kids are entertained by them.

My older daughter started looking at them around 3 years of age.  I would read them to her. After about a year was able to actually read them.  My younger daughter loved the pictures and had me read them to her all the time.  In fact, over the weekend we went to a friend's house who had a couple sets of these books, and my younger daughter sat down on the grass and silently read every single one of the books available.  (thanks YK.)  This is not a set of books that many people have, as I've given them as gifts multiple times, and every single time the gift recipient has never seen them before.

You can get these as single readers, but the boxed set is a better deal.  There are 5 different boxed sets available, all with a different collection of books. The books within are varied, illustrations varied, and story lines varied.  Your child feels as if he or she is reading different books and not the same book with the same characters over and over.

The 5 different boxed sets available...