The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss

The Boy Who Wouldn't Share by Mike Reiss, illustrated by David Catrow

Rating: 4 stars

Last night my dear Ben lost his bedtime show.  Again.  In our house, if a child gets three strikes during the day, they lose a show.  It happens quite a bit with young Ben, who has a difficult time controlling his eruption-like reaction when something doesn't go his way.  He's working on it, he's working on it... And, in the meantime, we sit and read books while the other kids watch a show.

So, his loss is definitely my gain.  I mean, I should have been cleaning up, but...who is going to pass up a boy in a lap with a big pile of books?  Not me.

We read four books last night together.  The Boy Who Wouldn't Share was one of them.  The rhyme itself is great: "Edward was a frightful boy / who wouldn't share a single toy. / Even with his sister, Claire, / Edward simply would not share."

The illustrations themselves are even better.  The wickedly funny, exaggerated stuff that comes from David Catrow's Crayolas are so great.  (Here are all the books I've reviewed with his illustrations.)  They fit well here; he's given Douglas a permanently sourpuss face with pouty eyes that magically seem to know when Claire is getting close to any of his toys.

But the story itself is really good, too.  Claire tries again and again to borrow something. She wants so desperately to play with her big brother!  Finally she sits on the outskirts looking in at Edward, who has somehow managed to bury himself--happily--with his toys.

Then their mom brings up fudge.  And he can't reach it.  So delighted Claire receives the whole plate.

With the whiff of dessert in the air, Douglas knows he's been "made bad choices."  The deep, crabby scowl lifts off of Douglas's face as he encourages her to take, hold, hug his toys.  He apologizes, sincerely. "And Claire who did not hold a grudge, / helped him out and gave him fudge."

In wonderful child-fashion, she forgives Douglas quickly and completely.  Claire knows she needs to forgive him.  She knows she should share.  She knows he deserves another chance to make better choices.

And so she does.

Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Bully by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Rating: 5 stars

This book hit home for me on the first page.  But I'll get back to that.

This is a simple book with a strong message--one that should be read to preschool and elementary schools a whole heck of a lot.  Three animals innocently ask one young bull, "Wanna play?"

He answers with a mean, "NO!"  So mean that the rabbit hops backwards, the chicken's eyes widen, and the turtle hides.  On each of the next few pages, he insults each of them.  "CHICKEN!" he yells at Chicken.  "SLOW POKE!" he yells at Turtle. "PIG!" he yells at Pig.

In each consecutive picture, Bully gets bigger and bigger and BIGGER.  The other animals get smaller, smaller, and smaller.  Finally, a fearless goat stands up to the enormous bully.  "BUTT OUT!" the goat yells up to him.  "BULLY!"

The words hit him hard, and he is immediately sorry.  He is transformed back into a normal-sized bull, back to where the three animals had asked him to play.  He squeaks out, with more than a bit of humility, "Wanna play?"

As there's not much of a delay with forgiveness in childhood, they say, "Okay!" and walk off together.

It's a good book; I don't need to point out the reason why.

Oh?  The first page?  It shows the root of the problem, where this little bull gets his training:

Parenting.  For better or for worse, it all starts with parenting.  So let us be good to our kids.  Let's set a good example.  We don't need to be perfect; let's let kind words be the majority of what comes out of our mouths.

Dog Loves Counting by Louise Yates

Dog Loves Counting by Louise Yates

Rating: 4 stars

Another review from Washington Family Magazine:

Here is Louise Yates' third book with the sweet character Dog showing us what he loves.  We fell in love with him in Dog Loves Books a short while ago.  Once again in Dog Loves Counting, Dogs problem lies with books: He loves them so much that he cannot stop reading them.  While he should be sleeping, Dog keeps turning pages.  Finally, he puts his last book on the closest stack next to him and tries to fall asleep.  No luck.  "He tried counting sheep, but they weren't helping at all."

So, he reaches for a book.  What else would a book lover do in this or any situation?  In A Big Book of Curious Creatures and Their Habitats, he finds other creatures he can count.

Dog begins, of course, with One.  He first finds an egg that magically and wonderfully begins to hatch. It is a little baby dodo, which looks odd and loveble all at the same time as it looks up to dog as if asking, "What's next?"  Dog carefully takes him by the hand -- or wing -- and together, Number One and Number Two walk into Dog's counting adventure.

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade

The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Rebecca Bond

Rating: 5 stars

Here's what you get when you take me to an adult dinner party: I find a little corner and a fellow bibliophile and discuss children's books for half the night.  Thank you, husband, for putting up with such behavior!  (And, in my defense, it was the parent social for Ben's junior kindergarten class, held right around the time of the annual book fair, and I was talking with the woman who ordered most of the books...)

One of the books the school administer and I talked about was The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade.  I liked the book a lot, but when the kids and I read it we weren't sure if the house of the title was Mount Vernon or the White House.  We visited both this summer, so I was happy they had a frame of reference for each house, but they knew Washington was the only President NOT to live in the White House.  The book kept us guessing--the plans that Washington is looking at in an early illustration resemble the White House more, but on the next page the plot of land he surveys sure looks like the area surrounding Mount Vernon.  Hmm.  But, a few pages later, we knew: the White House.

This is the story of how the White House was built.  We started liking the book a whole lot.

It is two stories in one.  Similar to the G is for Gold Medal alphabet book series, this book has both a cumulative poem and a longer, more informative, nonfiction-y story.  It is, not to point out the obvious, a good spin of The House that Jack Built. A sample of the cumulative rhyme:

This is the brick,
that was baked strong and thick,
that was laid on the foundation,
that was dug for our nation,
that held the design,
that would stand for all time,
that was drawn for the lot,
that great, scenic spot,
for the President's House that George built.

It is fine stuff.  It works really, really well--while the illustrations show the building of a grand house, Suzanne Slade builds her poem.

But the background stuff--the history in the book--makes it even more valuable for teachers and parents alike.  Each page is filled with interesting facts; here are some things I learned from the book:

• The site on which the White House now resides was originally part of Maryland.
• Instead of dragging thousands of bricks to the site, two kilns were built on site and used to bake bricks from the clay and sand on the building site.
• Stone was limited; instead of importing some from England (unthinkable!) he changed the design from three stories to two to keep the stone American-made.
• (In the notes in the back) Obama and his wife planted a vegetable garden with a whole lot of vegetables, but no beets--Obama doesn't like beets.  (What?! Kiefer and I are big fans of them!)

Please feel free to stop here if you're just wondering whether or not you should buy the book (you should!).  I have to add a few more historical notes because I found them way too fascinating to NOT share with those interested, including my pal Paula.

Paula, an irreplaceable force at Ben's school, told me that she heard the book was inaccurate.  She said, clearly, that L'Enfant designed the White House and James Hoban oversaw the building of it.  This was not the story in the book!  Also, most of the interior was done under John Adams--this much in the book is true to Paula's story, as the picture of a much dismayed Abigail as she moves into a shell of a mansion shows.

In the Author's Note, Slade writes that Washington invited French-born architect Pierre-Charles L'Enfant to draw up plans for the presidential palace.  But his design was too elaborate and too expensive, so he opened a design contest to the public.  He received nine entries.  One was from a man with the fake name "AZ."  Over 100 years later, people finally uncovered facts that solved the mystery of AZ's true identity: Thomas Jefferson.  Washington selected the design by James Hoban, an Irish immigrant.  The two men worked together to improve Hoban's original design.

This book inspires me to learn even more about this fantastic, important historic building.  I definitely think we'll have to take the kids down to the White House soon, though I'll have to explain once again why it is that we can't stroll up to the door to meet President Obama.

I Like Old Clothes! by Mary Ann Hoberman

I Like Old Clothes! by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Patrice Barton

Rating: 4 stars

I reviewed this book for Washington Family Magazine earlier this year.  I love the story--these kids find joy in finding clothes that have had a life before them. Here's my review:

Confession: When I met my husband in 2003, I was still sporting items from the “free box” from Peace Corps Thailand, a box that held clothes cast away from volunteers heading back home.  They probably realized that, after hand washing the said item for two years and three months, it was probably better left in a third world country.  Me?  I took them back to the States and continued to wear them.

So this book, I Like Old Clothes, is right up my alley!  

The story has a great rhythm to it, a soft dance of simple words to share a good message:

When somebody grows / And gives me her clothes.I don’t say, “What those?” / And turn up my noseThe way some people do / When their clothes aren’t new.I like old clothes. / I really do.Clothes with a history, / Clothes with a mystery,Sweaters and shirts / That are brother and sisterly

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Rating: 5 stars

This book is getting a whole lotta hype.

And for good reason.  It is super clever, makes you (yes, you--even grown ups) giggle, and has applaud-worthy illustrations.  Seriously, every time I page through it I just want to put the book down and clap. Bravo, Drew Daywalt!  Bravo, Oliver Jeffers!  After Rosie Revere, Engineer, this is my second favorite book of 2013.

Here's the fun story: A boy named Duncan reaches for his dependable box of crayons, but instead of the box he finds a stack of letters.  Each letter is written by a different color.  Each one tells his or her own story, told in that crayon's unique "voice."

"Dear Duncan, Green Crayon here. I like my work..."

Take Gray, for example. He is tired of being used for the BIGGEST animals on the planet, or, in this case, on the paper.  Rhinos, elephants, hippos, humpback whales...they really use him up.  He asks Duncan: Why not color baby penguins or small pebbles?  These would give Gray a break, while still including him in the picture.

Or take Lorelei's favorite color and Duncan's least favorite color, pink.  Pink is tired of being looked over.  She challenges Duncan to use her to color the occasional dinosaur or monster or cowboy PINK.  That would be fun and different!  (She also compliments Duncan's sister on her superb coloring between the lines when Duncan's sister borrowed her to color in an princess.)

"When Duncan shows his teacher his new picture,
he gave him an A for coloring..."

The story is fantastic--creative and cool and fun.  But the illustrations are so spot-on.  Oliver Jeffers manages to create doodles that look sort of kid-drawn but a little too neat and clever to be kid-drawn.  But he uses those crayons in the most inspiring ways--it's hard not to grab a new box of crayons and start scribbling.  (Since reading this, we often grab a crayon and ask it, "What do you want to draw today?" and pretend the crayon itself is drawing the picture.)

The book ends with Duncan incorporating ALL the colors into one fantastic illustration-coloring. All of the colors are included, their requests have been granted, even Black's desire for a black rainbow once in a while.  Wonderfully silly, right?

I've got to say it again: Bravo, Drew Daywalt!  Bravo, Oliver Jeffers!  Wonderful job.

The Ghost's Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy

The Ghost's Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy

Rating: 5 stars

This is my favorite Halloween book.  Hands-down!  Hmm...did I just say that about Room on the Broom?  Feel free to forget about that...

This book is just the right amount of spooky and funny.  The best part is that the ghosts are scared--how fun is that?  Scared ghosts?  See, you're probably cracking up already.  That's the sign of a good book.

Okay, so here's the story: Henry the ghost invites his ghost buddies over for a dinner party.  They start with juices of all different flavors--and colors.  Because they are transparent, they turn the color of the juice they drink.  My trio thought that was pretty funny--even Kiefer was chuckling at the idea of drinking spinach juice and turning green.  Pumpkin soup makes them turn orange, salmon makes them turn pink, cheese makes them turn all swiss cheesy.

"Look at us!  We're so colorful!"

The special dessert makes them disappear, and the clean-up of dinner is a silly montage of dishes seemingly carrying, washing, and drying themselves.  Hot chocolate makes them all reappear again, and they drink another glass of milk to turn a normal white.

Then Henry plays a trick on his guests--he spooks those ghosts by dressing up and shouting, "BOO!"

A perfect ending to a perfectly silly Halloween book.  Better buy this one--or you'll be on the waiting list at your library until mid-November.

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner, illustrated by Meilo So

Rating: 5 stars

This is a great, great, GREAT nonfiction book about Irene Pepperberg, a female scientist who a leading thinker on animal intelligence.  Here's the review I wrote up for Washington Family Magazine:

Without a doubt, this is one of the best nonfiction children's books I've ever read--and, with two big readers and one children's book blog, I read heaps of children's books.  So that's sayin' somethin'.

Let me tell you about the book, and then I'll tell you why you should buy it for your child or classroom, and make it your gift of choice for any 5- or 6-year old's birthday.

Here's the real Alex, working his magic

Stephanie Spinner simply tells the story of the unique friendship of Irene Pepperberg, a graduate student of biology at Purdue University, and Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment), the African grey parrot she purchased and studied.  Their relationship began in 1977 when most people thought animals weren't very smart--especially animals with small brains, like birds.  Irene soon taught Alex the names and shapes and how to count; Alex picked up how to say his favorite words on his own.

Over the years, Irene wrote about Alex and all of the things that he could do, but it wasn't until Alex was on TV that he started to get noticed.  His personality helped--he would bob his head and sway to the music, he would stick his head in a mug and make silly noises and he'd stretch out his neck and say, "You tickle!" when he wanted to be tickled.  "Alex liked being tickled so much that his face would turn pink with pleasure."  (How cute is that?!)

To read the rest of the review, please click here.

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippen by Jen Bryant

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippen by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Rating: 5 stars

This is a really neat nonfiction book about artist Horace Pippen (and illustrated by super talented Caldecott winner Melissa Sweet) that I reviewed a while ago for a local mag, the Washington Family Magazine:

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippen provides just the kind of story I want my children to see, read, and have in their heads and hearts for years.

Here's the story: Horace Pippen was born in West Chester, PA, in 1888.  He grew up in a large family where no one had much and everyone helped out.  From a young age, he loved to draw.  “If he could find a scrap of paper and a piece of charcoal, he drew pictures of what he’d seen that day.”  By looking around to what was available to him, Horace made scenes and people come alive on his paper.

To read the rest, click here.

Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy

Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy

Rating: 4 stars

The other morning at school Ben had an "outdoor day," where his class spent the entire morning outside.  All the things they normally did inside were simply done on the school playground and various other places.  I found out maps were a big part of the morning when he came home and asked me if there was a compass on my smartphone.

The next day I sent in this book with him to class--we had looked at it a few times at home, but I thought his teacher might want it as well.  I try hard not to be annoying and suggestive with books, but I sometimes I can't help myself!

This educational book introduces the importance of maps, the different kinds of maps, and how to draw and read maps to young children.  It does all of this in a storybook format, with a young schoolgirl as a narrator and her Boston Terrier Penny as a cute diversion from the teaching that is going on.

Lisa's class is making maps--which are, her teacher explains, "a picture of something from above.  It's like flying over that spot in an airplane."  The class draws out the school on the blackboard (remember those?), completely with a title, key, symbol, scale, compass, and labels.

Lisa and Penny decide to map out her bedroom, and then map where Penny hides her hidden treasures out in the yard. They map the route to Penny's friend's house, then the local park where Lisa rides her bike and Penny rolls in the grass.

The book ends with a map of the world, where a hopeful dotted line shows a map of where Lisa would like to travel one day.

The book is a great reference for parents and teachers to teach their kids how to draw a map--of their bedrooms or yards or communities.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts

Rating: 5 (maybe 6!) stars

Hands down, this is THE BEST children's book I've read in 2013!

First there was Iggy Peck, Architect, a book that Lorelei discovered from a student whose parents were clearly more concerned about her literary future than Lorelei's parents... While Lorelei brought in a flimsy paperback about sparkly fairies, her classmate brought in these two gems by Andrea Beaty.

Now there is Rosie Revere, Engineer, a book about Iggy Peck's classmate Rosie.  Young Rosie is a shy girl who dreams of becoming a great engineer.  In her spare time, when no one is looking, and after her lights should be out, she happily creates gadgets and gizmos.  She invents contraptions for anyone and everyone, including for her favorite zookeeper-uncle Fred.  For him, she creates a hat made of parts of a fan and cheddar cheese spray to keep snakes off his head.

His reaction?

He laughed till he wheezed and his eyes filled with tears,
all to the horror of Rosie Revere,
who stood there embarrassed, perplexed, and dismayed.
She looked at the cheese hat and then looked away.
"I love it," Fred hooted.  "Oh, truly I do."
But Rosie Revere knew that could not be true.
She stuck the cheese hat on the back of her shelf
and after that day kept her dreams to herself.

Until one day (and thankfully, there is a "one day" for Rosie as I hope there is a "one day" for all of us), her great-great-aunt Rose tells tales of the things she's done in her long, full life.  Aunt Rose has accomplished everything she's ever wanted on her long bucket list.  Except one thing: to fly!  She has not yet had that thrill, and she doubts if she'll get the chance...at her age, it might be just an old lady's dream.

That night, Rosie cannot sleep.  She wants to help.  She knows she can!  The idea of creating a flying machine for her Aunt Rose completely captivates her (as I hope things captivate my kids and yours).  So, the next day, she creates a flying machine.

She hauls it out before Aunt Rose, her confidence shaky.

Strapped into the cockpit, she flipped on the switch.
The heli-o-cheese-copter sputtered and twitched.
It floated a moment and whirled round and round,
then froze for a heartbeat and crashed to the ground.

Her reaction?

Then Rosie heard laughter and turned round to see
the old woman was laughing and slapping her knee.
She laughed till she wheezed and her eyes filled with tears
all to the horror of Rosie Revere.

But before little Rosie gives up her dreams altogether in one horrible moment of failure, her wise old aunt grabs hold of her and gives her a you-did-it speech.  Rosie is confused; did Aunt Rose not see that her invention failed?  Of course she saw it, and of course it failed!  But for one brief moment before it crashed, it flew!

"Your brilliant first flop was a raging success!
Come on, let's get busy and on to the next!"
She handed a notebook to Rosie Revere,
who smiled at her aunt as it all became clear.
Life might have its failures, but this was not it.
The only true failure can come if you quit.

Rosie goes on to invent more things of and on her own, and she also inspires her classmates (including Iggy) to create contraptions both silly and useful--contraptions that my kids thought were a complete hoot.

The three huge things this phenomenal book does are pretty clear but I have to applaud Beaty a thousand times over:

First, it gives the spotlight to a little girl bravely tip-toeing into a field traditionally dominated by men.  There's no mention of it, but that's because in elementary school, girls don't yet realize when they are making moxie-filled decisions.  They're just being true to themselves.

Second, it teaches the importance of failing--the need to fail!--as a part of the learning process.  I read Mindset: the New Psychology of Success over the summer, and scrawled on our kitchen's whiteboard "Mistake = the opportunity to learn and grow," hoping they'd begin to understand. I hope that more kids are more open to making more mistakes and learning from them than perfectionist me ever was.

Third, Beaty provides all of these examples and lessons in a children's book that is fun and interesting and cool!  She accomplishes so much in such a cooly written and awesomely illustrated book. David Roberts' quirky and creative and fun illustrations are a fantastic compliment to her story, for sure.

Oh...and a fourth...! Of course I love the nod to Rosie the Riveter, the original American tough girl.  That is just the icing on an already amazingly wonderful book.

(I think that most 4- or 5-year old girls will be getting this book from us for the next, um, 30 years...!)

P.S.  This book made me want to start a new category--"mighty girls"--on my blog, so I'll be going through all my past entries to tag/label all books that encourage female empowerment. If you've got a girl or you're a teacher, definitely check out A Mighty Girl website.  I can get lost there for days!

Mini Racer by Kristy Dempsey

Mini Racer by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo

Rating: 5 stars

I've got to admit: I barely keep it together most mornings.  I try really hard to wake the kids, get them clothed, fed, brushed, and ready while making their breakfasts and lunches while also caring for our dogs and being tolerable to my husband.  It's as if I'm juggling way too many things while also balancing on a ball, doing my best to breathe deeply in order to maintain a shred of sanity.

More than anyone else, Ben hears, "Not in the morning.  I just can't."  Even as I type it I cringe.  It doesn't sound good to say it, it doesn't sound good to hear it, it doesn't sound good as it clicks through my fingers just now.  But it's really the truth.  Mornings are tough.  Even though most of our mornings are actually pretty good, rarely do I have time to do much beyond the necessary.  No savoring moments or sips or laughs.  Just trying to get everyone's day started on a good, positive, happy note.  Mine, too!

Ready, steady; green light, go!

But then there are some mornings when one of the boys sleeps in and I have time with the other one after Lorelei and my husband leave for the bus.  The other day was one such morning.  Ben was still sleeping, Kiefer had already eaten, and I actually listened to the voice in my head: Slow the heck down.

So I grabbed a book--Mini Racer--and my littlest guy, and we read.

What a cute book this is!  Yes, there are a dozen books for toddlers about cars in a race.  Yes, most of them rhyme.  Yes, many have good illustrations.  But this one seems to work more than most.

Ready, steady; green light, go!
Mini Racer won't go slow.
Out the gate and down the hill,
Jump a bump, show your skill!
Over, under, in and through,
Obstacles are tough to do.

The story is a notch above good, with a catchy rhyme for sure.

Kiefer's favorite page...the giraffe's head sticks out of the jeep,
and therefore he's stuck outside the tunnel.

But the illustrations make it a notch above great.  They are so cute!  A bunch of animals are racing, and each one has a car unique to him or her or them.  The owl family has a tree car, the dog is driving a motorcycle with a box of bones that are constantly falling out, the rabbits have a carrot box-car thingie, the honey has a beehive on the back of its vehicle...  You get the idea.  And each two-page spread has a different racing scene with a bunch of interesting things going on within the illustration alone.

Good story + great illustrations = one fantastic book.  Mini Racer really should be available in a large board book format--it is destined to be a favorite of many car-loving little guys and girls!

All of this makes for a very good read on a surprisingly quiet morning with an always special boy.

Halloween by Gail Gibbons

Halloween by Gail Gibbons

Rating: 4 stars

Question: Do you know where the word jack-o'-lantern comes from?

Answer: An old fable.  Who knew?  Supposedly, when a mean, stingy, old man named Jack died, he wasn't allowed to go to heaven.  There wasn't any place for him to go, so he carved a turnip (!), placed a piece of hot, glowing coal in it, and roamed all night long here on Earth.  People called him Jack of the Lantern.  Or, Jack-o'-lantern.

This is the most interesting factoid in this where-does-the-holiday-come-from book by Gail Gibbons, but the other facts are pretty interesting, too.  She explains how the holiday came about and the traditions around the holiday.

As always, Gail Gibbons produces a nice little book with plenty of fine illustrations and interesting facts.  This one is good for the younger crowd, too (many of her books involve so many facts that kids under 5 tend to lose interest with all the facts).

11 more days until Halloween!

The People in Pineapple Place by Anne Lindbergh

The People in Pineapple Place by Anne Lindbergh, cover illustrated by Marla Frazee

Rating: 3.5 stars

Young August Brown moves to Washington, DC, after his parents divorce.  He is adjusting to a new reality in many ways--his mother is back at work for the first time in his life, he lives in a brand-new city (specifically, a neighborhood in Georgetown), and he has no friends.  Until he meets April and her siblings and friends.  He stumbles upon them one day in an alley around the corner from his house, and is overjoyed that they have taken him in as their new playmate.

The funny thing is, they are not real.  They are invisible to everyone but him.  (Well, even more mysteriously, one of the kids is often seen by an adult or two, causing for massive confusion in both real and imaginary worlds.)  They have some fun adventures in their neighborhood and in Washington, DC, itself, and August begins to feel more at home in his new home and also within himself.  Amazing what friends can do, huh?

This book is not the best read aloud chapter book for younger (5-8) kids.  It is not the best book for a 6 year old to read on her own.  But it is the book that our local library selected as the book to be discussed at this afternoon's Kids Book Club.  Lorelei saw the sign and said, "I would love to do that!"  So...I read the book myself, decided it was fine for her to read, and then met with her to have our first Mother-Daughter Book Club.

My goal was two-fold: First, to spend time with our oldest, whose good behavior often means that she gets the least attention.  Mix that with the longest school day of all three children, and you get a mom who misses her daughter when the school year starts. We are both pretty crazy about books; why not share that passion with someone I'm crazy about?  Second, I wanted to give her an example of what a book club was about.  Sure, plenty of them are more social than literary, but I needed to gauge her interest and ability to talk about a book in a focused way.

Well, she did great!  And we had a great time.

Lorelei and her chosen treat: a cake pop

I couldn't find any study questions on The People in Pineapple Place so I got into Kate-the-teacher mode and made up my own.  Along with a fancy-ish invitation to join me for tea, I gave Lorelei a list of these questions about a week before we met so she could think about the answers, reread the book if she wanted (she did), and know what sort of thing we'd be discussing.

1. Pretend I've not read the book. What is the book about?
2. Which character do you like the best?  Why?
3. Why is August mad at the beginning of the story?
4. Do you think August is telling the truth--can he really see the kids?
5. What would be fun about being 10 years old for a long, long time?  What would NOT be fun?
6. What places have you been to that August has also visited?
7. Why can August's mom only see one child?
8. What was your favorite part of the story?

The book was fine, the afternoon with Lorelei was priceless.  We sat outside Starbucks--well, I sat and she twirled and flitted around the seating area while answering all these questions and more.  We laughed about the silly parts of the books, especially about the games the invisible kids could play and get away with, such as roller skating in the National Museum of Art.  A conversation with any child is a bit like sitting in the passenger seat and letting them drive a little--you've got to just follow their lead, take advantage of the focused moments and chuckle at the very random tangents that inevitably occur.

I'm really looking forward to next month's Mother Daughter Book Club!  I think Lorelei is, too, though she might be looking forward to the cake pop at Starbucks more than time with her mom.  That's ok, those things do look tasty.

Baseball Tips by Dean Hughes and Tom Hughes

Baseball Tips: A Simple, Surefire System to Make You the Best Player You Can Be by Dean Hughes and Tom Hughes, illustrated by Dennis Lyall

Rating: 5 stars

About a month ago, Ben shyly asked our friend and librarian Miss Sharon where the baseball section was located.  When looking for a book on dinosaurs, we realized that there were plenty of children's books tucked within the nonfiction sections of the library.  He wondered if there were any good baseball books out beyond the well-known children's section.  So he asked.  And there are!

This is one of his best finds yet.  It turned out to be the first chapter book he and I read together.  It isn't exactly a classic chapter book but it is a) a book, b) has chapters, and c) about something he is very, very interested in.

Baseball Tips is chock full of great facts and lessons that you cross-your-fingers-hope your child's little league coach will teach them.  And you cross-your-fingers-hope that your son or daughter will listen to him or her and really, really allow the wisdom of his words to sink in.  The language is simple and straightforward, as if a grandfatherly coach was talking to a few boys who had taken a knee to pay closer attention.

The book simply introduces the game of baseball to young kids.  There are four parts: Up to Bat, In the Field, Positions, and Attitude.  Within each there are a few chapters.  For example, in the Positions part, there are chapters on Pitching, Catching, First Base, Infield, Outfield.

Within each chapter, Dean Hughes writes the "Big Three" rules for that topic.  (He gently mocks himself a bit about the fact that there are big three's for everything he writes.  It is part of his casual, approachable style.)  Here are the Big Three of Base Running:

The Big Three of Base Running:
1.  Round the bases.
2.  Always run hard.
3.  Be alert.

And then he talks about each one, describes it in easy terms.  Words mainly describe the ideas, but also plenty of diagrams and illustrations to show what he's talking about, too.  He points out the obvious in the best ways... He makes sure that kids know that the obvious facts (such as "always run hard") is actually what they think of the least, but it is focusing on these details that turn a decent player into a great one.  And I had to bite my tongue to keep from explaining to Ben that the lessons Hughes was writing apply to lots of other sports and also life itself.

The section entitled "Always Run Hard:"

This might sound too silly to talk about.  But it's not.  Every team would score more runs if all the players ran hard all the time.

You hit a ground ball right to the shortstop.  You figure it's an easy out.  But it's easy to miss a grounder.  And that shortstop has a long throw to make.  So run hard and force the shortstop to hurry a little.

I loved reading this with Ben.  While I love to run and Crossfit and try out new sports, I'm not much of a sports-watcher.  And the highlight of my one season of softball as a kid was catching a fly ball with my forehead (I only joined the team because my best friend Stacey was on it, and I was moving soon so I wanted to hang out with her).  It was fun learning the details of the game with Ben in the comfort of his room, a safe spot where he could ask questions.  He often said, "I know everything about baseball!" or that sort of thing, and I gently reminded him that the very best players always believe that they always have something to learn, something on which they could improve, something yet to truly master.  "Stay open to it all," I said, "by realizing you have more to learn."

This book should NOT be out of print.  Get it from your library, eBay, or through a used book seller.  It should be given to all little kids as they start the sporty side of their lives.  It is full of lots of information that kids need to take the time to learn while NOT on the field, but also full of lessons in life that you can learn from baseball.  And isn't that what sports is all about?

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom by John Rocco

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom by John Rocco

Rating: 4 stars

There are tons of books available to kids that have solid messages, important tales, and illuminating lessons.  I think we should find these books and read them with our kids so they learn and grow while sitting in the safest and most comfortable spot of all time: our laps.

And yet!

We've got to make sure there's plenty of laughter in our lives.  That might be more important for us too-serious muggles who have forgotten the delight that comes with blowing bubbles of milk with our straws, spinning around and around until we're dizzy, and eating with our fingers instead of forks.

Luckily, there are books like Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom to keep us chuckling!

The super talented John Rocco creates truly incredible illustrations of a young boy, Rocco, with a fantastic ball of hair atop his little kid head.  Rocco and his pals believe they are super heroes--and that their super powers stem from their long, cool, unruly hair.  The pack of them--and their unique cool, unruly hair--is pretty funny.  The longer their hair, they think, the more powerful they are.

I was captured...and dragged away to the villain's lair.

Then one day, Rocco was captured and taken to the barber. (Dum, dum, DUUUUMMMM!)

He returns to his hideout with --gasp!-- short hair.

His super friends, coincidentally, all got hair cuts on the same day, and they are all dismayed to have lost their super power.  Now, sniff, they are just...normal.  They sit around in dejected stances wondering how to frame their play until a little girl screams.  Her stuffed bunny is hanging by a leg fro the monkey bar!

The super friends jump into action, rescue the bunny, and realize that they are still powerful with neat and tidy hair.  Whew!

One cute and funny book, served up so very, very well by one John Rocco.  Loved it!

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly & James Dean

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly & James Dean, illustrated by James Dean

Rating: 4 stars

He's ba-ack! And in a very good way...

Pete the Cat finds himself in a situation for which he's not totally prepared: he's grumpy.  "Pete had the blue cat blues."  His trademark cool black ears aren't sticking up--they are flopped down sadly, and Pete's trademark cool eyes are looking rather glum.

But that's okay, because his pal Grumpy Toad, who is actually less grumpy than Pete, rolls up on his motorcycle and gives Pete some cool blue magic sunglasses that will help him see everything in a whole new way.  And it works!  Turn the page, and all the blue has turned to sunlight bright yellow!

"Right on!" declares Pete, suddenly cool and happy again.

Pete the Cat had the blue cat blues.

Pete wears the sunglasses and skateboards along his day, bumping into animal friends that are grumpy. He shares his cool blue magic sunglasses with them and they, too, begin to see the world in a lighter, brighter way.  Once they don the classy shades, they each chant:

The birds are singing!
The sky is bright!
The sun is shining!
I'm feeling all right!

At the end of the book, Pete falls off his skateboard and breaks the sunglasses.  Oops!  He realizes that the magic sunglasses really just have a placebo effect (my word, not Dean's...no, you won't have to explain to your child what a placebo effect is), and he can still change the color of his world, the tone of his day, the mood within himself by simply choosing happiness.  There's not really any magic in them.

The sunglasses are cool, but they're not a necessary accessory for a good attitude.

The chant isn't quite so catchy as his first two books, but James and Kimberly Dean definitely did a lot of things right in this book.  I really like that cool Pete is in a bad mood--shows that we all have emotions and grumpy days are part of life.  I like that he shares his sunglasses and good mood with others--I always tell the kids that the most important thing they need for school is a smile, meaning a good, open attitude.  Cheesy, but they've got to know it.

Awesome!

Oh, and here's another fun thing: In the back of the book, there's a pair of cool blue magic sunglasses that you can rip out, put together, and wear.  Kiefer was dismayed to learn that we actually needed to BUY the book in order to WEAR the sunglasses.  And Lorelei and Ben wondered why, when you put on the blue sunglasses, did your blues go away and everything turns bright yellow...but they didn't stick around for my lecture on suspending your disbelief while reading fiction...

But that leads me to wonder: When the library gets copies of this book, do the librarians rip out the sunglasses and wear them around before we all get there, gettin' their Pete the Cat groove on before story time?  I sure hope so!

The Roller Coaster Kid by Mary Ann Rodman

The Roller Coaster Kid by Mary Ann Rodman, illustrated by Roger Roth

Rating: 4.5 stars

Confession: I checked out this book from the library for the sole purpose of reviewing it here and attaching a video from Ben's first roller coaster ride from this past summer.  Sometimes a book leads to a story in our house; every so often a story leads to a book.  I think that's normal, right?

My plan went awry when I actually read the book for the first time--out loud, to all three kids, and barely made it through without sobbing.

Okay, let me back up.

This past summer I took my trio to Erie, Pennsylvania, where both my parents were born and raised.  We had a family-filled few days that were also sprinkled with a surprising amount of fun, including a trip to Waldameer.  I had once heard that if you want roller coaster riders as middle grade and older kids, you've got to start them young.  So, building upon the pint-sized success of a rinky-dink county fair roller coaster, they were willing to try a small roller coaster--small, but the real deal.

Brave Lorelei sat in the front seat, alone!  (I had told her this was the best, the most thrilling seat, so she wanted no other seat.  Atta girl!)  Ben and I sat behind her.  Like a normal 21st century mother, I whipped out my smartphone and took a video of his face for the first of two short laps around the track.  You can see his on-the-fence-ness, his uncertainty, his fear, and then...finally...his delight!  It's really cute.

So, to show off this video, I got this book from the library, The Roller Coaster Kid.

The book starts off innocently: Zach's grandfather earned the moniker "The Roller Coaster Kid" when he was a boy by riding the Whipper 100 times in a row.  Zach is impressed but afraid to ride it.  Every summer when he visits his grandparents in Oceanside, they do lots of fun things, including going to the park where the Whipper is still up and running.  Every summer Zach thinks he's brave enough, but as soon as he sees it, he decides next year, and he and Grandma go ride the Ferris Wheel.

"When the time is right, you'll face your fear," Grandma says.

She tells him the same thing I told Ben: "When the time is right, you'll face your fear."

Turn the page, read these words:

"Next summer comes, but everything's different.  Grandma's gone.  Forever."

I just about choked on whatever random lunch I was eating with the kids.  What?!  I hadn't expected this!  Tears immediately came to my eyes, and I tried to choke them back, barely successful.  Lorelei asked if I was okay, and I had to lie.  I'm usually pretty honest with them, but I couldn't this time.  If I had said, "I'm brought-to-my-knees saddened by the very thought of losing my mother--your one and only Grammy."

Grammy is, blessedly, healthy and strong, fit and capable--more than most 60-something year olds.  My kids think everyone dies when they're about 100, so they don't think about and don't need to think about their beloved Grammy dying sooner!  My tears were irrational, but real.  She is just such a big part of my life that very thought of losing her makes me incredibly sad.

I really need to read books first before I read them out loud.  Haven't I learned this by now?!

Counseled by his parents, Zach doesn't bring up his own sadness. He chokes it back instead.  He tries to cheer up his clearly sad Grandpa, and he finally decides that a ride on the Whipper will do the trick.  So he does it.  With Grandpa beside him.  He has fun, but when they step off, Grandpa is still his new blue self.

Until Zach blurts out loud, "I miss Grandma.  She'd have said I was brave.  For riding the Whipper.  For facing my fears."

Those are the words that get to his grandfather, the one that helps snap him back to reality a little bit.

I love that the courage Zach shows in showing his emotions, and telling Grandpa his honest feelings is bigger than the courage he shows in riding that roller coaster.  We so often applaud one sort of bravery but not the other, especially in boys.

And I will go back to appreciating my mom, my kids' Grammy, even more; my trio and I will do the Lucky Me dance because we don't have to miss her.

The Vanishing Pumpkin by Tony Johnston

The Vanishing Pumpkin by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Tomie DePaola

Rating: 4 stars

With wonderful, just-spooky-enough illustrations by the one and only Tomie DePaola, Johnston's silly, just-spooky-enough story unravels:  A (to say it nicely) elderly couple--a 700-year-old woman and 800-year-old man--simply wants to bake a nice pumpkin pie when they realize their pumpkin has vanished.  They go to find it, accusing everyone in their path of swiping it.  The pattern--first with a ghoul, then a rapscallion, followed by a varmint, then finally a wizard, is the same:

When told that he is guilty of stealing a giant pumpkin the creature looks around himself in a silly, kid-giggle-inducing fashion but cannot find it.  The annoyed-for-no-reason Old Man does a trick on the creature in order to prove that it is hiding the pumpkin somewhere.  The ghoul is turned invisible, the rapscallion is turned upside down in the air, the varmint is turned into a flea-filled cat, and the wizard...  oh wait, you can't trick a wizard or he'll trick you right back.  Each trick is applauded by the Old Man and the Old Woman and even the trickee himself.

It turns out that the wizard hasn't snitched the pumpkin--he's borrowed it so he could make a smiley jack-o-lantern.  And he's baked the pumpkin pie (which he's forgotten is under his hat) to share.

Johnston adds in some quirky quips that kept me chuckling: "Lucky lizards!" and "Snitched!" and "Don't be fresh with an 800-year-old man!" and "Great grizzlies!"

This is a very cute, slightly older Halloween book (1983!) that most kids probably haven't seen before...a great one to read at a Halloween party near you!

Which Witch is Which? by Pat Hutchins

Which Witch is Which? by Pat Hutchins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Every now and then Lorelei gets all I'm-over-that with me and the boys.  For me, it's a sad moment when a little independence replaces the reliance on me, a little sass replaces the sweet.  Happily, it's rare, and almost always, it's fake.  She'll pretend to be beyond something (such as dancing like a fool in the kitchen, lip synching with any object that might happen to work as a microphone) but after watching the boys and I do it, she realizes she just can't miss out on the fun and usually joins in.

That's how it is with picture books.  Every so often, Lorelei decides she doesn't want to read a book Ben chooses at bedtime; she'd rather go read chapter books by herself.  I try and find the balance of letting her do her own thing (I really do get her need for a break from her brothers) and strongly encouraging her to come join us (ending the day together, along with a few good books is a habit I don't want to break for a long, long time).

Picture books like this--with simple illustrations of preschoolers on the front--can easily get Lorelei to walk away.  But when I started to read it aloud in the library (don't worry, I used my quiet library voice), she was instantly drawn in, as was Ben.

Ella and Emily looked the same and were often called by each other's name.
Ella likes pink, Emily blue.
Which witch is which?
They played tug of war, three on each side, and Mouse's mother had to decide
if Ella or Emily's team had won.
Which witch is which?

It's a little mystery involving clever word play and identical witch twins!  Cute and fun and thought-provoking in just the right way.  Just tricky enough that Lorelei and Ben asked me to read it again, more slowly this time, so they could figure out which witch was Ella, and which witch was Emily from the start.

This is a good little Halloween book that plays with language in just the right way--for preschoolers and their older counterparts.