Book Reviews: Children's fiction

Good Reads For Your Adventure Travels

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CHILDREN'S DVD and BOOKS

Please Note: The books and Audios reviewed here are my honest opinions. I received these unsolicited and free for promotional purposes, but I simply do not review the ones I do not believe to be review worthy.

My Purple Toes by Blair Hahn, illustrated by Tate Nation is a cute little board book for young kids to stimulate imaginative fun, but it also has a nobler purpose. Most of the proceeds go to benefit www.Soles4Souls.com, the shoe charity which gives away gently worn shoes to children around the world who have never owned a pair of shoes. The simple story is that the daddy in the family goes for a pedicure with his daughter, just for fun, and then sports purple toenails all week, to everyone's amazement and horror!

The Secrets of the Magical Medallions by Sean McCartney is the first in the series fo the Treasure Hunters Club and will be sure to be a hit among young readers. This is a terrific mystery that will captivate early teen boys' imaginations and draw them all the way through to the happy conclusion. It is well-written with well developed characters and dialogue and a good story line. This will get your boys reading, and there are more in the series to come soon. Highly Recommended!

Children's DVD's from The Cookie Jar: These are EXCELLENT DVD's for various ages of kids, from pre-school to pre-teen: Terrific for your home collection. Lots of fun and good lessons while entertaining.

Mona the Vampire Show Us Your Fangs Whimsical dramas of saving her world are delightful to watch as 10 year old Mona the Vampire saves the people in her terrific imaginary world with the aid of her cat Fang. The adventures are fun and will appeal to parents and kids who have great imaginations and imaginary friends. This is a fun DVD to create lots of smiles.

Busytown Mysteries with Richard Scarry characters Your favorite characters from Richard Scarry's incredible books come to life in front of your child's eyes. Always teaching a bit about the world of everyday life, the little characters are adored by children everywhere who don't even realize they are learning as they watch. A must for your pre-schoolers.

World of quest: The Quest Begins This DVD has 10 exciting adventures of Prince Nestor who tries to save his parents with the help of Quest, who would really prefer to just be left alone instead of being coerced to use his special powers to help the prince. The adventures are fun for elementary kids, especially boys.

The Busy World of Richard Scarry: It's a Busy, Busy Day Your young child's favorite author & artist has his characters come to life and the actions of the familiar stories delight as the characters move through a world similar to your child's. A very good DVD to have at home.

Wimzie's House: A World of Enchantment Fun adventures with lessons for young children with the adorable fuzzy monsters in Wimzie's pre-school day-care world. The games and stories, songs and activities will be fun for your child to follow along with these lovable monsters who are teaching as they create fun.

Horseland: The Greatest Stable Ever Ten different episodes for about age 8 - 13 are good stories about real situations friends with horses might encounter. Each teaches a vital lesson of understanding others, helping the environment, listening, being a good friend, and other valuable lessons each teen would be happier practicing. This is a VERY good DVD to have in your home

The New Adventures of Nanoboy, the world's smallest superhero With simple art and animation this little DVD will entertain your kids for a long time. The thing I like is that the story also captures the adult's attention and does not have the annoying voices some children's entertainment has. The crises in the film are child-sized and not too scary. Good for about ages 5 - 8.

Dead Fred Flying Lunchboxes Good Luck Circle by Frank McKinney is the fanciful novel for pre-teens about a girl who has to move to a new location and is lonely. She makes friends with an odd assortment and together they discover a Good Luck Circle by the scary draw bridge keeper's post. A nearly dead fish befriends the heroine with magical powers and together she and her friends (human and sea creatures) are able to save the ocean from the terrible monster that threatens to harm all the creatures that naturally inhabit the area. The fanciful tale grew out of the imagination of the author as he walked each day to and from school with his daughter. He is well known for adult books and this first for kids is destined to be a huge success. He encourages every parent to spend more quality time with his or her children, enjoying long walks with them away from the disturbances of media today. His website shows his dedication to the making of better parents and happier kids.

Jake's Closet DVD by Barbara Gruen, Ben Bode, Sean Bridgers, and Brooke Bloom

is a MUST SEE for parents contemplating divorce. The independent film is the story of a yound child whose parents are going through a divorce. The movie depicts in a moving way how young Jake copes with the terrifying situation. Although his parents try to make him understand and make the transition smooth for him, he is overwhelmed with his imagination of monsters he believes to be in his closet. The storyline of the DVD is well written and the actors do an excellent job. The film is captivating as well as enlightening. The extras on the DVD include excellent resources for families in this struggle, including phoneline help and counseling on screen, and private counsellors to contact. Because the tragedy of divorce affects each family member for the rest of their lives, devastates innocent children, and creates a lot of the poverty in the Western World, this film fills a great need in our world. By all means, if your marriage is in trouble, get this DVD. It could save your home and your children. A MUST!!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is an utterly delightful read for children and adults will enjoy it as much as the kids do. Since the graphic novel MAUS was awarded the most prestigious award several years ago, graphic novels have been much acclaimed by critics and bibliophiles as authentic literaturee, and now the excellent art of Selznick brings it into the realm of outstanding children's literature. With a captivating and mysterious story of a young orphaned boy who lives in the walls of a train station in Paris, France, you will find this a page turner. But you will stop many times to pour over the excellent full page drawings of this work of art. Brian has built this fanciful story based on a real person who created some of the world's early films, Geroges Melies, and a few of Melies own drawings appear in the book also, as well as some historic art, reprinted with permission. The early days of film making play a central part as the mystery unfolds, and of course, everyone lives happily ever after. This is a treasure of a book for the family! And you'll want to order more by Brian Selznick who has many to his credit.

Thesaurus Rex by Laya Steinberg, Illustrated by Debbie Harter is a delightful picture book for the early years of speaking. With adorable illustrations in bright, eye catching colors, the book teaches action synonyms. The young child will delight in repeated readings and will quickly recite the simple text along with you, learning many new words that have similar meanings as he enjoys the book. The little dinosaur in all the pictures is one you and your child will enjoy following through the pages of fun and happy sounds.

The Barefoot Book of Fairy Tales Retold by Malachy Doyle, Illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli This new collection of fairy tales has twelve of the world's favorites, each brightly illustrated with modern artistic style. You'll find some of your childhood favorites as well as some new ones because the book contains tales from around the world. The endnotes tell where each story originated and a little about the country. This is an educational slant to the telling of tales, many of which teach a moral lesson. You'll enjoy reading this with your children.

Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera Retold By Shahrukh Husain, Illustrated by James Mayhew is just the book for parents and kids alike, as you will learn the stories of seven of the world's favorite operas. Because operas are usually sung in foreign languages many people don't feel they are sophistocated enough to understand and so deprive themselves of this beautiful music genre. How wonderful if we had each learned to appreciate opera as children. This is the book to do it. Included are two CD's in which the stories in the book are read, so children can listen without adult participation. However, I felt this is the only thing lacking in the collection: I would have preferred to have the CD play the opera music while the child or adult reads the book. Of course, the opera music and videos are available in most libraries. The end notes of the book tell about famous opera houses of the world and about each of the composers of the seven operas in the book. This is a valuable book for any age.

Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator and Alison Jay is a beautifully illustrated book that teaches the child to listen to the sounds of the world around him. The scenes depict each season and the sounds that change with the shifting of the winds and the falling of leaves or awakening in spring. The repeating words on each page are delightfully sound oriented for the young child to repeat and emphasize with delight, making sounds of his own to go with the simple story. It is a lovely book which will be a favorite for all young children and you.

Baby's First Book by Clare Beaton is beautifully illustrated with Clare Beaton's well adored stitchery. She chooses perfect fabrics and bric a brac and felt to embroider together an applique scene for each page. The objects are familiar household items which baby will love to look at, recognize and name with you. This is a dear book you'll pour over with your little ones again and again. Perfect gift for any baby.

Hidden Hippo by Joan Gannij & Clare Beaton This adorable book will be a favorite from early toddler through pre school years. It is a simple story in rhyming verse with jungle animals on each page. The illustrations are wonderfully stitched by Clare Beaton with her felt and embroidery, bric a brac and fabulously appropriate fabrics, which create all the colorful jungle scenes. And to your child's delight there is a hippo hiding on each page. The kids will adore pointing out each one they find. A perfect gift for any pre schooler. The end matter has facts about each of the animals depicted and great information to share with your child about protecting endangered species of the world, especially some hippos.

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass and Debbie Harter A perfect book for any youngster and one of the scarce delightful resources for vegetarian families to enjoy reading to their children. The story is the carnivorous dragons are a menace to a town where the people fear the dragons will get their princess. The lonely and friendly vegetarian dragon, Herb, saves the day by convincing the meat eaters not to raid the town anymore menacing the people but to plant a garden instead. The illustrations are adorable. You'll enjoy this one with its far reaching implications for the future of our planet earth.

I Took the Moon For a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay This hard cover book is sure to be a pre school favorite because of the imaginative tale of the boy who dreams of taking the moon like a kite for a walk. Illustrations exaggerate the moon while showing the nocturnal activities of town and country, with nighttime animals watching the happy boy and the moon lighting their way. The parent section at the end of the book provides excellent food for thought with its discussion of the phases of the moon and how the moon is used as a resource in various cultures. Nocturnal animals are also mentioned with their specific night enabling features. This is a wonderful gift book for your favorite little ones.

The Barefoot Book of Princesses retold by Richard Walker, Illustrated by Olwyn Whelan

This lovely quality paperback book in large format comes with a delightful story CD with world music. The selections of traditional favorite fairy tales includes one from many countries, and the end blurbs tell a little about each tale's origin. The Princess and the Pea, a world favorite, is presented as a Danish tale; The Mountain Princess is from Persia; The princess who Lost her Hair is from Akamba; The Birdcage Husband is a Kalmuck tale; The Beggar princess is Chinese; The Horned Snake's Wife is Iroquois; and The Sleeping Beauty is German. The illustrations, by the well known Scottish illustrator, are delightfully bright spirited, modern, and whimsical.

Whole World By Christopher Corr & Fred Penner This little book has more than meets the eye. Using the familiar song by the same name along with a sing along CD, the book's pictures and words introduce the young child to the concept of the whole earth and different places and peoples and how we should lovingly appreciate and take care of it. At the end of the book is an excellent section for talking with the young child about each idea in the book: We do have the whole world in our hands as our responsibility to care for it. Various parts and places of the earth like mountains and valleys are explained. This is a wonderful book for beginning the concepts of ecology and peace.

Alligator Alphabet by Stella Blackstone and Stephanie Bauer This adorable board book is perfect for any toddler. With whimsical childlike illustrations of animals which appear to be done in fingerpaints and bright colors, your child's attention will be captured as he or she points to the animals and the letters and learns while having fun. Great gift for holidays or newborns.

Mother Goose Remembers by Clare Beaton This beautiful book of the author's (and yours) favorite nursery rhymes is illustrated with her wonderful felt and bric a brac embroidery embellished pictures which you and your children will adore looking at as you try to find the single floating feather on each page (to make your feather pillow). You can read the familiar rhymes with your child or enjoy singing them with the sing along CD which comes with the book. An excellent gift for any young child.

The Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter This whimsically illustrated jungle book is a delight for any child to guess from the clues which engage his mind, which animal will be dancing on the next page . The simple words are full of engaging sounds which will capture the child's imagination. The sing along CD is so much fun to listen to that you will be up dancing the animal boogie with your child. Definitely a good gift fo holiday giving!

Tales from the Trees Starring Happy the Hodag & Buddy the Bulldog

A Monster Misunderstanding When Happy Met Buddy by Jill Kuczmarski

These are whimsical little paperbacks for children eight and under, non frightening, imaginative, monster stories about the little scary green Hodags that live in trees and hide in Green places, camouflaged by their surroundings. Each little story book has its own twist and stimulates the child's imagination. The cartoonish illustrations by the author are quite appealing. Good ones to have in your pocket or car!

The Adventures of Sammy the Snowflake vol.1 by Brooke Becker, Illustrated by T. Kyle Gentry is a new series for the young chapter book reader, with clever and whimsical illustrations. Sammy is an anthropomorphic snowflake with family and friends, old enough to begin to learn the facts of life and do some exploring on his own. To that end he and his friend run away on what sounds like an adult spiritual quest, which includes narration that loosely camouflages teachings about finding the meaning of life. The best part of the book is what the young reader learns about climate warming and the devastation mankind is causing the environment, hence threatening the life of Sammy and all snowflakes.

Mr. Bach Comes To Call DVD I had expected this DVD to be just for kids, but it is compelling and delightful for the whole family to enjoy and learn about Bach's life and his music while listening to his beautiful melodies interwoven throughout. This is a MUST for your family library!

Song of the Unicorn CD featuring Jeremy Irons is a musical journey through Medieval Times in the form of an interactive CD which can be used on the computer by individuals or as teaching aids for teachers. Young children will enjoy the intriguing story about the children who must go to the forest to find the magic unicorn to cure their mother. The music includes many wonderful medieval selections and other later classicla music of great composers. The enhanced CD's teaching tools include many study and discussion questions for classroom learning about medeival musical instruments, medieval beliefs, superstitions, medicines, and much more. This is a fascinating CD with its multiple uses for all ages, and just plain delightful to listen to for entertainment also.

Starting With Stories by Pam Schiller and Pat Phipps is a pre school teacher's guide to engaging multiple intelligences through children's books. The 100 books selected are considered among the best for helping pre schoolers delight in stories and also learn other skills such as vocabulary and sentence structure, rhye, alliteration, onomatopoeia, visual recognition of upper and lower cas letters, and understanding the many ways in which print communicates. Each double page illustrated spread describes the child's book recommended, tells what the skills the child will learn are, and suggests special activities to follow the reading of the book. Learning acitivites include art, discovery, gross motor development, listening , math and science, and thinking about what was read. This is a very good guide to help anyone working with pre schoolers.

Say Good Night to Illiteracy is the Twelfth Edition of collected poems from the contest sponsored by Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc. Each year the best from the contestants poems are selected and are illustrated by professional artists to create a beautiful book to read aloud to children. This year's book includes a CD of stories and songs. The book is delightful, and all the proceeds are donated to Reach Out and Read (ROR), the nation wide program by which children are given a new book by their doctor at each well child check up from age six months to five years and parents are given literacy information, encouraging family reading and reading aloud so that children reach school age ready to read.

Order your copy today, and your $5.98 price will help other children learn to read while your family enjoys every page in the delightful book over and over. This is an EXCELLENT project and book to know about and enjoy.

A Treasure's Trove Wings and Rings is a puzzles book for ages 6 10 and has many interesting games and pencil puzzles which include fairies and jewels, especially appealing to youngsters. There are stickers included. A fun stocking stuffer for hours of entertainment. There is also a secret hing about the real rings, which are designed by a world renowned jeweler Aaron Basha.

The Story of Grey Owl by Lori Punshon and Illustrated by Mike Keepness is a delightful new children's book which children from pre K through 10 will enjoy. It is based on the true story of the Englishman who chose to come to Canada in early Twentieth Century to live with the Ojibwa tribe and adopt their ways. Given the Indian name "Grey Owl," he became one of the greatest advocates for ecology and made speeches to young and old about saving the forests, animals, and wild places. He was instrumental in having some of the National Park Reserves in Canada established and he prevented the beaver from becoming extinct from over hunting and trapping. The soft illustrations are perfect for children and are done by a self taught native Pasqua First Nation man. Your family will really enjoy this book and follow it by renting the movie of Grey Owl.

THE TREE FARMER by CHUCK LEAVELL AND NICHOLAS CRAVOTTA and illustrated by Rebecca Bleau is a worthwhile children's picture book. The authors, themselves tree farmers, teach children about the value and uses of trees and why we should take care of them to preserve the earth. In the story form of a grandfather teaching his grandchild about the trees on his tree farm, the book is imaginatively illustrated with picturest that children will enjoy pondering. You can easily impart to your child important lessons in preserving our earth by enjoying this little book together.

Violet the Pilot by Bettina Jenkins Bathe & Barbara Fortin

VIOLET THE PILOT :Children's Books Series by Bettina Jenkins Bathe, illustrated by Barbara Fortin is a delightful new series whose author is an airline pilot. Two books are already in print are Violet the Pilot in Canada takes children on a fishing trip adventure by way of a pontoon plane. Violet the Pilot in France gives the delightful experience of a hot air balloon ride over the countryside near Paris. The young readers learn a lot about the kind of air transportation featured in each book, in addition to learning some geography and simple language. Phrases,typical foods and pastimes that pertain to each country visited…all within the delightful and simple story so that children learn without it feeling like a lesson. The bright and happy, whimsical illustrations will stimulate children's imaginations, as well as inform their inquisitive minds. Your children from three to twelve will love these books, and we hope the series continues to grow, as we learned a lot from reading them too! .

All the Pretty Flowers by Christopher Rogers is a sweet little first picture book for very young children, or could be used as an early reader. With just one short sentence on each page, the book is illustrated in an unusual way. It features bright colors on slick pages with very close photographs of most unusual, highly textured paintings of flowers. The art gives a "bargello" effect which could be a bit difficult for children to easily recognize some of the objects. But the objects will be fun to look for, as the bright colors are appealing. .

Hey, Dad, Let's Learn from CTC (Courage to Change) Publishing is another wonderful game for fathers to play with their children. The cards have many fun ways for children to learn, and even a thing or two that Dad's might not know. It is a great game to use on a trip for family fun in a car or hotel room, and of course, Mom's can be included too! The game is for younger children, so older ones can help or be partners in the learning fun. .

Oh No! UFO! by Linda Joy Singleton is a delightful young reader's novel in the STRANGE series about the family named Strange, with the father being a TV show host/producer who debunks the paranormal. Cassie, the main character, is the young teen who believes she is the only normal member of the family. Her genius (self proclaimed) brother is a crazy, aspiring actor who continuously embarrasses his sister. Her little sister, Amber, converses with and understands animals, she claims. And of course, Mom is always embarrassing this teen! Cassie takes a camping trip with her family and saves her sister from becoming an Alien show and tell experiment. A good chapter book for older elementary or middle school students. I found it as delightful to read as young readers do!

World Almac 2004 For Kids is the perfect way to introduce your children to fact finding and reference books. A marvelous homework help, it is easy to use and safer than surfing the Internet. Loaded with millions of fascinating facts for almost any category your kids can imagine, each page is organized in bright blocks of easy to diget information along with full color illustrations and photos and games and quizzes that make the learning fun and painlessly help your child absorb the information. No homework area should be without this great book, and it is far cheaper than a set of encyclopedias and much faster than a trip to the library!

ZZ Story by Zeb and ZeeZee Dogs is delightfully written by T.S. Franks with wonderful bright and fanciful art by Felix d'Obrin. Children of all ages will enjoy the antics of these adorable two dogs. This is the first in a sure to be popular picture story book series, with especial appeal to anyone (young or old) who loves "man's best friend." Children learn a good lesson in the delightful story as they see the dogs experiment with their state in life. You and your kids will have fun reading and re reading this happy book, and you'll be as eager as we are for its sequel.

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WHAT IS A SEA DOG? by John Jensen and Illustrated by Richard J. King is a delightful little picture book for children, telling them many interesting and historical facts about dogs who have helped seamen, during wars, on pleasure boats, and as companions. With both drawings and photos, story line and facts, the book is great for any dog lover. It is published and sold at Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America and the Sea.

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The Basha Bunch

Young Illustrators Make a Difference

Sam the Hero Cat by St. Pete Beach author, Barbara Yanowski, won the top award as Best All Around Children’s Non Fiction Book at the Florida Publisher’s Association annual President’s Book Awards in Orlando recently.

These third graders from Glen Cove in New York City's Metropolitan area are the illustrators of the charming book Sam the Hero Cat, written by Barbara Yanowski and the Basha Bunch, who says it is a true story that happened to her family and their cat. The cat is the hero in this delightful tale which shows children what it means to be a hero. It was soon after 9/11 in this New York school that Barbara presented her little hero story to her grandson's class and asked these third graders to draw pictures. The classroom teacher, Laura Lambros, turned the illustrating process into an exciting learning experience for the children, knowing it would be therapeudic for their emotional healing process taking place. When the children were so enthusiastic about the project and the pictures turned out so well, Yanowski and her publisher husband, Hank Connolly, decided to turn it into a book illustrated by the children. All proceeds from the $12.95 book go to the Hero Fund of The Landing School, Glen Cove Public Schools in Glen Cove, NY. You and your children will love this book, on many levels.

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