I Got a Chicken for my Birthday

Title:   I Got a Chicken for my Birthday
Author:   Laura Gehl        Illustrator:   Sarah Horne
Series:   —
Recommended for:   children in kindergarten and early elementary school
Pages:   unpaged
Call Number/Link:   E GEHL, L.

Rating:   ****

 

Synopsis:

A girl is disappointed when she receives a chicken as a birthday gift from her abuela, until she realizes the chicken is planning a bigger present for her special day.

Comments:

Cute book!  I must admit that I didn’t figure out what the chicken and other pets were up to until the very end of the book.  What a surprise for the girl – and me!

 

I’m Afraid Your Teddy Is in Trouble Today

Title:   I’m Afraid Your Teddy Is in Trouble Today
Author:   Jancee Dunn     Illustrated:  Scott Nash
Series:  —
Recommended for:  students in grades K-5, either as a readaloud or independent reading.  This would be a great choice for parents who are looking for a book to read to a classroom.
Pages:   unpaged  (probably 32 p.)
Call Number/Link:   E DUNN, J.

Rating:   ****

 

 

 

Synopsis:

When a teddy bear invites his stuffed animal friends to a party at his house while the humans are away, they have a wild time and the police arrive on the scene.

Comments:

There I was, thinking that stuffed animals spent their days resting, just waiting for their owners to come home from school.  Thanks to this expose, I now know the truth.  I did NOT imagine that the empty house had gotten more messy during the day.  It seems that teddy bears and their stuffed animal companions make pancakes, jump on the bed, and even (gasp) play dress-up with their owner’s clothes.

Children who are old enough to “get” this book will find it very funny.  First, just the idea of “stuffed animals gone wild” is funny.  Second, the animals’ activity choices make total sense.  With the exception of bathing in chocolate syrup, this could be a child’s dream party – and the activities make total sense for stuffed animals too.

I imagine this book being read in a very straightforward understated “just the facts ma’am” manner.  I think the deadpan delivery would be a good counterpoint to the story’s chaos.  However, I can also imagine it being read in a more excited, “can you BELIEVE what they just did?” way.  That could also be very effective.

Or the reader can just read it without any thought of presentation or delivery and it still would be fine.  It’s that funny a book.

 

 

 

Blue vs. Yellow

Title:   Blue vs. Yellow
Author:   Tom Sullivan
Series:   —
Recommended for:   older preschoolers, children in early elementary school
Pages:   unpaged
Call Number/Link:  E SULLIVAN, T.

Rating:  ****

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the clash of the colors! Blue vs yellow. Which one will be declared the best color of all? Will they join forces and be mightier together? Or will another color challenge them for the title? Ding! Ding! Let the battle begin!

Comments:

I hadn’t realized that colors were so competitive!  This book could easily be presented as a dramatic reading, with one person portraying yellow and the other portraying blue.  That is how I read the book to myself.  It also would work well as a more traditional solo read aloud and would be a good choice for independent reading.

While it could work well to teach colors, I think that kids who were already aware of the colors would find it more entertaining.

 

 

Ninja Claus!

Title:   Ninja Claus!
Author:   Arree Chung
Series:   Ninja!
Recommended for:  Preschoolers and children in early elementary school, readers who wish they were ninjas
Pages:   unpaged
Call Number/Link:  E CHUNG, A.

Rating:   ****

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

“In this third book in the Ninja! series, Maxwell pits his ninja skills against Santa Claus“– Provided by publisher.

Comments:

I’ve read enough Christmas books over the years that it makes me very happy to find one that is unique.  Hurray!  It’s not every day that you find out that Santa is (secretly) a ninja.  However, it makes total sense.  How else could Santa sneak in and out of houses without being detected?

And that’s not all!  The protagonist of the book is a creative boy who used his critical thinking skills to try to figure out how to catch Santa.  I’m thankful that he didn’t achieve his goal, but appreciate his well thought out attempt.

My favorite sentence was:  “The Ninja Claus is sneaky, quick, clever and kind.”  That also describes a more traditional Santa.

This cute, humorous book was fun to read!

 

 

 

 

Read the Book, Lemmings!

Title:   Read the Book, Lemmings!
Author:   Ame Dyckman
Series:    —
Recommended for:  kids in kindergarten and up, either as a readaloud or for independent reading.  Some preschoolers might enjoy it, but they’ll miss some nuances.
Pages:   unpaged  (probably 32 pages)
Call Number/Link:   E DYCKMAN, A.

Rating:   **** 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

A literate fox attempts to teach a trio of overzealous lemmings to read in order to save them from their habit of jumping off cliffs.

Comments:

It made me laugh.  Also, Ditto was my favorite lemming.

 

 

 

 

 

Puddles!!!

Title: Puddles!!!
Author: Kevan Atteberry
Recommended for: Preschool – 3rd Grade
Pages: 32
Call Number/Link:  E ATTEBERRY, K.

Synopsis: RAIN! PUDDLES! MUD! Squish, squish, squish. Declan loves rain and splashing and mud! But the bunnies? Not so much! The perfect companion to the delightful Bunnies!!! Spare text, loads of fun, and heaps of emotion make Puddles!!! extraordinary for toddler read-alouds.

Comments: An excellent book for storytime with bright colors, fun characters, and only a few words per page! So simple, the kids can read and act along: waving hello to the sun and clouds, chanting “Rain, rain, rain,” and pretending to splash in puddles. Best of all, a beautiful rainbow on the last page. I am so excited to read this book for the next storytime about rain or rainbows.

 

You Don’t Want a Unicorn!

Title: You Don’t Want a Unicorn!
Author: Ame Dyckman, Illustrated by Liz Climo
Recommended for: Preschool – 3
Pages: 40
Call Number/Link:  E DYCKMAN, A.

Synopsis: When a little boy throws a coin in a well asking for a pet unicorn, he has no idea what kind of trouble he’s in for. Unbeknownst to him, unicorns make the absolutely worst pets: they shed, they poke holes in your ceiling, and they make a big mess. 

Comments: The tag line to this book is “Be careful what you wish for!” It’s a funny look at what it’s really like to have a magical pet. Did you know unicorns poop cupcakes with sprinkles? At the end, there is a funny twist, and the little boy doesn’t learn his lesson and gets another magical pet. It would make a great pre-school read aloud.

 

Buenas Noches Luna

Title:   Buenas Noches Luna

Author:   Margaret Wise Brown

Series:   N/A

Recommended for:  grades Pre K-2 as a read-aloud, grades 2 and up for children to read by themselves.  

Pages:   32 pages

Call Number/Link:  SPA READALONG BROWN, M.

Rating:   *****

Synopsis:

Before going to sleep, a little rabbit says goodnight to many different things.

Comments:

I really loved reading this book for Spanish story time.  It is a classic so this book was an excellent choice since most children have read this book in English.  Short and easy to follow along with a great size book for children to follow along.  This copy comes with a cd for listening in the car or at home.

 

Too Much Glue

Title: Too Much Glue
Author: Jason Lefebvre
Series: No
Recommended for: 
Pages: 32 pages
Call Number/Link:  E LEFEBVRE, J.

Synopsis:”Matty LOVES glue. At home with Dad, he makes glue glasses, glue mustaches, and glue bouncy balls. But at school, Matty’s art teacher worries and warns, ‘Too much glue never dries.’ In art class one day, Matty decides to make the most fantastic glue project ever, with a super-special ingredient — himself!” — from publisher’s web site.

Comments:  Great art work, nice vivid pictures, ok story line.  This is a story that promotes creativity, so if you are looking for a lesson on too much glue don’t look to this book. I feel that kids will enjoy the book, and if one wants to make a lesson out of this book one can find a way.

 

Pigs to the Rescue

Title: Pigs to the Rescue
Author: John Himmelman
Series: To the Rescue books
Recommended for: Preschool – Grade 3
Pages: 32
Call Number/Link:  E HIMME

Synopsis: Farmer Greenstalk and his family have the darnedest luck. Broken-down tractors, kites stuck in trees―they’re always having problems! It’s a good thing they have such helpful farm animals on hand. This time around, the pigs want to pitch in, and boy, do they ever! The Greenstalks soon find, though, that life might just be a little easier without their help…
Pigs to the Rescue is a 2011 Bank Street – Best Children’s Book of the Year.

Comments: This book was recommended for toddler story time and it is funny! The pigs mess everything up while trying to help and it gets worse and worse. This is a sequel to Chickens to the Rescue, where the chickens help, but get everything right. It’s just not as funny. I can easily see the kids shouting “Pigs to the rescue!” and doing a lot of oinking on the appropriate pages.