Book Review - Pinwheel Days by Ellen Tarlow

Pinwheel Days by Ellen Tarlow

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Pinwheel the donkey likes peanut butter for lunch and playing hide-and-seek with his friends. Follow Pinwheel as he spends his days with his friends, Squirrel, Owl and Rabbit, playing and encountering the world around them. With colorful illustrations, Pinwheel takes us through a world of discovery which includes finding new friends and learning about fall.

This is a wonderful short chapter book for reading aloud or for beginning readers ready to move into chapter books. It is reminiscent of Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel. If your child has read all the Frog and Toad books, I would recommend they try Pinwheel Days next.





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Book Review - Invasion by Jon S. Lewis

Invasion by Jon S. Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Colt McAllister is the youngest of eight brothers, the last still at home with his mom and dad, and the one they call Runt. The summer Colt turns 16 his world turns upside down and inside out. It starts when he is almost wiped off his surf board by a strange squid-like creature. It gets worse when a police officer shows up the same day to tell Colt his parents have been killed in an automobile accident. The next thing Colt knows he is living with his grandfather in Arizona and going to a new school. The one saving grace is his friend Danielle, or Dani for short. When Colt learns his parents' deaths were not as accidental as he was told, Colt begins to piece together information that leads him down a path only found in his favorite comic books: heros who fly jet packs; villains who are shape-shifting aliens; and gateways between our world and others gallaxies maintained and guarded by a secret military agency called C.H.A.O.S.

For those of us who love sci-fi, the C.H.A.O.S. series is a welcomed addition to the genre. Geared to the tween and teen reader, Invasion invites us into a world filled with old-school,comic book heroes who are given modern weapons and ultralight, flying motorcycles and sent out to fight inter-galactic villains. At the same time, Colt faces everyday teenage dilemmas such as starting at a new school, meeting and making new friends, and finding out the one girl he really likes is already dating someone else.

I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the C.H.A.O.S. series to find out how Colt deals with what is coming next. For readers 10 and up.



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Book Review - Too Many Pears by Jackie French

Too Many Pears by Jackie French

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pamela likes pears. She likes green pears, red pears and stewed pears with ice cream. But with Pamela liking pears so much, nobody else on the farm gets any pears. (Did I mention Pamela is a cow?) What can Amy do to get Pamela to stop eating all the pears?

This is a very, very funny book! Pamela is an enormous black and white cow, very reminiscent of illustrations in Sandra Boyton's books. This book is a wonderful way to relate to children the results of over-indulgence and the benefits of moderation. Although, I am not sure Pamela truly has learned that lesson.

I would recommend this book for children 3 - 7.



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Book Review - Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith

Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


David wants to spend his summer just practicing shooting hoops, laying by the pool and hanging with his friend Tyler. This might even the be the summer of his first kiss. But when his mom and dad are called away for work, he is shipped off to Washington, in the middle of the wilderness, to spend the summer with his grandmother. Now David, who goes by the name of Scrub, fears he might as well submit an application for town freak, because David's grandma isn't just living in the eternal hippie's Summer of Love, she also runs the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast, which has no cable, no internet and no cell phone reception. Can things get any worse? For David, the weirdness is just beginning.

At first, given the title, I was not sure if this book would be a good read or not. But after the first encounter David has with an alien (the strange gray man) I was hooked. This book was fast paced and never lacked for action. David's character seems to mature before our eyes as he comes to understand his grandmother and her strange, but fascinating, guests. I found the book enjoyable and a fun read.

I would reccommend it for children ages 8 - 12.



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Book Review - The Great Moon Hoax by Stephen Krensky

The Great Moon Hoax by Stephen Krensky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Buffalos on the moon? Volcanos erupting into vast oceans? In 1835, the New York Sun reported sightings of just such things. Charlie and Jake were delighted. As newsboys, selling the Sun was their only way of filling their pockets and filling their bellies. How well they did selling newspapers would determine if they slept on crates or in beds that night. So when the Sun reported herds of small animals much like bison roaming on the Moon's surface,and strange creatures rolling along the Moon's beaches, Charlie and Jake knew they were going to be eating and sleeping well. Follow Charlie and Jake through this exciting time as more and more astonishing sightings are reported in The Great Moon Hoax.

I enjoyed reading this book but really enjoyed the artwork that went into the pictures in the book. Their whimsicalness went along well with the idea of moon beaver and moon bison.



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Book Review - I'd Choose You by John Trent

I'd Choose You by John T. Trent

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Poor little Norbert the Elephant comes home from school moping and drooping having had the worst day of his life. It seems no one wants to sit by him at school or pick him for their team in sports. But his mother reminds Norbert that there is someone who would pick him each and every time, for the rest of his life.
I'd Choose You reminds us, and every child who reads it, that although we have tough days, we are loved and blessed everyday just because of who we are. It is a book that will be pulled out and read over and over to those children who come home like Norbert: feeling like there is just no one who likes them. The only thing Norbert doesn't do when he gets home is eat some worms, like in the song - "Nobody likes me; everybody hates me; I'm going to eat some worms."



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Book Review - No Place Like Holmes by Jaosn Lethcoe

No Place Like Holmes by Jason Lethcoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Move over Sherlock Holmes, Griffin Sharpe is in the house! "How did Griffin Sharpe get his limp? Did he really meet Sherlock Holmes? Is it true that he carried a walking stick that belonged to the greatest villain in history?" These are questions which start the book No Place Like Holmes by Jason Lethcoe.

We meet Griffin Sharpe in the year 1903, on his way to meet his uncle who resides at 221 Baker Street, London. Could Griffin be the nephew of the great detective Sherlock Holmes? Griffin has long been wishing for someone with a mind like his own: a mind which notices everything and stores it for later use. Maybe Sherlock Holmes will be the answer to his prayers. Or maybe not...

I am a Sherlockian - someone who loves Sherlock Holmes stories with a passion. I like to believe he was a real person - out there somewhere solving crimes, maybe in an alternate reality or something. I read everything Sherlockian, and have even watched the cartoon Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. So I was very happy to find another book in which Sherlock Holmes plays a role, even if it is not the major role. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Griffin, a younger character who rivals Sherlock in wit and intelligence. But with Griffin we get someone who has a softer heart which makes him even more love-able.

Along with a sympathetic character, Lethcoe gives us a fast paced plot which grabbed and kept my attention throughout the entire story. The action is carried along with just enough inner dialog to reveal Griffin's thought processes, but not so much a reader will lose interest. I am hoping Griffin will lead younger readers to the great genre of mystery, and eventually to the master himself.

I am looking forward to a sequel in which we meet the estimable Griffin Sharpe again.



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