Review: The Other Goose

The Other Goose by Judith Kerr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, a very outdated, boring book, with not a lot of talent behind. I was dissapointed :(

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Review: Tabby McTat, The Musical Cat

Tabby McTat, The Musical Cat by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very,very good picture book. The only reason it got four stars from me is its being a good and not a 'wow' book. I guess I'm a bit prejudiced against it, because I know that Ms. Danoldson can make much, much better books.

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Review: Pit Crew Pups

Pit Crew Pups by Nickelodeon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wonder if Nickelodeon could do better than this. Just printing out a cartoon doesn't really work.

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Review: Tortuga in Trouble

Tortuga in Trouble by Ann Whitford Paul
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Not a very talented retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood. I didn't see anything new or interesting in this book that would justify raping the story. A mix of Spanish and English words is another awful touch. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, it doesn't help a child to learn another language in a "fun and easy way". Have you ever met a kid speaking several languages as one, mixing grammar and words from two or three languages in one sentence? I have. Believe me, that's not what you would like to hear from your own kid.

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Review: Him

Him by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

That was a pleasant read. Hot enough, mindless enough, just what I expect from the genre. The relationship in the book develops a little bit too fast to be believable, but maybe the impression comes mostly from the writing style, the readers are not allowed to get bored for a moment. All in all, it's a good prince-on-a-white-horse fairy tale with a happily-ever-after. Or rather, two princes lived happily ever after, without any horses.

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Review: The Pigeon Needs a Bath!

The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had never heard of Mo Willems before my son picked up this book at the library. And I must admit, I didn't expect much; the title didn't promise anything more than a regular boring-my-mind-out-while-reading-to-a-kid kind of book. So imagine my delight when I discovered that this one is so much more! It's actually fantastic! It has all those things going for it: Simple enough for a "beginning reader" to get through. At the same time, it's complex and interesting enough to entertain both a kid and an adult. Not boring in the least, with a bit more meaning than a kid can understand. Not limited to monosyllabic primitive vocabulary so widespread in "beginning reader" literature. On top of everything else, The Pigeon Needs a Bath! is highly interactive, prompting the kid to be involved when you read it aloud.

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Review: Smoke

Smoke by Catherine McKenzie
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because it was recommended by Bruce Holsinger (author of A Burnable Book and The Invention of Fire). Though I thought it strange that he didn't provide any details in his recommendation, only that he liked the book. But since I like his historical fiction books very much and decided to give this one a short anyway.

Contemporary fiction is not something I usually read. This genre is full of mundane and ugly things everyone has enough in real life to bother reading about them. This book is no exception. It's filled with not-so-bright, everyday people that make typical, everyday mistakes, lots of them. Not very exciting.

The only big thing that goes for the book is its structure. It's is set during a wildfire threatening a town, all the action takes six days. And it is literally divided into six partes, each for each day. So when I picked it up and looked through, I wondered if it would enrich my experience to try and read it in six days. And so I tried. I didn't make it exactly in six days, the first day was a bit too long and took me two days to get through. We all have long days from time to time, don't we? :) So I read it in seven days. And I must say it was a nice way to read this book, allows for more immersion.

Overall, it's a solid book with realistic characters, well written, and somewhat interesting. I wouldn't rate it very high, but it was a reasonably good read.

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Review: Moose

Moose by Melissa Gish
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I checked the book out from our local library, because I wanted a book to back up my words, when I tried to answer my son's questions about moose: Why they are not called deer, if they are? Why do they look so different from other deer? Where do they live? What do they eat? He has lots of questions. I had to return this book and find another.

It seems the author didn't understand the audience and blundered dreadfully. The book gives an impression of a Wikipedia page in a picture book format. But we all know that kids able to read Wiki articles don't read picture books; and kids, who can't yet read articles, can't read them in any form, and can't really enjoy them when being read to.

I give the book two stars instead of one, because the content is actually good. A lot of facts that weren't tampered with, which is sadly rare in children's books. My only real objection is the habitat map with a couple of dots for each subspecies, instead of regions. It gives a wrong impression, especially to a kid (who wouldn't read this book, anyway, so it doesn't really matter).

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Review: The Fish Who Cried Wolf

The Fish Who Cried Wolf by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book doesn't seem very popular in Iowa, either among libraries or book stores, so I had to borrow it through an interlibrary loan (read: for a very short time). And that's disappointing, because the book is spectacular! I count it as one of the best books by the author. We read it at bedtime all nine evenings we had it.

As seems customary, this British book suffered being "translated" for the American audience. I really don't get this translations from English to English. The first time I noticed it was in the first book I read in English, and it was Harry Potter. There are whole paragraphs changed in Harry Potter! And I still can't get why. What exactly was the purpose of those changes? It didn't make the book any better. Some words maybe more British than American, but I'm sure Americans know them, even if don't use them very often (and if they don't, isn't it a good reason to enrich one's vocabulary?) Anyway, for Tiddler: The story-telling fish the main problem is the title. I wonder whose fevered imagination generated the idea that this story is a version of a very old one about a boy who cried wolf. This someone was apparently so impressed with this idea, the book changed the title under its influence. The problem is, the moral here is complete opposite! Besides, it's kinda hard to explain to a toddler, why a book called "The Fish Who Cried Wolf" doesn't contain any wolves or any fishes talking about wolves. Just try it.

The illustrations are as good as ever. Both my son and I were delighted by a Gruffalo Fish. Look for it in the book! I think it's a very nice tough (though my husband thinks the authors have overdone it a bit). The Gruffalo Fish is not the only peculiar fish to look for in this book. It's full of wonderfull illustrations you can make into a biology lesson for a toddler, they are that good. I hope Tiddler: The Story-Telling Fish will find a wider recognition some day.

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Review: Halloween Pie

Halloween Pie by Michael O. Tunnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know why the overall rating is so low for this book, I find it a well balanced Halloween story for kids. It's spooky enough, but not too mean. My son and I enjoyed reading it before Halloween.

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Review: Pete the Cat Saves Christmas

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Gosh

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Review: The Witch's Daughter

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's more like 2.5 stars. The book is written well enough, both the language and style are good. Actually, that's why it doesn't get 2 stars from me. Still, I was annoyed most of the way. There were some cliché dating back to before I was born. Super sensitivity allowing to hear "click-clicking of spider's legs" is one of them, annoying as hell.

The plot goes like this: Two simpletons, who couldn't figure out their religious beliefs system, cannot find a better way to spend an eternity than a game of cat and mouse. A story anyone can enjoy.

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Review: Charlie Cook's Favorite Book

Charlie Cook's Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful picture book exploiting an old trick. Each page is a different little story that the hero from the previous page reads about. Everyone in this book reads a book! So encouraging for young readers. I must admit it's not the best children's book ever, but it is a solid creation. Not all the books on a kid's shelf are the best books ever :) This one certainly deserves a place on any such self.

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Review: Night of the Pumpkinheads

Night of the Pumpkinheads by Michael J. Rosen
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

The pumpkins are great. There are even a few ideas we'd like to implement next time. As for the story, it's not all that great. Besides, it's not written well enough for small kids; doesn't really help with literacy, though can be entertaining.

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