Stick and Stone

When we first meet Stick and Stone, each is alone and lonely. When both are playing by themselves at the park, Pinecone makes fun of Stone. Stick comes to his rescue, banishing Pinecone. The two become fast friends and have fun together until a hurricane separates them. After the storm, Stone sets out to find Stick, searching day and night until he finds him stuck upside down in a mud puddle. Now it is Stone's turn to save his friend.

This simple story is written by first time author, Beth Ferry, and illustrated byTom Lichtenheld. It is a perfect book for  beginning readers. The text is minimal and the illustrations advance the story without unnecessary visual clutter. The font is large and bold and the words are well-spaced. Most of the words can be sounded out by a first grader, It is a funny story about kindness and friendship and in the case of Pinecone, redemption.

Stick and Stone is available at the Yulupa Library and Sonoma County Library. The AR is 1.2.

My Teacher Is a MONSTER!

Peter Brown, the author of one and illustrator of two of my favorite picture books of the last few years , Mr Tiger Goes Wild and Creepy Carrots, has written and illustrated a perfect back to school book, My Teacher Is a MONSTER! (No, I Am Not).

Bobby’s teacher, Ms. Kirby, doesn’t like a noisy classroom or paper airplanes thrown during class or dawdling. She stomps and she roars. Bobby decides she is a MONSTER! One Saturday, on his way to play in his favorite park, he runs into his teacher sitting on a  bench reading. Her hat blows away and Bobby runs to retrieve it. He catches it just before it blows into the duck pond. Ms. Kirby tells Bobby that he is her hero. That breaks the ice and they spend some time quacking with the ducks and Bobby shows her  his favorite spot, high on a hill in the park. Ms.Kirby pulls a sheet of paper out of her handbag and gives it to Bobby to make a paper airplane, then they watch it fly all the way down the hill. They decide that, perhaps, that was the greatest paper airplane flight in history. Back at school, Ms. Kirby still stomps and still roars but is she a monster?

I love the slow evolution of Ms. Kirby from green monster to a pretty, young woman as the two get to know each other in the park. It is an experience my seventh grade class had with one of our teachers. She had a fearsome reputation. We were prepared to loath her but because we got to know her outside of class (after school), she became our favorite teacher. Who knew teachers were people, too?

The Sonoma County Library has several copies and the AR is 1.7.

Locomotive

Locomotive is part geography book, part history book and part instruction manual for all things to do with trains. Written and illustrated by Brian Floca, it is a homage to the locomotive which was the height of mid-nineteenth century technology.

It is 1869. you, your mother and a sibling  are taking the train out of Omaha, Nebraska to join your father in San Francisco. You learn about the crew and what they do to keep your train running. As the train crosses Nebraska, you get a glimpse out your windows of the Platte River Valley and the Plains beyond. Are you hungry or bored? A “butch” ( a young boy selling books, newspapers and food) comes through your car. You learn how the passengers stay warm and that it is rude to use the “convenience” when the train is sitting at a station. You get off the train for a simple railroad dinner along the way. At the end of the day, a new crew boards and a new engine pulls the train. At night, some people sleep in berths the porters pull from the ceiling. In your car, you try to sleep on your bench seat as best you can.

Out of Cheyenne, Wyoming your train starts climbing up the Rocky Mountains. That requires two engines to pull the train. You see the beautiful rock formations out your window. Near Salt Lake, you reach Promontory Summit; the place where the Union Pacific meets the Central Pacific Railroad and where a golden spike joined the two halves. This is where you change trains. You got here by way of the Union Pacific Railroad. You will finish your journey on the Central Pacific Railroad.  On through the high desert to Truckee to start the steep climb over the Sierra Mountains. Up to Donner Pass, through the summit tunnel and down hill from Summit Station to San Francisco, where your father is waiting for you at the station.

All along the route, we learn what each crew member is doing to keep the train moving towards its destination. Each page is beautifully illustrated, not with generic scenery but what you would actually see if you where on the train. This is a book to be poured over.  Inside the front cover is a map of your journey and a little about how people traveled before the railroad.  Inside the back cover is a primer on steam power.  Locomotive is my new favorite picture book. It is a book for kids who think they are too old for picture books. It is a jewel!

The Sonoma County Library has several copies of Locomotive. The AR level is 4.7.

A Very Brave Witch

Did you know that witches are afraid of humans? Why? Because they are not green, they are afraid to fly and they seldom cackle. One brave little witch finds out, on Halloween, that she and a brave little girl dressed up like a witch have lots in common.

Alison McGhee (Bink & Gollie books) has written a charming, not at all scary Halloween tale. The cartoonist, Harry Bliss, illustrates. His pictures of the Witches’ Estate are filled with plenty of interesting detail. I especially liked the Library, the sub-basement costume unit and the looks of horror on the adult witches’ faces.
There are a few copies of A Very Brave Witch at the Sonoma County Library and they also have an video recording of this book and other Halloween favorites. The Yulupa Library also has a copy of this book. The AR level is 1.4 with 0.5 points.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Peter Hatcher has a problem, his little brother Fudge. He gets in the way, messes up everything and screams and kicks and bangs his fists when he doesn’t get his way. Fudge is two and a half. To make things worse, grown-ups (most of them anyway) think he’s adorable.  As Peter’s mother tries to tell him, two and a half is like that. 

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume is a hilarious romp. Perhaps it is funnier now, when I have some distance from my children’s childhood than it was the first time I read it in the late seventies. There weren’t honest books like this when I was growing up. As the oldest of six, I would have appreciated Peter’s point of view as I had more than one cute but annoying sibling. Judy Blume was a leader in writing children’s books that told the truth about children’s real feelings about the business of growing up. It seems unremarkable now, but forty years ago, it was revolutionary. Kids still love the Fudge series for that reason.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is the first in a series that includes Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania and Double Fudge. All the books are narrated by Peter, except the second one but all of them are laugh out loud funny.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies and the Yulupa Library has several copies. The AR level is 3.3 with 3 AR points.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

Today seems like a fine day to write about a book that has been compared by many reviewers to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Luigi Lemoncello is a world famous board and video game maker who got his start in a now defunct library in Alexandriaville, Ohio. As a gift to his home town and to honor the memory of the librarian who befriended a twelve year old boy, he has built a state of the art library (if Disney Imagineers or George Lucas built libraries). Kyle Keeley is a twelve year old boy who comes from a family of experienced game players but does not necessarily miss the fact that his town had no library. Of course, the Keeley’s favorite games were Mr. Lemoncello’s games.

Mr. Lemoncello invites every 12 year old in town to write an essay about why they want to attend the invitation-only all night party at the new library for a night of food and games.  In the morning, the attendees are offered a  new challenge: find a secret escape from the library by solving puzzles and riddles and using clues found in the library. This time it is a competition. Can one person find the route or does teamwork pay off?  Like in the Willy Wonka story, character counts but smarts do, too. You’ll learn plenty about the Dewey Decimal System.  And there are also many of references to classic and current children’s literature. Maybe that will spark an idea for the next book to read.

The Sonoma County Library has several copies. The AR level is 4.5 with 7 points.

The Day The Crayons Quit

The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers has been getting lots of buzz. This is another great collaboration between author and illustrator. Duncan wants to color but instead of finding his box of crayons, he finds a stack of letters. Each letter is from a color  complaining about it is used. Red, Grey and Blue feel overworked, Pink complains that it is not used at all and Black wants to do something besides outlines. Purple is not happy that Duncan does not color in the lines. Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown and Orange and Yellow are having a disagreement over which one of them is the color of the sun. White is unhappy that it doesn’t show up on white paper and Peach feels naked because Duncan has torn off its paper. Each colors’ letter is written in the appropriate color crayon a wide variety of papers you’d find at home or in the classroom.

 

Duncan wants to color and wants his crayons to be happy so he takes his crayons criticism to heart and colors a picture that gets him an A for coloring and an A+ for creativity. Duncan’s picture reminds me of one of my favorite Eric Carle books, The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse which is dedicated to German expressionist painter, Franz Marc. 

The Sonoma County Library has a few copies. The AR level is 3.8.

Because of Winn-Dixie

In Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo,  India Opal Buloni goes to the Winn-Dixie for some groceries and comes back with a dog. A big, ugly dog who was tearing up the produce aisle at the store. To keep him from going to the pound, Opal (as she is called) claims the dog as her own.  The first name that pops into her head for him is Winn-Dixie.

Opal and her daddy, the preacher, have just moved to Naomi, Florida from a Watley in the north of the state. Since she has moved, she has been thinking about her mother, who left  when Opal was three. As she is bathing and brushing her new dog, she is telling Winn-Dixie about missing her mother. He is looking at her extra hard, so she asks him, “Do you think I should make the preacher tell me about her?”. Winn-Dixie looks at her so hard he sneezes. ( Note: My dog Piper would answer questions with a sneeze for yes and a whole body shake for no.) So Opal learns 10 things about her mother because of Winn-Dixie. She also makes friends with the librarian, a pet store clerk who plays beautiful guitar music and an almost blind woman who the neighbor boys think is a witch, all because of Winn-Dixie.  Opal’s dog becomes the catalyst for creating her new community in Naomi.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this Newbery Honor book.

The Yulupa Library has eight copies. The AR level is 3.9 and the test earns 3 points.

Lulu and the Dog from the Sea

Seven-year old Lulu loves animals and she has lots of pets. Her mother says, “The more the merrier! As long as Lulu cleans up after them!” She has two guinea pigs, four rabbits, one parrot, one hamster, lots of goldfish and an old dog named Sam. Lulu’s best friend and cousin, Mellie, is going on vacation to the beach with Lulu and her family. At the beach house, the family is warned about a dog from the sea who is stealing food wherever he can find it. Right away Lulu wants to know more about the “dog from the sea” and sets out to find out. Lulu and then Mellie and eventually, even Lulu’s parents gain the dog’s trust. In the end, the dog from the sea comes to the rescue of Lulu and Mellie.

 

Lulu and the Dog from the Sea by Hilary McKay is the second in a series of books about Lulu and her love for animals. I found out about the first book, Lulu and the Duck in the Park, from Anita Silvey’s Children's Book-A-Day Almanac. She had high praise for the first book but when I found a book about a dog, I had to go with that one. A third book, Lulu and the Cat in the Bag is going to be published on September 1, 2013. All the books are illustrated by Pricilla Lamont.

The Accelerated Reader rating is 4.7, but the book is short (108 pages) and the story is straight forward. These books would be great for kids who are reading above grade level at a young age or as read-a-loud books. There are plenty of issues to discuss about animal welfare.

There are many copies of this book in the Sonoma County Library.  The book is also available from Scholastic.

Glory Be

Today is National Book Lovers Day. The origins of the day are lost in time but it is celebrated on August 9th each year. It is a good day to talk about the book, Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood. Glory Be was the July selection of NPR’s Back Seat Book Club. You can listen to the interview with the author here.

It is June 0f 1964 in Hanging Moss, Mississippi. Eleven year old Glory is hot and waiting for her friend, Frankie, so they can go to the Community Pool to cool off. In twelve days, on the fourth of July, Glory will be 12 years old. Every year since she can remember, her birthday party was held at the Community Pool. Glory and Frankie and everyone else soon learns that the Community Pool will be closing to fix “cracks” in the pool. The truth is that the pool is closing because the Civil Right’s Act has passed and been signed into law and blacks can no longer be excluded. Rather than open the pool to everyone in Hanging Moss; the town council has decided to close it.

The other place Glory hangs out is the Library. She helps the librarian, Miss Bloom. One afternoon, she meets a girl from the north, named Laura. Her mother is in town helping set up a medical clinic for the poor. Miss Bloom is looking after Laura while her mother works. Like Glory, Laura loves Nancy Drew mysteries. She shows Laura around town and during their stroll, Laura helps a small black girl drink out of the “whites only” drinking fountain. Glory was, as the Brits say, gob smacked. There was one fountain for whites and another for coloreds and that is the way it had always been.

Glory’s mother died when she was very young. The only mothering she can remember has come from the family's black housekeeper, Emma. Glory and her sister, Jesslyn love and respect Emma. Jesslyn is going into high school in the fall. She and Glory have been on different paths for months. Jesslyn is growing up and her interests are changing and she is not as available as she has always been.

Change is coming to Hanging Moss, too. Freedom Riders are in town registering voters and setting up a medical clinic. Some in town fear the change and others, like Miss Bloom and Glory’s father, Brother Joe Hemphill, embrace it. The story is told through the eyes of an adolescent who until now has not questioned the rules she has lived by. Glory begins to understand that the custom and law she has always lived with are not the same thing as the values she has learned from her father and Emma. As Glory grows and sees that her cancelled birthday party is only a small part of what is wrong with closing the Community Pool, she and Jesslyn forge a new relationship.

The Sonoma County Library has 2 copies of the book. The Yulupa Library also has a copy.  The AR level is 4.3.

What Kids Are Reading, In School and Out

An interesting piece from NPR about what kinds of books kids are reading as they get to high school. There is an interview with someone from Renaissance Learning about the Accelerated Reading Program (Yulupa and Strawberry Schools participate in the AR program) that helps to explain how the books are rated.  There is also a plug at the end for this month’s back seat book club choice, blog favorite The One And Only Ivan. Check it out.

Holes

Stanley Yelnats  is unlucky. His family is cursed. It is all the fault of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great grandfather for breaking a promise.  Because Stanley was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he is sent to Camp Green Lake. A camp that is not a camp nor is it green or a lake. It is a detention facility in the Texas desert. Every morning, the boys detained  arise at 4;30 AM to dig a 5 foot wide and 5 foot deep hole in the desert; one boy, one hole. Stanley’s story is interwoven with the pig-stealing-great- great grandfather’s story in Latvia and in the United States, his great grandfather and the story of Kissing Kate  Barlow in Green Lake, when it was green and a lake. Eventually, Stanley figures out that all the hole digging is not just about building character; the warden is looking for something. All the strands of the story are woven together in the satisfying conclusion of Holes by Louis Sachar . 

Holes was awarded the 1999 Newbery Medal.  This is another book that has been a favorite in my family. It will keep your child turning the pages to find out what happens next.

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this book as well as audio recordings and copies of the Disney movie made from the book.

The AR level is 4.6, the test is worth 7 points and Yulupa has the test.

Because of Mr Terupt

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea is about the new fifth grade teacher at Snow Hill School in Connecticut, Mr. Terupt. The story  is told by seven of his students: Peter, Jessica, Alexia, Luke, Danielle, Luke and Jeffery. Each student represents some archetype of the typical classroom, but each child is fully fleshed out and real. The story is structured month by month during the September-June school year. Mr. Terupt is a fun but challenging teacher. He sees the best person each one of them can be and tries to help each one find that person, until an accident changes everything.

Because this is a children’s story everything is wrapped up neatly at the end. Even the teen queen, Alexia, who at the beginning of the book is trying to manipulate all the girls in the class by pitting them against each other, gives up her facade. The whole class pulls together. There is a little bit of unbelievable contrivance at the end, especially about what the kids do not know of their teacher’s condition, but I forgive the author because he has given us a sequel,  Mr Terupt Falls Again. 

The AR level is 3.7.

The Sonoma County Library has a few copies of Because of Mr Terupt and a single copy of the sequel.

From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

A couple of Fridays ago, April 19, 2013, two time Newbery Medal winner E. L. Konigsburg died at the age of 83. From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a family favorite. Three generations of my family have enjoyed this book about a sister and brother who run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and solve a mystery surrounding a statue that is purported to be by Michelangelo.

In a letter to her lawyer, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tells the story of almost twelve year old Claudia, who has decided to run away from home because of injustice. The injustice of having to do chores when her three younger brothers don’t do any. Maybe, too, she is bored with being straight A’s Claudia and wants some adventure. Because she does not like discomfort, Claudia plans to run away TO somewhere that is comfortable and beautiful. She chooses The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since her allowance was too small (another injustice), she needs some financial assistance, so she invites her thrifty brother, Jamie. He never spends his money.

Jamie turns out to be a good, but thrifty companion (no cab rides, just buses and as we used to say, ankle express). They arrive at the museum and find a comfortable place to bed down each night, find all the entrances and exits and learn the schedules of the night watchmen. Once settled, they decide to use the opportunity to learn and study about all the treasures in the museum. One day they go  to the Italian Renaissance Gallery. There is a huge line leading to a small statue of an angel with folded arms. Claudia thinks it is the most beautiful and graceful statue she has ever seen. The next day, in a New York  Times article, there is a story about the statue. It was thought to be an early work by Michelangelo. If it was, the Museum had found the greatest bargain in art history: it had purchased the statue at auction for $225 from the same  Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. She had bought it before World War II from a dealer in Bologna, Italy. So the statue was not only beautiful but mysterious. How could Claudia and Jamie resist the challenge? They are determined to find out if the statue is really a Michelangelo.  Do they  find the answer?  And who is Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s lawyer?

The Sonoma County Library has many copies of this book as well as audio recordings. The AR level is 4.7. Yulupa has the test and it is worth 5 points.

Snow Treasure

It is early spring in 1940. The Nazis have just taken Poland and are headed towards the Norwegian Arctic Circle community of Riswyk. The citizens have a plan to get their gold bullion out of Norway to keep it from the Germans. They hide the gold in a well camouflaged snow cave just as the Nazis arrive in April, 1940. The task is  how to get it from the snow cave  in the mountains to a fishing boat that is waiting to take the bullion to the United States without the German’s knowing what they were doing. And get is done before the spring thaw. The older children of the community will carry the gold on their sleds down the mountain, a few bars at a time until the nearly 2000 pounds of gold are safely on their way to the US.

Twelve year old Peter Lundstrom’s father is the town banker. His uncle, Victor, is a fisherman who knows all the streams and fjords along the Norwegian coast. Peter, his sister Lovisa and his friends Michael and Helga are to be captains of teams of students who will carry the gold on their sleds to a place near a hidden fjord; then bury their gold bars in the snow. To mark the burial spots, they  will build snowmen. Uncle Victor and his first mate will dig up the gold bars each night and stash them in Victor’s camouflaged boat. It is a race to beat the spring thaw and avoid the German sentries. There are some close calls, but every bar makes it onto the ship. As the book ends, the ship is at sea on it’s way to America.

When I first read Snow Treasure in 1957 (that is not a typo) and my son read it in 1980, it was believed that this was a true story. The  Norwegian freighter Bomma landed in Baltimore on June 28, 1940 with 9 million dollars worth of gold bullion. The rest of the story has never been verified. Marie McSwigan wrote a piece in 1944 saying that she had read a newspaper article about the arrival of the bullion in New York and that children had helped ferry it out of Norway. She liked   their  resourcefulness and decided to write a children’s book about it. The article she wrote was easy for me to find in 2013 using Google, but probably much harder to find in an earlier era.

The Sonoma County Library has several copies.

The AR level is 5.3.

Happy Birthday, Hamster

The characters from Hot Rod Hamster return in this new book, Happy Birthday, Hamster to give Hamster a surprise party. Newbery Honor author, Cynthia Lord teams up again with illustrator, Derek Anderson to create a colorful, funny, rhyming adventure.

Hamster greets his friend, Dog, with a question, “Do you know what today is?” “Yes,” Dog says, “it is my shopping day.” Dog and Hamster set off for the bakery. There are plenty of cakes to choose from. Hamster wants the one with the most frosting (a hamster after my own heart) but Dog is there to buy dog biscuits. Then they are off to the Toy Store. Hamster chooses a riding toy but Dog came to get a ball. Dog needs one more thing, a card. So they head off to the party store. Unseen by Hamster, at all the stops the mice and rats that helped build his car in the previous book are gathering a cake, the riding toy and lots of party supplies. With one final stop at the barber shop, Hamster and Dog finish the errands and head home. Hamster is a little down; he thinks his friends have forgotten his birthday. He invites Dog in and is greeting by a huge SURPRISE! All his friends have gathered to celebrate his birthday.

Somehow, I missed the “Newbery Honor author” subtitle on the first book, Hot Rod Hamster. I didn’t miss it on this one. Her 2007 Honor book, Rules, is at the top of my stack of books to read. A review will be forth coming.

The Yulupa Library has one copy. You can still order this book online from the Yulupa Book Fair here until March 19, 2013.

The AR level is 1.4.

Road Trip

Readers of this blog will note that I review lots of “dog” books, but I believe Road Trip is the first one that has a dog co-narrator. Atticus is a fifteen year old border collie, he pays attention to everything. The other narrator, fourteen year old, Ben, like many of us,  does not.

On  the first day of summer vacation, Ben’s father wakes him up at 5 A.M. and announces that they are going on a trip to rescue a border collie puppy. Ben’s dad is a spur of the moment kind of guy, so he isn’t too surprised by the idea, but not too happy with it either. Atticus, who is less than thrilled that they are going to get a dog, is going along, too. As they are getting ready to leave, Ben finds out that there may not be money to send him to hockey camp this summer. A camp that he had been planning on since he got his first pair of skates at age five. And the reason: his dad had quit his job and was going to flip houses for a living. Ben is mad. To show his displeasure, he calls his new friend, Theo, who his dad thinks is a hoodlum and invites him along. Atticus fills us in on all that Ben has missed these past few months. The boss (as Atticus calls Ben’s dad) has been working until late at night and on the weekends on the house he bought. It  is finished and there is an offer on it. Ben didn’t notice his dad was always gone and always tired. Atticus did.

Theo is not the only one to join Ben and his dad on the trip to rescue the puppy. The truck breaks down and they pick up a school bus that comes with its own mechanic named Gus. And a waitress named, Mia, who is feed up with rowdy customers and quits her job after she saves Theo from a thug named Bobby. The five of them have a few exciting adventures on their trip and a big surprise when they arrive at the animal shelter.

Because this book is for children, everyone gets what they deserve. Gus steps in to help Mia and Theo get an education, Ben works with his dad over the summer and the thug, Bobby is arrested. Atticus discovers that the puppy isn’t a dog, but a border collie just like him.

Gary Paulsen, has written over a hundred books for kids. Three of them have won Newbery Honors. He co-wrote the book with his adult son, Jim Paulsen, who is a sculptor and a former elementary school teacher. It is tempting to think that some of their relationship is reflected in this story. I have absolutely no evidence, just an opinion.

The Sonoma County Library has several copies and it can still be found online at Scholastic with credit going to Yulupa School until March 19, 2013.

The AR level is 4.3.

Monday’s Trip to the Book Fair

Yulupa School is hosting a Scholastic book Fair this week. I had a bit of a list but bought a few other books that caught my eye. I’ll be reviewing the books one by one but I thought I’d let you see what I bought today.

AR level 4.3, 3 points.

AR level 2.9, 3 points

5.3 AR, 5 points

AR 3.2, 0.5 points

AR 1.5, 0.5 points

The following books currently have no AR grade level and test:

As usual, my purchases are heavy on dog books. I also couldn’t resist  a new Fly Guy book or the sequel to a book I just reviewed and one I first read in 1957.

Whatever After Fairest of All

Let me just say at the onset that the second grade me would have loved Whatever After Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski. I lived in a very Dick and Jane world. From my point of view, very little about my life was exciting. My Grandmother introduced me to fairy tales when I was four or five. She found beautifully illustrated books with exciting stories that fueled my imagination. I firmly believed that there was a door in my house that would lead me into the land of the Grimm Brothers. Turns out I should have been looking for a mirror that hissed.

 

Abby and her brother Jonah have moved with their parents from Chicago to Smithville. Where is Smithville? Not sure, but it is somewhere where pop is called soda and tag is played in a strange way.  Abby is having a bit of a problem adjusting to her new home, so while her brother is pursuing activities like rock climbing, Abby is retreating into books. Her grandmother used to read the two of them fairy tales when they lived in Chicago, so to comfort herself she starts reading a book of fairy tales.

That night, seven year old Jonah wakes her up to tell her that the mirror in the basement is hissing. Abby tries to get her brother back to bed but winds up following him downstairs to show him that the mirror is just a mirror. Sure enough, after Jonah knocks on the mirror, it starts to hiss, then turns purple and then starts to suck the two of them, some furniture and her parents’ law books into the mirror. Very soon they land in a forest. After hearing what sounds like hungry animal noises, they start running.

Very soon they see an old woman carrying a basket. It turns out that it is the wicked queen who is trying to poison Snow White with an apple. Before Abby and Jonah figure this out, they keep Snow from taking the apple and eating it. When Jonah and then Abby figure out that they are in a fairy tale and that they prevented Snow White from eating the poisoned apple thus preventing her “happily ever after”. That would not be fair. So they decide to help Snow achieve her “happily ever after before they try to go home.

There are lots of delicious details in this story. Three of the seven dwarfs are girls. They have names like Bob, Tara, Alan, Francis, Jon, Stan and Enid. With Abby and Jonah’s help, Snow helps arrange her own happily ever after and even saves the prince, whose name is Trevor, with a kiss. Magic mirrors have a network like the paintings in Harry Potter books. The Queen’s mirror is happy to get brother and sister back home before their parents wake up. It is a delightful 21st century rendering of a very old fairy tale.

The Sonoma County Library has a few copies. The second book in the series Whatever After If the Shoe Fits will be available at the Yulupa Scholastic Book Faire March 4-8.

The AR reading level is 2.8.

Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids

An easy way to increase your child’s vocabulary and help insure success in school is to read to them. The GeekDads’ blog at Wired has done the work of putting together a list of books that appeal to kids and to the parents who read to them. All you have to do is pick up a book and start reading. You can find the list and a short review of each book (or series) here.

hat tip: Jump Into a Book