Candlewick Sparks

Due to the success of the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick Press started a new series of books for newly independent readers, Candlewick Sparks. I have read three of the 34 titles. Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell, which was awarded a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor in 2013, I reviewed that same year..

Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways by Laura McGee Kvasnosky was awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2007.

Because Dad is making cucumber sandwiches AGAIN for lunch, sisters, Zelda and Ivy, decide to run far enough away so that their parents can't see them but they can see their parents. They play 14 hands of Go Fish, have a little tea party and put on their pajamas. Do their parents miss them yet? Will hunger pains make them go home? Did Dad save each one of them a cucumber sandwich?

Two more chapters follow. One is about making a time capsule and the other is about developing a secret concoction to solve Zelda's writer's block.

There are six books in the Zelda and Ivy series. The type is large and widely spaced, almost every page has a picture and the chapters are short which is ideal for emerging readers just getting into chapter books.

The Sonoma County Library has nine copies. The AR is 3.0.

In Joe and Sparky Go to School by Jamie Michalak and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz two inhabitants of Safari Land, a giraffe and turtle, spend a day in school.

A school bus filled with kids returning to school after their field trip stops right in front of Joe and Sparky. Curious, Joe (the giraffe) and Sparky (the turtle) look in the windows at the kids, the teacher and the driver. When the driver takes off, Sparky is on the roof of the bus. Joe runs and jumps on the back of the bus to the delight of the kids inside. When they arrive at school, the near-sighted teacher's glasses break. She winds up herding Joe and Sparky into the classroom for circle time. Sparky gets a star for listening during reading. They count peas, investigate the magic pond, have music and art before the day ends. Will Joe ever get a star?

The Sonoma County Library has seven copies. The AR is 2.1. There are two other Joe and Sparky books in the series.

I Yam A Donkey!

Cece Bell, a 2013 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honorary for  Rabbit and Robot: A Sleepover and a Newbery Honorary for El Deafo, has written a hilarious book about grammar and wordplay.

Donkey is not too concerned about pronunciation or grammar. Yam is persnickety about both. Donkey announces,"I yam a Donkey!" Yam tells him that the proper way to say that is,"I am a donkey'."A who's-on-first routine follows as Yam tries to get Donkey to understand the meaning of am and then are versus is which draws a crowd of other vegetables. Finally, Donkey gets it which turns out not to be such a good thing for Yam and his friends.

This is a great read-out-loud book especially if you can channel Abbott and Costello.

The Sonoma County Library has one copy. 

Rabbit and Robot The Sleepover

Rabbit has a plan for his sleepover with his friend Robot: make pizza,  watch TV,  play Go Fish and then go to bed. Simple? Not so much. Rabbit likes to be in control. He  has a hard time dealing with bumps in the road, but easy going Robot usually has the answers. Author, Cece Bell, has written a humorous story about two very different friends in Robot & Rabbit The Sleepover, a 2013 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book.

 

Rabbit has all the fixings for pizza: carrots, lettuce and snow peas. Turns out Robot prefers nuts, bolts and screws. Did Rabbit have any? No, he did not. Using his magnetic hands, Robot searches for some hardware and finds it in the kitchen table and chairs. He disassembles the table and chairs for the nuts, bolts and screws to put on his pizza. Rabbit is alarmed. Where are we to eat our pizza? Rabbit runs around yelling and throwing things, while Robot prepared the pizzas and put them in the oven. He turned up his volume and got Rabbit’s attention. He asked for a blanket and they had a pizza picnic and Rabbit crossed “make pizza” off his list.

Each  item on Rabbit’s list has its own chapter.  How hard is watching TV? Pretty hard if you can’t find the remote. Again, Rabbit sort of freaks out and robot has the solution. They enjoy their program and then go to item three on Rabbit’s list. Robot reluctantly agrees to play Go Fish but he’d rather play Old Maid or Crazy Eights. Soon Robot is tired, very tired. It is not time to go to bed, they haven’t played Go Fish yet. Rabbit tries to wake his friend, but nothing works. He finally sees a thin strip of paper coming from a small slot on Robot’s front, it said BATTERIES LOW. Rabbit knew what to do. He replaced the old batteries in Robot with the new batteries from the remote. They played Go Fish and even  Old Maid. Soon it was time to go to bed, but Robot forgot his pajamas. Rabbit lent him a pair and they went to bed. Rabbit was sleepy but newly energized Robot was not. Now it was Robot’s turn to make a list of the fun things they DID that night. They both agreed it was a good day. And maybe, just maybe, Robot can plan the next day’s activities.

There seemed to a bit of a theme in the books that were honored by the Theodor Seuss Geisel committee this year: don’t sweat the small stuff! Rabbit and Robot have a great sleepover even though nothing went as Rabbit planned it. Gerald and Piggie gather all the items they might need to take a drive except for the one essential for a drive: a car. They change plans and use all the gear to play Pirates instead. Does Pete the Cat cry when he loses each of his four groovy buttons? Goodness, no!

The Sonoma County Library has several copies.