Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

prkcslog — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:39:16 +0000

About a month ago, Seattle librarian and book maven, Nancy Pearl, had a brief spot on NPT talking about her “most memorable characters” of 2011. She had high praise for Max “the Wolf,” Willingham’s main character in Down the Mysterly River. I beg to differ.

Oh, Max was alright, but I found him a bit of a whiner and maybe too much of a “Boy Scout.” Actually he was a Boy Scout and proud of it. Don’t get me wrong, I have a long and happy history with both the Cub and Boy Scouts, but, really, I’ve never met a 6th grade boy as upstanding as Max. For me, he just didn’t ring true.

I did however, really enjoy the book. It’s a great adventure, full of tension, excitement, mystery humore and surprises. It has heart, especially because of the three secondary characters. One of the biggest surprises for me was how involved I became with Banderbrock the warrior badger, McTavish the cantankerous barn cat and especially the amiable, slow-witted but fiercely loyal “sheriff” bear, Walden.

After a somewhat slow and confusing beginning, I found myself keenly interested in solving the mystery of exactly where—and why—the friends found themselves. What had they done to deserve the wrath of the malicious “Blue Cutters” who hounded them so relentlessly, and would they ever see their homes again? Thanks to Willingham’s forte as a storyteller, all becomes clear. There seems to actually be a possibility for a sequel. I’d be interested to see—and read–that.

Posted by: Eileen

Get Real! A Non-Fiction Video Book Review

prkcslog — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:54:06 +0000

This month Kelly talks about a new favorite, The House Baba Built by Ed Young.

City of Orphans by Avi

prkcslog — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:24:29 +0000

Maks is a “newsie” in New York City in 1893. He is selling The World. His parents are Danish immigrants and his family is struggling to make ends meet. Every penny counts. One day Maks is cornered in an alley by a gang of teenagers who are trying to drive off the newsies. Maks decides to fight but is losing when suddenly a shapeless pile of rags becomes an attack force with a stick. When the attack is over, the gang members have been run off and Maks realizes that the person who saved him is a skinny, smelly, raggedly dressed, homeless girl. He decides to take her home for the protection she can give him and also to repay her with a meal. The same day he brings Willa home, he finds out that his oldest sister who works as a maid at the Waldorf has been accused of theft and is in the prison called the Tombs. Thus begins an adventure for the homeless girl and the newsie. They find an odd and ailing detective who has Maks do his investigating for him at the Waldorf. In the process, Maks discovers some clues and also learns something about Willa’s family.

This is an exciting story and a good historical description of life in New York City for immigrant families living in the tenements. Recommended for children in grades 5 and up.

Posted by: Fran W.

Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

prkcslog — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:07:35 +0000

One of my son’s new favorite books is Tip Tip Dig Dig by Garcia. Each page of this story features a truck in action working away on a mess. Little ones can see the digger dig and the roller roll. What can they do when they all work together? They can make a playground! And while it may be too cold to play at the playground right now, it sure is fun to watch one being made. The big, bold illustrations and simple text make this a great toddler read aloud. Little ones can even join in with the actions.

Posted by: Liz

Pie by Sarah Weeks

prkcslog — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:06:44 +0000

A late 2011 release, I think Pie by Sarah Weeks may have squeaked in as my favorite book of 2011. Generally being a fan of both action and angst in my reading choices, I often lose interest in books with recipes, books that have exceedingly happy endings or books that feature unbelievably nice characters, but somehow this book contained all of those elements and managed to keep me enthralled.

Pie takes place in the small town of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania in the 1950’s. The story opens with the death of Ipswitch’s most famous resident, Polly Portman. Polly is famous because of her extraordinary pies that have earned her 13 coveted Blueberry Awards, a national award. This coupled with the fact that Polly gives the pies away for free brings people from all over the country to the small town. When Polly Portman dies suddenly, the entire town is left trying to figure out how to live without her famous pies. To make matters worse, Polly has left meticulous notes on how to make her pie fillings, but not her delicious pie crust. To everyone’s dismay, the pie crust recipe has been left to Polly’s cat, Lardo. Polly’s beloved niece, Alice, inherits fat, cantankerous Lardo and is therefore thrust into the spotlight as people from miles around try to hunt down Polly’s famous pie crust recipe. The recipe is so sought after that Lardo is kidnapped from Alice’s house and Alice and her friend Charlie must start an investigation of all of the town’s people to retrieve Lardo.

This book is filled with charm. The language Sarah Weeks uses to describe Ipswitch and its inhabitants is delightful. Scattered throughout the book are Alice’s original songs which sound like 1950’s advertising jingles. Finally, recipes for Polly’s pies open each chapter and are sure to inspire many bakers to try making them.

Posted by: Kelly

The Case of the Missing Moose (The Milo & Jazz Mysteries Series) by Lewis B. Montgomery

prkcslog — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:02:03 +0000

Just in the nick of time comes a new mystery series that is lots of fun for young readers. The main characters are a boy named Milo and a girl named Jazz, and they are friends that like to solve mysteries together. Not a new concept, but it’s fun to have a new series to recommend. This book includes all the things that make up a good mystery – clues, ever changing suspects, a surprise ending … but also is set at summer camp, including a food fight, a stolen mascot, camp “color war” games, and lots more. What more could you ask for in a mystery? When the blue team’s moose mascot goes missing, it is up to Milo to figure out who took it and why… and to get it back. The likely suspect, Tony from the red team, seems to have an alibi, but there are some things that Milo doesn’t know yet about Tony – that’s where his partner Jazz, who happens to be at the girls camp across the way, comes in. In the end, the two of them put all the pieces together to solve the mystery. Kids will really like these easy to solve mysteries and will really enjoy “Super Sleuthing Strategies” at the end of the book. This series is one that I will be recommending for those early mystery readers.

Posted by: Mary

Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins

prkcslog — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:33:03 +0000

Though adored by kids and parents alike, somehow Emily Jenkins’ series of books about the secret lives of some very special toys never quite made it into my reading basket until this year, with the release of Toys Come Home, the prequel to Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party.

Toys Come Home tells the story of how Stingray, a (highly intelligent) blue plush marine animal; Lumphy, a valiant stuffed buffalo; and Plastic, a round red ball came to live together at the Girl’s house. Of the three, Stingray arrives first, and in the beginning she is friendless. She doesn’t quite fit in with any of the other toys, and hasn’t yet made her way deep into the Girl’s heart. But this is a story of friendship, after all, and Stingray begins to find her way when, in one of the most moving scenes I’ve read in a while, she and the Girl find Lumphy in a store among hundreds of other toys. The two get along famously, but encounter a problem when Plastic arrives. Plastic brings with her a buoyant curiosity about the world, which eventually leads her to ask some deep questions which prove very distressing to the three. But again, this is a story of friendship, which is ultimately the answer to the question for Stingray, Lumphy, and Plastic.

This is a lovely story told with wit and tenderness. It would make a beautiful family read aloud, being one of those books that can be understood on a number of levels and will be appreciated by young and old alike. It is decorated with soft pencil drawings by Paul O. Zelinsky (I especially appreciated his sympathetic rendition of Bobby Dot, an insufferable stuffed walrus, covered in the Girl’s puke). As far as which book to read first – this from the Author’s Note: “The events in Toys Come Home occur before the events in Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party, but this book was written last. I suspect the stories are best read in the order they were written, rather than chronologically, but I leave the choice to the readers.” As for me, I think I’ll now read Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party, then go back and read Toys Come Home once more. Recommended for all ages.

Posted by: Parry

Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator! By Mo Willems

prkcslog — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:00:57 +0000

Amanda, a sweet little girl, and Alligator, a sweet little stuffed animal, are best friends. Alligator always has a hard time waiting for Amanda when she is not home. These friends like to share surprises with each other such as books and tickles and a great big “boo”. One day Alligator discovers he has a price tag with a cost of only 7 cents and he is disappointed to know he was in the sale bin because no one seemed to want him. Amanda quickly reassures him, “No one wanted to buy you because they knew you were meant to be my best friend.”

After a day at the zoo, Amanda brings home a new surprise – a fluffy stuffed panda. Alligator does not like this surprise. Panda quickly learns that quite a bit of time is spent waiting around for Amanda. Panda does not like all this waiting. Hmm, two bored stuffed animals discover that a new friendship can be the most delightful surprise of all!

Posted by: Wendy

Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

prkcslog — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:18:37 +0000

For a certain type of child, there is nothing better than anything tiny. Tiny books, tiny toys, tiny leaves and flowers. These are the children that tend to have elaborately tended dollhouses–no matter how patchily put together–and shelves full of miniature ‘found’ objects.

Children who like tiny things often like books about tiny creatures. Joining the grand tradition of The Borrowers, The Littles, and myriad others, is Richard Peck’s new book Secrets at Sea.

Peck’s book is part of what I call the ‘Mice in Outfits’ genre (The Rescuers, The Mouse and His Child, The Mousewife — all of which I adore), but he couples that tradition with his own particular sensibility. Secrets at Sea is the story of Helena, the eldest of a (distinguished but recently diminished) family of mice (Louisa, Beatrice and Lamont) who are living in the same Edwardian-era Hudson Valley house as the Upstairs Cranstons, a somewhat vapid family who decide to go to England to give their awkward eldest daughter a chance to catch a husband. The mice — in spite of their fear of water — go along, of course, and while the Upstairs Cranstons’ journey pays glorious dividends, the Downstairs Cranstons’ reaps completely unexpected results.

More like Fair Weather than any of Peck’s more recent books, Secrets at Sea is full of lovely details for both the tiny-oriented (a grand yardstick dinner table, spools for chairs, soup served out of thimbles), and those who love adventurous capers. Even young Titanic enthusiasts might enjoy reading about a non-doomed ocean voyage for a change. Secrets at Sea is recommended highly for all kinds of readers.

Posted by: Sarah

Shout! Shout it Out! by Denise Fleming

prkcslog — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:03:17 +0000

Most children like to yell, and this book encourages children to shout along if they know the answer. The book covers a variety of concepts including counting, the alphabet, colors, animals, and vehicles. The illustrations are bursting with energy, and children will enjoy seeing what the mouse is doing on each page. And of course, shouting along with each page.

Posted by: Liz