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Children's Books Reviews |
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Children's Books Reviews 2008 Current Offerings
The Children's Books Browsing library contains all our past reviews of children's books, a collection of over 250 reviews of children's books posted since October, 2002, chosen by Children's Librarians, Children's Books Sellers and our Editors. We sincerely thank John McMaster, recent gradute ot Carlmont High School, who designed and coded this Browsing Library. Enter the "Children's Books Browsing Library" here .
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Featured Review
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The Black Book of Secrets We recommend without reservation this fine first novel which will appeal to middle readers on up. Set comparably to the late middle ages or early renaissance, Ludlow Finch makes a harrowing escape from crazed parents, stows away on a carriage and comes to a small mountain town of Pagus Parvus where he meets one Joe Sabbidou, the town's new "Pawnbroker of Secrets". Joe pays troubled villagers for their confessions. He hires Ludlow to inscribe the confessions into a great "The Black Book of Secrets". Jeremiah Ratchet is the town's tyrant through usury. He is threatened by Joe's activity and he schemes to destroy both Joe and Ludlow. There is plenty of action as Joe and Ludlow face a showdown with Jeremiah. Ludlow comes to learn of Joe's background and his motives and Ludlow must choose whether or not to accept and follow Joe.
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The Great Doughnut Parade Little things may start something, and that little something may become something big. Billy, happily strutting along with a doughnut tied to his belt, is followed by a hen, then a cat, then a dog, then a girl named Daisy, then the cast of a children's play, and then more and more until there is a huge boisterous parade following him. The action is presented in rhyme, accompanied by water colors of all the raucous excitment.
But Billy simply slips away, and spends the afternoon enjoying his doughnut and dreamily sailing his toy sailboat.
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Millie Waits for the Mail
Toddlers love to way "Boo!". Millie the Cow loves to say "Moo!", in order to scare the mailman. She hides in hilarious places with wildly creative disguises to startle him. The surrounding barnyard animals and even the farmer add to the merriment. Readers will love to find all the visual hilarity of this gem.
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Tuttle's Red Barn Richard Michelson's text and Caldecott Medalist Mary Azarian's woodcuts tell the history of the Tuttle family who have lived on and worked a farm in New Harmpshire since John Tuttle arrived from Dover, England in 1632. Twelve generations of the family have run the farm and have collectively experienced all the major events of Colonial and National American history through to today.
Do take the journey. The story and illustrations move young and old alike.
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For Middle Readers
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Jack Plank Tells Tales
Jack Plank has been "retired" from piracy due to hard times and has settled in a boarding house in Jamaica. Each evening he relates to his fellow boarders his unsuccessful search for a job, unsuccessful because each offer reminds him of a past experience which he relates as a tale. The tales all confirm Natalie Babbitt's mastery of short storytelling (also see her "The Devil's Storybook" (1974). Each tale abounds with deft characterizations and wit. They are especially enatertaining when read aloud.
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid Many readers will know of Kinney's comic strip on Funbrain.com, or of these "comic-novels" (a second one is out now). But in case even a single reader has missed them, we really have to call them to the attention of all.
Take an evening off, sit down, and laugh at Greg Heffley, as he zig-zags his way through a year of middle school. It's as if he's riding the ball through a wild pin ball machine. Believe us, you won't regret sharing the ride.
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Starcross: A Stirring Adventure of Spies, Time Travel and Curious Hats As in "Larklight", the setting is a parody of Victorian England. And, as in "Larklight", the oh so British Empire encompasses the entire solar system rather than the mere Earth.
Art and Myrtle Mumby are back as their mother accepts plans to vacation at an asteroid resort. Fat chance for that. What with the French spies, top hat aliens, the "Moobs" and the complications of time travel, the Mumbys are drawn into a harrowing gambol through space. The imagination of Philip Reeve is a kaleidoscope of drollery. You will have a rollicking good time and plenty of laughs.
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For Pre-Teens and Up
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The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio Lloyd Alexander died this year. This is his last work. Carlo Chuchio is a daydreamer who goes on a quest for treasure. Against advice, he travels the "Road of Golden Dreams" through the East on a perilous journey, guided by a treasure map he found in an old book.
As Carlo travels with his two hired companions, through the demands and challenges of the trek, he finds his dream changing and his self understanding deepening . In telling of the many adventures Carlo experiences, Lloyd Alexander examines many of our human follys and strengths, especially our ability to learn through the appreciation of art and storytelling.
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Wildwood Dancing This book is high romance and fantasy, told by 16 year old Jenica. Jenica and her four sisters live in their Transylvanian estate of Piscul Dracului. On the night of every full moon they don their finest gowns and enter through a secret portal into the Dancing Glade in the Other Kingdom. There they dance the night away with all kinds of enchanting and fey fairy creatures. But their father becomes ill and has to retire to warmer climes. Jenica takes charge of Piscul Dracului but is challenged by Cezar, the sisters' evil and power hungry cousin. He comes to threaten everything Jenica cares for: her sisters, her "pet" frog (which is much more than a frog), the Estate, and the Dancing Kingdom.
You will meet a menagerie of fairies, dwarves, witches and vampires, as Jenica faces great dark forces and must fight for her sanity, rectitude and very survival.
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Middleworld (Jaguar Stones Trilogy Book One) Max Murphy, 14 years old, is scheduled for summer camp while his parents, both archaeologists, leave for a study of the Mayas near San Xavier, Central America. But Max induces the housekeeper, who is Central American, to send him to the housekeeper's uncle who lives in San Xavier. When he arrives, Max learns that his parents have vanished. Max and Lola, a native girl who knows the jungle, seek Max's parents. Through fast paced action, Max learns of smuggling operations and even human sacrifice in the area. He finds that his parents are captives of the Mayan underworld and he faces mortal danger as he tries to save them.
This is the first book in a projected trilogy. It includes several full page illustrations as well as fine line drawings, and as an aside to its action and mystery it includes considerable information about the Mayan culture.
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Thats all for now.
Friends of the Belmont Library
Copyright & Copy 2008 Friends of the Belmont Library. All Rights Reserved.