Dewey the Library Cat

Dewey the Library Cat
by
Vicki Myron
juvenile nonfiction
audiobook read by Laura Hamilton
4 hours, 16 minutes

http://www.deweyreadmorebooks.com/

Dewey Readmore Books became one of the world's most famous cats as word spread from Spencer, Iowa around the world about this Working Cat. Dewey was the mascot and publicity department for a small town library for many years (1988-2006). He was affectionate, cute, patient, and everything you would want in a library cat (except for being a finicky eater). Like "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and "All Creatures Great and Small" this book has earned its place in the category of heartwarming books that can be enjoyed by children, young adults, and adults.

Way Back

Way Back
DVD
with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell
based on the book
Long Walk
by
Slavomir Rawicz

This movie is loosely based on the true story of some prisoners who escape from a Stalinist gulag in Siberia and try to make their way to Mongolia. In their journey, they do not end up where they originally intended, but there is one whopper of a story in the telling of where they DO end up. I will try not to give too much of the story away. I am disappointed that there was a note at the very beginning of the credits dedicating the film to the real men who lived the story and in the dedication they give away a major plot point! What were they thinking? Why did they give it away?
So my recommendation is to NOT READ the words at the very beginning.
The warning at the beginning tells why this movie is classified as a PG-13 film. Even with the PG-13 rating I would recommend this movie to Boy and Girl Scouts, Y Guides, Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, etc. because throughout the movie the men are surviving off the land and utilizing all kinds of survival skills. The landscapes are epic and this film left me wanting to know more about Asian geography and natural history - in particular, Asian geography circa 1940's.
If you liked "Into Thin Air" and if you like adventure/outdoorsy films, then this is a film for you.
The National Geographic is one of the parties involved in this film, so you have their endorsement as well.
I recommend this for most public libraries.

Spot's Toys

Spot's Toys
by
Eric Hill
board book
ages 0-4

Spot is a loveable, adorable, and playful puppy. He plays with his alligator and monkey friends until Mama dog tells him it is time for bed. These are books to cuddle up with and fall asleep on.

Spot books are good for vocabulary building.

These sturdy cardboard books would be a good set to give at a baby shower:
Spot's Snowy Day
Spot Loves His Friends
Spot Loves His Mommy
Spot's Toys

Libraries should also consider purchasing Spot DVD's for young viewers.

Boy Who Hated Valentine's Day

Boy Who Hated Valentine's Day
by Sally Whittman and Chaya Burnstein
children's fiction, ages 6-9

Ben is seven years old. This is an age when Valentine's day and mushy stuff is not cool. Ben remembers that last year someone teased him about Valentine's day being for babies and he is NOT going to make that mistake again! He hatches a scheme that doesn't go quite the way he planned it.
This is a good book that elementary school children can relate to. I recommend it for school and public libraries.

Angel Cat Sugar A New Friend

Angel Cat Sugar A New Friend
by
Yuko Shimizu and Ellie O'Ryan
children's fiction
grades 1-2

I did not know until I saw this book at a Scholastic Book Fair that the creator of Hello Kitty had two other characters - Angel Cat Sugar (cat) and Rebecca Bonbon (bulldog).

In this book, Angel Cat Sugar has three fairy friends - Thyme, Basil, and Parsley! They find a homeless snail and attempt to help it get a new home! The snail is dubbed "Cinnamon" and is now their friend! Expect cutesy pictures and many exclamation points!
It is cute. It is fuzzy and warm. I am not so sure that it is biologically sound practice what Angel Cat Sugar does and I don't think a real snail would much appreciate these efforts, but as I said - it is cute.
Here is one line - "He needs a warm, dry house of his own". Since when do snails need warm, dry houses of their own? They live under cold, damp rocks in in moss as far as I recall. They need slime.
I don't recommend this particular Angel Cat Sugar book because of these problems, but I see the appeal of the character. Best wishes Cat Sugar Angel, Sugar Cat Angel, or whatever your name is.

Christmas Gift

Christmas Gift
by
R. William Bennett
children/young adult/adult fiction
This is really fine for anyone ages about 10 and up.

Bennett has written a simple, yet profound, tale of forgiveness. What if, instead of returning cruelty with cruelty someone offers forgiveness and friendship?
Sixth grader Scott is just one of bully Ben's victims. Scott is just an average kid, but he feels bad about yelling at Ben one day. Will Scott take the easy path and be like everyone else. Will he be one of the kids that makes up stories about Ben and his family? Will Scott go on to bully other kids?
This book is brief. Although it is a hardback, it is about the size of a paperback with a slim 135 pages. The lettering is fairly large and the layout is like the average Nicholas Sparks, Richard Paul Evans, Robert James Waller, or Karen Kingsbury "Red Gloves" book.
This book is coming out in time for people to read it and purchase a second copy to give as a "gentle read" Christmas gift to family and friends, but the message and most of the book don't have anything to do with the modern American commercial version of Christmas, so readers should feel free to pick up this book any month of the year.
When I lead a monthly book club each year we looked for a short inspirational book to read for our December discussion since everyone was busy that time of year. This is a good choice for a Christmas time discussion due to its brevity and universal appeal. Although it is written by a man and has two boys as main characters, the message and packaging should appeal to woman and girls as well.

This book was provided for review by the publisher.
http://www.rwilliambennett.com/

Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly

Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly
by
Jane O'Connor
children's fiction
ages 3-8

Nancy wants to go to her friend's birthday party, but her grandparents' wedding anniversary is the same day. Nancy helps Bree prepare for the party, but is sad about missing it. Nancy ends up enjoying the anniversary party and gets to see a butterfly garden, too. Ooh, la, la!

This is another colorful adventure for Nancy, the little girl who loves to dress up and use big (preferably French) words.

Fancy Nancy Pajama Day: I Can Read! Beginning 1 Reading

Fancy Nancy Pajama Day: I Can Read! Beginning 1 Reading
by Jane O'Connor
and pictures based on the art of Robin Preiss Glasser

This Fancy Nancy book continues the girly, fru-fru series of Fancy Nancy books. Apparently the series is taking a bit of a turn to become more homogenized and educational. There are vocabulary words along with the story and it is listed as part of the I Can Read Book series.

I wonder what it feels like to have your pictures taken over by other artists? It says that interior pencils are by Ted Enik and color is by Carolyn Bracken. They do this in comic books and graphic novels, so I guess if the publisher wants to get books out as soon as possible before the popularity fades, this is a way to do it.

In this book Nancy's friend wants to wear matching pajamas. Nancy wants to wear her fancier pj's, however. Later she feels left out because her friend has made a different friend. In the end, though, friendships are restored and Nancy also has a new friend. This series is marketed toward girls exclusively.

Adventures of Max and Pinky: Best Buds

Adventures of Max and Pinky: Best Buds
by
Maxwell Eaton, III
children's fiction
ages 3-7
This is a cartoon book about a boy (Max) and his best friend, a pig (Pinky). I think that Pinky is supposed to be Max's stuffed animal that he uses for pretending (like Christopher Robin and Pooh) but I am not certain. Max is a bald round-headed kid that looks a bit like Charlie Brown. Whatever the author's intentions, this book exhibits light-hearted slapstick little-kid humor.
In the front of the book it says "the illustrations in this book were created using black pen-and-ink with digital coloring". I have seen other books illustrated this way, but none explained it like this one did.
This is not necessarily an educational book, but the author does do things like use color words (red barn, deep blue pond) and repetition (here, there, up, down). English teachers out there should note that he uses the time-honored device of using the same phrase at the beginning and end of the book for opening and closure.
I will definitely be reading more Max and Pinky books because they were fun for me and my 5 and 6 year old audience. I would not be surprised if Nickelodeon, PBS, Dic, or another company picked this up for a children's television series.

Letter to Amy

Letter to Amy
by
Ezra Jack Keats
children's fiction,
ages 3-6

Peter is the main character in more than one Keats book. Peter, a little African American boy, lives in NYC and has simple adventures that are age appropriate.
In this book, Peter has a girl friend. He worries that his boy friends will think he is funny to have a girl as a friend. It is an appealing plot and boys and girls should both enjoy this book.
The illustrations are ripped paper and watercolors. Keats' story is tender and universal. I give bonus points for the use of the dachshund in the background and you can see that a number of books that I have reviewed have featured dachshunds.
It is copyright 1968, but is still timely and relevant.

Arthur's Birthday

Arthur's Birthday
by
Marc Brown
Children's Fiction, ages 3-7.

Arthur wants to have a great party, but one of his friends is having a party the same day. Who will win by having their friends attend the right party? The ending is a bit contrived, but otherwise this is a pretty good book.
Arthur has fans from his PBS television show and Scholastic books.
http://pbskids.org/arthur/
PBS Kids is a great website for educational games. The games require a pretty fast computer and internet connection, however.

Two Bobbies

Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival
by
Kirby Larson, Mary Nethery, and Jean Cassels
Nonfiction, ages 6 - adult.
My library put this in the children's section, but it is one of those books that many adults would enjoy unaccompanied by a child. I would not be surprised if Reader's Digest didn't feature this story in the Drama in Real Life section.
A cat and a dog keep each other alive during the hurricane that decimated New Orleans. Have plenty of Kleenex ready. This is a tearjerker. There are some amazing details that can only be true because they are so bizarre and unexpected.
I am delighted to see that one of the authors was Kirby Larson, whose book "Hattie Big Sky" I greatly enjoyed.
This is a must have book for elementary, junior high, public libraries, and any library in the greater New Orleans metropolitan service area. It should take its place among the great cat and dog books. Put this on the shelf next to "All Creatures Great and Small", "Black Beauty", "Lassie", "Lad", "Listen to Your Kitten Purr" and other great animal books.
Then again, I have mixed up the fiction and nonfiction section of the library, so I should say that at home you could put them on the shelf together. At the library this book will be under Dewey 636 with true animal books.
You can safely recommend this book to even the most conservative home school parent as the animals act like animals (not people) and compassion is emphasized. You also can recommend it to your most liberal animal rights patrons, so this is a win-win book!

I'm Not Scared

I'm Not Scared: My First Reader
by
Kirsten Hall and Joan Holub
Children's Fiction, ages 3-6
Two boys camp out in the back yard. Each says he is not scared (but they are). This is a simple, short book for beginning readers.

My Little Pony: Friends Are Never Far Away!

My Little Pony: Friends Are Never Far Away! Jr. Cine-Manga by Tokyopop

Children's Fiction

Ages 3-6

Cute. Friendly. Girly. Insubstantial. I just read this and can't remember much about it. The Pegasus ponies are shy and the landbound ponies want to be friends. Can their worlds come together? Giggle. Wee! Yes! We all know that it has to have a happy ending.
For its target audience (5 year old girls) this is exactly what they want. This book was not meant for the rest of us.