Outside Dog

Outside Dog
by
Charlotte Pomerantz and Jennifer Plecas, read by Becca Lish
children's fiction, audiocassette

Marisol wants a dog. One day the opportunity presents itself. Grandfather is not happy. Slowly, however, the mutt wins his way into their hearts. The reader does a good job of capturing the "pleading child" sound. Many listeners will find it easy to identify with Marisol from their own experiences.

Some Spanish phrases are thrown in, as the main characters are Hispanic.

The word that came to mind when thinking of this book was "inveigle".

The dog inveigles himself into our hearts.
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http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inveigle

Definition of INVEIGLE
transitive verb
1: to win over by wiles : entice
2: to acquire by ingenuity or flattery : wangle
— in·vei·gle·ment \-gəl-mənt\ noun
— in·vei·gler \-g(ə-)lər\ noun
See inveigle defined for English-language learners »
See inveigle defined for kids »
Examples of INVEIGLE
She inveigled him to write the letter.
We inveigled the information from him.
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Crystal the Snow Fairy

Crystal the Snow Fairy
Rainbow Magic
The Weather Fairies
by
Daisy Meadows and Georgie Ripper
children's fiction, about a 2nd grade reading level

This is the second series of books about the Rainbow Magic Fairies from Scholastic.
In this series Rachel and Kirsty, human girls, must help fairies get some magical feathers back from Jack Frost who is using the magic in the feathers to wreak havoc with the weather.
These are quick and easy reads for girls. Most readers will want to read the whole series, which reminds me to get on hold for the next one in this series - Abigail the Breeze Fairy. Public and school librarians should make sure to buy the whole series. They come as a boxed set, so this is not a problem.

Fancy Nancy: The Dazzling Book Report

Fancy Nancy: The Dazzling Book Report
I Can Read Beginning Reading 1 - Simple sentences for eager new readers
by Jane O'Connor
pictures based on the art of Robin Preiss Glasser
children's fiction ages 4-7

Nancy is excited about writing a book report about Sacajawea. She spends oodles and oodles of time getting just the right picture for the cover, but...
Read it and find out what happens next.
This is another entertaining episode in the life of Fancy Nancy who is the girliest of all girls.
A treat for librarians is the cover showing Nancy thoroughly enjoying a book on Sacajawea at the library. Other children in the background look very happy to be selecting books as well.

Nasreen's Secret School

Nasreen's Secret School
by
Jeanette Winter
children's nonfiction ages 3-6

Nasreen's parents are taken from her home as political prisoners, or maybe they are killed. Nasreen and her grandmother do not know. School has also been banned for girls in her town in Afghanistan. Nasreen falls silent and has nothing to do. One day her grandmother learns about a clandestine school and enrolls Nasreen. Nasreen, through fellowship with other girls, the teacher's caring, and through learning to read, slowly starts to recover from her shocking experience. There is still hope that she might have a bright future.

The story ends like that. Then end was satisfying enough for me as an adult, but my child listeners wanted to know what happened to the parents and what did Nasreen do when she grew up and many other unanswered questions. I had to tell my audience that I didn't know. Maybe some day the real Nasreen will be able to tell her own story freely and openly.

Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire

Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire
by
Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
children's fiction, ages 3-8 (mostly for girls)

I have read a number of Fancy Nancy books so far, and this was my least favorite. Nancy is headed outdoors with her friend to study nature. Nancy is known for doing everything the elaborate, dressy way. The author attempts to show that girls can be girly (sugar and spice) and gardeners. Somehow this book doesn't work for me, however. The author threw in too much trivia and was too pedantic. I think that Nancy having girly adventures shouldn't be bog down with "here is how to identify leaves" and "spiders aren't icky", etc.
I guess she wrote this book because the author likes gardening and nature study, but I just don't buy that Nancy would do some of the things described in this book.

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.

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.

Up, Up, Down

Up, Up, Down
by
Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko
Children's fiction, ages 3-6.
Anna climbs up on furniture. Anna climbs up on everything. Anna climbs a tree and her parents try to get her down. Anna is disobedient and doesn't get punished for it, but this is a funny book and parents may forgive Anna because she makes them laugh. Read this book for the humorous band-aid application at the end.
http://www.band-aid.com/

For more about Band-aids, see "Doctor Dan the Bandage Man" by Helen Gaspard and Corrine Malvern, published by Little Golden Books about 40 or 50 years ago.

Keep Climbing Girls

Keep Climbing Girls
by
Beah E. Richards and R. Gregory Christie
labelled as children's fiction ages 4-8 BUT I DISAGREE.

Sometimes it is a good idea to take a poem and make it into a children's book. This has been done a number of times with success. This time it was NOT successful. This may be a beloved poem from 1951, but the problem with making it into a children's book is that it uses a lot of words that children don't know.
My objections:

First of all, it starts with a really long introduction written for adults. That was my first hint that this might not be a good book for children.

Second of all, it uses these words: profound, confident, ambition, contrition, supposition, consternation, diplomacy, and disdain. My audience was confused. If we had just looked at the pictures and not read the text we probably would have been fine.

Third of all (this is when the person assisting me stopped reading it to the children) an adult threatens to kill a child. We thought we read this wrong and should change the wording, but no. The woman does threaten to kill a child.

If a college professor, or liberated teenager wants to have this book on their shelf, they should feel free, but it really isn't for children.

Apparently School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist all failed to notice these three points when they gave it rave reviews, focusing instead on the positive feminist and civil rights message.