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Drama, Movie Reviews

Unleashing Mr. Darcy

Drama / Romance 2016 / 84 minutes Rating: 7/10 My favorite movie of all time is a modern-day Mormon-produced Pride and Prejudice update. So, I am up for retellings. Whether you like or loath the Hallmark-produced Unleashing Mr. Darcy will largely depend on if you are too. This twist in the tale this time is that it takes place in the New England dog show circuit. Mr. Darcy is rich, of course, but he's also a dog show judge. And Elizabeth is a school teacher and a dog handler. The Bennet family has largely been excised, though her goofy mom remains. And Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the original, shows up here as his Aunt Violet, every bit as snooty. What I liked about it, was all the thought put into translating the gist of Jane Austen's original into such a foreign setting. I thought it quite clever. What I didn't like about it was some of the acting. The male lead, in particular, is stiff – he got this on his looks, rather than his acting chops, I suspect. Cautions The only caution I can think of would be a brief glimpse of Mr. Darcy as he gets out of a swimming pool. He is shirtless for about a minute and, of course, has a six-pack. That relates to one other caution that would apply to most other Hallmark films: candy, in moderation, is a wonderful thing, but not as something to binge on. We all know that there aren't enough billionaires or royal suitors to go around, and since you are what you eat, too many Hallmark films might have a young teen thinking she's going to have to settle for someone ordinary. But choosing reality over fantasy isn't settling! Conclusion To sum up, this is a clever script, with okay performances, safe for the whole family. There is a sequel, Marrying Mr. Darcy, that might interest some. But because it takes things past the conclusion of Austen's book, there isn't the same clever reworking of her classic. This sequel is a wholly original story, but too much like every other Hallmark story to be at all original. If you liked the actors, then you may like the sequel too – it is another dose of safe viewing. But if, like me, you appreciated the first movie for how it put a new spin on Pride and Prejudice (this time with dogs!), then the sequel won't satisfy. I almost didn't include Unleashing Mr. Darcy's trailer, because it's terrible. The film isn't going to win an Oscar, but it is way better than this makes it look. ...

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Articles, Book Reviews, Children’s picture books

Amy Krouse Rosenthal: the Ginger Rogers of children's lit

Amy Krouse Rosenthal (1965-2017) was a prolific children's picture book author, crafting more than 30 in just a dozen years. Together with illustrator Tom Lichtenheld, who worked with her at least a dozen times, they were called the “Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire of children’s literature.” But that wasn't Rosenthal's only outlet: she made quirky videos, adult books, and, after getting diagnosed with terminal cancer, tried to get her husband a new wife, by publishing an essay, "You May Want to Marry My Husband," in the New York Times just ten days before she died. While she might be best known for her series of unicorn books, I was impressed by what else she had to offer. I've ordered them below from my most to least favorite. RECOMMENDED (19) I Scream! Ice Cream!: A Book of Wordles 2014 /40 pages What are wordles, you might ask? They are, as this book explains, "groups of words that sound exactly the same but mean different things," like "I scream" and "Ice cream." In each instance that follows the first wordle is presented, and then the reader can guess what the soundalike will be, before turning the page to find out. Super fun! Little Miss Big Sis 2015  / 40 pages With just a half dozen words each page, but loads of rhymes, this is a wonderful early reader about the arrival of a new baby in the family, and how his (or her?) Big Sis is ready to step up. Could be a good one to read to prep a Big Sis-to-be. Little Pea (3) 2005 / 30 pages This is the one that started it all, about a little pea that loved to roll, and play with his dad, and hear stories from his mama about what it was like when she was a little pea. But there was one thing he hated: candy. He absolutely hated eating it, but, in a fun, silly twist, if you want to grow up to be a big strong pea, you have to finish all your candy. And his stern parents won't let him have any dessert until he has at least five pieces of candy first. What's for dessert? Pea's favorite: spinach! What a great joke for a pint-sized audience! A sequel, Little Hoot (2009 / 32 pages) plays on this same reversal theme, with a young owl desperately wishing he could go to bed early. But in his house, the rule is, you have to stay up late, because that's what owls do! The third and last in the series, Little Oink (2009 / 32 pages) has a piglet just wishing he could clean up his room, but his parents need him to keep it messy because, after all, they are pigs! All three are available as picture books and also as a board book set. Spoon (3) 2009 / 40 pages Little Spoon is a part of a very big spoon family, and at bedtime he likes nothing better than to hear "the story about his adventurous great-grandmother, who fell in love with a dish and ran off to a distant land." But Spoon is a bit jealous of his friends, Knife and Fork, who seem to live more exciting lives. "Knife is so lucky! He gets to cut, he gets to spread. I never get to cut or spread." Mom Spoon agrees Knife is pretty "spiffy" that way, and Fork, and the Chopsticks too, all "are something else, aren't they?" But it turns out his friends think Spoon is pretty lucky too, for the fun he can have banging on pots, measuring stuff, and diving headfirst into a bowl of ice cream. It's a wonderful, creative lesson, in appreciating both your friends, and all they can do, but appreciating the abilities and opportunities you've been blessed with too. Two sequels are also fun. Chopsticks (2012 / 40 pages) is an inventive tale about how the two of them always work in tandem, until the day one of them breaks and, after a quick surgical intervention by the Glue Bottle, Chopstick #2 has to take some time off to recover. Then Chopstick #1 has to figure out how to contribute on his own. Then, in Straw (2020 / 48 pages), a bendy straw learns that being first isn't always the most important thing. Sometimes, instead of slurping things right up, it's nice to take it slow and savor. This Plus That 2011 / 40 pages Some great math problems in this one, with equations like "1 + 1 = us" and "somersaults + somersaults + somersaults = dizzy." There's also some fun pairs, like, "chalk + sitting = school" versus "chalk + jumping = hopscotch." I read this to my kids as a guessing game: I didn't show them the pictures, but just read the equations and paused on some of them to give them a chance to provide the answer. I'll sometimes make additions to stories as I read them (just to mix things up and keep myself engaged) so when I read "blaming + eye rolling ≠ sincere apology" one daughter asked if I had made an insertion. But nope, it's in the book! Very fun! Duck! Rabbit! 2009 / 32 pages Is it a duck, or is it a rabbit? A back and forth debate is more entertaining than I thought it could be, with the two sides each making a series of pretty compelling points. I wonder if this might be something to inspire a kid to take up drawing, as they see that a picture doesn't even have to be clearly one thing or the other to make it into a picture book! Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons (3) 2005 / 40 pages This is part dictionary, part cookbook, and part lessons for life. Each page begins with a picture of a child taking on some baking task, often helped by a fully-dressed dog, rabbit, frog, or kitten. I'm guessing those might be their stuffies, come to life to give an assist. Each page also starts with a word, and the definition is then the lesson. For example: "Modest means you don't run around telling everyone you make the best cookies, even if you know it to be true." And: "Greedy means taking all the cookies for myself." Each page is worth a pause to consider. And the book ends (of course!) with a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Two sequels, Sugar Cookies: Sweet Little Lessons on Love (2010 / 40 pages) and One Smart Cookie: Bite-Size Life Lessons for the School Years and Beyond (2010 / 40 pages), are every bit as nice, though there is a bit of repetition from one book to the next. Exclamation Mark! 2013 / 56 pages An exclamation mark doesn't fit in with all the periods around him. But when he meets a question mark, he realizes that standing out isn't a bad thing. And he has a special talent for making things exciting! A great book to get kids excited about punctuation! Choo-Choo School 2020 / 34 pages What kind of puns can you come up with if you pretend a train full of cars were actually kids heading to school? Well, the Conductor would lead music class, of course. And the Diner car would make a joke during lunch about how they were now a "chew-chew choo-choo train." Lots more humor that First Graders will appreciate. Friendshape 2015 / 40 pages A square, circle, triangle, and rectangle share lessons about getting along with folks who are a bit different from us. I Wish You More 2015/ 40 pages This is a book of wishes: "I wish you more ups than downs," "I wish you more give than take," and "I wish you more will than hill." The weakness of the book is that it is secular so these wishes, however well-meant, are just sent out into the air. But that doesn't mean the book can't serve as some good inspiration for Christians on what we can bring to our God regarding our friends and neighbors. the OK book 2007 / 36 pages The gimmick here is that if you turn the world "OK" sideways it can look like a stick person. From page to page we see this "okay" person (boy? girl? it's not clear, and doesn't really matter) explaining how, while they like to try a lot of different things, "I'm not great at all of them, but I enjoy them just the same." It's an encouragement to enjoy doing, even when you aren't all that good, just because that's fun, and in part because that's how you'll find out what you are good at. On the Spot 2017 / 32 pages Reusable stickers can be placed in specific spots throughout the book to change the story. So, for example, a child could place a pig in a certain spot so an old favorite nursery rhyme now goes, "Twinkle, twinkle, little pig..." As my daughter put it, it's kind of a reusable Mad-Lib. So, a fun book, but those reusable stickers would get quickly lost in a school library setting. That means this could make for a good gift, but not a good school purchase. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons 2008 / 40 pages A sequel to her Cookies: Bite-Size Lessons for Life, recommended above, this is more of the same, with a Christmas cookie recipe in the back instead. The reason it got bumped down to "Take It or Leave It" is its handling of Santa. The definition reads, "Believe means I might never see it happen, but he will come and eat . I just know it." I'm not a big fan of encouraging our kids to believe in a never-seen, amazingly powerful entity that knows when you've been bad or good, but who is not God, but made up. I think that would quite logically breed distrust when we would later reveal that, no, Santa isn't actually real... but God still is. It's only one of the 40 pages (or sort of two) so it's not a big deal, especially if your kids already know Santa isn't real. Yes Day! 2009 / 40 pages On one day of the year, this boy's parents have agreed to say yes to whatever he ask. Pizza for breakfast? Yes. Can I clean my room tomorrow instead? Yes. Can we get ice cream? Yes indeed. Even when the boy asks if they can have a food fight, his parents say yes (though they take it outside). Aside from the food fight, the requests here are of a modest sort (staying up late, piggyback, etc.) so the only reason this got bumped down here is that this could inspire some kids to think they should have a yes day too, but with less reasonable requests. It's still a fun read, and I think parents might be inspired to, every now and again (and maybe without even telling your kids) set aside a day in which you and your spouse agree to grant every reasonable request your kids ask. Could be interesting! The Wonder Book 2010 / 80 pages All sorts of amazing poems, palindromes, and short stories fill page after page. The only reason it got bumped down here is that there is an instance of potty humor ("Tinkle, Tinkle, in the sea. Don't look under while I pee.") and a weird Dracula-looking kid shows up a couple of times. A couple more reasons to check it out include a great poem about brats, and all those palindromes. Moo-Moo, I Love You! 2020 /40 pages A cow explains that her love for you is as big as a "moo-se." A couple dozen more moo jokes fill out the book. It is funny, but the humor is repetitive, making it one of those books that I sure wouldn't want to have to read again and again. Plant a Kiss 2011 / 36 pages A girl plants a kiss and when a strange and wonderful tree-like thing sprouts, she is willing to share its fruit with everyone. You might think that sharing the fruit of a kissing tree might involve some actual kissing. But nope. Only one kiss in this book. An odd one, that I don't really get (other than the overall message that sharing is caring). One of Those Days 2006 / 32 pages If your kid is having "one of those days" days, this might be a book you could read with them. It highlights how all sorts of days are those sorts of days including "your best friend acting like your beast friend day," "favorite pants too short day" and "annoying sibling day." With a parent along for the ride, this could be a lesson in empathy and sympathy. Without a parent, reading about all this bad stuff happening might not help, fostering whining rather than seeing difficulties for the small problems they actually are. Dear Girl 2017 / 40 pages This a book of encouragements, perhaps intended to be given by a mother to her daughter. Overall, it is pretty good, with insightful thoughts like, ""Find people like you. Find people unlike you." and "You know what's really boring? When people say how bored they are." But one of the encouragements is something I would discourage: "there are no rules about what to wear, or how to cut your hair." So, one to read with your kid and discuss. DON'T BOTHER Bedtime for Mommy takes the same sort of reversal idea we saw in Little Oink, Little Hoot, and Little Pea, but now has a little girl putting her mommy to bed, including getting her bathed. For me, that crosses the line from funny to weird. Uni the Unicorn knows that little girls are real, no matter what anyone else says. In an age when people really do think that believing can make something so, this idea of a unicorn believing in a girl, and a girl believing in a unicorn, and them being right because they believed so strong, just isn't an idea I want to pitch to my kids. This original story spawned a whole series (10 more so far) of Uni books, and while the original was at least clever, these others are not. Al Pha's Bet is an alphabet book, and while a little less boring than most such books, is boring still. It also has "Al Pha" repeatedly saying "Gee" as he names the seventh letter in the alphabet. Awake Beautiful Child is sort of an alphabet book too, though it focuses on only the first three letters. The three words on each page begin with A, then B, and finally C, as in "All begins cheerily" and "Amusing breakfast chatter." An odd artistic style doesn't improve things. Page after page of lame moo jokes aren't reason enough to overlook the problematic title of Holy Cow, I Sure Do Love You! And a staring contest with an owl isn't reason enough to overlook minced oaths like "Dang" and "Jeepers" in Don’t Blink! There is no "d9" it, Wumbers is very clever, with words "cre8ed" with numbers. But two pages of clueless angels, sitting on clouds wondering where they are ("I think it is 7" says one, to which the other replies, "I suppose it is our f8") pitches the popular and wrong notion that people become angels when we die. That's Me Loving You promises something to a child that isn't true: that their loved ones will never really be far from them. "That shimmering star? That's me winking at you." "That inviting ocean? That's me waving at you." This notion directs kids to look to their imagination for what only God can give them. God actually is everywhere they go, and He can always be right nearby. So this book misdirects kids. It's Not Fair is just one whine after another. Some of them are funny whines – "Why can't books go on and on? No more endings, only Once Upons..." – but these whines end with "It's not fair." There aren't many kids who'd benefit from hearing or reading "It's not fair" a dozen times....

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Articles, Book Reviews, Children’s picture books

Mo Willems: so many to choose from!

Mo Willems might be the new Dr. Seuss, simply the most prolific and best known picture book author of this generation. With 70 (or so) children's titles to his name, there's always another Mo Willems book to read. Some of them are, of course, better than others, but even when we just pick the very best, we're left with almost 50 to choose from! Willems has garnered three Caldecott Honors, two of them for his Knuffle Bunny series, and one for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, but those might not even be his best books! The favorites in our house, by far, are his many Elephant and Piggie books. I've ordered his books from our family's most, to least, favorite in three categories: Recommended, Take It or Leave It, and Don't Bother. RECOMMENDED (51) Today I Will Fly (25) 2007 / 64 pages In this, the first of Willems' 25-book Elephant and Piggie series, Piggie decides she is going to fly. The ever practical Gerald the Elephant takes it upon himself to explain that Piggie will not fly. "You will not fly today. You will not fly tomorrow. You will not fly next week. YOU WILL NEVER FLY!" To which an unflustered Piggie replies, "I will try." First she just pretends to fly, flapping as she goes. But Gerald, killjoy Gerald, informs her that "You need help." She refuses to even hear the discouragement, and actually recruits help: she gets a dog to scare her into flying, and leaps all the way up to the top of Gerald's head. But again, Gerald puts a damper on her accomplishment. "You did not fly. You jumped."  But Piggie keeps trying. And eventually, with a little help indeed – a pelican hoists her up on a string – she does fly, much to Gerald's amazement: "You are flying!" But this time it is Piggie's turn to do the correcting: "I am not flying. I am getting help." And the perfect conclusion to the book: a still astonished Gerald decides, "Tomorrow, I will fly!" Piggie's reply? To give a blank stare right at the reader because she knows, and we know, that unless a pterodactyl shows up, that ain't happening! Then she wishes Gerald, "Good luck." It's quiet comic genius that, from about the time my first girl was about three years old, our whole family has just loved. I think Willems was inspired by the classic comic duo of Abbott and Costello. Piggie is the more exuberant, expressive Costello-like of the two friends. Gerald the Elephant is more strait-laced and even uptight at times (though he can get bouncy and loud, too) like Abbott. It's the perfect combo! When I’d bring a new Elephant and Piggie book home from the library, oftentimes my littlest would squeal with delight – before having kids, I always thought "squeal with delight" was just an expression, but now I know better. There's so much to love here that I'm going to resort to bullet points: The drawings are attractive and energetic, but also simple. Young artists inspired to attempt to copy them will be able to do so with some success. With only a half dozen or so words per page, they make for great early readers, with dad or mom taking one of the duo's lines, and your First Grader reading the other's. Most teach simple moral lessons without being obvious about it. For example, in Listen to My Trumpet, Piggie’s performance is so bad that Elephant doesn’t know quite how to tell her. So he praises her for what he can: her trumpet is shiny, and she can play it loud, and she holds it very well. But when Piggie insists on hearing his opinion of her playing, he is honest. Fortunately, it turns out that Piggie wasn’t trying to play music, but was instead trying to sound like an elephant, so it all works out in the end. What a great example of honesty and tactfulness! With mostly just two main characters, dads will be able to do the voices easily enough. With 25 titles in the series, dad won't have to go batty reading the same beloved book again and again. Each book can serve as a script for your kids to do Piggie and Gerald plays! They are recommended for 3-9, but nostalgia has even our tween and teen kids looking at them now and again. For short reviews of each individual title you can click here but otherwise, all you need is a list of the titles to start checking them out from your local library. They are all equally as good as any other, so I've listed them here in the order they were published: Today I Will Fly!, My Friend is Sad, I Am Invited to a Party!, There Is a Bird On Your Head!, I Love My New Toy!, I Will Surprise My Friend!, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Watch Me Throw the Ball!, Elephants Cannot Dance!, Pigs Make Me Sneeze!,I Am Going!, Can I Play Too?, We Are in a Book!, I Broke My Trunk!, Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Happy Pig Day!, Listen to My Trumpet!, Let’s Go for a Drive!, A Big Guy Took My Ball!, I’m a Frog!, My New Friend Is So Fun!, Waiting Is Not Easy!, I Will Take a Nap!, I Really Like Slop! and The Thank You Book. Each story is 50+ pages, and while they come in softcover, if you are buying them I'd go for more durable hardcovers, because these will be read again and again. And the whole series has now been collected in 5 “biggie” books for a pretty thrifty price. These really are fantastic! Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (8) 2003 / 40 pages In the very first of Mo Willems' Pigeon books, a bus driver asks readers not to let Pigeon drive his bus. The problem is, Pigeon isn't going to make it easy on us. He begs and pleads and sulks – turns out driving a bus is something he's always been desperate to do! Now, a sulky main character might not seem like the best ingredient for a great book, but what makes this a keeper is the role child readers have to take on. They have to tell him "no!" again and again! While the Pigeon is drawn with only a few simple lines, Willems manages to make him incredibly expressive – this is one excitable bird. Dad and mom will have a fun time mimicking Pigeon's angst. And his bargaining is going to strike most kids as pretty familiar: “I never get to do anything!” “What’s the big deal?” “I’ll be your best friend!” “No fair!” “I bet your mom would let me.” While Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is the first in the series, my own favorite, and the one I think will be most appreciated by all parents, is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. The bus driver is back, asking us for our help to make sure Pigeon goes to bed on time. And Pigeon is back, pleading for "just five more minutes." And the readers are back, telling Pigeon no, no, no! That’s an important lesson for any child to learn – that pleading isn't going to get them anywhere – and this is a fun way for them to learn it. It also gives parents some useful shorthand when your kids start their own can’t-we-stay-up-5-more-minutes? pleas. I've told my girls: "Hold on now, you're starting to sound like Pigeon." There are 8 Pigeon books really worth reading, and if you want a short review of each you can click here. I'll list them here in the order of my most to least favorite: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!, The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, The Pigeon Needs a Bath!, The Pigeon Has to Go to School!, and The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! With all these sequels comes a warning. While Willems’ Elephant & Piggie series can be enjoyed with or without mom and dad’s involvement, there is a real sense in which these Pigeon books should be rated PG for Parental Guidance. A somewhat bratty bird teaching kids how not to behave is quite the useful tool so long as a parent is alongside to make sure their kids understand we are actually laughing at Pigeon’s ridiculous behavior, and are not looking to copy it. There are four other Pigeon books that didn't make the recommended list, for reason you can read about further on. Knuffle Bunny: a Cautionary Tale (3) 2004 / 36 pages When a toddler who can’t talk yet loses her stuffed “knuffle bunny” at the laundromat, she tries whatever she can to explain it to dad. Kids will love the silly, loud baby talk. Dutch parents will appreciate the Netherlands as a setting for book three. The books’ striking look comes from Willems’ choice to use sepia-toned photographs for the backgrounds, and colorful cartoons for the characters. If the baby seems a bit bratty in the first book, the girl she grows up to be by book three is thoughtful indeed. In Knuffle Bunny Too Trixie has grown up some and takes her bunny to school only to discover another girl has one too. And when they argue over how to say “knuffle” (is the “k” silent or not?) the teacher confiscates both bunnies, returning them only when they head for home. But what do both girls discover that night? They have the wrong bunny! But, they both have pretty special dads, who ride to the rescue. A great sequel to the original, and a third in the series, Knuffle Bunny Free, brings together one of the most satisfying conclusions you’ll find to any trilogy! The Frustrating Book! (3) 2022 / 82 pages This is a very large, very fun book starring a host of squirrels and one duck (though he is called “Flappy Squirrel”). Lots of goofy puns, and 4 separate stories loosely strung together make this an easier read for Grade 1, but the sheer size of the book will make them feel a sense of accomplishment too. Funniest bit is when Zoom Squirrel goes to a booth offering feelings, and he asks the two squirrels there to give him a feeling he’s never felt before. The pair ask him if he’s ever felt disappointment before. No, he answers, and he’s quite excited to give it a try. But then they tell him they can’t disappoint him now. He’ll need to book a “disappointment appointment” for later. That leaves Zoom Squirrel feeling something he can’t quite put a finger on, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. That same sort of goofy humor continues on to the end. Very fun. A couple more in this Unlimited Squirrels series are also quite fun – Guess What (2021), and I Lost My Tooth (2018). But not every title is as good. Who is the Mystery Reader? and I Want to Sleep under the Stars have been demoted down below to the "Take It or Leave It" and "Not Recommended" categories, respectively. Edwina: the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct 2006 / 36 pages Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie is a little boy with a big name who is angry that no one will admit that their town’s favorite dinosaur, Edwina, isn’t actually real, because, after all, dinosaurs are extinct! Goofy story, with an indeterminate moral: is it that the facts don’t care about Reginald’s feelings? I don’t know that the book is that deep. It might just be goofy. But it is fun. With a dinosaur featured, I was wondering if there would be evolutionary propaganda, and thankfully there is not. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs 2012 / 36 pages In this retelling of the classic, the three dinosaurs totally aren’t trying to get Goldilocks to stuff herself full of chocolate pudding “like one of those delicious chocolate-filled-little-girl-bonbons (which, by the way, are totally not the favorite thing in the whole world for hungry Dinosaurs).” A clever take that kids familiar with the original will love! Time to Say “Please”! 2005 / 36 pages A helpful narrator, and a throng of mice, help the reader learn that if you “really really want something, don’t just grab it” but instead find a “big person” and “please say please.” Children will learn other polite terms like “Excuse me,” “Sorry” and “thank you.” Because 2019 / 36 pages Co-authored with Amber Ren, this is a celebration of all that’s involved in playing orchestral music. Because Ludwig van Beethoven made his music, Franz Schubert was inspired to make his own. Each two-page spread has another “because” moment like that, including the girl herself heading to the concert only because her uncle had a cold so the girl’s aunt took her instead. And, because of what she heard, she went on to write her own music. A wonderful circle of becauses! Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator 2011 / 70 pages When Amanda is away at the library getting books, her alligator is not all that patient about waiting. He paces. He fiddles with his tail. But Amanda is worth the wait! When Amanda surprises him with a big “Boo!” he wants to surprise her too, but realizes it can’t be a “Boo!” too. So the cute little guy puts on his literal thinking cap, eventually thinking up a tickle attack. It’s a cute book, with 6.5 “surprising stories” within! City Dog, Country Frog 2010 / 56 pages An energetic city hound finds freedom when, at the start of Spring, he’s taken out to the wide open spaces of the country. There he meets a frog who tells the dog that he was just waiting around for a friend, and with a playful smile, he adds, “But you’ll do.” Together they play Country Frog games. When Summer arrives, it is now the dog’s turn, and they play City Dog games. Come Fall, frog is tuckered, and instead of running around, he asks if they could just hang out together remembering the fun they’ve had. As the snow ushers in Winter, the dog can’t find his flippered friend. Adult readers will know why – how long do frogs live? – though I was rather hoping he was just hibernating somewhere under the snow. Come Spring, dog sets out after him to find frog again, waiting on their rock for his friend's arrival. No frog. But a squirrel comes by and asks what dog is doing. “Waiting for a friend” he replies sadly. The book's last line reads: “Then he smiled a froggy smile and said… But you’ll do.” A little melancholy, but also just a reminder of the impact of friendship and of being friendly. Leonardo the Terrible Monster (2) 2005 / 42 pages This is a goofy story about a monster that couldn’t scare anyone, not even the most scaredy-cat kid in the world, Sam. But maybe, if Leonardo couldn’t be a terrible monster, he could become a wonderful friend. The sequel, Sam and the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World, has Sam scared by everything… except his friend Leonardo the Terrible Monster. What a quirk! But then he meets Kerry, who is also a scaredy-cat and both of them are terrified of each other. Until they get over it. Ridiculous and fun. The Story of Diva and Flea 2017 / 70 pages What we have here is an adventurous Parisian boy cat, who has been everywhere except inside a home, meeting a homebound girl dog who never gets out at all. Encouragement from one to the other has them both trying new things. Fun and sweet. Are You Small? (2) 2024 / 30 pages The child reading this might be small, but the book is smaller still. And you know what's really small? A hamster. It's way smaller than this book. And a baby tooth is smaller still, though, as Mo Willems notes, "it's a BIG deal when it comes out). Smaller and smaller we go, to hydrogen atoms, electrons, and even quarks. An intriguing look at size and the miniscule. The perfect compliment is Willems' Are You Big? which goes all the way through storms, to continents, to the moon, then the Earth, and onward and bigger until it reaches galaxy clusters! Big Frog Can’t Fit In: A Pop-Out Book 2009 / 12 pages Frog is “sad” so what can her friends do? It turns out they can stand by her. This is a super fun pop-up book about Frog who is so big she doesn't even fit in this book – she pops right out as you turn the first page! Not fitting in makes Frog sad, so what can she do? Can she make herself smaller? Or more bendable? Nope, of course not. But her friends have an idea. How about making the book bigger, and on the last page, the whole thing pops out, twice as big as before, leaving plenty of room for a happy Frog. Pop-out books don't last in any sort of library setting, so this isn't one to buy for your school. But if you have a careful child, it will be a wonder to them to see how all this origami-paper folding works out! TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT These are books you may not want to buy, but might still want to check out from the library. Nanette’s Baguette 2016 / 36 pages Nanette is a little froggy girl sent for the very first time to bring home the family’s baguette. On the way to the bakery she passes her friends Georgette, Suzette, and Bret (with his clarinet), but neither they, nor all the wonderful rhymes throughout, will stop Nanette from getting her baguette. There is a problem though: on the way home Nanette samples her baguette! And before she knows it, there isn’t any baguette left. She feels very bad, and what comes next is why this could be a great book for parents or a teacher to read with children, but it’s also why this wouldn’t be a great one for them to read on their own. Nanette begins to fret at how her mom will be upset, so she considers running away to Tibet, by jet. But when she returns home her mom gives her a hug, and they try again, though this time with mom holding the baguette. So, repentance and forgiveness, which parents can highlight and explore. But also a child considering running away rather than facing the music. Yes, Nanette doesn’t choose the jet to Tibet, but the young target audience will need a little more than that to understand what a bad idea running away really is. So two thumbs up for adults to read to kids, and two thumbs down for kids to read on their own. Who Is the Mystery Reader? 2019 / 96 pages Who Is the Mystery Reader? is another fun "Unlimited Squirrels" title. This time the squirrels are struggling to figure out what a sign says. Fortunately “the Mystery Reader” arrives just in time to help – it’s Wink Squirrel, but now wearing a red mask, cape, and underpants to hide his identity. It’s good silly fun, but the four uses of the word “underpants” it’s going to get kids tittering for the wrong reasons, and that got this demoted. In addition, the squirrels investigate the origin of writing for a couple of pages and I suspect their info might have some old earth dating assumptions. Be the Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of The Pigeon 2023 / 80 pages This is intended more for adults, and only worth a borrow from the library. There are a few laughs, like “You only get one chance to make a twenty-third impression.” Pigeon Loves Things That Go (2) 2005 / 12 pages This is one of Willems' “smidgen of Pigeon” board books, and the problem I have with it, and the other, The Pigeon Has Feelings Too, is that I just don’t get the target audience. The stories are too short to stand on their own – you'd have to have read the other full-size Pigeon books to know what's going on here. But if a kid is old enough to appreciate the picture book versions, are they really going to want to read an abridged board book? Cat the Cat, Who is that? (4) 2010 / 24 pages The simple rhythms of Mo Willems’ "Cat the Cat" series might really appeal to some kids. But the repetition – Cat the Cat meets Mouse the Mouse, then Duck the Duck, and Fish the Fish – will drive some parents a little batty, especially if this becomes a regular request. The repetition continues in three sequels: Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly (which might be the most interesting book in the series, but that is not high praise), What’s Your Sound, Hound the Hound? and Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep! DON’T BOTHER These are better left on the library or store shelf. Done in the style of an old silent movie with title cards, That is NOT a Good Idea! has a fox inviting a goose to dinner. And as they head towards his house, with the soup pot already furiously boiling, a half dozen chicks repeatedly interject “That is not a good idea!” And as the innocent and decidedly plump goose’s peril becomes ever more urgent, so too do the chicks' warnings… until finally it happens! But there is a twist, the chicks weren't actually warning the goose – they were warning the fox! He gets bonked on the head and put in the pot and fed to the chicks, who, it turns out, are goose chicks. It's a fun turnabout, but a little too grim for such a cutesy book. A Busy Creature’s Day Eating! is an alphabet book, with a little creature eating through the alphabet. He starts with apples, berries, cereal, doughnuts, and eggs, but has some problems with F. But as a creature, eating furniture is an option. Could have been a cute one, but the midway point, P is for potty, because, of course, he has eaten himself sick, which eventually leads on to V for “vomit.” Wilbur is a Naked Mole Rat who doesn’t like being naked - he likes to wear clothes. And that bothers all the other naked mole rats who declare “Naked Mole Rats don’t wear clothes!” Willems thinks this is funny, because naked mole rats are a real creature. But they are not a real creature that the tittering children this book is intended for need to find out about at their age. That's why Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed ranks right up there with “Captain Underpants” for my least favorite children’s books. Our kids benefited from a book about going potty, so I am not principally opposed to a title like Time to Pee. But I do think it could be done without the naked backside pictures (albeit in cartoon style) that occur here. A board book of sorts, Welcome: A Mo Willems Guide for New Arrivals is meant to be read by a parent to their very small child. It struck me as a book that is too childish for adults – they’ll be bored – and with not enough interesting pictures for babies who I think will be bored too. Add to that Willems’ line that a baby is a result of luck, and it's easy to give this a miss. Kind of like a shapes book for babies, Opposites Abstract is instead a series of abstract paintings about concepts like “mechanical” vs. “organic” and “intentional” vs. “accidental.” I don't get the intended audience: this is too abstract for little kids, and too boring for older kids. I Want to Sleep Under the Stars is yet another fun "Unlimited Squirrels" book, but it has a mention of how stars can be billions of years old. It’s a brief bit, and if this was for older kids I might have recommended it and just noted there was a need for discernment on this point. But because it is for Grade 1, and there are so many other great books (even so many other great Mo Willems books) we might as well give this one a miss. Parents can give a miss to Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, which pretends that Christmas is all about Santa and, just to make it even easier to bypass, that Easter is about eggs and bunnies. I'll also mention that Mo Willems authored a couple of books that he didn't intend for children but which a kid with a library card might think to check out. Don’t Pigeonhole Me! Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook includes both preliminary sketches for his many children’s books, and cartoon nudity and drunkenness. You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons, about his one-year travel odyssey, depicted with one cartoon a day, is also completely unsuitable for children....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Secret Coders

by Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes 2015-2018 / 92-110 pages each x 6 volumes Hopper is at a new school and gets off to a rocky start: her classes are boring, the other students are ignoring her, and when she does get their attention, it almost results in a fight. During lunch period she ends up sitting alone... until a bird comes flutter down to sit in front of her. A feathered friend is better than no friend at all, right? That's what Hopper figures, at least until it blinks one of its four eyes! Turns out the bird is robot, and it's blinking in binary. Another student, Eni, spots the odd bird and gives Hopper, and us, a lesson in how binary works. Then the two of them discover a turtle robot designed to aid the janitor, that seems programmable, if only you know how. The janitor turns out to be a super genius, and there is a whole secret subterranean system underneath the school, but accessible only to those who know how to program the turtle. That gets us to the goal of this book. This is a series that my kids read, just for fun, but it's actually educational fiction – the authors' goal is to teach kids some of the basic logic that's involved in computer programming. And as Hopper and Eni  get better at coding simple computer programs to make the turtle robot move and work, readers are learning too. Cautions In the first book we learn that the teacher that Hopper has the biggest difficulty with – and speaks disrespectfully to – is actually her mom. We also find out that Hopper's mom and dad had a big fight six months ago, her dad left, and they haven't seen him since. It seems like he walked out on his family, though we later learn that he was kidnapped and has been stuck in a two-dimensional system since then. Thankfully Hopper does realize she needs to apologize to her mom. But her initial rudeness, and a few conversations between Hopper and her mom about whose fault it is that dad is gone, mean this isn't one for under 12s. Language concerns would be limited to a few jerk-faces, a gosh and a geez. Conclusion There are points at which the story is sacrificed for the sake of the education – each time Eni and Hopper program a turtle we all have to think through it slowly and carefully. But a nefarious principal, his rugby team henchmen, a green-skinned villain and his army of toothy robot ducks, and a budding romance between Hopper and Eni, keep things interesting. The math and logic involved in programming mean this will be a bit much for kids under 12. They might still read it just for the story, but to read these for the fun and skip over the education is to miss the point of the series. Any teen with a bent towards math and logic will find these an entertaining introduction to some basic computer code thinking. ...

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Bluffton

My summer with Buster Keaton by Matt Phelan 2013 / 240 pages Before there were silent films, there was vaudeville. Pay your nickel and you could sit in on a dozen acts: jugglers, comedians, contortionists, animal trainers, tightrope actors, and more. In 1908, vaudeville came to Bluffton, Michigan, a troop of actors looking to take their summer break by the lake. And Henry can't get enough of hanging out with the whole lot of them, especially a boy his own age, Buster Keaton. Henry wants to learn how Buster can take a licking in his on-stage slapstick act and bounce right up again, but all Buster wants to do is play baseball. While Henry is fictional, Buster Keaton is not. He was one of the silent film era's biggest comedic stars, maybe not quite as well known as Charlie Chaplin, but twice as funny. This account of his early years is maybe as much supposition as fact, accurate in the broad overview if not in any of the details. Bluffton is an intriguing read for the slice of life it presents from more than 100 years past. Back then entertainment wasn't available at the ready in a person's back pocket, so when it came to your town, that was an event. The Keaton family act was physical, like the films Buster made later. He always knew how to pratfall with the best of them, and without getting hurt. And that the ol' "Stone Face Keaton" never cracks a smile makes it all the funnier. The story is told over the course of three summers – Henry and Buster become the best of friends, a girl comes between them, at least for a bit, and then, finally, life takes them in very different directions. Cautions The language concerns are limited to "Jumping Jehoshaphat," "Holy smokes," and "Holy cow." Also worth a note is that the physical nature of the Keaton family act had an early version of Child Protective Services investigating the family for child abuse. While no charges were laid, it is a sober subject – child abuse – even if it is only touched on in passing. That's why this isn't for young readers, though the size, and quiet pacing, means they aren't likely to pick it up anyways. Conclusion For the right person this will be a quick read. It's 240 pages but not too many words on each, and so much is shown rather than told. It is for the history buff, especially if anyone who likes older films. Keaton was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1920s and 30s,  and we get to see what shaped him early on. While Bluffton is a beautifully done book, it is not one with universal appeal – I think it fascinating, but I know what only a select few will agree....

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Book Reviews, Children’s fiction

In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen

by Cyntia Rylant 1998 / 56 pages Three nine-year-old cousins are staying with their Aunt Lucy, and wondering what sort of fun they can cook up. When Lily comes up with the idea of a cookie company, Rosie and Tess are quickly on board. And all it takes to convince their Aunt is the promise of some free Cinamon Crinkles, her favorite. It's this enthusiasm, right from the start, that most appeals in this "Cobble Street Cousins" series. All 6 books are low on the drama – no fights or conflict – but high on the creativity, with the three girls always eager to build on each other's ideas. Lily is the writer, so she composes a poem to help them advertise their cookies: Cookies to your door, Who could ask for more, Aunt Lucy's girls will bake for you Cinnamon Crinkles, sweet and true Call us for a Baker's dozen We'll bring them over with no fussin! This is just the first of Lily's works, and while not her best (one of the others prompted my youngest to blurt out, "That was a really good poem!") it gets the word out. And then the orders start a'coming! Their first delivery is to a young man stuck on his couch with his leg in a cast. The outgoing Tess just has to know how it happened, and before long the girls have learned the man's name (Michael) and his occupation (he studies plants), and they find out that he has visited their aunt's flower shop but been too shy to really talk with her. That, of course, gets the girls thinking, and before long they've figured out a way to have the two of them meet: the girls will have a performance and invite the neighborhood! There are 5 others in this Cobble Street Cousins series, all just as sweet. They are, in order: In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen A Little Shopping Special Gifts Some Good News Summer Party Wedding Flowers In #4, the girls start their own newspaper, which got my middlest doing so as well. She described the whole series as "inspiring." Cautions The one caution concerns the cousins' parents, or more specifically, their absence. Whether it is Peter Pan, Frozen, or The Green Ember, a common theme in kids' stories is for the parents to be conveniently out of the way. That's because it will be harder for children to have big adventures if their big folk are still around to keep them safe. Sometimes the absence is because the parents are dead (Pollyanna) or desperate times have required desperate measures (WWII bombings in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). But in the Cobble Street Cousins series, the three girls are with their aunt because their parents are professional dancers doing a year-long tour. My kids didn't notice that this was a lame reason to leave your kids behind for a year... but I wanted them to notice because this is the "career over kids" misplaced priority that the world is so often pitching. To disarm it, we need to be able to recognize it. In addition, Tess only has a mom, and her dad's complete absence – no explanation is offered as to whether her dad is dead, or her parents are divorced – is odd. Conclusion While these will only appeal to girls (girls read boy books, but a boy wouldn't dare be caught reading a book about three girl cousins!), they most certainly will appeal. And at between 56 and 72 pages long, these are a nice digestible size for Grades 2 through 4. I'll also note that our family really enjoyed them as a bedtime read – the Cobble Street cousins are gentle, happy girls, who will inspire pleasant dreams! Cyntia Rylant has also authored the absolutely wonderful "Mr. Putter and Tabby" series, which, if you haven't checked it out already, you really should. Find my review here....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Lost & Found

Based on a True Story by Mei Yu 2024 / 124 pages Cartoonist and Chinese-Canadian Mei Yu shares the mostly true story of her own immigration experience as a young girl. On arriving in Canada, she is sent to school to sink or swim and there is a lot of floundering early on. Her classmates' dialogue, spoken in English which she doesn't yet understand, is shown in a green font, while her Chinese conversations, with her parents and with her stuffed animal, Kitty Paws, are shown in the typical black font. The large amounts of green in the first half of the book gives readers a good idea as to just how confusing it all is for Mei Yu. This could actually have been a pretty brutal book, what with how scary it is for Mei Yu to be in a country where she doesn't understand anything. But for comic relief we have her stuffie, Kitty Paws, coming to life to provide her companionship, and to narrate parts of the story. The brightly colored artwork, in its vaguely Manga, far-from-realistic-style, also helps ease the tension. There's also some comic confusion that lightens things, such as when Mei Yu eats her very first sandwich with chopsticks, instead of holding it with her hands! We do have to wait quite a while for our hero to finally start feeling comfortable – it takes all the way to page 100 before she begins to be able to communicate with her classmates. But there is a very happy ending, with Mei Yu's artistic skills helping to bridge the gap between the two languages. Cautions There is a very little bit of potty humor, but not done simply to be naughty. In one early miscue, Mei Yu's "pee levels" as her stuffie Kitty Paws puts it, are nearing the emergency mark, so she's desperate to go to the washroom. But in her hurry she ends up in the boy's bathroom, and then, when a boy comes in, she thinks he's made the mistake, so she can't figure out why her classmates are laughing at her. Conclusion This is a book every school library should get for how effectively it shows what it is like to be an outsider – this is a book that can help build some empathy. The target audience is elementary, but this would be an interesting read for anyone Grade 2 on into high school. For older kids, Shaun Tan's The Arrival offers a very different comic book immigration account....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Peter and Ernesto: A tale of two sloths

by Graham Annable 2018 / 128 pages As this tale begins, two sloth friends are "cloud picturing" looking up in the sky for whatever shapes they can find: "Rabbit," "Bear," "Ooh that one looks a little bit like a weasel." It's a fun game, but it unsettles the bigger sloth, Ernesto. "I like this piece of sky," he tells his friend Peter, "But I must go... this is only one piece of sky, Peter. I want to see ALL of the sky! I must take a trip." Now, if you know a little bit about sloths, you'll understand why Peter is shocked. Sloths don't get out much, and what about the bears and lions? Peter is sure it must be dangerous!. But the Ernesto is determined to go. And with hardly a glance backward he is off. And his adventure starts almost immediately, as he ends up crossing the ocean on the back of a friendly blue whale named Louie. Peter is happy to stay behind... except that he is worried about his friend. So, some time later, he slowly, cautiously, and loyally sets out, determined to rescue Ernesto from whatever dangers are out there. He gets help too, from a friendly and encouraging parrot. More animals are encountered, and with exception of one slightly scary polar bear, all of them become new friends to the adventuring sloths. That makes this a gentle tale that kids in Grade One through Four will really enjoy, especially because at more than 100 pages, it is long enough to really savor.  There are two more in the series so far. In Peter & Ernesto: The Lost Sloths the friends’ tree gets taken out by a hurricane so they brave the forest to find a new home. And in Peter & Ernesto: Sloths in the Night the sloths set out to find a dragon. That might sound a little scary, but rest assured, this is another fun, gentle tale!...

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Beak & Ally: unlikely friends

by Norm Feuti 2021 / 64 pages If you're like me and can't get enough of comic duos, here's another odd couple pairing you'll want to get to know. Ally is an alligator that appreciates his alone time, and Beak is a Yellow-Bellied Fee Boo bird, new to the swamp, and eager to make friends. She's also blissfully unaware that predators and prey don't usually spend quality time together, so she makes her introductions by way of landing on Ally's snout. Ally isn't the most receptive, and is even quite annoyed by Beak's "Fee Boo" song. But when a Long-Bill Party Pooper kicks Beak out of her new nest, it's Ally to the rescue. This is light-hearted fun, and not really meant as anything more. That said, it could be used by a parent to talk about what it means to be open to friendship with folks who don't share exactly the same interests. There are three more in the series so far. In Bedtime Jitters Beak has trouble sleeping, because of all the weird sounds that happen in the swamp at night. Thankfully, Ally is there to explain that the Zump Zump Monster was just a bullfrog, and the Chatter Ghosts are just cicadas, and so on. They do get a little excitement when their night-time excursion leads them to some humans about to dump a load of trash in the swamp, but Beak and Ally make their own scary sounds and scare them away. In The Big Storm Beak senses a storm is coming and gets her nest ready. Ally is a little skeptical, but as the winds pick up, he starts helping smaller animals make it to cover, and when he later discovers his own home ruined, these neighbors pitch in to help – this is a sweet feel-good story. Finally, in Snow Birds, vacationing birds take advantage of Beak's good nature, and it is up to Ally to set some ground rules, and clear up the misunderstanding. The only caution for the series would a language concern in The Big Storm, where Beak says, "Oh my gosh." This would be a wonderful series for Grades 2 though 4....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Ant Story

by Jay Hosler 2024 / 158 pages This is as fascinating and creepy a comic about ants as you're likely to read. Ant Story is narrated by Rubi, an ant different from all the others in the colony in that she can talk. She also differs in that she is drawn rather "cartoony" while they are all quite realistic. It makes for a lonely existence, but being a talking ant means that Rubi can give us quite the inside look at her ant colony. As Rubi gives us the tour, we learn that there are about a "gajillion" ways for an ant to die, and we're shown one right off – an ant that Rubi was having a one-sided conversation with is suddenly slurped up by a "death tongue." Or, as we might describe it, a chameleon ate it. There is a bit of grim humor throughout, which will likely appeal to boys, with the main example involving Rubi and a friend. When Rubi meets what seems to be another talking ant – the first she's ever encountered! – she eventually discovers it isn't actually a talking ant, but is instead a talking parasitic phorid flea (named Miranda) that is growing and developing in the brain of this, now mostly "zombified," ant! That's grim, but realistically grim – these critters do exist, and do lay their eggs in ants, for them to grow and eventually burst out of. But I skipped ahead. Before we discover that Miranda is a phorid, and not just another talking ant, Rubi explains all sorts of ant basics, and we get to learn right along with Miranda. That makes this quite the educational journey. Cautions While the science, entertainingly told, is the reason to get this comic, it is that grim reality that makes for some cautions too. The parasitic phorid, and the predators Rubi and Miranda both evade, will raise questions which many younger readers may not know how to deal with, like: "If God created everything good at the start, why are so many predators so seemingly well designed to kill?" This secular book doesn't offer any answer, but we know it's due to Man's Fall into Sin. But to some, particularly this book's younger target audience, that general answer might not seem to adequately account for the impressive design behind these killing machines. Death via something uncontrolled like a volcanic explosion seems easier to understand. That fits with the brokenness that came with sin – the volcano has broken loose! But precision engineering in murderous parasites is the very opposite of brokenness, so... what's with that? Thus this might not be a book for a tween or early teen reader, though it is one that a student in Grade 11 and 12 should certainly be able to contend with before leaving the protective environment of our school. Some answers on this front can be found here: Why did God make viruses? Did God create parasites? If your school library doesn't have any resources addressing the problem of parasites, then it should get something like Answers in Genesis's The New Answer Book (Vol. 1, 2, and 3). Another caution concerns Jay Hosler's previous book about bees, which pushes evolution, and is not worth getting. Conclusion This is an absolutely fascinating read that will appeal to many a science-minded student. But the sometimes grim topic matter, and the complex theological issues that are tangentially touched on, mean this is one for high school and up....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Maker Comics: Survive in the Outdoors

by Mike Lawrence 2021  / 123 pages When mom and dad go off on a trip on their ownsome, Sophia and Alonso are driven to their grandpa's to spend the weekend fishing with him. Neither of them is wild about it, but thankfully they aren't bratty about it either: they do love their Grandpa, or Abuelito as they call him. When the kids get to their grandpa's house, it turns out the old man has a few tricks up his sleeve to build up enthusiasm for their outdoor expedition the next day: he gets them both doing a couple of fun projects. The first project has Sophia and Alonso building their own "buddy burner" – a candle of sorts that can be used as a handy fire starter, or even as a small camp stove in a pinch. To make it they have to melt wax and pour it around a cardboard spiral they cut out of a box. There are 8 projects in total, all described in detail so readers, with some parental supervision, can try them too. Some can only be done when you are actually out in the woods, but others can be practiced closer to home. Build a buddy burner Create your own compass Learn how to fish Start a campfire Cook a fish Learn some first aid basics Learn water purification basics Build a shelter After they get out in the great outdoors, their Abuelito twists his ankle, and they are forced to stay in the woods for the night and put these last three lessons to use. This is a survival 101 text disguised as a comic book, and author Mike Lawrence has done a good job of it – boys will be intrigued. Boys will also like a required bit of potty humor. To survive in the woods, you do need to learn how to do a #2 without a potty. Thankfully grandpa is up to the task of teaching how to do this right. I never knew there were so many different ways you can squat! The topic could have gotten distasteful easily enough, but this was done well. Cautions Cautions are limited to the other entries in this Maker Comics series. We liked Draw a Comic but there is definitely a woke edge to some of these others. So these two get two thumbs up, but the series does not. Conclusion Buy this one for your 10 to 12-year-old son, but only if you plan to put the lessons to use. Otherwise, it would be too much of a tease. All in all, a very fun, and very instructive introduction to surviving in the outdoors....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Stealing Home

by J. Torres and David Namisato 2021 / 112 pages During World War II, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Canada rounded up Japanese Canadians living on the coast and shipped them away to abandoned mining towns further in the interior. To add to the horror, this "temporary measure" came with devastating permanent consequences: their homes and most of their goods were sold, and the money was used to build and maintain their internment camps. So when the war ended and they were released, these families couldn't go home. They had to start from nothing. So how could such a sad chapter of Canadian history get a gentle enough treatment to be suitable for this Grade-4-and-up graphic novel? By focusing on how at least some of these Japanese Canadians managed to overcome their mistreatment. For Sandy Saito, baseball was a big help. Even before the war, anyone of Asian descent didn't exactly fit in with the predominantly white population of Canada. But on the baseball diamond, it didn't matter what others thought; all that mattered was how you played. As we're introduced to Sandy we find out this young boy is a huge fan of the Vancouver Asahi, a local baseball team made up of Japanese Canadians. Because Asahi players were smaller than their opponents, they couldn't play bash ball; their game wasn't about hitting more home runs than the opposition. They, instead, played "brain ball" with steals and bunts. And it worked so well they won the league championship 11 of the previous 24 years. When Sandy and his family were sent away, he took his baseball glove, as did others. They had no insulation in their cabins, and families had to share space. There were outhouses instead of bathrooms. And they couldn't leave. But they could play baseball. I don't have any cautions to offer. The only critique I can think of is that in making this gentle enough for elementary students, the authors might have made a little too little of the horrible abuse that happened. My own fourth grader read this, and thought it was quite good, but it didn't disturb her like it did me. That's probably because I was reading between the lines, and she was just taking it as it was told on the page. As to audience, she didn't know if it would grab a fourth-grade boy's attention. I think she might be on to something. Even though baseball is central to the story, this isn't a sports book. We don't see any great plays, or tight games, so it doesn't have that sort of boyish pull. But for elementary-and-up kids with any interest in history, this will be a very intriguing read. And for adults like me, who never knew about these events, this is a must-read. If we want our government to act with restraint in the future, we need to remember the times when it didn't do so in the past. We need to know, and we need to share that history, lest in forgetting it, we have to live through it again. For a more brutal account of how the US treated Japanese Americans during the war, you'll want to read We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration....

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Articles, Book Reviews, Children’s picture books

Keiko Kasza: All about cartoon critters

Author and illustrator Keiko Kasza was born in Japan and moved to the US for college only to meet and marry an American and then become American herself. On her website she shares the fun factoid that while her last name sounds Japanese, it actually comes from her husband, whose family has Hungarian roots. Kasza loves to people her stories with adorable furry and feathered friends, and illustrates in a somewhat cartoonish style, coloring characters in bright colors and surrounding them with plenty of bright white space. There's often a gentle moral shared, and of the sort that'd we'd appreciate, like: adoption is good, try to be brave, grandparents have lessons to share, and sometimes two disagreeing friends may discover they have both been a little wrong and a little right. There's a sense of playfulness to her work, perhaps because some of her books come off a little like a joke, the build-up leading to a satisfying punchline. And, at 32 pages each (and shorter for the board book), they are all pretty quick reads, which means you can share two or three at a time with your little ones. Sadly, some of her titles aren't readily available, so I've noted the ones that are easier to get by including a cover picture. But all twelve of the recommendations are worth putting in some effort to track down. RECOMMENDED (12) Silly Goose's Big Story (2012) Goose is so good at making up stories, his friends always ask him for more. But when the roles get handed out, his friends start noticing that Goose always gets the hero role. And they want a turn too. Goose isn't about to do that. Then a wolf interrupts things, swoops up Goose, and tells him, "So you're the hero, huh? More like a hero sandwich to me!" Goose can't get away. But he can tell a story. So Goose tells the most outlandish story about a wolf-eating monster that lives in the area. And who should be coming through the woods right then, but the monster himself! Wolf runs off, and we discover the monster is nothing more than Goose's three friends stacked atop each other. Goose gives them thanks, and notes that they are the real heroes! It's a sweet story, where friends fight, but figure it out... with some help from a wolf. :) Ready for Anything! (2009) Duck wants to go on a picnic, but Raccoon wonders, what if killer bees, or a terrible storm, or even a ferocious dragon make an appearance? In contrast, Duck is a glass-half-full kind of guy, and has his own what ifs to share: what if butterflies pass by, and what if the weather is warm and the breeze just strong enough to blow a kite? Raccoon agrees to go, but brings loads of gear – he’s ready for anything! – and actually saves the day when Duck forgets to bring their food. I loved that both friends learn a lesson: Raccoon learns not to obsess about the bad, and Duck learns that it’s not crazy to prepare for bad stuff, because it does sometimes happen. The Dog Who Cried Wolf (2005) When Moka's owner reads a book about wolves, Moka starts getting jealous. He wishes he could be a wolf. So the next day he takes off for the mountains. The only caution for the book concerns his celebration: "He ran. He jumped. He danced. And he peed where he wanted." That is, however, the only bit of potty humor. And soon after celebrating his freedom Moka realizes it isn't all that it is cracked up to be. He is soon very hungry, and he can't catch his dinner. Then, when he meets a pack of real wolves, Moka realizes that he never understood how good he had it back home. When he runs back, he's met at the gate by his master, her arms wide open to hug him – this could have been titled "The Prodigal Dog"! The Mightiest (2003) A lion, bear, and elephant happen upon a crown with an inscription that says it is for the mightiest. To figure out how should get it, they take turns trying to scare an old lady. Each, in turn, manages to "scare the daylights out of" the old lady. But then the three of them get scared themselves when a giant comes along and scoops them all up. "Help!" they all cry, and who should rescue them but the little old lady. She is the giant's mama, and since he's sure scared to disobey her, isn't she the mightiest of this whole lot? My Lucky Day (2003) A hungry wolf thinks it must be his lucky day when a delicious piglet, looking for his friend rabbit, knocks on the door. But as the wolf’s dinner prep begins, the piglet notes “I’m filthy. Shouldn’t you wash me first?” And so the wolf sets out to collect wood, start a fire, draw the water and give the piglet a wonderful scrub. As they head back to the kitchen the piglet notes, he’s quite small, and wouldn’t he be more delicious if the wolf fattened him up. Yes, the wolf agrees, and he picks tomatoes, cooks spaghetti, bakes cookies, etc. Piglet ends up having such a wonderful time that he thinks it must be his lucky day. And the wolf gets so tuckered, the piglet easily makes his escape. There is a sequel, My Lucky Birthday (2013), that's almost its match, marred by one use of “gosh.” Don’t Laugh, Joe! (1997) Joe is a young possum who can’t help but giggle. That’s fun for all his friends, but his mom is worried that it might give him away when danger comes – after all, possums evade danger by playing dead, and no predator is going to believe a laughing possum is dead. But with a little help from a grumpy bear, he figures it out… and helps the grumpy bear see the funny side of things too. A Mother for Choco (1996) A little bird looking for a mother finds a giraffe that’s the right color… but she doesn’t have wings. A penguin mother has wings, but doesn’t have Choco’s round cheeks. And so the hunt goes on. Finally she meets mother bear, who looks nothing like Choco, but wants to hug and kiss her like a mom would. And they decide that’s what matters. Choco heads home with the bear, and discovers she has other children that also don’t look like her: a pig, a crocodile, and a hippo. I think the point of this is to celebrate adoption, and it does a good job (though I would have liked it more if dad bear had shown up). Grandpa Toad’s Secrets (1995) On a walk in the forest, Grandpa toad shares with his little grandson three secrets to dealing with danger. The first is to be brave, and when a snake jumps out to eat them, Grandpa puts his advice into action. He puffs himself up, until he’s twice his normal size and shoos the snake away. His second piece of advice? Be smart! When a huge snapping turtle tries to eat them, Grandpa tells the turtle about an even tastier snack that just slithered by only moments before. Before he can give his third piece of advice, a monster grabs him. Thankfully, little grandson has been listening, and uses the first two tips to mount a very brave and very smart rescue of his dear ol’ grandpappy. A very fun story! When the Elephant Walks (1990) A scared elephant scares a bear, who in turn scares a crocodile, and so on, until we have a running raccoon accidentally scaring a mouse. Will it all stop with the mouse? Who would be scared by a mouse? Well... an elephant of course! So round we go once more. This board book is clever, but it is very short, taking just a minute to read. The Pig’s Picnic (1988) Mr. Pig wants to ask Miss Pig out for a picnic, and on the way to her house, he meets three friends, who all want to help him look his very best. Fox loans the pig his bushy tail, while Lion gives his hair, and Zebra shares his stripes. But with Mr. Pig now looking so very different, Miss Pig slams the door on him. And when he comes back looking like himself, she is happy to go on a picnic with him, and eager to tell him about the ugly monster that had visited that morning. The moral of the story is to be yourself, not someone else. The Wolf’s Chicken Stew (1987) A wolf anticipates eating a wonderful chicken stew. But before pouncing on the chicken, he leaves gifts of 100 pancakes, followed by 100 doughnuts, then a 100-pound cake, all in an effort to fatten the chicken up. When he finally thinks it’s time to pounce, he goes to her house only to discover a grateful brood of 100 chicks who have been enjoying his cooking. The newly minted “Uncle Wolf” gratefully receives their 100 kisses. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT (1) Badger’s Fancy Meal (2007) Badger has plenty to eat in his hole, but wants something fancy. So he goes after a mole, rat, and rabbit, all of them escaping in turn by diving into the hole he just left…where they find what, in their eyes at least, is a fancy feast just waiting for them. When the Badger finally returns to his den he finds his food gone. All that’s left is a note, signed by three critters: “Sorry for dropping by uninvited. A nasty badger was chasing us and we had nowhere else to hide. The apples, worms and roots were delicious.” The bad guy gets what he deserves, which is good. But the reason I didn’t rate this higher is because as parents we also need to teach our children that we should be thankful that God is not giving us what we deserve. DON’T BOTHER (3) Finders, Keepers! (2015) A little squirrel in a bright red hat finds a big acorn and celebrates with a shout of “Finders Keepers.” He buries it for later, marking the spot with his hat, which is later found by a bird, who thinks it would make for a great nest and takes his turn at declaring “Finders Keepers.” And on it goes. This is a light-hearted tale but only because it completely ignores that finders keeping leads to losers weeping. We don't want our kids living out the moral of this story: instead of being keepers, finders should try to be returners. Dorothy and Mikey (2000) Two hippopotamus best friends share three stories here, all three of which center around fights. In the second, Dorothy pulls a trick on Mikey because he's being all braggadocios about how much better he is at their contests. She challenges him to a contest of standing on one leg with eyes closed to see who can do it longer. But once they start, she goes home and enjoys a nice cool lemonade while Mike continues standing on one leg in the hot sun for hours, thinking she is there too. This is just returning evil for evil, which God doesn't want us to do (1 Pet. 3:9). The Rat and the Tiger (1993) A little rat is best friends with a big tiger who isn’t always looking out for his little friend. For example, when they play cowboys, Tiger always gets to be the good guy, and Rat has to be the bad guy. After a lot of this, Rat gets fed up and won’t be friends with Tiger until Tiger gets a taste of his own treatment. But while Tiger was thoughtless, Rat treats Tiger badly on purpose. This is one to give a miss because as much as the world preaches it, we don’t want our kids to ever believe two wrongs make a right.  ...

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey

by Nick Bertozzi 2014 / 125 pages Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was obsessed with reaching the South Pole. He tried to be the first to get there, setting out on two expeditions that fell short when harsh conditions drove them back. Ultimately he was beaten to the Pole by a Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, who made it there in December of 1911. But if Shackleton couldn't be the first to the Pole, then he was determined to be the first to traverse the Antarctic from one side to the other. With this ambitious goal in mind, he set out with his crew on August 1, 1914. Shackleton would fail this time too, but in such a spectacular and heroic manner that the tale of his failure has been retold again and again in countless books and several documentaries. His ship sunk, his sled dogs were killed to be eaten for food, and his crew was stranded on an icepack that was constantly breaking up, the only solid ground being an island 100 miles away across the open water. Yet, somehow, Shackleton and his crew all made it home alive, more than 2 years after they left. Nick Bertozzi's graphic novel is one of the latest and certainly one of the greatest additions to the Shackleton canon. At times humorous – it includes a toga party and a stowaway who readily accepts that should food be in short supply he will be the first eaten – and gripping throughout. Bertozzi presents Shackleton as a man who would risk much, but who wouldn't throw away his men's lives to complete this goal. As obsessed as he was with the Pole, Shackleton was more obsessed about his men's well-being and he was determined to do whatever it took to get them back home. Cautions This does have some language concerns, but doesn't take God's Name in vain. "Damn" or "damned" occurs about a half dozen times, and also notable is the use of the word "bloody" which I understand is quite offensive among the British (but doesn't seem so bad to me) – it is used more than a dozen times. Conclusion I'd recommend this for any teens who might have a history project to do. They might not find it as gripping as the latest Marvel movie, but this is a pretty rollicking tale, and especially if they keep in mind that this is true, it really could grip them. Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey will also appeal to any adults who aren't embarrassed at the thought of being seen reading a comic....

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Book Reviews, Graphic novels

Little Robot

by Ben Hatke 136 pages / 2015 This is one of those little-girl-meets-little-robot, little-girl-loses-little-robot, little-girl-kicks-some-big-robot-tushy-to-save-little-robot stories. What sets it apart from all the others is that the first 26 pages are entirely wordless, and there isn't much talking the rest of the way either. The little girl, it turns out, is quite the amateur mechanic, so when she comes across an abandoned box and discovers a robot inside, she sets out to get it running. And she gets a little frightened when it does come to "life." This little girl is also quite lonely, so once she overcomes her fear, she becomes convinced this is going to be her new friend. However (insert ominious music here) she isn't the only one interested in the little robot! His manufacturer has noticed he's missing, and has sent a big bad robot on a search and recover mission. And this thing is massive – a semi-truck-sized beast that looks like it could eat trees! When it swallows the little robot, it's up to the girl, and some other new-found robot friends, to outwit the big robot bully and free her little buddy. Cautions At one point the big bad robot also swallows a poor defenceless kitty, but never fear, the fuzzball isn't chewed up – it's just inside, waiting to be rescued. The only other caution would be the notion of robots as people. Kids' stories have all sorts of anthropomorphism – cats can have hats, rabbits have swords, and trees might even walk – so is it a big deal if robots get this treatment too? No, unless kids get too much of it. No one believes cats, rabbits, or trees could actually become people, but they are saying that about robots today. The world misunderstands mankind as simply "meat robots," and from there, it isn't much of a leap to think robots could one day become "metal people." But we are more than our meat - we are body and soul, and no amount of hardware or software will ever engraft a soul into a robot. And that's a point that might be worth sharing with our kids. Conclusion The protagonist of the story usually gives you a good gauge of the target audience, and as this one is a little girl, girls would certainly be among those interested. But it's also got robots, and robots hunting robots, which will appeal to the boys. And as a mostly wordless comic, it will also have some appeal for early readers. It has a bit of tension, which could be a bit much for some in Grade 1, but for most in Grades 1 through 5, this will be a real treat....

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Family, Movie Reviews

My friend Flicka

Family 1943 / 89 minutes Rating: 7/10 All Ken wants is a colt of his own, and seeing as his dad raises horses, that doesn't seem an unreasonable ambition. But all Ken's father wants is for his son to start using his head, and he's not sure when or if that's ever going to happen. The boy's fifth-grade report card is impressive in the worst possible way – Ken managed to get a zero in English. He daydreamed his way right through the hour-long test and never even got started. So it's against his better judgment that stern poppa does indeed give his underachieving son his choice of a colt. But dad is left shaking his head once again when his son picks Flicka, a colt from the most "loco" mare on the ranch – Ken has picked a colt that may not even be tameable! And shortly after getting picked, Flicka proves just as wild as the father feared, running straight into a barbed wire fence. There is a silver lining – the injured colt needs attention, and Ken shows himself both willing and able. Might this daydreaming boy be on the way to becoming a young man? Cautions Parents will want to know that one of the horses, a wild mare named Rocket (Flicka's mom), dies suddenly midway through the film. I was surprised – I figured the horse was just stunned, and even reassured our kids it would recover. But nope. This was shot in World War II so I think the times may have resulted in kids then that were made of a little sterner stuff, so one horse getting killed might have been no big deal to them. But it might be a bit of something to some of our sensitive ten-and-under kids, who have grown up on children's fare where the peril never results in anything permanent. Rocket's death makes Flicka's own brush with death – at one point dad gives the order to put him down – much scarier than it otherwise would have been. Shucks, it seems like there's no guarantees in this movie about who is going to make it to the end. But parents can reassure their kidlings that Flicka will indeed make it. Language concerns are limited to a few "doggone it" and "gee whiz"s. Conclusion One modern-day reviewer celebrated this as a "great movie for kids with no... sex, drugs or cursing." It is that. But it is also an older film that doesn't have the frenetic pacing of most of today's kids' stuff. That means it might test some children's attention spans, but that could be a very good thing. I'd suggest it for 10 and over, but I'm not quite sure whether its hundreds of horses might make this a great one for horse-crazy girls, or whether the death of Rocket might mean they'd be the worst possible audience. I'll also note that in our family of five, three quite liked it, one fell asleep, and one was quite distraught over poor Rocket. So, if you're looking for a sure-fire bet for family movie night, this might not be it. But if you want something from a more decent time, this could fit the bill. It's full of characters with character, whether that's a stern but loving dad, a compassionate capable mom, respectful ranch hands, or even the son, a kid who isn't measuring up but wants to. Check out a brief clip below. ...

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Articles, Book Reviews, Children’s picture books

Mr Putter & Tabby: 25 sweet stories

by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Arthur Howard 44 pages / 1994-2016 It's always fun to find a children's book that is interesting enough for parents to read repeatedly without getting too bored. And it is an absolute treasure when you can find an entire series of such books! Cynthia Rylant's Mr. Putter and Tabby books – 25 in all – are exactly that sort. Mr. Putter is an older retired man with an older, quite sedentary cat named Tabby. And next door, they have a wonderful neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, who has a "good" dog named Zeke. They go on the sort of adventures that older people do – a boat ride, a cooking class, painting the porch – and their two pets help liven things up. These are quiet, sweet stories that will have you and your child smiling throughout. My wife and I enjoyed reading them to our then three-year-old, who was only disappointed with one story, but that was because I told her it was the one "where Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry finally get married." She was very sad to discover I was just joking – this perfect couple hasn't yet become an official couple. We are still hoping, though! I would recommend these for the 3-9 year-old age group. They are great books for parents to read to both pre-school and even elementary-age children because parents and children will enjoy them. And they are very fun books for children who are just learning to read to tackle by themselves. I've included short reviews of all 25 titles. There's no real order to them, except maybe the first two. Those would be best to read in order at the start. I would highly recommend the whole series, with just one caution. Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train has this elderly couple flouting a "no pets" rule – not the best example in a book for young children – but that is the exception to a series that's full of charm and warmth. 1. Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea Mr. Putter has some wonderful English muffins he would love to share, but no one to share them with. And when he goes to the pet store looking for a cat, all he finds are kittens, far too full of energy. But when he visits the animal shelter, Mr. Putter finds a cat who's certainly not overly energetic. Tabby's joints creak, her fur is thinning, and she seems a bit deaf in one ear... just like Mr. Putter! It's a wonderful match! 2. Mr. Putter and Tabby Walk the Dog This marks the first appearance of Mr. Putter's wonderful neighbor Mrs. Teaberry. When she slips on a kiwi (the fruit, not the bird) and twists her ankle, soft-hearted Mr. Putter quickly volunteers to walk Mrs. Teaberry's dog, Zeke. But Zeke is no model dog – for Mr. Putter he is a nightmare! At least until Mr. Putter and Zeke have a man-to-dog talk! 3. Mr. Putter and Tabby Bake the Cake Mrs. Teaberry inexplicably loves fruitcake. Or, at least, Mr. Putter finds it inexplicable. For Christmas, Mr. Putter decides he wants to make her a cake that won't hurt her foot if she drops it. But he has never made a cake before! Another sweet story about this wonderful elderly couple. 4. Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears Mr. Putter loves Fall because that's when he can pick the juicy pears from his tree and make pear jelly. But this year Mr. Putter's cranky legs aren't cooperating – he can't make it up his ladder to pick them. But that isn't enough to stop this inventive senior. Mr. Putter remembers how, as a kid, he used a slingshot to knock things down. He fashions his sling, takes careful aim at his pear tree, and gives it a go. It turns out, however, that his slingshot is much more powerful than he thought, and Mr. Putter spends the next several hours launching apples high, high, high into the air, until they disappear over his house. Great fun... though it does nothing to get his pears down. And it leaves him without any apples too! Fortunately, Mrs. Teaberry comes to the rescue. 5. Mr. Putter and Tabby Row the Boat On this very hot summer day, Mr. Putter figures out a great way to stay cool. He takes Tabby, and his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry, and her good dog Zeke, out on the lake. And on an island in the middle, they eat their lunch and he and Mrs. Teaberry share "tall tales" from their lives. This is the first book that had me hoping the author would soon write "Mr. Putter & Tabby Pop the Question." 6. Mr. Putter and Tabby Fly the Plane  Mr. Putter may be old, but he still loves toys (even though he knows he isn't supposed to anymore). In this adventure, Mr. Putter and Tabby enjoy flying a radio-controlled toy plane... and give it to someone who enjoys it even more. 7. Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train What could be better than going on a train ride? The only problem, it turns out, is that trains don't allow pets. But this rule is bypassed when Mr. Putter backs Zeke into a backpack, and Mrs. Teaberry carries Tabby on the train in a picnic basket. One caution: This focuses on how to cleverly get around rules. So, if I was getting a dozen of this series for my school library, I'd give this one a miss. But I might still take it out of my public library and then, while reading it to my girls, teach them that even such wonderful old folks can misstep now and again. 8. Mr. Putter and Tabby Toot the Horn Mrs. Teaberry decides that since she and Mr. Putter like music so much, they should be in a band. But what sort of band can they be in, since neither knows how to play an instrument? 9. Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch Mr. Putter's porch is looking a little shabby. But when he gets out the pink paint, a squirrel decides he might want to help. Soon little pink paw prints are everywhere! Fortunately, Mr. Putter has a wonderful neighbor, Mrs. Teaberry, who is happy to help him clean up the mess. 10. Mr. Putter and Tabby Feed the Fish Mr. Putter and Tabby both love visiting the fish store. But when Mr. Putter brings three goldfish home, Tabby starts having troubles – he can't stop watching them! However Mrs. Teaberry is once again able to help. How nice it is for Mr. Putter and Tabby to have such a wonderful neighbor! 11. Mr. Putter and Tabby Catch the Cold "When Mr. Putter was a boy, he had almost liked colds. He always got spoiled." But now that he's old, it's not good to have a cold – there's no one to spoil him! Or is there? Mrs. Teaberry and her good dog Zeke make sure that this is "the best cold Mr. Putter ever caught." 12. Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup Mr. Putter and Tabby both love soup, but there always seems to be something stopping them from making it: either they don't have the onions, or the beans, or the macaroni. And then, when they finally have all the ingredients, their trusty stove decides not to work. But no worries – Mrs. Teaberry would be happy to let them use her stove. And, of course, Zeke won't be a bother, right? One caution offered: Mr. Putter says "Jiminy!" at one point, which some regard as a mild expletive. 13. Mr. Putter and Tabby Write the Book When a snowstorm keeps him indoors, Mr. Putter decides to become a mystery writer. He soon discovers there is a lot of preparation involved in getting ready to write – snacks don't just fix themselves! When Mr. Putter's writing strays from mysteries and towards the many good things he sees all around him, Mr. Putter is a bit discouraged... until Mrs. Teaberry cheers him up! 14. Mr. Putter and Tabby Make a Wish With a shock, Mr. Putter realizes that today is his birthday, and while he thinks he's too old for cake, candles, and presents, he still wants a celebration. So he calls up Mrs. Teaberry. She is happy to come over... but she first needs to do some chores. While Mr. Putter waits, increasingly impatient, Mrs. Teaberry is preparing a surprise! One caution offered: Mr. Putter says, "Good heavens!" 15. Mr. Putter and Tabby Spin the Yarn Mrs. Teaberry is a very good neighbor and also a cook and a baker who loves to share her culinary creations with Mr. Putter. But Mr. Putter has started to wonder if he's a good neighbor – what does he do for her? So he decides to do something nice by serving tea to Mrs. Teaberry's knitting club. But being a good neighbor turns out to be quite a bit harder than Mr. Putter thought! 16. Mr. Putter and Tabby See the Stars Mrs. Teaberry likes to feed Mr. Putter. And Mr. Putter likes to be fed by Mrs. Teaberry. But one night he so enjoys himself that he doesn't notice just how many of her jelly rolls he has eaten. Later that night he does notice – his grumbling tummy won't let him sleep. So he and Tabby go for a walk in their neighborhood. And who do they meet? Mrs. Teaberry! It seems her good dog Zeke also had too many jelly rolls, and his tummy wouldn't let him sleep either. Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry tell each other "stories in the moonlight. They told secrets. They make each other laugh." This is another sweet, simple story that will have you rooting for Mr. Putter to get down on one arthritic knee. 17. Mr. Putter and Tabby Run the Race With Mrs. Teaberry's encouragement, Mr. Putter enters a seniors' race. And, with the help of Mrs. Teaberry's good dog Zeke, Mr. Putter runs quite a race! 18. Mr. Putter and Tabby Spill the Beans Mrs. Teaberry is very good at coming up with new things for her and Mr. Putter to do. Of course, sometimes these new things don't work out. But they are always an adventure. This time around Mrs. Teaberry wants the two of them to take a cooking class: one hundred ways to cook beans! To Mr. Putter this doesn't sound like it will be much of an adventure. "But he wanted to make Mrs. Teaberry happy." Fortunately, Tabby and Zeke are able to turn this into an adventure after all. 19. Mr. Putter and Tabby Clear the Decks Mr. Putter thinks that Mrs. Teaberry is a genius when she decides they should have an adventure on a sightseeing boat. But as much as Mr. Putter likes the boat, Zeke likes it even more. When he decides he doesn't want to leave, it is up to the boat's captain to talk Mrs. Teaberry's good dog into letting go of the mast. 20. Mr. Putter and Tabby Ring the Bell Mr. Putter gets all nostalgic about school and arranges to visit a first-grade classroom. And Tabby and Zeke arrange to make this a very memorable visit! 21. Mr. Putter and Tabby Dance the Dance Mr. Putter may have two left feet, but Mrs. Teaberry thinks he is a wonder! I wonder when he is going to ask her to marry him! 22. Mr. Putter and Tabby Drop the Ball Mr. Putter decides that, as fun as napping is, they really need to take up a sport. He finds his old baseball glove and calls up Mrs. Teaberry, who knows just the right team to join, where one of the players is 100 years old! No one is very fast... except Zeke. Oh, Zeke, put down the ball! 23. Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page Mr. Putter loves to read out loud, and Tabby loves to listen. When the library invites patrons to come "Read aloud to your pet at Story Time" Mr. Putter decides to go. But he makes a mistake. He tells Mrs. Teaberry. She loves new things, so she wants to do it too. But Zeke in a library? 24. Mr. Putter and Tabby Smell the Roses Mrs. Teaberry's birthday is just around the corner: what can Mr. Putter and Tabby get her? She likes her garden, so Mr. Putter decides to take her to the Conservatory. But can Zeke behave himself in the midst of so many flowers and plants? Well, no, and suddenly the bananas and lemons are flying everywhere. But even after the rambunctious mutt gets them all booted out, that doesn't put a damper on the celebrations. Mrs. Teaberry even manages to make lemonade out of the lemons. 25. Mr. Putter and Tabby Hit the Slopes While this isn't the happy conclusion to the series that we were hoping for – Mr. Tabby and Mrs. Teaberry are still only neighbors – it is another fun episode. This time Mr. Putter is a bit tired of winter and needs a little excitement. He remembers the sledding he used to do as a boy, and just knows his adventurous neighbor is bound to have some toboggans!...

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Book Reviews, Children’s fiction

The Boxcar Children: Great Adventure

1. Journey on a Runaway Train 2. The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll 3. The Detour of Elephants 4. The Shackleton Sabotage 5. The Khipu and the Final Key created by Gertrude Chandler Warner  2017 / 687 pages total The Aldens are four children – Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry – aged 6 to 14, who, after being orphaned, ran away and found an abandoned railway boxcar in the woods which they turned into their new home. The very first book in the series, The Boxcar Children, published way back in 1924 is all about how their grandfather searches for them, and how they hide from him, thinking him to be a mean man since he'd never come to visit the family when their parents were still alive. But, as so often happens in children's stories, this bad guy turns out to be not so bad after all: Grandfather Alden is actually a wonderful man (and rich too) who loves them very much. Eventually, all the misunderstandings are cleared away and the children go to live with him in his big house. To top things off Grandfather Alden has their boxcar brought to his house's backyard, so they can use it as their clubhouse. That first Boxcar book spawned 200 more, with this Great Adventure series published almost 100 years after the original story. Great Adventure is really just one story, 687 pages long, that's been divided into five books (each 129-145 pages) for the sake of making it a lot less intimidating for the intended 8- to 10-year-old audience. The setting is modern day, and the mystery that starts it all takes the children around the world to retrieve lost treasures. It turns out there are two groups after the treasures: a good "Reddimus Society" that wants to restore the items to the museums where they belong, and a bad Argent group that just wants to keep the treasures for themselves. The children are allied with the Reddimus Society and use the group's plane to fly from one place to the next. But somehow the Argents always seem to know where the Aldens are heading. Could one of their pilots be a traitor? And if so, which one? Cautions The main caution is God's complete absence. This struck me as a lot like a typical Christian kids' fiction series in how safe it is: a loving grandfather, his sweet grandchildren, and all sorts of other very kind people contend with villains who are most often misunderstood rather than evil. And unlike pretty much all the children's fiction published after 2020, there's no one here sharing their pronouns or any of that sort of wackiness. Safe. But that's not exactly a recommendation – to badly paraphrase Chesterton, it's good for children to read about evil, not to learn about its existence, which they already know, but for them to realize that evil can indeed be fought. At the same time, there is a time and place, so some nice safe books, in a moderate dosage, can be good too. It is that safety that makes these a favorite among Christian families (and even sold in some Christian bookstores).  But it struck me that in the stories themselves, there's not a Christian to be found anywhere. Nor is there any hint of Christianity – Sunday is celebrated as a day off of school when they can work on their projects. When the kids get into trouble, God's absence becomes all the more noticeable since the kids never think to ask Him for help. So, even though the first story was written a century ago in what was still a largely Christian culture, this is an entirely secular series. So, this 5-book series could be great fun, but you might not want your kids immersing themselves in dozens and dozens of books from this godless 200-book series. One other caution has nothing to do with these 5 books. If your kids want to check out more Boxcar, there are a couple of hundred others. However, while the original 19 books written by Gertrude Chandler Warner all seem similarly "safe," the 150+ books written after her death aren't always so. There's still no one offering pronouns (so far) but in one, Native spirituality is given a soft endorsement, and it might have been that same book where Man was presented as more an enemy of Nature than as the caretaker that God has charged us with being. So parents shouldn't presume that the whole series is reliably safe. Conclusion This 5-book set is just a fun, simple adventure that has enough suspense to keep its young target audience on edge. It's also a bit of an educational travelogue, with readers learning at least a bit about each country they visit, which includes Egypt, England, Italy, India, China, Thailand, and even Antarctica. For kids just learning to read, they'll feel a sense of accomplishment in tackling all five, and if a little one finds working through it a bit tough, the audiobook version is quite well done. Overall, this is a story that most boys and girls under 9 will really enjoy, whether it is being read to them, or they are tackling it themselves....

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Book Reviews, Children’s non-fiction

God’s Daring Dozen: A Minor Prophet Series

by John Brown and Brian Wright Illustrated by Lisa Flanagan 2021 / 40 pages each Christian Focus Publications I’ve never been a fan of children’s Bibles. When our kids were young, we never used them during our daily family worship. We always just read straight from the Bible. I figured they would get enough Bible stories at school – and they did. My negative attitude about story Bibles is due to a couple of factors.  One is their tendency to moralize everything and the other is to miss the One to whom the whole Bible is pointing: Jesus. So I was a tad skeptical about this series of storybooks based on the Minor Prophets. I looked at the first four volumes in this series: Obadiah & the Edomites, Habakkuk’s Song, Haggai’s Feast, and Zephaniah’s Hero.  They’re meant for reading to kids ages 4-6, but kids ages 7-10 should be able to read them for themselves. I read through them for myself and mostly appreciated the approach. They’re well-written, capturing the message of these books, and helping kids see how they point to Christ. The illustrations are colorful, bold, and appropriate. I don’t have any young children at home anymore and no grandchildren yet either. However, I have a daughter who works as a nanny.  I asked her to test drive these books with the children she cares for. These were kids on the younger side of the target audience and she found they had a hard time focussing. However, she did say that they would probably work well in the Christian primary school environment or perhaps Little Lambs (Sunday School) at church. ...

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Internet, Pornography

…the Internet can pervert anything  

Parents need to know that, whether it's biblical fiction or a favorite boy band, innocent interests are being used to draw good kids into evil, dangerous corners of the Web **** Warning: the following addresses pornography and sexual content Born in 1998, I grew up in the generation when the iPod Touch and cellphones were starting to become more accessible to teens. This had a massive effect on my journey through puberty, my struggle to view sexuality in a healthy, biblical manner, my exposure to non-biblical perspectives and content, and my relationships with peers. This technology was new to parents as well, and many were none the wiser to what information and entertainment their children were suddenly able to access. Today, we no longer have that excuse; private, personal access to the Internet is here, and it is riddled with temptations and depraved content. Parents need to keep informed. No real limits, no oversight At age 13, I was surrounded by classmates using the iPod Touch, which had all the features of an iPhone except the option to place calls or texts without Wifi. Any app could be downloaded, any website accessed, and any game played. I bought a second-hand iPod off of a classmate for $20, and a whole new world opened up to me; I could message my friends from home rather than having to call them on the landline! We could talk privately without being overheard, something that was of paramount value to awkward youths who had reached the age when nothing is more embarrassing than your parents overhearing you discuss crushes and the like. Just girls reading Old Testament fiction… Several apps began trending amongst my peers, one of which was an app and website anyone could use to write a book, and anyone else could use to read those books; all you needed to do was create an account. This was very popular amongst girls my age. A particular fictional favorite series in my class was set in Old Testament times; it was from a young woman’s point of view, and contained a fairly innocent love triangle. There was little harm in the series itself. But the app contained scores of books, accessible to whoever desired to read them, and as we all began exploring the app, we discovered something else entirely: erotica. I cannot count the number of poorly written stories I devoured. My parents had told me about the basics of sex, and about God’s design for it, but this new narrative was something completely different. It didn’t matter that I had been taught a biblical view of sex; I now had access to a different definition of it. Curiosity can fester into a full-fledged addiction. We see this with drugs, alcohol, money – all of which are things that children raised in a God-fearing home do not have unhindered access to, things that parents can monitor with relative ease. And it used to be simple to monitor your child’s access to pornography; it took bold action to get ahold of dirty magazines purchased at a corner store, and those magazines had to be hidden under a bed. Even when looking back on your lifetime to your own childhood, most if not all of parents would agree that children and teenagers did not have the same ready access to pornography then. Today is not the same. If your child has a device, they have the possibility to discover virtually thousands of corner store magazine racks. And all of this in the palm of their hand. Whether in the past or the present, children are not equipped with the discretion to navigate most conversations about sex, let alone sexual content and entertainment. By the age of 15, I had read hundreds of gratuitously graphic pieces of literary pornography; I was addicted. The majority of these consisted of “fanfiction.” … to erotic fan fiction Fanfiction is defined by Google as “fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.” To give some further context, the popular and sexually charged book-turned-film franchise Fifty Shades of Grey started out as a fanfiction of the popular young adult vampire series Twilight. There are different genres in fanfiction, one of which includes the “y/n” character, meaning “your name”; these stories are written as though from the reader’s point of view, and fuel fantasies in which the reader is inserted into romantic and sexual relationships with the characters from whatever story the fanfiction is inspired by. Young preteens can explore written fantasies in which they are the love interest of one or more of their favorite characters, fueling incredibly unrealistic ideals and twisted notions of healthy sexuality. Another genre of fanfiction that is hugely popular is where two characters who do not have a romantic/sexual relationship in the original canonical story are given a new storyline. The vast majority of these “ships” (the slang term for relationships) are not heterosexual. Preteens and teens are lured in by extra content about their favorite characters, while gradually being desensitized to sexually graphic content. They can take their pick from hundreds of smutty stories about Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, Captain America’s Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, Harry Potter’s Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, Merlin and Arthur, etc. Even more alarming are the number of stories in which real people, generally celebrities, are “shipped” together. Does your child have a favorite secular music artist? Chances are, there are fanfictions out there about them. Most common among these are fanfictions about members of boy bands. There are stories in which two band members have a secret relationship behind the scenes, and fans don’t know; there are stories in which two band members – who live in an alternate universe and happen to be vampires, or rich CEOs of companies, or strippers, or baristas – meet and start dating. There are stories in which five plus members of a boy band are all members of a werewolf pack, and engage in polygamous sexual activities together. As PluggedIn’s article on fanfiction puts it, “a major draw for fanfiction writers and readers is usually the exploration of forbidden romance.” Maybe you have parental controls installed on your phone, and you think, “My child has no access to these sorts of things.” But fanfiction is literary, and it isn’t screened in the same way that visual pornography is. Children can access these stories by merely clicking “I accept” after reading a warning of graphic content. Boys and their cartoons… While I and many of my female peers were exploring these things, the boys were doing something similar. Many boys were watching “anime” on their iPods and iPhones. Anime is defined by Google as “a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children.” Just as with the content on my writing/reading app, some of these anime shows were harmless, and even contained messages of loyalty, friendship, and other important themes. If you’ve ever noticed your child watching an anime series, you may have thought it was merely an innocent cartoon, and not paid any further attention to it. But many anime series have overtly sexualized female character designs, with unnatural body proportions, and severely immodest clothing. Worse than that, many anime series contain graphic sexual scenes; there is even a category of anime geared specifically towards pornographic content. Male peers admitted to me in later conversation that it was through anime that they discovered pornographic websites. As young teens, they had no credit cards to pay for authentic, licensed anime streaming sites, and so they accessed their anime shows through illegal websites, many of which had flashing advertisements on every page. Nearly every boy in my class and wider peer group was watching pornography on a regular basis by the age of sixteen; some of us girls were curious enough to check it out, too. The pull parents didn’t understand Our parents tried to keep an eye on what we were up to. But it was easy enough to convince them that we were simply reading a harmless book or watching a harmless cartoon. For some of us, our parents set a boundary of not having our electronic devices in our rooms when we went to bed, but we still had access to these things in the bathroom, on the school bus, even in the foyer at school. If you passed by your child in the living room and saw them reading a paragraph or watching an animated show on their phone, how often would you sit next to them and see what they’re reading? Or, perhaps the more relevant question: what is the likelihood they would hide their screen immediately? Many parents today fall into one of two categories: they don’t want to invade the privacy of their teens, and thus leave them to their devices or they constantly demand to know what their children are up to, leading their kids to become more aloof and secretive. I remember being a young teen, and how I chafed against my mother’s occasional questions about what I was reading on my phone. I’d even blatantly lie about it for fear of the truth being discovered. I cannot imagine how much more I would have pulled away from her if she had badgered me about these things. Leaving our kids defenseless In Reformed circles, it is not uncommon for parents to refrain from teaching their children about sex before adulthood. In some cases, parents are so uncomfortable with this that they do not tell their children until they are preparing for marriage, or they do not tell them at all. Some parents, in contrast, give their children too many details at too young an age. I have peers who fall into all of these categories. Finding the balance in this seems very difficult. The biggest issue here is that, due to the prevalence of graphic sexual content available to today’s youth, many are learning about sex through erotic literature or visual pornography. Pornography is typically filmed by men, for men; erotica is typically written by women, for women. Men are creating a fantasy of what to expect from women in a sexual relationship, and women are creating a fantasy of what to expect from men in a sexual relationship. The result is an incredibly narcissistic view of sexuality, stemming from a focus on the reader or viewer’s satisfaction, with no consideration for the other party and no understanding of God’s design for sex and the expression of love it is meant to be. When a boy or young man watches porn, he is buying into a fantasy where he has ultimate power, and the woman’s presence is meant for his pleasure alone. When a girl or young woman reads erotica, she is buying into a fantasy where a man is so utterly consumed by his need for her that he will do absolutely anything for her, as he cannot resist her near-goddess status. (Most females depicted in these books do not believe themselves to be attractive, feeding everyday women the narrative that the most attractive men out there will be attracted to them, and they should not “settle for less.”) This sort of content creates a fantasy of self-worship. It teaches boys and girls to view sex through a greedy, twisted lens. And it’s not slowing down. Common Sense Media’s research report “Teens and Pornography” surveyed a demographically representative set of teens in the United States, and the collected data revealed that 72% of the teens surveyed they had seen pornography; of those, 54% saw it by age 13, including the 15% who saw it by age 11. I am a Gen Z’er. The Oxford Dictionary defines Generation Z as “the group of people who were born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, who are regarded as being very familiar with the Internet.” I would like to suggest a new definition: “The group of people born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s who have been, en masse, bombarded with pervasive, self-indulgent content – deemed acceptable under the label of expression – to the point that they have been convinced to take up the mantle of blurring the line between advancement and destruction.” Better to pluck out your eyes Roughly two years ago, I made the decision to leave social media. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, I deleted my accounts for all three. Very quickly I noticed an improvement in my moods, thought processes, and overall mental health. But today’s modern message of the importance of identity and sexual expression is everywhere. It’s on Pinterest, in the form of an advertisement under the search bar titled, “Beyond blue and pink - Breaking down the binary.” It’s on YouTube, in the form of reaction videos in which you, the viewer, watch someone else react to a video, typically of a third “someone else.” There is no end to technology’s primary narrative: “It’s all about you.” Youth today are growing up surrounded by a message that is directly contradictory to God’s Word. That’s just as true for the youth of the Church. Don’t be fooled into thinking your children are the exception; my parents did their best with what knowledge they had, but without directly monitoring my every move online, they had no way they could know the full extent of what I was accessing. As someone who grew up in the Church and in a Bible-teaching home, I could still write multiple articles on how today’s social environment and media made me question my sexuality, struggle with extremely low self-esteem, and buy into the notion that a message that contradicts Scripture is maybe not so harmful after all. By the grace of God, the worst of those seasons are behind me, but there are still after-effects that have repercussions on my day-to-day life. Many peers I’ve spoken to about this express the same sentiment. Not all e-books are harmful. Not all animation is harmful. In both categories, there are stories to be found with great messages. But they are the rare diamonds in a pile of coal, and parents must be made aware of the danger present in these forms of entertainment. On a broader scale, parents ought to know how many seemingly “harmless” things their children have access to, and the way it is affecting the development, lifestyles, and perspectives of youth across Western civilization as a whole. If you do not want your child exposed to the Internet or social media, but are looking for a smartphone alternative that offers calling and texting in case of emergencies, you can search for "dumb phone" offerings online (though you'll need to do your research as even some "dumb phones" still do have access to the Internet). Americans have a couple of options: the Light Phone (www.thelightphone.com) and the Gabb Phone (https://gabb.com)....

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