Although I file this post as a review, I cannot really review The Well-Trained Mind: The Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and her mother Jessie Wise (third edition, 2009). I only read the Elementary chapters (Part I) in full and bits and pieces of Part IV since my son is
Just months before Molly Birnbaum was to enter the Culinary Institute of America to fulfill her dream to become a chef, she met with a violent accident. Although she escaped with her life, in addition to other physical wounds she had lost her sense of smell. Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of
My favorite part of Melvin and the Boy by Lauren Castillo (Henry Hold, March 2011) is its breathtaking lovely illustrations (acetone transfer with markers and watercolor), which so gently captures a boy and the wild turtle he’s adopted as his own. The boy has always wanted a pet, and when he sees a turtle at the park, he
No Dogs Allowed by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Kristin Sorra (Sterling, August 2011) is a mostly wordless story of a small café on a street corner where there are no dogs allowed. As one very unusual day progresses, the café owner finds that he must adapt the rule to include other animals, from cats to kangaroos
Wiener Wolf written and illustrated by Jeff Crosby (Hyperion, July 2011) features a friendly looking dachshund who is tired of the same old things as a pet at home with Granny, so he sets out in the world. His new friends are wolves, and at first it’s quite nice having new friends. But it only takes a
In Reading to Peanut by Leda Schubert and illustrated by Amanda Haley (Holiday House, August 2011), Lucy is determined to learn to read and write so she can write a birthday card for her dog, Peanut! As she learns her letters with help from her mom and dad, they also work on planting a vegetable garden. By the
Charlie the basset hound is the laziest dog around, but not the way he tells his story in Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond and illustrated by Diane deGroat (HarperCollins, April 2011). Charlie likes bacon, sleep, and eating and sleep, and while he takes credit for all the chores around the ranch, the illustrations help us see
Argus by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Andrea Wesson (Candlewick, February 2011) is about learning to be okay with being different, particularly when Sally has a very different kind of pet. From the first day when Sally got her assigned egg from her science teacher, she thought something was different. And when everyone else’s eggs
In A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid (HarperCollins, January 2011), Petunia is determined to get her desired pet, a pet skunk, despite her parent’s advice against it. Of course, no amount of begging works, so Petunia sets out to find her own skunk … with an incredible surprise to Petunia! The book has delightfully
Although October is over, I still have a few more RIP short stories to share about. I really put off writing today’s post simply because of the five stories I read, I didn’t really enjoy three of them and the other two (both rereads) are ones I like but still didn’t completely understand. I bet
Initially, Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook, July 2011) left me both incredibly impressed by the gorgeous illustrations and a bit wary of the ghoulish setting for the story. I’ve mentioned before that I am not a fan of Halloween; Bone Dog is a Halloween picture book, complete with a visit to a graveyard and
I don’t often read middle grade fiction, but when I heard about The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright (published by Peachtree Publishers, October 2011) at BEA in May, I was excited to read it. After all, the subtitle is “A Dickens of the Tale” and I knew that Charles Dickens
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