Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 2

"William and Boomer", "Lightship" and "My Father's Boat"

This week was a water week.

William and Boomer
4 stars
Author/Illustrator: Lindsay Barrett George

William and his father find a baby goose. No adults are anywhere around so they adopt Boomer. Over the summer Boomer and William grow, each learning new skills, becoming good friends.
The text is mostly about William. The excellent illustrations show how Boomer grows and matures over the summer.
It left me wondering what happened to Boomer and William at the end of the summer.

Lightship
4 stars
Author/Illustrator: Brian Floca

Lighthouses are well known as the way to mark dangerous places in ship channels. There are places where no lighthouse can be built, but the area still needs to be marked. This is what a lightship did.
This is a nonfiction book with detailed diagrams of a lightship and lots of information about what they were and what they did.
The text is simple and the crew illustrations good, colored line drawings.

My Father's Boat
4 stars
Author: Sherry Garland
Illustrator: Ted Rand

At the close of the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese came to the U.S. Some of these people were fishermen and settled near the Gulf to work as fishermen.
This is about a son who is now learning to be a fisherman from his father who learned from his father who is still in Vietnam. All through is the wish the three generations could someday all go fishing together.

"Manatee Winter", "Find the Magic" and "Minnow and Rose"

These sounded interesting and were.

Manatee winter
5 stars
Author: Kathleen Weidmer Zoehfeld
Illustrator: Steven James Petruccio

Manatees are big and found in waters around Florida, both salt and fresh. This book follows a mother and her calf as they go up a river to a warm spring for the winter. It mentions many of the challenges they face as well as how they live.
The illustrations reflect their size and gentleness. They are a bit strange looking.

Minnow and Rose
5 stars
Author: Judy Young
Illustrator: Bill Farnsworth

Set in the early days of pioneers heading west, the Indians still help them. This is the story of an Indian girl and a pioneer girl who meet for one day at a river crossing changing both their lives.
The illustrations are done in oil. They convey the setting and the people well.

Find the Magic: A Rip Squeak Book
5 stars
Author: Lee Cohen
Illustrator: Julia Harnett Harvey

The familiar characters are back. Rip and Jesse are having problems, one of which is boredom. Euripides takes them to a book shop, a place of magic adventures.
The illustrations are well done. The settings and characters are endearing. The mice don't have quite the same furriness as in the original books.

"fly Guy Presents: Bats", "Littlebat's Halloween Story" and "Bats in the Band"

This was a batty week.

Fly Guy Presents: Bats
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Tedd Arnold

This nonfiction book is filled with photographs of many kinds of bats. It gives lots of information about bats, what they are, where and how they live, how they live.
The format is good and interesting. Fly guy is humorous. Buzz is interested in everything.

Littlebat's Halloween Story
5 stars
Author: Diane Mayr
Illustrator: Gideon Kendall

Littlebat and his mother roost in a library attic. The bat enjoys picture book story time watching through a hole in the ceiling. He longs to join the group to see the pictures better. His mother tells him there is only one night he can do this safely: Halloween.
The bats look like furry stuffed animals including friendly faces and expressions. Otherwise, the illustrations are well done and even the cuteness makes the book better.

Bats in the Band
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Brian Lies

Spring is beginning waking the bats from hibernation. They begin catching insects, but feel something is missing.
That something is band night announced by a bugle blast. The bats converge on a theater for an evening of music.
The bats are cute. The text is filled with information about types of music and various instruments. The illustrations take lots of looking at to see all the details. The costumes on the bats reflect the type of music they play.
The text is done in rhyme with rhythm. This makes it fun to read.

"Zero the Hero", "The Backwards Watch" and "Skippyjon Jones"

This was a fun mix ranging from some simple math to grandparent woes to crazy cat antics.

Zero the Hero
5 stars
Author: Joan Holub
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

What does zero do? After all, it stands for nothing making it a waste of space in addition and subtraction, never part of division and negates everything in multiplication.
In this delightful book Zero is a superhero - or is he? It explores all the problems and uses of a zero in math.
The Zero superhero is a fun figure as he zips through the air or drags on the ground in defeat.

The Backwards Watch
4 stars
Author: Eric Houghton
Illustrator: Simone Abel

Sally is visiting her grandfather. She loves getting into things and getting dirty. Of course, He never did such things - or did he? she finds out when she winds his watch backwards.
The illustrations capture the fun and adventure of young children playing.

Skippyjon Jones
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Judy Schachner

Skippyjon Jones is a little boy Siamese cat who loves to be noisy, lively and go on imaginary adventures. The stories are humorous and cute.
The illustrations make the stories even better.
The text uses some simple Spanish words mixed in.

Diary of a worm: Nat the Gnat", "Clarence the Copy Cat" and "The Library"

Telling the truth and sticking to your beliefs can be hard.

Diary of a Worm: Nat the Gnat
5 stars
Author: Doreen Cronin
Illustrator: Harry Bliss

This is a beginning reading sequel to Diary of a Worm. Worm school has a new pet: Nat the Gnat. Each day one of the students takes care of the class pet. Except, when this worm puts in a damp leaf, the gnat disappears. What is the worm supposed to do? How can he own up to what he thinks has happened?
The worms are very imaginative. They make worms look cute.

The Library
5 stars
Author: Sarah Stewart
Illustrator: David Small

Elizabeth Brown loves books and reading. She spends her life acquiring and reading books. When her book collection fills her house, she donated them as the core of a library for the town.
This book is semi biographical.
The illustrations are fun. Elizabeth Brown has a book in front of her face or piles of books with her in almost every picture.

Clarence the Copy Cat
5 stars, favorite
Author: Patricia Lakin
Illustrator: John Manders

Cats are expected to catch mice. Clarence refuses to kill mice and is chased out of everywhere. Mr. Spanner, the librarian, adopts Clarence. Then a mouse invades the library.
The illustrations are great. The cats are very stylized, but their expressions are so good.
The solution is lots of fun, if impractical.

"Bears", "The Happy Day" and Horace the Horrible: A Knight Meets His Match"

From the fun to the unbelievable were this week's books.

The Happy Day
3 stars
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Marc Simont

The concept is cute. All the animals in hibernation wake on a winter day to admire a flower blooming in the forest. This is pure fantasy.
The pencil illustrations deserved the Caldecott Honor listing. They are beautifully done.

Horace the Horrible: A Knight Meets His Match
5 stars
Author: Jackie French Koller
Illustrator: Jackie Urbanovic

The King has the flu. He sends his daughter to stay with his brother Horace until he recovers. Horace is a knight in a literary traditional sense fighting dragons, defeating armies and more. He doesn't know what to do with his niece.
She does.
The illustrations are angular and bold. Horace is determined to impress Minuette with his prowess and the images show his feats. Beside them is Minuette determined to get her way.

Bears
5 stars
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

The text is a series of sentences or phrases. These could refer to many things. Sendak uses them to refer to bears
The illustrations make this book. The star is the boy from "Where the Wild Things Are" in his wolf suit. His dog is jealous of a teddy bear and runs off with it. The chase is on.

"Dear Dragon", Maurice's Valises: Kansas and the Crow" and "Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse"

There are lots of ways to teach young readers in their picture books.

Dear Dragon
5 stars
Author: Josh Funk
Illustrator: Rodolfo Montalvo

George and Blaise don't really like to write, especially in rhyme. However, their new school assignment sounds like fun: Write your pen pal in rhyme.
Illustrations show the two pen pals, one on each page as they write about what they are doing and/or their lives. They also show what the receiver thinks of when they read the letter.
The end is fun. Teachers can be sneaky.

Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Patricia Coombs

Three young witches are sent to school. They expect to find their teacher there, but the teacher is no where to be seen.
A lesson is on the board, so, since the three are stuck in school, they start making the potion. It has unexpected results needing another potion with still more unexpected results.
The illustrations are fantastical matching the story. The three students and the cat are fun. This would be a fun Halloween story.

Maurice's Valises: Kansas and the Crow
4 stars
Author: J.S. Friedman
Illustrator: Chris Beatrice

These are a retelling of Aesop's Fables, but the star is a traveling mouse. There is a series set in different countries as settings for different fables. This one is based on the Grasshopper and the Ants.
Maurice rides the train and gets off in Kansas. He sets up a home near a corn field with a crow as a neighbor. Maurice stashes supplies for the winter. The crow doesn't and needs the mouse to rescue him after winter sets in.
The illustrations have a 3-D quality to them. They are beautiful and worth some extra time to enjoy them.

"The Great Divide", "Manners in the Library" and D is for Democracy"

School is opening here in the Ozarks so books in that vein were on the menu this week.

The Great Divide
5 stars
Author: Suzanne Slade
Illustrator: Erin E. Hunter

Yes, this is a good introduction to simple division. What I read it for were all the names of animal groups: charm of hummingbirds; Bale of leatherback turtles; team of ducks; tribe of goats; and more.
The text is are simple rhymes asking a question requiring division. The illustrations not only show the animals involved, but show the answer.
All of the illustrations are realistically done, yet a bit whimsical. They are fun to see and useful in teaching division.

Manners in the Library
4 stars
Author: Carrie Finn
Illustrator: Chris Lensch

The library rules stress consideration for those using the library and the materials found there. They are easy reading and understanding - none of the don't do this stuff.
The illustrations are well done, colorful and show an ideal library.

D is for Democracy: A Citizen's Alphabet
4 stars
Author: Elissa Grodin
Illustrator: Victor Juhasz

Letter by letter a young people's introduction to the U.S. government and it's background is presented. It stresses the usual Founding Fathers and branches of government.
The text is two fold. One is the simple letter with example. Sidebars elaborate about the example. It stresses how the government is supposed to work and the responsibilities of citizens to make it work.
The illustrations show many places in the capital and star an idealized Uncle Sam with representative young citizens.

Hermelin", "A Summertime Song" and "Fine As We Are"

Fun and games rule this week.

A Summertime song
4 stars
Author/Illustrator: Irene Haas

A frog delivers a birthday party invitation and a party hat to Lucy. This will be a special party with many guests of all kinds from in the garden.
The illustrations are elegant and a bit old-fashioned. There is a lot of detail, much more than in the text so careful observation of the pictures takes time. The many creatures and plants are realistic, yet they have a touch of fantasy as well.

Fine As We Are
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Algy Craig Hall

A mother frog and her son live as a happy pair. However, there are many eggs to tadpoles growing in the pond. Little Frog is soon surrounded by many smaller frogs, all his siblings. What is he to do?
The frogs are lovable. Each of the many siblings is similar, yet no two are alike - I think. It would make a good challenge to a young child to compare all of them.

Hermelin the Detective Mouse
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Mini Grey

Hermelin lives in an attic. She loves to read and write with her typewriter. Many people in her neighborhood have lost things and are looking for them.
After Hermelin tells these neighbors where to find their lost articles, they hold a party for her only to make the horrible discovery that Hermelin is a mouse. what is she to do?
The illustrations are crisp and reflect well for a time when typewriters were the way to write. Hermelin is a special mouse.

"One Windy Day", "Dog Heaven" and "The Blizzard's Robe"

Fantasy rules this week.

Dog Heaven
3 stars
Author/Illustrator: Cynthia Rylant

This is very much a Christian view of heaven. It is probably to help a young child through the loss of a pet dog.
The dogs go to heaven with lots of room to run, angels to spoil them and special treats.
The illustrations work.

One Windy Day
5 stars
Author: Tammi Salzano
Illustrator: Hannah Wood

Fox is a postman. He loves windy days, but it blows his letters many directions. This is a concept book for words such as high/low; over/under; and left/right.
The illustrations are colorful and fun. The leaves blow. Friends find the letters scattered by the wind. It is a charming book.

The Blizzard's Robe
5 stars
Author/Illustrator: Robert Sabuda

This is written like a folk tale for people who live north of the Arctic Circle. Teune sews robes for the people to wear during the winter. All fear Blizzard.
One night Blizzard's robe is burned and he falls to the ground. Teune sews him a new robe. In return he gifts the people the Northern Lights.
The illustrations are interesting. They seem to be done on crinkled paper giving them an almost stained glass look. This is very effective.