Library Roundup

In Window Eight, the Moon is Late
by Diane Worfolk Allison

We liked this book because of its illustrations. It's one of those books that tell a side story in the illustrations beyond the one in the actual words. So, in this story, a little girl brings a laundry basket up from the basement on a summer day, and delivers its contents around the house. The story uses the structure of passing different windows in the house, to tell the story, but the cool thing about the book is spying a piece of clothing in the basket and then seeing whose room it gets delivered to and what it is.

Salt Hands
by Jane Chelsea Aragon and Ted Rand

A little weak. A little thin. It's about a kid who sees a deer outside and goes out and feeds it salt from her hand. This is a nice book for infants but a little slow for livelier souls.

Did You Say Pears?
by Arlene Alda

I got this because Benny was interested in homonyms and homophones. This book gives a good definition of each and big colorful picture examples. Very fun. Led to lots of pointing out of homophones (and nyms) in our daily lives. And the two year old liked it too.

Where's My Teddy?
By Jez Alborough

No one liked this one. It was creepy. A giant ferocious bear and a little boy accidentally switch teddy bears while in the woods, and then switch back. Sadie was disturbed. Benny was underamused.

Princess Bee and the Royal Goodnight Story
by Sandy Asher

Very cute, very sweet. A good alternative to the plethora of Barbie-based princess narratives out there. All the princess and none of the fluff. This is about a child princess who's missing her travelling Mum, and then finds a way to get to sleep without her, by remembering her.

Mars: The Red Planet
by Patricia Demuth

Great book about Mars! Just the right reading level for my six-year-old, with enough words on the page to challenge him without overwhelming him. He really loved it. This book was chosen because Benny was so interested in the Mission: Mars ride at Epcot Center, so he wanted to learn more. And he did.

Platypus, Probably
by Sneed B. Collard

Okay, how could a book by a guy named Sneed do anyone any harm? This was Benny's favorite book in recent memory and we've renewed it twice. He *loves* it. He did his book report on it at our last Homeschool Book Club, and after hearing that report, I know he understands much more about platypus behavior than any child every should. His interest in platypuses was launched during the "It's a Small World" ride -- there are three dancing platypuses in the Australia part. And now we know all about them. ALL about them. Would you believe I even found a picture of them on this guy's Flickr?



Look, they're even carrying their eggs. So authentic.

A Sea Full of Sharks
by Betsy Maestro

My two year old absolutely LOVED this book. She asks to read it every night. She gave her book report on it, and went through the whole book outlining exactly which sharks were okay to swim with, and which weren't. Benny liked this too, but not as much as Sadie did. I guess when you're big into platypuses, sharks are just not that fascinating. The illustrations are drawings, not photographs, which is kind of nice for the littler tinier people.

The children are wanting me to come and play Buzz Lightyear and Princess Ariel. So that's it for now!