Up! Tall! and High! (but not necessarily in that order.) by Ethan Long

I've looked at a couple other Ethan Long books before and they never quite worked for me. The Croaky Pokey is a very popular storytime read, but his other easy reader/picture book Bird and Birdie I really didn't like.

So I was surprised when I fell in love with this odd and simple easy reader.

A group of brightly colored birds of various sizes introduce three concepts. In the first chapter, I Am Tall, three birds of different sizes compare their height. In the second chapter, I Can Go High, three birds test their flight abilities and help out a friend. In the third chapter, I Am Up, a bird tries to join his friend with disastrous consequences.

Each story is told very simply through basic dialogue. The art and surprise flaps at the end of each story carry the plot. The dialogue of the first story, for example, is basically the different birds saying "I am tall." Kids will have to extrapolate from the pictures and expressions of the birds that there's more to the story than what the birds are saying.

Of course, it's inevitable that Long will be compared to Willems. While the birds in this story don't have the instant attraction and heart of Elephant and Piggie, they do have the same comic timing and "less is more" artistic sensibility. The flaps should be long-lasting as the paper is very thick and sturdy, with an nice glossy finish.

Verdict: This is a good choice for insatiable Mo Willems fans who just can't get enough and for parents looking for easy readers with only a few words on each page, in large type. Recommended.

ISBN: 9780399256110; Published February 2012 by Putnam Juvenile; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: Don't Sit on the Baby by Halley Bondy

Babysitting and bagging groceries are the only jobs in our small, quasi-rural community for teens (unless you're one of the couple very lucky ones I hire as my assistants!) and I'm always looking for books that will encourage teens to DO things - including building skills like babysitting.

We've got a couple babysitting handbooks already; some aimed at younger teens, some general, comprehensive ones that include everything up to the kitchen sink (along with 25 games to play with the kitchen sink). So why buy another babysitting for teens book?

The beauty of this little volume is that it's comprehensive while still being a quick guide. The three sections, Babysitting Breakdown, Essential Skills, and Business Basics, cover everything from child development to getting sick to how much to charge and they do it all in only 127 pages. This is the perfect quick guide to hand to a teen interested in getting a babysitting business going or needing an immediate refresher before they start babysitting in a couple hours.

The book begins with a quick rundown on basic types of babysitting and what different ages will need. It's also honest about the difficulties and potential gross factors, but also about the rewards and good experiences. Essential skills helps teens get organized, know what to ask parents, deal with emergencies, discipline problems, and health issues. The business section talks about finding, keeping, or quitting jobs as well as acting professionally and babysitting as a business.

This book is geared more towards older teens and nanny-type babysitting - dealing with illness, taking kids to after school events, helping with homework, long-term babysitting, etc. rather than just taking care of kids while the parents have an evening out. The tone is also more sophisticated and the style seems geared towards an older audience (in the legal section one of the things it says not to do which would endanger children is "show up intoxicated") so this will probably be most appreciated by older teens who want to babysit as a regular business.

Verdict: While younger kids will probably be better off with one of the more casual, babysitting for a couple hours in the evening and getting started guides like American Girl's guide, Don't sit on the baby is an excellent book for older teens looking to babysit as a regular business. I'd recommend purchasing this title to meet the needs of older teens and more serious babysitters along with Heidi Murkoff's What to expect baby-sitter's handbook for additional information. Recommended.

ISBN: 9780982732236; Published May 2012 by Zest Books; Review copy provided by publisher; Purchased for the library

This week at the library; or, Vacation, really?

I finished all the publicity on Monday and Tuesday. Yay me! Except the giant posterboard I need to take to the summer school (after I use it at the grocery store). But that's mostly done. I do need to make the jpegs for our new tv screen less wordy, but I am NOT rewriting them (did you hear that Angela? NOT). I also got most of the supply orders sent, although I still need a trip to Walmart, and various other random items.

Handled a major hitch in the summer reading log printing, which ended up with me going to the printers around 8am on Wednesday, then back to the library, then a very large final storytime at 10am, then I cleaned off my desk (it was covered in four foot piles and boxes. remarks were being made) then a small Messy Art Club to make kites.

This list is snickering quietly at me, "do you REALLY think you can get this done in two weeks whilst visiting five schools, doing desk time, making fifteen flannelboards, and cleaning out the storyroom, storage closet, and your office shelves so you can get to the summer stuff?" I can only try...

I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, it's not my Saturday to work, and we're closed Monday so I have a nice long break...if I can restrain myself from working. I do have to go in at some point and finish getting ready for school visits though, since I have one on Tuesday at 9am and I am NOT ready! [I went in Friday to just get some stuff but somebody had to drive over to the next town and pick up the summer reading logs and take them back and nobody was there because it was Friday and there was stuff and...whatever...]

So far I have used my vacation to: Redo my blog, various bits of shopping, plants some pots, and Saturday I'm going to Ikea.

Summer Camp Science Mysteries: In search of the fog zombie, a mystery about matter by Lynda Beauregard, illustrated by Der-Shing Helmer

Full disclosure: I won Summer Camp Science Mysteries on Lerner's Free Book Friday. But I had already decided to review the first volume and buy it for the library before I won them. Just so you know.

Angie and Alex Rayez have second thoughts about Camp Dakota when they see how creepy it looks in the fog. They soon find out there's even more to worry about - when Braelin Walker tells them about the fog zombie. His older brother, Rashawn, doesn't believe it and neither does camp counselor Kyle, but Angie and Alex are soon investigating along with their new friends.

After some chills and thrills, they discover the real fog zombie - and some interesting science. The book is full of science factoids and various characters stop what they're doing to lecture on matter or show an experiment and the mystery itself is solved through logic and science clues.

The plot outside the science is a little thin, mostly because of the number of characters. Kyle Reed and Loraine Sanders are apparently camp counselors - at one point one of the kids says Loraine is "another counselor" but no other adults are in evidence and Kyle punishes Loraine for her part in the mystery at the end. We never find out why Jordan Collins is so blah about everything, although that could just be his personality. I thought it was interesting that while four of the six children were non-white races and had dark skin, both of the counselors were white.

There are additional science experiments at the back as well as "mysterious words" i.e. a glossary, a list of the scientific facts about matter included in the book and a note on the author and illustrators. The illustrations are crisp and clear and reminded me a lot of Raina Telgemeier's style - big, expressive eyes and faces and well-drawn settings. The text was an easy to read type and big enough for an intermediate reader.

Verdict: While the book leans a bit heavily on the fact-dumping for my personal taste, this is exactly what a lot of kids who like science mysteries will adore. Just enough plot and character to carry the science along with cool experiments and some funny moments. The art is also attractive and the text readable. However, at only 50 pages it's hard to justify this in a budget the size of mine and I don't think this is really worth the $25 price tag, BUT Lerner's paperbacks are pretty sturdy so I'd recommend purchasing the paperbacks.

ISBN: 9780761385448; Published January 2012 by Lerner Graphic Universe; Borrowed from the library

The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by Andrew Joyner

Why yes, I am cleaning out my to be reviewed list.

This was one of my favorite discoveries a few years ago. An Australian import, it's a delightful story in swinging rhyme with equally entrancing pictures.

A happy band of rabbits are gulping down carrots and chocolate cake by the lake (really more a big pond) when suddenly...there's a TERRIBLE PLOP! Their panic sets off a mass flight and soon the rabbits, a fox, pig, elephant, tiger, and more are all fleeing from the terrible plop. Then they encounter a rather cynical bear, who doesn't think anything, even a terrible plop, is as strong and scary as him! This time, a little rabbit realizes the secret of the plop - but not until the bear has been just as silly as everyone else!

The clues in the text and pictures will easily key children in to the solution of the mystery at the beginning of the book, so they'll be able to snicker along as all the animals flee from nothing much at all.

Andrew Joyner's are just plain fun with cartoon animals and backgrounds and the occasional grab your eye collage piece, like an elaborate knife for the chocolate cake. He does a great job adding hints to the text about the mystery and showing the growing panic of the various animals.

Verdict: A fun story with a moral about confronting your fears that's not too heavily emphasized. This is a favorite storytime choice for my library as well as a top read-aloud pick for parents.

ISBN: 9780374374280; Published August 2009 by Farrar Straus Giroux; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Nonfiction Monday: The Salmon Bears by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read

I've put off a review of this book for over a year because I couldn't decide how to write it in such a way to convey how amazing this story is. I will start by saying that I am now completely fascinated by bears and the Northwest coastal area.

This is the story of the Great Bear Rainforest, a coastal temperate rainforest on the west coast of British Columbia that is home to First Nations people, an amazing variety of animal and plant life, and bears. Grizzly bears, American black bears, and spirit bears, a rare species of black bears.

In loving detail, photographs, and lush language, McAllister and Read describe the beauties of the Great Bear Rainforest and the bears that live there; the amazing discoveries that have been made about these mysterious animals, the wilderness that still remains to be explored, and how the bears have adapted to their special environment.

The book is divided into the four seasons and the reader follows the bears through the cycle of the seasons and their lives as they hunt for different kinds of food, mate, give birth, and raise their cubs, face enemies, and survive in their natural habitat.

The final chapter talks about the threats faced by the bears and the rainforest - only a small part of the forest is protected and logging and other industrial activities endanger the area while trophy hunting endangers the bears themselves. The authors recognize the varied concerns but are clearly on the side of the bears and the wonders of the rainforest. Suggestions of places to go to help and an index complete the book.

Verdict: The amount of text will be daunting to reluctant readers, but many middle grade children will find this a fascinating and eye-opening read, as will adults! Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781554692057; Published April 2010 by Orca Books; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library; Added to my personal wishlist

This week at the library; or, Everything happened so fast it's like nothing happened at all

This was an insane week. In fact, it was so insane that I suddenly realized on Friday I hadn't noted anything I'd done (I usually type out a few notes each day). So, highlights of the week:

Staff meeting. Always scintillating.

Interviews with three potential temp summer aides (picked somebody on Friday)

Kindergarten visit - they strongly objected to me using a different tune for Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons. They demonstrated the "right" tune (which is kinda a rap song. I hate rap. I also dislike the facial expressions that accompany it. They are not any cuter on kindergarteners imo)

Very small group at our last Lego Club of the spring session. I expect attendance to go up in the summer and hope that changing the day won't kill the program.

The chicks went to the farm. Thankfully. They're only cute the first couple days. Two weeks was waaaay too long.

Testing the new front desk - I'm not really comfortable there and will be glad when I have the schedule ironed out and I can settle back in the children's area with only my evening, weekend, and occasional shifts at the front.

Some guy on the phone wanting me to psychically come up with the name of a specific medical person in a big city an hour away from here (You can see the lake out of their window! Just tell me the name and I'll know it! Um....)

Saw the teens on the security camera batting a balloon back and forth. That's an awfully thin balloon..with a weird protuberance...oh heck! Hasty dash upstairs, confiscation of *cough* "balloon".

Big thank you card from all the elementary schools for hosting Battle of the Books.

Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon by Marty Crump

This review could be subtitled: Why backlists are cool! I discovered this book over a year after it had been published, and then it sat in my to review pile for another year after that - but it is still AMAZING. The giant grotesque lizards! The dead rats! Fifteen year olds playing with giant lizards!

There are several threads woven into this nonfiction title. There are the facts and life of Komodo dragons, there is the research of the Auffenberg family in 1969, and there is the current study of these fascinating reptiles.

From 1969 to 1970, the Auffenbergs, including their fifteen year old son Kurt and a university student from Bali, Putra Sastrawan, studied Komodo dragons. The story leads up to the Auffenbergs' research with the history of dragon study until they became endangered in the  1960s. But the study of Komodo dragons isn't finished; new, amazing facts and abilities came to light in the 1990s and in 2006 and scientists and zookeepers are learning more every day about these strange reptiles.

Additional information includes brief facts about Indonesia, the Komodo dragon life cycle, sense of smell, conservation status, and the Komodo Survival Program. There is an extensive bibliography, glossary, further reading, and index.

Verdict: This book may be a few years old, but it's fresh and new! Kids will be awed by the amazing facts and photos and the text is simple enough for most middle grade readers. Recommended.


ISBN: 9781590787571; Published October 2010 by Boyds Mills Press; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

Squee! Ozma Lives!

I am so excited! Ozma of Oz made it onto Fuse #8's Top 100 Children's Novels!!! Break out the dinner pails and pick some lunch boxes!

Beep and Bah by James Burks

 I giggled all the way through - as did the two librarians I was reading it to. Generally, graphic novel picture books are hard to read aloud, but this book perfectly blends the visual and text to create a silly story that will keep small children and adults snickering all the way through.

Bah the goat, who never says anything but "bah!" gets up one morning, and finds a sock in front of his trashcan. He takes it down to his friend, Beep the robot, who never stops talking. Beep knows just what to do, "We must find its match!" and immediately they set off.

"Do you smell that, Bah?
That, my friend, is the smell of adventure.
or it could be this sock. Hard to say, seeing that I don't have a...nose." says Beep.

As they go up and down hills in a Seussian landscape, They meet an array of square farm animals, including a pig, chicken, ox, cow and more. They encounter quicksand, meteors, and travel underwater. No matter what happens, Beep is always enthusiastic, always ready to translate animal sounds, and always enthusiastic. When their journey is over, they may not have found the other sock (or have they?) but they certainly had an adventure!

The perfect comedic timing of art and text is a large part of what makes this so funny. As they encounter various animals, Beep's optimistic approach to their baas and clucks will spark off endless giggles as they contrast with the sometimes unexpected events.

Verdict: Read this in storytime to a variety of ages, take it on school visits, and listen to the laughter explode. Highly recommended.


ISBN: 9780761365679; Published January 2012 by Carolrhoda; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library.