How better to get ready for Easter than by reading these three picture books about Easter? Each is special and will be loved for different reasons; each is worth reading with children before and after Easter.
Like it or not, this collection of four short stories by Cory Doctorow is America. It’s also fascinating, deeply engaging, controversial, and thought-provoking. The four stories may at first seem unrelated, but musing on them for a while leads to several realizations about their important similarities and common themes.
With the title “The Girl He Used to Know,” author Tracey Garvis Graves doesn’t give the reader a hint about what to expect. The reader won’t expect two main characters who are compelling and who will be indelibly etched on their minds. They won’t expect a love story between two people who in some ways are worlds apart, yet who just might be destined for each other. They won’t expect a story that hooks the reader from the start, but just keeps getting better and better until the final 40 pages, at which point it’s simply impossible to put the book down. Continue reading
“Crucible” by James Rollins is a thrilling story about the Sigma Force characters fans have grown to know and appreciate, Gray Pierce and Monk Kokkalis and their families, and what happens when a young woman creates an artificial intelligence (AI) being whose intelligence and ability far surpass anything created previously.
Many Americans love their dogs and cats, but almost three million companion animals are killed in shelters every year. If more people adopted cats and dogs, that number would be smaller, just as it would if more people spayed and neutered their dogs and cats. Perhaps if people knew the benefits they would get by saving the life of a shelter animal, more would do so.
“Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Canine Companion the Best Life Possible” by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce is a primer for dog owners who love their dogs but aren’t sure that their dogs are living the best life possible. Why should people care about their dogs having the best life possible? Those of us who have dogs and love them as parts of our family know the answer: By making our dogs as happy as possible, we in turn will be as happy as we can possibly be with them.
‘Tis the season, and there’s a plethora of perfectly pet-a-licious picture books to share with the young animal lovers on your shopping list. The choices range from silly to serious, and everything in between.
“Undaunted” by Kat Falls is the sequel to “Inhuman,” published in 2013. For those who read “Inhuman” when it first came out, it’s time to pick it up and read it again, although it’s also certainly possible to read and really enjoy this sequel without remembering everything from the first book.
“Little Yellow Truck” is by prolific and talented author Eve Bunting and illustrated by 
Kevin Zimmer with a bright cheerful palette. It’s the story of a red dump truck, a green flatbed truck, a blue concrete mixer, and a little yellow pickup truck, all working together to build a children’s park. Little Yellow waits impatiently as the other trucks carry away trash, mix concrete, and bring in lumber. Then Big Green brings in the swings and slides, benches and tables. What will there be left for Little Yellow to do? Don’t worry, Little Yellow has an important job to make the park just perfect! Zimmer manages to create great expressions on the vehicles and kids will love the story of the little guy, worrying and impatient, who finally gets to do his job. (Sleeping Bear Press)
Just in time for spring, several nonfiction picture books are ready to be shared. They are about flowers and plants, about animals and their environment, about people who help the environment, and even about how our bodies are filled with energy. Some are quiet books, perfect for nighttime read-alouds; others are exciting books filled with bright colors and details kids will want to think about. They are all fabulous.
Photo by Alice Chow, volunteer San Bernardino shelter
The San Bernardino City Animal Shelter was always the little shelter that could. While they couldn’t save all the abandoned animals that crossed their doors, the fervent volunteers worked tirelessly to try to save as many as possible. And they did this in spite of little support from the shelter manager, who at times almost seemed to work against the volunteers.
PamelaKramer.com 