While I normally group picture books together by theme, “Whose Tail?” by Agathe Hennig is such a visually stunning book that it merits being featured on its own. The watercolor images of the animals are pieces of art on their own, but combined with the clever riddles, the careful folding of the pages to reveal only the tail at first glance, and the heavy rich feel to each page, all make this a must-have book for children.
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“Mouse & His Dog” by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko follows “Dogtown” in the adventures of dogs at a private dog shelter called, of course, Dogtown, as narrated by the mouse who lives there. This mouse loves the dogs in Dogtown, and he desperately tries to find them homes before they end up on “the list.” In this beautifully written, touching novel that is both an ode to the joy of loving dogs and a plea to rescue one, we meet several dogs who are typical of dogs we might really meet in a shelter.
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James Ponti, a New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning children’s author, has just released the first book in a new series, “The Sherlock Society.” Those who have enjoyed his “CIty Spies” series will devour this new series, which is set in Ponti’s home state of Florida. The new series features a brother and sister, Alex and Zoe Sherlock, who start a detective agency to make extra money one summer. Helping them are two of Alex’s friends, Lina and Yadi.
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It’s always a pleasure to review a book by Gordon Korman, and his latest, “Faker,” is no exception. Korman takes a concept and inserts really likable main characters who are in impossible situations. We really want things to go right, even if we can’t see how that could happen. But then Korman works his literary magic and, by the end, we are thrilled when our main character not only overcomes the problem, but emerges better, happier, and more centered in his world.
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Andrew Clements’ recently released sequel to one of the most universally beloved middle grade novels ever published is “The Frindle Files.” “Frindle” has been read, studied, and thoroughly enjoyed by millions of young readers since its 1996 publication. And this sequel, published five years after Clements’ death, stands on its own as a worthy, fine, and funny continuation of its unique predecessor.
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While both these children’s picture books are historical fiction, they are both based on real occurrences. One is based on the actual court case when a Chinese American family wanted to send their daughter to school in California and fought in the courts for that right. The other is based on the experiences of Black women who, after centuries of not having rights, and decades of not being able to vote, finally went to the voting booth.
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This review will be short and sweet. “My Vampire vs Your Werewolf” by Paul Tobin is a middle grade chapter book about, no surprise here, vampires and werewolves. My grandson, an avid reader and lover of the horror genre, devoured this in one sitting. It’s a clever concept in which an organization called the Crafters Guild sends children out to find lonely monsters and get them in shape for fighting. Apparently monsters like to fight each other.
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Kids love picture books and especially picture books featuring dogs. All of these books have adorable dogs in them, one also has a cat, and one has a host of wild animals! All have wonderful messages about patience, acceptance, and learning from a dog; and one special book is about why a dog is a better pet than a wild animal! Perfect for children like my grandson, who wants to have a home filled with wild animals he will care for.
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Lynne Kelly, author of “The Secret Language of Birds,” is one of my favorite authors for a very simple reason: she writes about kids and animals. Her first book, “Chained,” is a wrenching story of a captive elephant and the boy who saves her. Then she penned “Song for a Whale,” about the loneliest whale in the world and the deaf girl who can’t seem to find her place in the world just as this misfit whale can’t communicate with other whales. It seems a natural progression to go from a jungle setting to an oceanic world and then to Texas, which Kelly calls home, to share the story of whooping cranes. Her inspiration came from a new article about a pair of whooping cranes just east of Houston who nested there, the first time whooping cranes had done so in over a century.
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Newberry Medal winner Erin Entrada Kelly’s new middle grade novel, “The First State of Being,” is a delightful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking work which explores both the potential problems and fascinating possibilities of time travel. The novel features two young protagonists, both quite brilliant, and both of whom find themselves in situations and locations which reveal their mutual discomfort in new and unfamiliar surroundings.
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Much has been written and admired about “Louder Than Hunger,” John Schu’s brutally, almost painfully honest book about his near-death experience with anorexia nervosa. I think this is a book that will become an important personal experience to each person who reads it as each reader uses Schu’s fictionalized experiences as a mirror that might reflect certain experiences in the reader’s life.
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Adam Gidwitz is a much loved children’s author whose fabulous tales have taken readers young and old from Grimm’s fairy tales (“A Tale Dark and Grimm“) to the Inquisition (“The Inquisitor’s Tale“) and now to WWII in “Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II.” This historical fiction also contains Gidwitz’s trademark fantasy twist with two mythical creatures who accompany main character Max as he travels from Berlin to London as part of the Kindertransport, which took Jewish children from Germany to countries where they stayed in foster homes until the end of the war.
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