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Category Archives: Juvenile Fiction

Kohl’s Keeps Kids Happy This Summer

$5 Books, Bags and Plushies

There’s more than one way to know the seasons are changing. Of course you can look at the calendar. Then there’s the change in the weather along with a fresh, flowery smell in the air. For me, these last few years of blogging, I’m reminded of changing seasons whenever Kohl’s introduces its newest Kohl’s Cares Cause Merchandise for Kids (and Grown-ups)! Now I know summer’s not far off because I just received info about the latest program starring Deborah Diesen’s Pout-Pout Fish.

A five dollar bill will get you either a book, a tote bag or an adorable stuffed animal. Why not get all three and start your summer early?

12966841296685Start with The Pout-Pout Fish, a delightful book that teaches children the importance of a positive attitude.

Add The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark, a book that takes children on an exciting, underwater adventure,while teaching them lifelong lessons about the power of friendship.

I especially like the colorful new tote bag. It’s perfect for carrying books, plushies or beach toys! And at just $5, you could get buy one to keep in the trunk as a spare.

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Don’t forget to pick up the coordinating stuffed animals to make the set complete.

12966821296683There’s a crab,

an octopus

and of course, Pout-Pout Fish.

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12966801304285Parents, maybe you’re thinking you’d like something this affordable, too? Well, Kohl’s has got you covered with these two books (yes, at just $5 each) certain to get you celebrating. Check ‘em out! – Good Housekeeping: Blend It! (featuring 133 recipes covering soup to smoothies) and Kohl’s Party Food (including more than 150 recipes for snacks, salads, sandwiches and desserts).

100% of the net profit from the sale of these items will support kids’ health and education initiatives in communities nationwide. Visit Kohl’s Cares® site by clicking here to learn more. Since the program first began in 2000, Kohl’s Cares philanthropic program has raised more than $231 million for children’s health and education programs in local communities across the country.

A Book That Will Transplant Kids to Another Land

Miss Maple’s Seeds (Nancy Paulsen Books, $16.99, Ages 3-5), written and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, is reviewed by Ronna Mandel.

Reading a debut picture book is always exciting especially when it’s by a fellow SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) member. Author/illustrator Eliza Wheeler hails from northern Wisconsin, but now calls southern California -L.A. to be precise – her home. With Miss Maple’s Seeds she has created a magical story that is pure, positive and totally appealing.

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What child won’t be excited about wee Miss Maple, a Thumbelina-sized, willowweed hatted character who makes a hollow in a tall maple tree her home? Best of all, the benevolent Miss Maple has made it her mission to collect orphaned seeds “that got lost during the spring planting,” with the hopes of nurturing them until they are ready to go off and take root on their own. Wheeler’s color palette is warm like the sun needed for the seeds to flourish, and it conveys a tenderness that will resonate with parents as they share the story with their little ones. Perfect for a bedtime story, Miss Maple’s Seeds has no real demonstrated conflict, only the inference that Miss Maple must watch over her “guests” and keep them safe because, as she repeats throughout the text, “Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small.” Young imaginations will be sparked by the idea of this tiny woman working alongside nature much like they would Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies.

Miss Maple is a comforting, reassuring presence on a cold, rainy night; a friend of the fragile; a strong yet gentle woman who has the seeds’ best interests at heart and knows when it’s time for them to be released to the elements because “… even the grandest of trees once had to grow up from the smallest of seeds.”

Click here for a link to some Miss Maple’s Seeds activity sheets for kids.

Light Up the Sky

ItsAFireflyNight_CVRWhat child (or adult for that matter) doesn’t love fireflies? After all, they are the first sign that summer has truly arrived. It’s a Firefly Night ($12.99, Blue Apple Books, Ages 3-6) is a beautiful picture book that celebrates every child’s rite of passage into the warmest season of the year.

The concise flowing, rhyming prose by Dianne Ochiltree offers the youngest readers insight into the story of a little girl and her dog who are out in the yard with a jar, chasing, capturing and releasing fireflies back into the air. Just reading the book will make you want to get out into the fresh air with your family. In the back of the book is a spread with factual information about fireflies. Did you know that fireflies are beetles?

“Flickering quicker,
they sparkle and shine.
I love catching fireflies,
but they are not mine.”

What makes this book standout are the vivid collage illustrations by Betsy Snyder. The colors are both deep and brilliant, depicting the most magical night sky you could ever imagine. It’s a Firefly Night is a great way to kickoff summer with your kids. Just be prepared to get out in the yard with them chasing those glittery sparklers as soon as they appear.

-Reviewed by Debbie Glade

Mother’s Day Books

This post is dedicated to moms everywhere.  I’ve selected a couple of books that celebrate the superhero qualities so many mothers possess.

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New in 2013 is My Mom is The Best Circus by Luciana Navarro Powell (Robin Corey Books, $7.99, ages 0-3) and if you think you recognize the mom, you’re right – it’s YOU!

“My mom is the best circus,
a one-woman show.
She’s the ringmaster,
a juggler,
and the band maestro.”

Read how this mom’s performance needs no admission ticket and the Big Top she calls home never goes on the road.

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A sturdy, 26-paged glossy board book narrated by a little boy and filled with fun illustrations, My Mom is The Best Circus will lift spirits and get lots of giggles. Children will identify with the kids in the story and their mom’s uncanny ability to sometimes be “a magician, other times, a clown.” While recommended for ages 0-3, parents will likely have to take the time to explain all the circus metaphors. Even so, it’s a great opportunity for some lively interaction, especially if a youngster has been to the circus or seen one in movies.

9781449409722_frontcoverMy Mom is the Best Circus will entertain kids, but this next one is for us moms! Are you a fan of Baby Blues like I am? Scribbles at an Exhibition: Scrapbook 29 (Andrews McMeel, $12.99) by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott features a collection of this King Features syndicated comic strip. Packed with 128 pages of hilarity, Scribbles at an Exhibition will cheer up even the most exhausted superhero mom. Some strips are in color and others are in black and white, but it doesn’t matter because each cartoon is better than the next and they’re all so good.

The award-winning team of Kirkman and Scott have been getting it right since the beginning of Baby Blues back in 1990. Following Daryl and Wanda’s MacPherson’s trials and tribulations at home with kids Zoe, Hammie and baby Wren have always made me feel I am not alone. And I’ve been known to cut out a strip (from the newspaper not the book) and put it on the fridge with a magnet for the whole family to see. Check out the Baby Blues website here for tons of neat facts, a blog, archives, the history of the strip, and things to purchase. And as Daryl says to Wanda:

“I’m sure you had a hard day, but I don’t think there is such a thing as a chocolate I.V.,” to which Wanda replies, “Well, there should be.”  So moms, here’s to chocolate I.V.s, a comfy couch and your very own copy of  Scribbles at an Exhibition: Scrapbook 29 to make Mother’s Day just right.

-Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

A Truly Colorful Crayon Tale

51E7nP9Xi-L._SX225_Hitting shelves this June is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel Books; $17.99; ages 3-8). Reviewer Rita Zobayan couldn’t peel herself away!

Art comes to life in the delightful new picture book. Duncan simply wants to color, but a stack of 12 letters in his school desk reveals that his crayons have feelings and opinions on not only his use of color, but also on their own relationships with each other. Poor Pink is tired of being relegated as only a “girls’ color” and demands usage! Green is quite content with its lot in life, but is worried about other crayons. Blue is appreciative, but exhausted from coloring oceans and skies. And, boy-oh-boy, will your child laugh out loud when Peach’s dilemma is revealed!

Humor, imagination, and a great sense of children’s language combine to make up the content of the letters, and each letter is cleverly illustrated in a child’s handwriting style. Here is Red Crayon’s communication to Duncan:

Hey Duncan,

It’s me, Red Crayon. We NEED to talk. You make me work harder than any of your other crayons. All year long I wear myself out coloring fire engines, apples, strawberries and EVERYTHING ELSE that’s RED. I even work on holidays! I have to color all the Santas at Christmas and all the hearts on Valentine’s Day! I NEED A REST!

                  Your overworked friend,

Red Crayon

Meanwhile, Yellow and Orange are feuding! Yellow states that Duncan needs to “tell Orange Crayon that I am the color of the sun…” and Orange fires back that Duncan should “please tell Mr. Tattletale that he IS NOT the color of the sun.” Both have coloring book evidence to prove their claims! What is Duncan to do?!

TheDaytheCrayonsQuit_interior_19The illustrations are spot on: you really believe that you’re looking at a child’s art. They creatively capture each of the crayons’ dilemmas—even Purple’s assertion that if Duncan doesn’t “start coloring inside the lines soon…I am going to COMPLETELY LOSE IT.”

The Day the Crayons Quit is a great read, and artist or not, children will delight in the humorous premise and colorful artwork.

For other Oliver Jeffers books, click here. Click the titles for our reviews of Stuck and This Moose Belongs to Me.

Odd is the New Normal: Meet Cecil Castellucci

Ronna Mandel interviews Odd Duck author Cecil Castellucci. Odd Duck, published by :01 First Second Books, $15.99, ages 6-10, is illustrated by Sara Varon.

mail-3Cecil Castellucci, an L.A. author, has written everything from picture books to young adult novels. Her latest projects are Odd Duck and Letters for Kids, a bi-monthly subscription program through The Rumpus. In Odd Duck we meet Theodora and Chad, neighbor ducks who both waddle to the beat of a different drum yet actually have tons in common. Although the two become BFFs each one thinks the other is the strange one. Upon overhearing someone call one of them, odd, Theodora and Chad clash over which duck was being referred to. This winning picture book is a salute to individuality and uniqueness, a recurring theme for Castellucci.

mail-2How much of you is in Theodora?

I think all of me is in Theodora and Chad. It took a long time for me to figure out that my oddness was also what made me interesting.

Why do you think opposites Theodora and Chad attract?

I have always been a big fan of opposites. Some of my favorite friendships are the ones where we see the world in a similar way but we like radically different things. In Odd Duck, Chad and Theodora might move through the world very differently, but I think fundamentally they feel the same way about things.

Why do people shy away from what they don’t consider “normal”?

It’s hard to be odd. I’m no psychologist, but I think that we tend to gravitate toward groups to feel safer and that is what “normal” means. But I think that being odd is normal to other odd people. So I say, find your odd tribe and you will be “normal”! Because I think really there is no such thing as normal. And I think that everyone on the entire planet is a little odd about something.

Learn more about Cecil Castellucci and her other books at misscecil.com. For info about Letters for Kids and more about Odd Duck, read the extended interview at LAParent.com.

Find the extended interview at LAParent.com and remember to pick up their new May issue.

Click here for the link to my review of Castellucci’s First Day on Earth, a fantastic YA novel from 2011.

Simply, Superbly Staake

I’d heard the buzz about Bluebird by Bob Staake, but deliberately steered clear of reading anything before I laid eyes on my own copy. I didn’t want a single word to influence my opinion of a book that was 10 years in the making. Then my review copy arrived and I dove in. Certain to be an award-winner, Bluebird (Schwartz & Wade, $17.99, ages 4-8) is everything I hoped it would be and more.

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This emotion-packed picture book touched me the same way the 1956 film The Red Balloon did. I felt my eyes well with tears just like when I first watched the French classic as an elementary school girl in the late 60s. I’ve carried that movie with me over four decades and am confident Bluebird will have that kind of effect on children. Its moving message will stay with readers. Plus, reading this book feels so much more intimate and individual than watching a film and the artwork simply soars. Yes, it’s a book that has wings because as you read it and watch colors and tones change with the illustrations, your spirit lifts along with Bluebird and the boy he befriends. And though I said “read it,” it’s actually a wordless picture book with a most wonderful voice, one that shouts love and understanding. Great art can do that. Here are some of Staake’s Bluebird character studies:

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Friends come in all shapes and sizes and so do bullies. There are several bullies who torment a young boy at the beginning of the school year. He feels alone and ostracized until Bluebird appears and makes it hard not to notice his friendly gestures. Set in Manhattan, the different frames of the story depict the nameless boy and his new pal spending a great afternoon together playing and then sailing a boat in Central Park as new friendships are forged.

BLUEBIRE Interior Art

The huge smiles on the kids’ faces and the light airy feeling of grays and blues on the pages convey a newfound happiness and joy. Then the grays darken as the boy runs into the bullies.

(A Staake sketch of the bullies in Central Park)

Sketch from Bluebird

What happens next as Bluebird tries to help his friend may temporarily derail little ones, but that’s really the point. Bluebird is a conversation starter about friendship, loyalty and bullying. It’s also about loss and the healing power of community. I’m glad we waited 10 years for this powerful tale to take flight.

For more information and a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the book, visit FlyBluebird.com.

-Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

School Lunch Superhero Day

School Lunches and Lunch Lady:
Packed With Power

LUNCH LADY AND THE VIDEO GAME VILLAINToday, May 3rd, together with Lunch Lady author Jarrett Krosoczka and the School Nutrition Association, Random House Children’s Books is celebrating School Lunch Superhero Day! This is a day for students, teachers, and school staff to give thanks to the school nutrition professionals that feed over 31 million students each day.

WIN WITH IMAGINATION: Tell us what you imagine your lunch lady does when she’s not serving meals and you may win a copy of LUNCH LADY AND THE VIDEO GAME VILLAIN! Scroll down for entry rules.

index~~element25About School Nutrition Association
School Nutrition Association is a national, non-profit professional organization representing 55,000 school nutrition professionals across the country. Founded in 1946, SNA and its members are dedicated to making healthy school meals and nutrition education available to all students. School Lunch Superhero Day will kick off SNA’s annual School Nutrition Employee Week (May 6-10, 2013), recognizing the many contributions of school nutrition professionals. To find out more about today’s school meals, visit www.TrayTalk.org.
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INSPIRATION: Jarrett’s very own School Lunch Superhero, Jean Cariglia, inspired his Lunch Lady series. When Jarrett visited his school after the first book was published, he was astounded to see how much this recognition meant to Jean. This, and other acts of kindness he has seen while touring for the series, planted the seed for School Lunch Superhero Day.
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WAYS TO CELEBRATE: The SchoolLunchSuperheroDay.com website has all kinds of activities to help schools celebrate – games, activities, valentines, you name it!

TED: Besides creating a really innovative take on superheroes, Jarrett is also a really amazing individual. Last fall, he was invited to present a TED talk. His talk has over 500,000 combined views and is really inspirational. See the video here.

NEW LUNCH LADY: LUNCH LADY AND THE VIDEO GAME VILLAIN is on sale now. This is an action-packed graphic novel series with fun food-related gadgets. The series is great for beginning readers, and the latest title is reviewed here by Ronna Mandel.

BOOK REVIEW:

I first fell for the Lunch Lady series exactly three years ago (to see my first review click here) and back then there were only three books out. Now your beginning and/or reluctant reader can devour all nine and at just $6.99 each, it’s an affordable collection to own. Lunch Lady and The Video Game Villain, (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children’s Books, ages 7-10), is yet another Jarrett Krosoczka treat so hungry fans will not be disappointed with this latest serving. It packs the usual puns and punch in addition to the comical graphic illustrations at which Krosoczka excels. Hector’s friends have decided he’d make a great class president, but guess who he’s up against? None other than #15, Milmoe the menace! So does Hector even stand a chance? Plus, lots of electronic items are going missing and Lunch Lady and her cohort, Betty, decide to investigate. Will the culprit be the school janitor, Mr. Kalowski, Milmoe, or maybe the mystery man who prints his posters? Then of course, there’s poor, overworked Gavin Computo, the tech teacher. Could he possibly be involved in illegal gadget garnering? Throw in an upcoming visit from new school superintendent, Dr. Van Grindheimer, to inspect the cafeteria and the hallowed halls of Thompson Brook may be anything but … While I do recommend kids begin with the first book in the series, those eager to take a bite out of the newest installment will certainly find it satisfying.

Giveaway Rules:

One winner, chosen at random (at Random.org) from comments on our Facebook page, will receive a copy of Lunch Lady and The Video Game Villain by Jarrett Krosoczka worth ($6.99). You must LIKE us on Facebook to be eligible. All comments must be made by midnight, Friday, May 10th and a winner will be selected and notified on Saturday, May 11th.

Animal Poetry for Kids from National Geographic

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We could not let April end without reviewing this fantastic collection of poems. It’s entitled National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Squeak, Soar, and Roar! (kids.nationalgeographic.com, $24.95, ages 4-8) which is just how we like our animal poetry to be.  Here’s the bonus – the book is edited by J. Patrick Lewis, the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate.

For fellow Californians, included is an evocative Haiku inspired by Bali Sardines from L.A. local, Joan Bransfield Graham:

Dancing through the waves,
ballerinas of the blue –
the ocean their stage.

You’ll also find poems from UCLA graduate and award winning poet, Janet S. Wong; Pulitzer Prize winning former U.S. Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan; Betsy Franco; and Kenn Nesbitt to name a few. Seeking poems about hamsters and honey bees? You’ll find ‘em! Want to read about Roosters and Raccoons? They’re there, too. Eager for elephants? Look no further.

This treasury is really not just for 4-8 year-olds because the photographs are simply spectacular and ideally suited for each poem. I’m certain that even teens and adults will find themselves amazed at the variety of details, colors and moods conveyed in all 186 pages.  Of course all the great poets are here to enjoy, and easy to find with the Poet Index: from Aiken to Sandburg, Frost to Madox Roberts, and Rosetti to Whitman.  The helpful Subject Index, Title Index and First Line Index make this book indispensable for students. There’s also a super spread devoted to writing poems and another for resources, but the poems themselves are what we’re here for.  Broken down into manageable sections, this collection divides the poems into an intro called Welcome to the World. This is followed by other sections called The Big Ones, The Little Ones, The Winged Ones, The Water Ones, The Strange Ones, The Noisy Ones, and a Final Thought in closing.

I have nothing but praise for this marvelous book that is not only an homage to the animal kingdom and its beauty but to every word used to describe it.

-Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

Maisy’s Green Thumb

Maisy Grows a Garden: A Maisy First Science Book by Lucy Cousins; Candlewick Press, $14.99; ages 3 and up) is reviewed today by Rita Zobayan.

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Masiy, Maisy, how does your garden grow? Maisy is busy getting ready to grow vegetables and flowers, and we get to help! We join Maisy and her pal Panda as they plant a garden and complete each step: digging, planting, tending, first growth, weeding, picking, and enjoying.

Each pair of pages in this bright and colorful book includes target words with illustrations (pitchfork, rake, shovel for digging; seedlings, roots, ladybug for first growth). Simple sentences and accompanying illustrations describe the scenes. For example, here is Maisy weeding the garden: It’s not only vegetables that grow in the garden. Weeds grow there, too. Maisy pulls the weeds out so they don’t crowd the vegetables!

The highlight of this sturdy book is the interactive tabs for each section. Help Maisy dig the soil. Pull the tab and see Maisy plant carrot seeds. Watch the vegetables sprout, and my-oh-my, wait until your child sees the flowers bloom! Illustrated in Lucy Cousins’ signature style, Maisy Grows a Garden: A Maisy First Science Book is a fun introduction to help little hands develop green thumbs!

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