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Be A Friend. Salina Yoon. 2016. Bloomsbury. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Dennis was an ordinary boy...who expressed himself in extraordinary ways.

Premise/plot: Dennis (aka "Mime Boy") is lonely until he finds someone who really, truly gets him. Her name is Joy. And they can be friends without saying a single word. So long as they can use jazz hands to laugh together!

My thoughts: I love this one. I do. It is cute, sweet, and true. What a celebration of friendship...and imagination...and being true to yourself. My favorite line: There was no wall between Dennis and Joy. It was more like a mirror.

Do watch the Emily Arrow song.

Text: 4.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4.5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn't Sit Still. Karlin Gray. Illustrated by Christine Davenier. 2016. HMH. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Premise/plot: A picture book biography of Nadia Comaneci.

My thoughts:  First, I just want to say that I want--no, I NEED--more picture books about gymnastics. Or early readers. Or chapter books. Or, you know, novels. And while I'm at it, I'll put in a request for books about ice skating. A picture book about the 1996 U.S. Gymnastics team would be GREAT fun I think!

Second, I just have to say that I really enjoyed this picture book biography of Nadia Comaneci! It is a very age-appropriate biography I must say. It is set in Romania in the 1960s and 1970s. (But the focus is never on politics or hardships or possible reasons why she might have defected from her country.) Readers meet a young Nadia and her coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi. She began doing gymnastics at the age of 6. Over half the book focuses on the 1976 Olympic Games. The book ends with her returning home after winning at the Olympics. She was 14 years old, I believe. I want to say that these days you have to be at least sixteen in order to compete at the Olympics. A timeline will catch adults up on her life story.

One thing I did appreciate was the source notes provided at the end of the book. So often picture book biographies fail to show their research.

This one is easy to recommend.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10


© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Eva and the New Owl. Rebecca Elliott. 2016. Scholastic. 80 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Eva and the New Owl is the fourth book in Rebecca Elliott's Owl Diaries series. If you've read any of the previous books in the series, you know what to expect from this one. If you're unfamiliar with the previous books, you could probably pick up any book in the series and catch up. Eva, the heroine, is an owl who keeps a diary. She has strong opinions, and, is thoroughly likable. Puns abound as do illustrations. The illustrations and puns may both be on the cutesy style. But there is something about the series that I think will appeal to young girls--think ages five to eight. Each book focuses on school life and home life with relationships between friends and family being very important.

There are two main stories in this one. First, Eva's class has started a newspaper. Eva is a reporter. Other classmates have other jobs for the paper. Second, Eva's class will be welcoming a new owl, Hailey. Eva really, really, really, really wants Hailey to be her friend. In her mind, the two are already close friends. Eva makes her a welcome necklace and a special drawing--a map. But when her plan to change seats so that Hailey can sit by her backfires--Hailey chooses to sit in Eva's old seat, the one by Lucy, Eva's best-best friend, Eva is left confused and frustrated. No matter how hard she tries, Hailey is not becoming her best friend. And Lucy and Hailey are becoming closer and closer and closer. Eva finds herself alone...

Can Eva learn an important lesson about friendship?

I think the theme of this one is true to the age of the audience. I think young girls understand all too well about the ups and downs and ins and outs of friendship. Friendship can be confusing and frustrating!

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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War Dogs. Kathryn Selbert. 2016. [April 2016] Charlesbridge. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Rufus's best friend, Winston Churchill, is a busy man, but most days Rufus and Winston share a walk.

Premise/plot: Essentially, War Dogs is a picture book biography of Winston Churchill during the Second World War told from the point of view of his poodle, Rufus. The book has plenty of Churchill quotes throughout. These are set apart from the main text, and are easily identifiable. One of the quotes is:

The road to victory may not be so long as we we expect. But we have no right to count upon this. Be it long or short, rough or smooth, we mean to reach our journey's end. August 1940

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, LOVED this one. War Dogs would definitely be more of a picture book for older readers than a story you'd share aloud with preschoolers. But. I think picture books for older readers are important and necessary, and can be quite LOVELY. I do think that picture books can be for everyone--people for all ages. So I'd definitely recommend this one. It would be a great introduction--picture book introduction--to the Second World War, and to Winston Churchill in particular. So if you're a history lover or a dog lover, you should definitely consider picking this one up!!!

I love the text. I love the illustrations. I love how each quote is sourced. Not all picture book biographies show their work when it comes to research. This one does! (Can you tell that I tend to love research myself!)

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig. Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by Charlotte Voake. 2016. Random House. 44 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: My dear reader, this is a story about a girl named Beatrix Potter and what happened when she borrowed her neighbor's guinea pig.

Premise/plot: As an adult, Beatrix Potter borrowed a guinea pig from one of her neighbors. She wanted, of course, to draw it. Unfortunately, it died while in her care. In this picture book, Beatrix Potter is a child when she borrows it. Instead of returning a live guinea pig, she "returns" a sketch, a drawing of it to the neighbor. The book concludes with the "fun" fact that one of Beatrix Potter's sketches--one of a guinea pig, possibly done around the same time as this story--recently sold at auction for a lot of money.

My thoughts: Is this a children's book, really?! I would make the distinction that this picture book is best shared with older readers, perhaps mid-to-upper elementary students. I don't think it would work for younger audiences. "Gather round, everybody, let's read a story about a guinea pig that dies!!!" I am fond of Beatrix Potter's own books. Some I love. Some I like. One or two genuinely puzzle me. The contents of this one would make a great author's note. When I was reading The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter, each story had a biographical sketch about when it was written, and what was going on in the author's life and such. This story would be great in a book like that. Or in a book for adults perhaps showcasing sketches, drawings, illustrations that never quite made it into a published book.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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A Big Surprise for Little Card. Charise Mericle Harper. Illustrated by Anna Raff. 2016. Candlewick. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Little Card lived in a building with all of his card friends. Each card had a special job.

Premise/plot: Each card has a purpose, a unique purpose. Little Card receives a letter in the mail marked "L.C." he begins training as a birthday card. But it seems there was a mix-up. Long Card was meant to receive that training, and he was meant to be a LIBRARY card. How is the library like a birthday? Little Card sees some similarities. Little Card isn't just "a" library card, he is Alex's library card. Readers learn along with Alex and Little Card about the library.

My thoughts: It has a unique premise, in my opinion. I'm not sure I absolutely needed to see a talking library card in order to appreciate the library. But it could always be worse. I do LOVE the library. And I do love books. And this picture book celebrates reading and the library. So there is that!

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The House That Zack Built. Alison Murray. 2016. Candlewick Press. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: This is the house that Zack built. And this is the fly that buzzed on by, over the house that Zack built. This is the cat that stalked the fly that buzzed on by, over the house that Zack built.

Premise/plot: A retelling, of sorts, of The House that Jack Built. Zack, the house-builder, lives on the farm. And animals feature prominently in this retelling.

My thoughts: While I am not a fan of The House That Jack Built, I am very much a fan of The House that Zack Built. Part of the charm, for me, is the CAT. This gray-and-white cat had me at hello. And finding the cat on each page, and seeing the cat's expression was great fun for me. This cat has ATTITUDE, trust me. I liked the text. I did. I thought the rhythm and rhyme of it worked well. But I really enjoyed the illustrations.

Text: 3.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4.5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ballet Cat Dance! Dance! Underpants. Bob Shea. 2016. Disney-Hyperion. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

For the record, I have not read the first Ballet Cat book. So perhaps if I had, I would have maybe liked this one more than I did. It's not that I didn't like it, mind you. It's just that I didn't find it amazingly wonderful and laugh-out-loud funny.

Ballet Cat is playing with Butter Bear. She wants to play ballet. Butter Bear wants to play ballet, too, so long as playing ballet doesn't include mandatory leaps--or super high leaps. Ballet Cat is insistent. Leaping is required. No exceptions. Butter Bear makes half-a-dozen or so excuses...before revealing the real reason. Why won't Butter Bear leap???

The answer, my friend, is in the title. So it's not a complete surprise, perhaps. But if you have a little one who laughs and giggles every time the word "underpants" or "underwear" is mentioned, then this one is worth picking up.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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How To Dress A Dragon. Thelma Lynne Godin. Illustrated by Eric Barclay. 2016. Scholastic. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: If you have to dress a dragon, you must be prepared to catch him as he flies by. You may have to tickle-tackle him to the floor and give him belly kisses.

Premise/plot: A boy demonstrates for readers HOW to dress a dragon. It isn't an easy task certainly!!!! The book is quite informative. Dragons LOVE underwear, but, hate shirts and pants. (Good thing they like capes, shorts, and hats!)

My thoughts: I love, love, love this one. So silly. So funny. So quirky. (Its endpapers are underwear!) It just had me at hello from the very start. I think I "knew" how good this one would be based on the cover alone.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10


© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Hour of the Bees. Lindsay Eagar. 2016. Candlewick. 360 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I adored Lindsay Eagar's Hour of the Bees. Sometimes I wish 'reviewing' books was as simple as saying: READ THIS BOOK. TRUST ME. But it's never that simple. Words have to be found somehow to try to do this book justice.

Carol, the heroine, isn't exactly thrilled that she'll be spending the summer with her family on her grandfather's sheep farm in the New Mexico desert. Her father and grandfather have not gotten along, and so this is the first time he'll be meeting his grandchildren: Carol and Lu. (Or as he likes to call them Carolina and Luis. There is also Carol and Lu's half-sister, Alta.) Since they don't get along, why are they going? For the simple reason that he is getting older, and, he has dementia. He "needs" to be at a facility where he can be looked after closely. Living on an isolated drought-plagued farm miles away from any town is not an option anymore. But as you might imagine, he does not want to go; he doesn't want to leave the home he shared with his wife, Rosa. (Rosa died the same day Carol was born.)

Perhaps the first day was a bit of a struggle full of strange, awkward moments where no one was quite comfortable. But relatively soon after their arrival, Carol becomes drawn to her grandpa like a magnet. She especially loves to hear him tell stories. The stories are vivid and magical, and, they almost always start the same way: Once upon a time, there was a tree...

The family works HARD; it is exhausting work in the heat. And whether the drought has been 'a hundred years' like her grandfather claimed, or just a few years, it is HOT and miserable. Yet Carol finds herself having the best summer of her life. How can this be?!

One unusual thing about this summer is that bees seem to follow Carol EVERYWHERE. She is always seeing or hearing bees. Her grandfather, Serge, claims that the bees will bring the rain. That it was in fact the bees who took the lake--each one taking one drop of the lake as they flew off...

The stories Serge tells feel timeless...and that's one reason why Carol can't get enough of them. But can she actually believe in her grandfather's stories? Will you?

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Little Cat's Luck. Marion Dane Bauer. Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. 2016. Simon & Schuster. 224 pages. [Source: Library]

Did I enjoy reading Marion Dane Bauer's Little Cat's Luck? Yes, I did! What should you know about the book? I'd recommend it to elementary-aged readers who love animals, who love cats especially. It is also a verse novel. One of those verse novels why you're not really quite sure why it's written in verse instead of prose. Personally, prose or verse doesn't really matter in this particular story because I really like cats.

Patches, our heroine, tumbles through a window screen to begin her adventure in the wider world. She's uneasy for the first few chapters, and, readers may be just as puzzled as she is as to why. I guessed a little bit ahead of the big reveal. But it's not something that I guessed from chapter one!

Essentially, Patches is a cat on a mission: find a cozy, just-right place that is out-of-the-way and dark and a bit quiet. She finds her SPECIAL PLACE, but, it isn't without risk. For her special place isn't really *hers* to have. It is a dog house. But this dog house belongs to the so-called meanest dog in town. The super-smelly dog that barks constantly--if he's awake--the one that every person seems to know as *that dog.* His name is Gus. And Gus and Patches will have a lot to say to one another....

I liked this one very much. And for those who are hesitant about animal books because they worry that the animal on the cover will die, don't worry about picking this one up and getting properly attached to the characters.
© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Adventures of Miss Petitfour. Anne Michaels. 2015. [November 2015] Tundra. 144 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Very soon you will be meeting Miss Petitfour, and so, just to be sure you'll recognize her, this is what she looks like.

I loved this one from the very first page. Even before I turned the page to see that lovely phrase, "...and her Cats." Love isn't strong enough really. Let's make it LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. Miss Petitfour is a gush-worthy read if ever there was one!

So what is it about? The adventures that Miss Petitfour has with her sixteen cats. They get around town by flying--sailing in the wind using a tablecloth. What kind of adventures do they have? Are they big or small?

And some adventures are just the right size--fitting into a single, magical day. And these are the sort of adventures Miss Petitfour had.

There are five adventures in all:

• Miss Petitfour and the Rattling Spoon
• Miss Petitfour and the Jumble
• Miss Petitfour and the Penny Black
• Miss Petitfour and the birthday Cheddar
• Miss Petitfour and the "Oom"
  

The writing is absolutely lovely, charming, delightful, and practically perfect.

Do you know what a digression is? Well, of course you do. A digression is like quicksand or a whirlpool--sometimes you just can't find your way out of one. It's the part of a story that some people think is the most fun, when the story wanders off the point and gets lost, giving us all sorts of information that has nothing to do with getting us from the beginning to the end. A digression is just like what happens when you're walking to school: you stop to tie your shoelaces and notice the neighbor's dog looking at you, and so you stop to give it a pat, and then you see the fence has started to fall down, and so you have to climb it just a little, and then you look up and realize the clouds are in the shape of pianos, and then, oh dear, you suddenly remember you were on your way to school and you have to run all the rest of the way so you won't be late. That is a digression. Now, where were we?

An eccentricity is something everyone has--but everyone has a different one. An eccentricity is a quirky thing we like to do just because. Perhaps you always like to put on your right shoe first. Or perhaps you like to count by twos when you're bored. Or perhaps you only like to eat popcorn on Tuesdays. Or perhaps you like to count digressions and keep a record of them at the back of every book you read.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I loved Miss Petitfour, of course. But I also enjoyed all sixteen of her cats. Though probably Minky and Sizzles were my favorite. Other characters--human characters--that I enjoyed include: Mrs. Collarwaller (the bookseller), Mrs. Carruther (the grocery shop owner) and Mr. Coneybeare (confetti shop owner).
I also loved, loved, loved the illustrations. They were cute, sweet, charming, and absolutely perfect.

This is a book I see myself reading and rereading again and again and again.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ruby Lee & Me. Shannon Hitchcock. 2016. Scholastic. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I loved, loved, loved Shannon Hitchock's Ruby Lee and Me. This middle grade historical novel is set in the 1969, I believe. It will be a year of BIG change for the heroine, Sarah Beth Willis. School integration is probably one of the least of her worries. First, her sister, Robin, is run over by a car. Sarah worries a lot. Will her sister die? will she wake up from the coma? Will she walk and run and play again? Will her sister blame her for the accident? Will her parents blame her for the accident? Can she ever forgive herself for reading a library book instead of keeping both eyes on her sister every single moment of the afternoon? Second, because of finances, her family will be moving in with her grandparents. Now Sarah loves, loves, loves to visit the family farm and to spend time with each of her grandparents. But to move away from her house, her room, her school, her neighborhood, her friends and to have to start all over again in a new place?! It's scary. The one person she does know--and is quite good friends with--is the one person the adults in her life tell her she CAN'T spend time with in town, at school: Ruby Lee.

Ruby Lee's grandma and Sarah's grandma grew up as friends, and, are still quite close--in their own way, in their own private, behind-the-scenes way. But whites and blacks can't be friends publicly and openly, can they?! School integration is happening in the fall. Ruby Lee and Sarah Beth will be in the same class. Sarah really wants to be at-school friends too. Ruby Lee is hesitant. Does Sarah know what she's getting herself into? Is it something she's comfortable with too? Tension is only getting worse between races: for the school will be getting African American teachers as well as students. And Sarah and Ruby Lee will be taught by an African American. A lot of parents are, at the very, very least concerned, and, at worst, ANGRY and upset by this. Sarah's family is fine with this, by the way.

Ruby Lee and Me is about race and school integration. But it isn't only about that. It is about friendship and family. How do you make a friend? How do you keep a friend? How do friends help one another? When is a friendship worth fighting for or standing up for? How do friends resolve disagreements and fights? I liked the focus on Ruby Lee and Sarah Beth. But I also appreciated the family focus. I loved getting to know Sarah, Robin, the grandparents, and parents. I also appreciated the community librarian! Readers do get a first impression of the teacher as well. Part of me wishes the book followed the girls past meet the teacher night and well into their school year.

Another aspect of the novel was faith--faith in GOD. I loved that aspect of it. Not enough books today are written with a good, strong, solid Christian faith tradition. The family's faith is presented realistically and naturally.

Anyone looking for a historical coming-of-age novel with strong characterization should read Ruby Lee and Me.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Breakthrough: How Three People Saved "Blue Babies" and Changed Medicine Forever. Jim Murphy. 2015. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 144 pages. [Source: Review copy]

If I had to describe Breakthrough in just a few words, I'd choose these: fascinating, compelling, a must-read. If I had to pack it all into one sentence? Something like, Breakthrough by Jim Murphy is a fine narrative example of nonfiction for young readers at its best. Of course, I don't have to limit my review to just a few words or a few sentences. But the best books so overwhelm you with their greatness that though you want to gush about them at great length, you're sometimes at a loss of words for you know that you can never do the book you just read and loved justice.

Breakthrough is the story of three people: Dr. Alfred Blalock, Dr. Helen Taussig, and Vivien Thomas. Dr. Blalock was a doctor who spent most of his time doing research, his specialty was studying shock: what it was, what caused it, how to fix it and save lives. He was a doctor who needed a research assistant, a more-than-capable research assistant, an assistant that would be able to do his own research, experiments, and surgeries. That assistant was a black man, Vivien Thomas. He was not technically a doctor or a surgeon. So his story of how he became part of this historic team is quite fascinating. (It would have been easy for most who worked at the hospital to assume that Thomas was a janitor, a "mere" janitor, if you will. But that was so far from the case!!!)  

Readers learn about all three people--their stories and backgrounds and how they came together to help save 'blue babies.' Readers also learn a bit about the field of medicine at the time--the 1930s and 1940s. Heart surgery was not done at the time; it was almost unthinkable for doctors and surgeons to contemplate operating on the heart. "Blue babies" were babies born with heart defects. They might live for a few days, a few weeks, or a few years. But all babies born with heart defects were almost surely fated to die early. Dr. Helen Taussig was a pediatrician who was broken-hearted enough about it to want to do something. Even if other doctors were hesitant or even hostile to help her in her research. She ended up working with Dr. Blalock, and his involvement meant Vivien Thomas doing much of the work: the tests, the experiments, the surgeries, all on animal test subjects of course. The author does address how some found this controversial--doing surgeries and experiments on animals, in this case on dogs--but he stresses how valuable the research was to doctors, and, how their discoveries led to life-changing techniques and practices that would never have been possible without that initial animal research. Thomas, the man doing the test surgeries, also needed to invent the surgical tools to operate.

And without a doubt this first case of heart surgery on a baby, Eileen Saxon, was life-changing. (I believe it was one of the first (successful) heart surgeries ever performed.) This surgery changed the lives of the doctors, changed the field of medicine, and changed people's perceptions of what was possible.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Waddle! Waddle! James Proimos. 2015. [November] Scholastic. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Yesterday was the best day ever! I met a spectacular dancer! He's my new best friend. But then I lost him.

Premise/plot: The narrator of Waddle! Waddle! is a penguin. He "found" a friend only to "lose" him. This new friend was a great dancer. The penguin tries to find him again, but, the two penguins he meets don't even know how to dance. One sings. One blows a horn. They prove themselves to be good friends in the end. Will he ever find his dancing friend?

My thoughts: Penguin doesn't recognize his own reflection. He is his own new friend with the amazing dance moves. I liked the repetition of this one: the waddle, waddle, belly slide. And the simplicity of the story worked for me in some ways. But I can't say I liked the illustrations. (Though it may just be the yellow eyes keeping me from liking it. I'm not sure.)

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Willy's Stories. Anthony Browne. 2015. Candlewick. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Every week I walk through these doors and something incredible happens. I go on amazing adventures. Come with me and I'll show you...

Premise/plot: Willy loves to read. Willy loves going to the library and finding new books and new adventures. Actually, many of the books he reads are not exactly "new." This picture book celebrates classic adventure stories. How many do you recognize?

My thoughts: I like this one very much. I love the idea behind it. I think this is a great picture book for older readers. Not so much for younger readers. Each two-page spread celebrates a book, usually an adventure novel or a fantasy. One page is fully illustrated. The other is text-heavy. (It's not bad for a picture book to be text-heavy, especially in this case, but it does make it more appropriate for older readers, mid-to-upper elementary at least.) I think my favorite part was how each page asks a question of readers inviting them to join in the conversation. Readers might be inspired to write about their own favorite books and stories. And if they are at all creative or artistic, they might try drawing scenes from their favorite books. 

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Your Hand in My Hand. Mark Sperring. Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. 2015. [November] Scholastic. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Your hand in my hand is where it belongs. Your hand in my hand as we walk along. The world's full of wonders. There's so much to see. I'll find them with you if you find them with me.

Premise/plot: Your Hand in My Hand celebrates families, friendship, seasons, and nature. The illustrations feature a parent and child. (They're mice, I believe.) It's a sweet and precious book. Not every reader loves sweet and precious. Not all adults and not all children. But for the right reader, or set of readers, this one is quite lovely.

My thoughts: Did I love it? Yes and no. I didn't love Your Hand in My Hand as much as his previous book, Max and the Won't Go To Bed Show. I really loved that spirited book. Your Hand is My Hand is much quieter, not as exuberant or obnoxious. There's something personal and precious about it which I can't help liking. This one was originally published in the UK.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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