Three baby themed picture books

Itsy-bitsy-babies by Margaret Wild

Itsy-bitsy-babies is a short little book told in rhyming couplets that portray little babies doing little baby things. The illustrations are simple but life-like. I loved this one because Sera seems interested in watching other babies right now, and she seemed interested in the pictures of the babies as I read to her.  It helped that the book is short and repetitive. I think that was key in keeping her attention. 

Baby Knows Best by Kathy Henderson

A humorous picture book about all the funny quirks that babies have; I am sure that anyone that has any experience with small ones will get a laugh out of this cute book.

Everyone in the family notices that baby has tons of toys but only wants to play with the house keys, or that then baby has tons of specialized food in jars and baggies but only wants to eat what the family eats. I also related to how the baby was surrounded by fun little books but only wanted to eat the newspaper. I only get the Sunday edition of the paper and it is a celebratory event for little Sera when she gets her little paws on all that chewy paper goodness.

Baby Talk: a book of first words and phrases by Judy Hindley

This picture book take baby through the daily routine—getting the hair brushed, getting the coat on, going to the park—and then emphasizes common phrases that go along with these activities. I thought this was fun to read with Sera because we use these same words and do these same things every day, every week. I hope she has started to recognize these things, but I think she knows more than I suspect. Just this evening I was playing with her until bath time. I turned to her and asked, “Sera are you ready for bath time?” and she made a happy little squee and threw her little baby arms above her head to show her excitement. Hilarious!  

Wolves Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Wolves, Boys, and Other Thing That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

KJ Carson has never attracted much attention in her small town of West End, Montana. Then she takes a Journalism class and is assigned to write a newspaper column on wolves with her new classmate and crush, Virgil. Virgil’s mom is a biologist studying the wolves in Yellowstone park, and that means she gets to spend early mornings with Virgil and his mom learning about the wolf packs that roam the park.  Her fascination with wolves puts in in a precarious position with people in town. The ranchers are violently opposed to the wolves reintroduction into the park because their livestock is being killed. Then someone shoots at Virgil’s pro-wolf float in the holiday parade and suddenly the argument about wolves as becomes dangerous as acts of violence and vandalism multiply.

In general I really enjoyed KJ’s character in this book. She doesn’t back down from what she thinks and is always quick with a clever comeback. She really knows how to fight with words. I found her kind of annoying in the fact that she doesn’t make much effort to see the rancher’s point of view when they live all around her. I thought that since she was the editor of the school newspaper she would make a bit more effort into getting an interview besides just ignoring the one rancher dude that hates her. There had to be other rancher kids that were less hostile toward her that she could have interviewed.

Overall, this was a pretty interesting book that explored the conflict surrounding the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park and I thought that was unique angle for a book. Occasionally, the small town setting felt a little plain to me, but the author managed to keep the story interesting by escalating the conflict between the rancher and the pro-wolf groups. In the end KJ has to confront the villain and survive both him and a harsh Montana hail storm, as her effort to make peace turn into a wilderness survival situation.  

Visit Kristen's website

Three classics in one book! Absolutely Positively Alexander by Judith Viorst

Absolutely Positively Alexander by Judith Viorst

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a classic children’s book from my childhood. I use to read this funny tale as a child. I did not know that there were more books about the stubborn and pessimistic Alexander, and his family. This book includes Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday. A story about Alexander’s deplorable spending habits. Full of funny moments, sibling rivalry, and money mismanagement.  The third story Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move, tell about how he finally comes to terms with his family having to move away from his old home and friends.

These classic picture books are full of a humorous and unique voice. I loved Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as I child and enjoyed rereading it to my child. Though, the text was a bit long to hold her attention. She usually would go off and play on her own in the middle of the stories. I think perhaps the black and white illustrations did not hold her attention very long. Oh, well. We will have to read these ones together again when she is older.

Hey you can get a free copy too!

There is a blogger called Money Saving Mom and she is offering a free book about freezer cooking if you help her promote her new book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget. I am intrigued by this new blog and thought this would be a nice chance to investigate and participate. (Thanks for the facebook post Reigheena!)

I shall now go hop around her blog and investigate what pearls of wisdom she dispenses.

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
In this latest installment Alek tries to make himself useful by aligning himself with the inventor Tesler, who claims that he has invented a machine that can waste an entire city with the push of a button. Tesler proves to be unstable and more interested in his own glory than the lives of others. Alek is the only person who can stop the destruction of the entire country of Germany, but will he decide to preserve his enemy?

Deryn continues to prove her airman skills time and time again. It was only a matter of time before someone discovered she was a girl. What will happen now that her true identity is revealed not only to her closest friends but to a nosy reporter looking to break the next big headline?

The last and final installment of the Scott Westerfeld’s steampunk trilogy is full of adventure, new sights and fun. So, this last book took interesting turns that I did not expect, namely that our main characters ended up meeting Pancho Villa, and spending a lot of time in America. My favorite chapter of the entire book is when you are trying to figure out if Alexander has guessed that Deryn is a girl or not. Westerfeld teases the reader throughout the entire thing, and it is hilarious! The entire book is worth a reread just for that chapter alone. I got to say that my favorite book of the entire series is Leviathan. This book didn’t have the dramatic character arcs of the first book, and that wild serendipitous feel of first adventure and accidental meetings. Goliath does have a dramatic, satisfying, and romantic ending that will have your insides mushy with happiness. I will recommend this series for a long time to come. It is beautiful, original, and just plain good writing. Please, go enjoy this wonderful trilogy.

Picture Books for Halloween

Wild Witches’ Ball by Jack Prelutsky

This short Halloween poem is perfect for wee ones with short attention spans. Lately, it has been difficult to get the small one to sit still long enough to read to her. So this short little Halloween book was a perfect length.

The wild witch ball is in full swing during this festive Halloween night. From the ten groaning crones to the last lumpy witch this counting rhymes describes the attendees of the witches ball with clever and delightful poetry that rolls off the tongue.

The Wizard by Jack Prelutsky

I didn’t read this one for Halloween precisely, but I did during the month of October and so I include it here.  Author Jack Prelutsky characterizes a creepy wizard and his mastery of his magical art. His words dance off the page, and the illustrations by Brandon Dorman are masterful, bringing the text to life in beautiful ways. I don’t think I have seen text and illustration work so well together to create such a wonderful feeling of awe. I’ll probably add this one to my library one day. It is simply gorgeous.

Halloween Night by Majorie Dennis Murray

A traditional Halloween inspired poem about ghosts, goblins, and other haloween worthy creatures preparing the house for Halloween celebrations. Ten unsuspecting children prance down their lane prepared to trick or treat, but they are in for a fright. This was a fun Halloween book to read the little one.

Halloween Costume

So, for halloween Sera was a book fairy. I made her little fairy wings out of a book that I bought at the library book sale. I figure if I was going to ruin a book to make a costume I should at least make sure the money for the book went to supporting more literacy, right? So the book was a parody of the "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"series. I also made her a tutu by rolling up the pages into tube and then attaching them to a little fabric tie. I got the idea for this costume here.

Anyway, here is our beautiful little creature, all sneaky and trying to get some candy!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

So, I picked this book up because I have heard a lot about Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell( here after referred to as JS & Mr. N) by the same author. Being curious I did some investigating and discovered that JS &Mr. N sounded like a book I would like, written in the style of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens with magical twists that often involved fairy folk. The problem? JS & Mr. N is over a thousand pages long. I can barely get through a 200 page novel in two weeks. I really don’t think the library would be pleased with me checking out a book for over two months, plus I wasn’t sure if I would like the author’s writing style.

More investigation ensued wherein I discovered that this little book of short stories all took place, or related back to the world that the author flesh out in JS &Mr. N.  Yes, I would get a fun little taste of author’s writing style and JS & Mr. N all in one go without the 1000 page time commitment.  So I checked this little book out from the library.

So how did the experiment go? I enjoyed most of the stories in the book and I really did like the writing style. It felt like a mix between J.K. Rowling and Jane Austen, which was like heaven! My top favorites were “The Ladies of Grace Adieu” and “The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse.” The short story collection had a lot variety between the stories. The settings felt different—though most take place in the English country side. There were a variety of characters types—though most stories explored what happened when the fairy world and human world met. I was even surprised at the variety of styles. Some stories were written with unconventional spellings to give the story a more authentic antique feeling, one was told entirely in the format of diary entries.

So overall I enjoyed this experience, though by the end I did get a bit bored, but I don’t know if that is because I tired of the author’s style or if I just didn’t like the last few stories. I still don’t know about committing to reading a 1000 page book, but this was a nice read anyway. It was refreshing to read something a bit out of my normal reading, and a book of short fairy stories hit the spot.   

Picture Books Mo Willems Part II

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems


The first book in Mo Willems award winning pigeon series, Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is full of personality and character. Willems has always had a gift for conveying characters in a brief amount of text. In this short little book the illustration and text work together to bring to life a character screaming with personality. You will laugh and be charmed by the dramatic and true to life tantrum this little bird throws when he is not allowed to get his way.

Don’t let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems

This installment of Willems series is just as charming as the first. The pigeon needs to go to bed, but of course he doesn’t want to. His personality shines as he tried to wheedle his way out of heading off for bed, but ends up exhausting himself in the process. Turns out that even energetic and dramatic pigeons need some rest.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems

In this cute little tale the Pigeon finds a delicious treat, and a soft heart. In this tale his is joined by a small, naive, and inquisitive chick companion. When he finds a delicious hot dog he finds that the best treats are shared with friends. This is a cute little story everyone in the family will enjoy.

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems

My personal favorite of the Pigeon series in The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, Pigeon tells us all he knows about puppies, which to the astute reader is not very much. He longs for and dreams about a puppy until he meets one on the street on day and discovers that Puppies aren’t everything he imagined.

I loved these books the art was so simple and yet so expressive, and the character of the pigeon so well drawn and entertaining that you couldn’t help but like his dramatic and expressive personality. When I had to turn these books back into the library I was so sad! They are fun to reread and were short and funny. These will end up in my library one day.

Tuesdays At the Castle by Jessica Day George

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George



Castle Glower is no ordinary pile of stones, adding rooms on a whim, creating hallways that stretch on forever. Those who know the castle well know a few tricks to get around its ever changing floor plan, but Celia is the only one who has attempted to map it out. Her knowledge of Castle Glower serves her well when her parents disappear after an ambush. She and her two elder siblings—Rolf and Lilah—must protect the castle and kingdom from the greedy ambition of visiting prince named Khelsh.


Celia and her siblings must support one another in their grief and rely on their own resourcefulness to outwit and out maneuver Khelsh and his supporters on the council. TheCastle Glower is not only a setting but a character in its right, providing protection, clues, and information that the children can use to fight the plots of those trying to take over the kingdom.


This one is a fun read with plenty of laugh out loud moments as both Castle and children play pranks on their enemies to discourage and delay them in their tactics. Celia and her siblings are easy to cheer for because they are smart, strong and united in their loyalty to both Castle Grover and their people. This is a great read for guys and girls, as I have found true of Jessica Day George’s Dragon trilogy also. I sometimes wish the covers were a tad more boy friendly. My husband raced through this one faster than I did and I think the humor appealed to him more. So, anyway, a fun read full of clever pranks, and a charming setting.

Jessica Day George's Website