Hey everyone!
Here’s my Friday book report!
I hope to get these out each week, but last Friday I was
in Wisconsin with no internet, and possibly visiting
the National Mustard Museum.
So this week is two weeks smushed together!
I’ll post the picture of the book
that I took when I finished reading it,
and underneath, my thoughts.
These should be fun!
Here we go!
RHYME SCHEMER
by KA Holt
I loved this book! It’s a quick and eye opening read. Kevin is a 7th grade bully, but also a writer and also sort of a poet. He rips pages out of the library books and finds the “words that jump out at me like tickly little fleas needing a good scratching” and then scratches them, editing words and connecting them to make poetry.
Everything is fine until a kid he has bullied finds his notebook and uncovers his secret. Kevin has to deal with this blackmail, his closest older brother bullying him (he has 4 older brothers!), screeches from that brother’s band, and suspension and detention.
He writes through all of it and finds an unlikely ally who helps him to uncover more of his poetry voice.
It’s really fun to see what he did with the poetry, and to uncover the story behind the bully. Dropping this MG off to a Little Free Library to share the love!
MY FRIEND RABBIT
by Eric Rohmann
is a quick, clever read. Rabbit is always causing trouble, even when he means well. How he thinks to get the plane out of the tree is just plain funny. The illustrations are too. It’s a fun one for sure. I loved the layout of the images too; Eric does a great job playing with the picture book form! And this won the 2003 Caldecott Medal!
THE FAMILY ROMANOV
by Candace Fleming
is amazing!What a riveting story! I was drawn in immediately, and loved learning about the family, the political climate of Russia, the mystery surrounding their deaths, and accounts of people living during that time.
I can’t believe this all happened not that long ago. Even though there is a lot to follow in this book, it never seems overwhelming. I love the pictures too. What a great way to learn. An entertaining and informative read for sure. I mean, anything by Candace Fleming is if you think about it!
THE BOY WHO LOVED WORDS
by Roni Schotter, illustrated by Giselle Potter.
What a lovely book!
It’s a tale that almost reads like a myth about Selig, a boy in love with words. He collects them and finds them very interesting. Kids call him an oddball and he asks a genie if he is one. The genie tells him he’s just passionate; he’s lucky he found what he’s passionate about! Now he needs to find his purpose.
He finds the perfect way to help people with words, and some love along the way!The book is long word wise but doesn’t feel it when you read it. There are amazing words in the text that are explained in the glossary in the back. The illustrations are bright and the collage style with the words is awesome! Kids will love to look at and listen to this one.
THE WALLS AROUND US
By Nova Ren Suma
This is a mystery told in two points of view. The timeline is all over the place and you are left wondering: “what is really going on?” And “who should I trust?” Though from the beginning, I think you’ll have an idea.
There’s Violet, a successful ballerina, her friend Ori, who was also successful but is now dead, and an inmate, Amber, from the juvenile detention center. Violet and Amber take turns telling this story, but really the character of Ori shines.
This is one of those books where you are collecting information and trying to make sense of it as you’re reading. It’s confusing at points but beautifully written. I found myself reading slowly so I wouldn’t miss anything, though I’m sure I still did.
It’s really one incident that drives the whole story, ok, maybe two, but it doesn’t feel like a stretched story. At the same time it feels like a story you could tell someone quickly, if that makes sense.
It’s a mystery that involves ballet, friendship, love, justice, privilege, and many other topics. One to think about for sure, and a great read.
TWO LITTLE MONKEYS
By Mem Fox, illustrated by Jill Barton
A quick little rollicking rhyme of a tale about two monkeys, Cheeky and Chee who are playing when something scary comes by. They scramble up a tree. Will they be brave enough to see what it is? Or hide the whole time?
I love the tone of this one. You’re actually talking to the monkeys as you are reading the book. Little ones will get just scared enough, and cheer for Cheeky and Chee. As usual with Mem Fox, not a syllable is out of place in this rhyming book. The illustrations bring us close to the monkeys but are soft; even the scary thing at the bottom of the tree doesn’t look too menacing!
FRANK EINSTEIN AND THE ANTI-MATTER MOTOR
by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Brian Biggs.
This book is so fun! Frank is a scientist who likes to hang out at his Grandpa Al’s house (no, he’s not THAT Albert Einstein!) so he can tool around in his Grandpa’s shop. His goal? To win the science prize of 100K to save his Grandpa’s house (he needs money to cover the mortgage) and you know, for science itself.
There are robots, great diagrams, lots of science explained in a fun way, great friends and funny jokes (c’mon its Jon Scieszka, you know it’s going to be funny!)
This is a cool series. I’m happy they’re making more! Kids and adults will like this. Check it out!
SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE
By Morgan Matson
is a GREAT book! I loved it so much! I knew I would; I loved her first book about Amy and Roger. I started reading it and only stopped to sleep!
Emily’s best friend Sloane takes off for the summer. No word about where she’s going, just that she’s gone. She does leave Emily a list of things to do though, and Emily’s convinced if she does them, she’ll find Sloane. Some things are easy, like Dance until Dawn, but there are others, like Kiss a Stranger that are a bit trickier.
Emily navigates her summer and finds out that things don’t always go according to plan, but it’s still fun. That’s basically life in a sentence, right?
I love that there is a bit of love in this book (read it to find out, people!) but that it’s mostly about friendships. Best friends, new friends, girls who are friends, boys who are friends, and girls who are friends with boys. There’s a lot of humor too; one of my favorite spots is where Emily is not sure how to celebrate that one of her friends did a great job on a word search, or if she should even celebrate something like that!
I also love the playlists included in the book, and not only because I am, like Emily, a not-so-secret fan of country music :)This is such a fun, feel good book! I loved the adventures, the characters, everything, and would lend this out from my library to a teen or an adult in a heartbeat! (Actually lending it to someone soon!)
FRANK EINSTEIN AND THE ELECTRO-FINGER
by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Brian Biggs.
Another great one in this series! The gang is all back this time, working on electricity. Frank set up six different categories he wanted to study in the first book, so I think each book now will focus on the next category.
This one is electricity! Again it’s got everyone’s favorite robots, Klink and Klank, Frank’s sidekick Watson and Grandpa Al, and the evil T. Edison and Mr. Chimp.
Again there’s lots of comic relief, but this one has more experiments written into the story that you could easily do. The story is light and fun and funny. Like I said before, I’m glad this is a series. The next book should be coming out this fall.
Oh, and we meet a new character, a girl who likes studying animals. Her entire first name is like this: Janegoodall.
THE PRINCESS IN BLACK
By Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham,
Oh man, what a fun book! Princess Magnolia is prim and proper and wears pink, but once she gets a ring that signals the monster alarm, she gets out of that pink and becomes The Princess in Black! This book is a quick read, with some silly parts, great descriptive words, and a nice plot.
The chapters are short and highly illustrated, with really fun full color art that adds to the story.This is the first of hopefully many in the series! Everyone will love this book; please don’t let the princess in the title stop you from giving this to boys. I heard Shannon Hale give a great talk about the danger of “books for boys and books for girls.” Great books are for everyone! And this is a great one!
RODEO RED
by Maripat Perkins, illustrated by Molly Idle.
This book is a good time! Rodeo Red has a good life with her stuffed hound dog Rusty, until Slim (her baby brother) shows up. He’s cantankerous, and the Sheriff and her deputy (Red’s Mom and Dad) aren’t doing anything about it! And then Slim takes Rusty! It will take a whole lot of wrangling and finagling to get him back!
This book is so fun to read aloud! It’s in first person, so Red’s voice comes out loud and clear. There are GREAT words in this western voice too: skedaddle, scallywag, and side swiping just for a few. Lots of fun descriptions to0, in the vein of: “squawling like a fire truck heading to a wiener roast gone bad.”
And the illustrations are wonderful. Molly Idle rocks! Great expressions, overall compositions, and colors. She adds so much to the story!This is a great story, new sibling in the family or not. SO FUN!
ZEN PENCILSCartoon quotes from inspirational folks
By Gavin Aung Than
Awesome book! My friend in Chicago, Kate, lent it to me when I stayed at her house. I’ve read many of them online before, but it is so cool to see them in a book!
It’s packed with 36 quotes, some you may know, some you may not, illustrated in such an awesome way. The pictures build another story around the quote and let you experience it in a fun new way. Many were new to me and are now favorites!
Since he continues to make these on his website, I hope Gavin comes out with another book soon. This would be a great anytime gift for anyone. My friend says she keeps it by her bed and when she needs a boost she thumbs through it. I feel boosted after reading it 🙂
Have you read any of these?
I’d love to hear what you thought of them!
See you next Friday with more books!
Bye for now,
KE
I just found THE BOY WHO LOVED WORDS at a used book sale!! I haven’t read it, but I just might read it tonight after reading your review!
And I agree, “anything by Candace Fleming is entertaining and informative.”
Happy Reading!!
Hey Eric!
What a great find! I think your kids would love it and then come up with the best words!
And yeah, Candace Fleming. On the automatic buy list for sure 🙂
Happy reading to you, too!
That is quite a list! I have read 2 of them.
We enjoyed “Princess Black” by the awesome Shannon Hale. There is a sequel due out next month, I think. It is sad that Shannon Hale has had issues with school tours where the administrators only send the girls to see her. Clearly this is not a book just for girls. Of course, you only know that if you read it — the cover art doesn’t do the best job expressing that.
The other we read was the first in the Frank Einstein series. Book 3 is out this Tuesday, but I need to read (well, first find) book 2. We finally got to meet Jon Scieszka as part of his tour after missing him due to a long lunch and traffic when he came to the now closed Mrs. Nelson’s. After hearing him speak, we rushed out and got his other series along with an audio book of the story of his brothers read by Jon Scieszka.
There are a few of these that I have been meaning to read, and so will go and try and put holds on them.
We just read “Ballet Cat” by Bob Shea. This is looking to be the start of an “I can read” series, and it is hilarious.
Hey Chris!
I have heard about Ballet Cat! I’ll have to check it out!
Glad you finally got to meet Jon! Knuckleheads is an awesome book. Hoping my library gets the third Frank Einstein soon; it’s tightening our belts time because I don’t go back to work until September, so can’t buy too many books.
Agreed re: Shannon Hale. She talked a lot about gender in her SCBWI talk. Super inspiring.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Candace Fleming at a week-long writing retreat this summer–she’s wonderful, and I learned so much about the non-fiction research and writing process from her. To be honest, the topic is not typically something I read, but I’ve read so many glowing reviews of The Family Romanov that it’s my next go-to book!
Yay, Susan!
I thought the same thing; I actually only bought in on a whim at the conference. But it’s so great. I’m glad you got a retreat with her; she is such a gem!