Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of artichokes? This title and catch phrase just cracked me up. This is the third in the Bunnicula series. It took only four days to read aloud, and my boys enjoyed it, but it isn’t quite the caliber of Howliday Inn, which isn’t quite the caliber of […]
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall, 2004, Book Review
The Penderwick family is one of those families you want to be a part of. Twelve-year-old Rosalind, with her common sense and maturity, has done a fine job mothering her sisters since their mother’s death. Sky, one year younger, athletic, tomboyish and hot-tempered, keeps things stirred up. Jane, age 10, has enough imagination for the […]
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, 1865, Book Review
I have never much cared for Alice in Wonderland. Before today, I had never read the book, only seen parts of the Disney movie. But since Alice features in the book I am currently writing, I had to take the plunge. And I found that I still don’t care for Alice. Before the Victorian era, […]
Socks, by Beverly Cleary, 1973, Book Review
Socks is written in true Beverly Cleary style. The cat for whom the book is named was the Bricker’s only pet, pampered, loved and a little spoiled. But his mistress’ comfortable lap began to shrink, and then one day Mr. and Mrs. Bricker brought home a new pet. One that wailed and smelled funny and stole […]
Howliday Inn, by James Howe, 1982, Book Review
This week I figured I’d build on last Monday’s post about Bunnicula and review Howliday Inn, the next book in James Howe’s hilarious series. Unfortunately, his wife Deborah did not live to co-author this one. But the book maintains Bunnicula’s quirky style. I actually received this book in fourth grade as a new release, and […]
Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe, 1979, Book Review
I first met Chester and Harold as a kid and fell in love with them. If you haven’t encountered these two yet, let me introduce you. Chester is a highly educated cat with a vivid imagination. One of his delights is to listen to his owner, a college English professor, practice class lectures. He’s widely […]
Henry and the Clubhouse, by Beverly Cleary, 1962, Book Review
Henry and the Clubhouse is my favorite Henry Huggins book yet. Of course, Henry overlaps with the Ramona series. She’s his pesky little neighbor. And in this book, the two of them certainly clash! Henry obtained a paper route in the last book. In this installment, his after-school job is funding his building project–a clubhouse that he […]
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, by John R. Erickson, 1983, Book Review
Hank is an Australian shepherd employed on an American ranch. Being “Head of Ranch Security,” as he proudly informs us, “requires a keen mind, a thick skin, and a peculiar devotion to duty. I mean, you put in sixteen-eighteen hours a day. You’re on call day and night. Your life is on the line every […]
The Trouble with Chickens (A J. J. Tully Mystery), by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell, 2011, Book Review
This book is very funny! Jonathan Joseph (J. J.) Tully is a retired search and rescue dog whose been forcibly retired and put out to pasture in a big yard in the country. Millicent is a chicken who approaches J. J. about locating her two missing offspring. Vince the Funnel is the evil genius house […]
Hanukkah at Valley Forge, by Stephen Krensky, 2006, Book Review
Most stories that bring history to life are okay in my book, but this one which blends the American Revolution with a much more ancient rebellion, is excellent. Within, George Washington, while looking out over his suffering troops at Valley Forge, sees a light burning in one shelter and finds a young Jewish soldier celebrating […]