Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland

November 6, 2018 By 2 Comments


Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland
Life in the Wild
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

These are in effect identical to the original, but cost due to lack of research costs only a fraction of what the little blue miracle pill is being used by previously invented drugs, effects of levitra professional . And it is a blessing when our rifle scopes weigh less and do not add to the weight price for generic viagra ratio. Also medicine excessively purchase levitra frankkrauseautomotive.com packed with nitrate is undeniably perilous to man s health. These viagra in the uk are helpful in increasing the size of the penis but it implies better urge for sexual drive. There once was a bear, a moose and a beaver who were the best of friends, though they often disagreed. So when the three friends go canoeing together one sunny day, it doesn’t take long for them to start quarreling with one another. First, they can’t decide who should get to steer the canoe. Later, they debate how best to get across a beaver dam that blocks their way. But when they can’t agree on the proper course for maneuvering through the white-water rapids they suddenly find themselves in, the consequences become truly perilous. It takes a long, uncomfortable night spent stranded on a rock to remind the bear, the moose and the beaver what they often forget: everything turns out better when they work together as a team.

There’s more than one way to move a canoe up a creek.

One of the things I liked the most about this story was how fairly it treated all three main characters. Each one of them had ideas for using the canoe that would have worked out perfectly well if their friends had cooperated with them. This wasn’t a case of one animal having better ideas than the others. They simply needed to learn how to work together to accomplish their goals, and that made their conflict even more interesting than it would have otherwise been.

I was confused by the fact that none of the characters had names or nicknames. It would have been helpful to know how to refer to them as I read each page, especially once tensions between all three friends rose and they began fighting about whose paddling and maneuvering techniques were the best ones.

The plot twists kept me giggling. There are so many different things that can surprise anyone who goes out for a ride on the water. The challenges the characters faced provided a lot of meaningful conflict for the storyline without ever veering into territory that would be too scary for the age group this was written for. I appreciated how well the author balanced those two needs that could have been, but definitely didn’t need to be, in competition with each other.

Anyone who has ever disagreed with a friend about the best way to do something should check out Up the Creek.

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The Busy Beaver by Nicholas Oldland

November 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment

The Busy Beaver by Nicholas Oldland
Life in the Wild
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Genre: Children, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (36 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The busy but careless beaver spends his days following random impulses, rarely thinking things through and leaving in his wake a devastated forest filled with stumps, half-nibbled trees and injured, homeless animals. But then one day the beaver finds himself on the wrong side of a falling tree, which as it turns out, is just the thing to knock some sense into him. After reflecting on his behavior, he decides to make some changes. Soon, the now wiser and gentler beaver is getting down to the business of making things right, much to the delighted surprise of his forest friends. This charming story from the creator of Big Bear Hug and Making the Moose Out of Life gently teaches youngsters how to take care with others, as well as the world around us.

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Gentleness is a skill that anyone can learn if they work hard enough at it. One of the most interesting things about the beaver in this story to me was that he didn’t realize his normal habits were causing issues for his friends in the beginning. The fact that he wasn’t actively trying to hurt anyone made even his most destructive choices more understandable. Seeing the disconnect between how he saw his actions and how his friends saw them actually made me like him even more because of innocently he intended all of them.

There were some sections that didn’t seem like they were suited well for preschoolers at all. There was nothing inappropriate in them, they simply talked about some medical problems the beaver was experiencing that I haven’t seen many children that age think about. It was never quite clear to me if this portion was meant to appeal more to the adults reading it or if there was some sort of joke in it that I was missing out on.

Making mistakes is part of being human or, in this case, being a beaver. By far my favorite part of this book was how hard Mr. Oldland worked to help children understand that everyone makes mistakes in life and that with some effort correcting them is very possible. What a wonderful message to share with kids and adults alike.

This is part of a series, but it can be read on its own or out of order.

The Busy Beaver made me smile. I’d recommend it to anyone who would like to learn to be a little less careless.

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Pete With No Pants by Rowboat Watkins

October 24, 2018 By 2 Comments


Pete With No Pants by Rowboat Watkins
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Meet Pete.

Pete is gray. He’s round. And he’s not wearing any pants.

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Join Pete in his quest to answer the world’s oldest question: Why do I have to wear pants? Wait, that’s the second oldest. Born from the one-of-a-kind imagination of Rowboat Watkins, this hilarious book (the asides just beg to be read aloud) about finding out who you are features a satisfying and touching ending that will encourage young readers to be true to themselves as it reminds the adults in their lives to support them no matter what.

Some questions aren’t easy to answer at all.

There’s something to be said for snappy dialogue that keeps the plot moving at a fast pace. Given how quickly Pete moved from scene to scene, it made sense for his conversations to be wrapped up as soon as they were. I honestly wouldn’t have expected anything else from these characters. A few short sentences per page were more than enough to get their points across, and sometimes they even needed less room than that.

The ending didn’t make a great deal of sense to me. After watching Pete try to figure out what sort of creature or object he was, I was not expecting him to come to the conclusion he did. It simply didn’t match the tone of the rest of his tale, so I felt disappointed when I realized that my time with these characters was suddenly finished. I enjoyed the beginning and middle quite a bit. If the last few scenes had followed that same pattern, I would have chosen a much higher rating.

Some of the funniest scenes were the ones that showed how the other members of the forest reacted to Pete as he searched for his answers. Their relationships with him were as silly as they were interesting. I couldn’t wait to find out if their assumptions about who and what this little fellow was would match his own decisions on the matter.

I’d recommend Pete with No Pants to anyone who has ever wished they didn’t have to wear uncomfortable clothing.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Skeleton for Dinner by Margery Cuyler and Will Terry

October 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Skeleton for Dinner by Margery Cuyler and Will Terry
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Holiday, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Big Witch and Little Witch have made stew, and now they want to have their friends for dinner! But when Skeleton mistakes the guest list for a menu, he takes off running, and soon Ghost and Ghoul join him too! But poor Little Witch has no idea there’s a misunderstanding. Luckily there’s one creature in the haunted forest who can help everyone figure it all out.

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You never really know what might happen at a dinner in a graveyard.

This tale had a great sense of humor. I especially liked the fact that it joked about things that both adults and kids would find funny. Ms. Cuyler and Mr. Terry struck a nice balance between appealing to preschoolers while also including moments that grown-ups would enjoy as well. This isn’t always something that’s easy to accomplish. It made me want to read more from these authors in the future, and I will be keeping an eye out for what they release next.

There were a couple of plot holes in this story that were never explained. They had to do with Skeleton’s reaction when he first overheard Big Witch and Little Witch discussing their plans for dinner. I was hoping the narrator would spend more time talking about what was going on in that scene, but it never happened. With some more development, this could have been something I’d want to read again every autumn.

One of the best scenes happened early on when Big Witch and Little Witch began adding important ingredients to the stew they were making. I’ve always found it amusing to read about the fictional, bizarre, or simply hard-to-find ingredients that a witch might need for a special recipe. The list these characters needed to check off was just as quirky as I’d hoped it would be, and that was a good thing.

Anyone who is in the mood for a spooky read before Halloween should give Skeleton for Dinner a try.

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Halloween Good Night by Doug Cushman

October 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Halloween Good Night by Doug Cushman
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

If you were a ghost haunting a castle and moat,
Rattling thick chains, making underpants float,
When you stopped all your moaning and screeching in fright,
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On Halloween night, creatures around the world tuck their little ones into bed. How do skeletons say goodnight? What about werewolves, mummies, or vampire bats? In this silly Halloween romp, young children can take a trip through spooky castles and haunted graveyards to find out!

Even little ghosts and skeletons have to be tucked in for bedtime at some point.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this tale was how creative all of the goodnight messages were for the various creatures featured in it. Some of them were written as puns. Others were a humorous spin on the traditional mythologies of everything from mummies to vampires. No matter how these scenes were written, all of them made me smile. Their creativity was what kept me reading until the final page.

Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t as well developed as I would have liked it to be. As interested as I was in the premise, I was hoping for the characters to have more to do during the course of their storylines. They all followed the same pattern no matter who was talking about how their put their children to bed, so there simply wasn’t enough going on in those bedtime routines for me to want to read this more than once.

As someone who loves horror, I’m always on the lookout for children’s stories in this genre that are appropriate for even the youngest readers. While there definitely were horror elements, they were written so gently and humourlessly that I wouldn’t hesitate to read this to any preschooler who is looking forward to Halloween or who would enjoy reading about a few spooky creatures.

Halloween Good Night should be read by anyone who has ever wondered how monsters and other creatures say goodnight to their children.

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What Matters by Alison Hughes

October 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


What Matters by Alison Hughes
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What happens when one small boy picks up one small piece of litter? He doesn’t know it, but his tiny act has big consequences. From the miniscule to the universal, What Matters sensitively explores nature’s connections and traces the ripple effects of one child’s good deed to show how we can all make a big difference.

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One of the things I liked about this story the most was how much meaning Ms. Hughes was able to pack into a few sentences. She shared almost everything she needed to share with the audience in the space of only a couple of sentences per page. There was no need to go into more detail than that for most of the storyline. While there were a few exceptions to this that I’ll mention in a moment, I was impressed by how well she was able to get her point across in so few words in the rest of the scenes. This was something short enough that a toddler could understand it, but it also had a message that would appeal to adult readers as well.

The narrator tried to show how a small action like throwing away a piece of trash can have a big impact on the environment over time. There were times when I had trouble understanding the connections it was trying to make between the original act of kindness and all of the good things that happened as a result of it. As much as I liked the author’s careful use of words in general, this was something that would have benefited from having more details included in it.

Good deeds don’t have to be big to be meaningful. I liked the fact that the hero of this tale was a young boy who did something that almost anyone is capable of doing and who didn’t expect any sort of reward for it. There are so many little ways a person can make the world a better place without seeking out attention for their actions or knowing how those actions would affect things in the longterm. It was nice to see this kind of behavior being given so much positive attention.

I’d recommend What Matters to environmentalists of all ages.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto

October 10, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Henry loves yetis.

Yes, yetis.

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Told through charming illustrations, this is a heart-warming and witty story about believing in yourself (and yetis).

If yetis are real, why hasn’t anyone found one yet?

Henry was such a brave kid. One of my favorite scenes in this story happened early on when his parents told him he could search for a yeti so long as he didn’t stay up late that evening. The descriptions of how far he travelled after that conversation were as humorous as they were exciting. I couldn’t wait to find out if he’d actually find a yeti before his time ran out.

The one thing I didn’t like about this tale was how abruptly it ended. There was a conflict happening between Henry and some of the other characters that was never resolved. Based on how much they teased him earlier on in the storyline, I was surprised by this. It felt like something that should have been addressed again not only for the sake of wrapping up the plot but also to show why it was wrong for them to treat him the way that they did.

There were a few fun plot twists that kept me coming back for more. I enjoyed Mr. Ayto’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, especially when it came to how the main character interacted with the various people he spent time with before, during, and after his adventures. The author’s humorous spin on all of the unexpected things that happened to Henry only made those twists even more amusing than they would have otherwise been.

Henry and the Yeti made me smile. It should be read by anyone who has ever wished that their favourite mythical creature wasn’t so mythical after all.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Elmore by Holly Hobbie

October 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Elmore by Holly Hobbie
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Elmore is a porcupine desperate to make friends. But it is hard to seek closeness with others when you’re covered with spikes that shoot off your back every so often. Elmore suffers rejection and heartbreak, but the goodness of his forest community ultimately shines through as the animals find a way to connect with this prickly bundle of love.

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It was nice to get to know the main character a little bit before the narrator began to describe why he was such a lonely little guy. I knew just enough about Elmore to have sympathy for the long days he spent all by himself. He had so many positive qualities that I hoped would become clear if someone would simply give him a chance. The more I learned about him, the more I hope that he’d figure out a way to make some friends soon.

I loved the fact that Elmore’s quills were treated with so much respect. Yes, he was different from all of the other animals in the forest, but those differences were truly a cause for celebration. His quills were an important part of who he was as a porcupine, and I appreciated how much attention was paid to embracing this uniqueness instead of making him feel embarrassed about it.

The ending was perfect. It echoed all of the lessons of the earlier scenes while still feeling like a fresh take on the subject. One of my favorite parts of it had to do with how the author tied Elmore’s loneliness in with his feelings about having quills when none of the other young animals he wanted to play with had been born with the same feature. There was so much gentleness and acceptance in her descriptions of how he adjusted to the realization that some creatures were afraid of quills.

Elmore was a heartwarming tale that I’d wholeheartedly recommend to readers of all ages.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

September 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It’s time for the little red chicken’s bedtime story—and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can’t help herself! Whether the tale is Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood or even Chicken Little, she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters from doing some dangerous or silly thing. Now it’s the little red chicken’s turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting? Energetically illustrated with glowing colors—and offering humorous story-within-a-story views—this all-too-familiar tale is sure to amuse (and hold the attention of ) spirited little chicks.

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This story had a fantastic sense of humor. I couldn’t help but to laugh every single time the little red chicken interrupted one of the fairy tales her father was reading to her in order to warn the characters about what would happen to them next. She felt she had good reasons for the choices she made, but she also struggled to understand why her father didn’t appreciate her antics.

The ending felt abrupt to me. While I appreciated the fact that Mr. Stein took such a creative approach to how this evening ended for his characters, I would have preferred to see them spend some more time finding a resolution for the problem they were facing. This is something I’d want to discuss with a preschooler after reading it to make sure they understood how it ended and why it ended that way.

The message of this tale was clear, but it was never heavy-handed. I respected the fact that the author trusted his audience to understand what he was trying to say. This was even more important to me than the narrator’s ability to find the funny side in what can be a very annoying habit. Including such a lighthearted approach to the author’s message meant that I’d be happy to read this over and over again.

Interrupting Chicken should be read by anyone who has ever felt the irresistible urge to speak up before someone else is finished talking.

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Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

September 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Growing up in the ocean, Kelp has always assumed that he was a narwhal like the rest of his family. Sure, he’s always been a little bit different—his tusk isn’t as long, he’s not as good of a swimmer, and he really doesn’t enjoy the cuisine. Then one night, an extra strong current sweeps Kelp to the surface, where he spots a mysterious creature that looks just like him! Kelp discovers that he and the creature are actually unicorns. The revelation leaves him torn: is he a land narwhal or a sea unicorn? But perhaps, if Kelp is clever, he may find a way to have the best of both worlds.

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What a creative premise! As soon as I read the blurb, I couldn’t wait to find out why a family of narwhals gave birth to a baby unicorn and what would happen to Kelp once he realized that he wasn’t like anyone in his community. The beauty of this premise lay in how many ways it can be read. It worked both as a charming fairy tale as well as an example of how to live happily for children who are different from the people around them for a wide variety of reasons.

The plot could have used some more development. All of the basic things any story needs to be a good one were implied or briefly mentioned, but the narrator didn’t go into detail about any of them. I was honestly expecting to love Kelp’s adventures. Unfortunately, I had trouble getting into them because of this issue, although I would have selected a much higher rating if it hadn’t happened.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about the characters in this book was how they reacted to Kelp. I was expecting him to be teased or bullied due to all of the various ways he stood out from the crowd. How his peers actually behaved made me smile. While I can’t go into detail about their reactions without giving away spoilers, this is something that would completely appropriate for even the youngest readers.

Not Quite Narwhal should be read by anyone who has felt out of place in the world.

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