Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller

September 5, 2018 By 2 Comments


Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (41 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

On a trip to the farmers’ market with her parents, Sophie chooses a squash, but instead of letting her mom cook it, she names it Bernice. From then on, Sophie brings Bernice everywhere, despite her parents’ gentle warnings that Bernice will begin to rot. As winter nears, Sophie does start to notice changes…. What’s a girl to do when the squash she loves is in trouble?

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Sophie’s friendship with her pet squash was adorable. I’d never thought of a squash as a companion before, but I was delighted by the many different types of games and activities she thought to expose Bernice to. Some of them were pretty creative, and all of them looked like fun. The more time they spent together, the more I hoped that they’d somehow figure out how to always be together.

It would have been nice to have a little more time spent developing the ending of this tale. The solution Sophie’s family came up with what to do with Bernice was a lovely one, and I sure would have liked to see more scenes focused on how they decided to make that choice. Most of it happened behind the scenes, and it wasn’t explained that clearly to the readers at first. This was a minor criticism of something I really enjoyed in general, though.

I appreciated the empathy Sophie’s parents had for her once they realized that she intended to keep her pet squash forever. While they didn’t necessarily understand her obsession with this object, they were very kind when they gently explained to her that Bernice was beginning to decompose. They were excellent parents to their child. I couldn’t have asked for better ones for a girl as sensitive and kind as she was.

Sophie’s Squash was a heartwarming story about friendship, loss, and love that I’d recommend to readers of all ages.

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Sophie and Max by Antoinette Corum

September 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Sophie and Max by Antoinette Corum
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (120 pages)
Age Recommendation: 8+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

One evening, as a beautiful young scientist fights for her life in a damp alley, there is a hiccup in the flow of space and time. At the precise moment she draws her last breath, a shift in the cosmos provides an opportunity for a new life in a new form. The Siamese cat is cold and wet when a kindly old man walks by the alley and hears her cry. He rescues the cat and takes her to his apartment above the book shop he owns. He introduces her to the shaggy mutt Max who shares his home, and it’s hate at first sight! Max is upset to have an interloper—a cat, no less—share his living space and affection with Mr. Cavaliere. When the old man decides that the Siamese reminds him of the Italian movie star, Sophia Loren, jealousy bites Max right on the nose! As cat and dog eye each other suspiciously, the Siamese faces the growing uneasiness that she doesn’t belong in this feline body. But she’s going to need Max’s help to solve this problem. Max has decided the cat is the problem and the sooner he gets rid of her, the better. With the use of ancient books, powerful crystals, and magic chants, Sophie and Max set off on adventures across space and time. In their travels, in both animal and human form, they meet good guys and bad guys, including a helpful wizard and an evil villain. They learn the value of cooperation and trust. They learn how to compromise and improvise on the spot. And, in looking out for each other, they learn the true meaning of friendship.

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This book had a terrific sense of humor. I especially enjoyed the conversations that Sophie and Max had with each other. They were often sarcastic with one another but never in a mean-spirited way. Instead, their dialogue was more like a competition to see who could say the most truthful but also outlandish thing possible. It was nice to see them get so many opportunities to one-up each other.

There were some pacing issues. As intrigued as I was by the blurb, I found my attention wandering as Max and Sophie’s adventures continued because of how much the plot was stretched out to cover them. The number of things they experienced seemed like they could have been covered by a smaller number of pages. It would have been helpful to either have more conflict in the storyline or fewer scenes to explore what happened to these characters after they met.

The magic in this universe was described well. While it took me a while to understand the rules that governed how it worked, even the most complicated parts made sense once I’d gathered a few more clues. I also liked the fact that the characters were just as confused about this sort of magic as I was at first. It made a great deal of sense for them to need some time to put all of the pieces together as well. Watching them eventually figure it out was satisfying.

Sophie and Max should be read by anyone who loves animals.

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Sea Creatures from the Sky by Ricardo Cortés

August 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Sea Creatures from the Sky by Ricardo Cortés
Publisher: Black Sheep
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (48 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A shark, swimming the seas, encounters…Aliens.

Will anyone believe it is true?
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Sea Creatures from the Sky is a gorgeously illustrated children’s picture book from the New York Times best-selling illustrator of Seriously, Just Go to Sleep. Cortés’s stunning seascapes follow the adventures of a shark that has a story to share about creatures who live above the ocean. Our shark encounters strange-looking creatures who resemble nice, caring marine biologists. But after they release it back into the ocean, the shark cannot find one friend to believe its tale. Filled with humor and warmth, Sea Creatures from the Sky will charm children and parents alike.

Some humans are afraid of sharks. Does this mean that some sharks are afraid of humans, too?

As soon as I read the blurb for this story, I couldn’t wait to see what the whole thing would be like. The thought of seeing the world through the eyes of a shark was exciting. Their experiences in the ocean are so different from anything humans have known that I couldn’t wait to see how a shark would interpret something that the average person would think of as a pretty ordinary part of life for anyone who works as marine biologists. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

The ending felt rushed to me. So much time was spent setting up what happened to the main character and why none of the other sea dwellers could believe that a shark would ever be captured by creatures who live in the sky that I was surprised by how quickly it was all wrapped up. If not for this issue, I would have chosen a much higher rating as I deeply enjoyed everything else about the plot.

This book had a gentle sense of humor that worked well for the subject matter. I especially liked seeing how it was expressed once the shark began to tell their friends about what had happened when they were captured by the strangers who live outside of the ocean. These were the sorts of scenes that I could revisit many times because of how much was going on in them and how funny it was to compare a shark’s perspective to how the scientists would have described that same encounter.

Sea Creatures from the Sky made me smile. It should be read by anyone who likes sharks or the ocean in general.

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The Skirt by Gary Soto

August 30, 2018 By Leave a Comment


The Skirt by Gary Soto
Publisher: Yearling
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (82 pages)
Age Recommendation: 8+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Miata Ramirez is scared and upset. The skirt she brought to show off at school is gone. She brought her forklorico skirt to show off at school and left it on the bus. It’s not just any skirt. This skirt belonged to Miata’s mother when she was a child in Mexico. On Sunday, Miata and her dance group are supposedgoing to dance forklorico, or traditional Mexican folk dances; and that kind of dancing requires a skirt like the one Miata lost. It’s Friday afternoon. Miata doesn’ t want her parents to know she’s lost something again. Can she find a way to rescue the precious skirt in time?

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How far would you go to correct an honest mistake?

Miata was good at a lot of things, but keeping track of important possessions wasn’t one of them. I appreciated the fact that her biggest weakness was something that mattered so much to the storyline. It was also interesting to meet a character who had so much trouble remembering where she put stuff that she honestly did mean to keep safe. This isn’t something I’ve seen written about a lot for this age group, so I was glad to run across a character who has trouble with this part of life.

There was what I thought of as a fairly obvious solution to the main character’s dilemma that she never seemed to catch onto. As much as I enjoyed watching her and her best friend, Ana, try to figure out how to find her folklórico skirt again before big dance on Sunday, it would have been nice for her to try an easier method for getting it back before they dove into the more complicated plans.

One of the other things I adored about this book was Miata’s relationship with Ana. They were supportive of each other no matter what was happening in their lives. I also liked the fact that both of these girls always treated each other with kindness and respect even when they were a little annoyed with one another for completely valid reasons. They were great role models of how friends should behave.

I’d recommend The Skirt to anyone who has ever struggled with a bad habit that they can’t quite seem to quit.

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I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein

August 29, 2018 By Leave a Comment


I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A simple housecat named Simon encounters some bigger cats: Lion, Puma, Panther, Tiger, and Cheetah. Each of the big cats has something to say about Simon not being “cat” enough. According to them, he just doesn’t measure up. He doesn’t have Lion’s mane or Cheetah’s spots. He doesn’t sleep in trees like Panther or climb mountains like Puma. He’s small and fuzzy, not big and strong. But ultimately, Simon shows the big cats that he’s just like them . . . only smaller.

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There’s more than one way to be a cat.

Simon was such a brave little kitty. My favorite scene was the first one where he confidently announced who and what he was to the large cats who were nearby. He was so firm in his identity that it made me smile. I couldn’t wait to see how Lion, Puma, Panther, Tiger, and Cheetah reacted to his claim that they were similar sorts of creatures.

It would have been nice to spend more time teasing out the differences between all of these animals. While Simon definitely was a cat, I expected his new friends to be more cautious about his claims to be just like them than they were. Having a little more conflict in this tale would have gone a long way to giving it a perfect score in my opinion even though I enjoyed it quite a bit in general.

With that being said, I loved the ending. It fit the message of this book perfectly, and it was also exactly the sort of thing I like to see being written for preschoolers. While I did end up selecting the 3+ age range for it, I’d feel comfortable reading this to children even younger than that if they were interested in the storyline and wanted to sit still for a few minutes. Ms. Bernstein did a good job creating something that could appeal to very young children as well as people many years older than them.

I’d recommend I Am a Cat to feline lovers of all ages.

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

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson

August 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment


This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Genre: Childrens, Historical, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

During the time of the Great Migration, millions of African American families relocated from the South, seeking better opportunities. The story of one family’s journey north during the Great Migration starts with a little girl in South Carolina who finds a rope under a tree one summer. She has no idea the rope will become part of her family’s history. But for three generations, that rope is passed down, used for everything from jump rope games to tying suitcases onto a car for the big move north to New York City, and even for a family reunion where that first little girl is now a grandmother.

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I adored the repetition in this story. The fact that the narrator began each new page with a reference to the rope that had been in her family for generations tied all of the anecdotes about it together nicely. On their own, each glimpse of what this object was used for was a brief peek at the daily lives of ordinary people over many decades. By showing how their relationship with what should have been a common household object changed over time and from one generation to the next, I was able to get a strong impression of what this family was like and why they found so much meaning in something that most folks probably wouldn’t think twice about at all.

There was one small part of the plot that I wish had been explained a little more clearly. I was surprised by how well the rope held up over the years given all of the creative ways the family came up with to use it from one generation to the next. It sure seemed like it should have worn out before the third generation had a chance to inherit it. With that being said, this is a very minor criticism of a story that I really loved overall. My passing questions about how long the rope realistically should have lasted would in no way prevent me from recommending it to everyone.

One of the most interesting parts of the plot to me was the fact that only one of the characters ever shared their name with the audience. Everyone else was discussed as a parent, grandparent, or other relative of the main character. Even though I didn’t know their actual first names, I still felt like I got to know every member of this family well because of how much attention was paid to showing off their personalities earlier on in the storyline.

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration was a heartwarming tale that every family should read.

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Dear Substitute by Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon

August 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Dear Substitute by Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When a substitute teacher named Miss Pelly comes to class, one student bristles at the change in routine—Miss Pelly doesn’t follow the rules like Mrs. Giordano. But in time, our student learns that even though the substitute may do things a little differently, and she may be a bit silly, mixing things up might not be so bad. Told in a series of epistolary poems, this funny, relatable picturebook is a great fit for classrooms and for any child nervous about new experiences.

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The plot twists in this tale were fabulous. I sympathized with the main character as soon as she realized that her regular teacher wasn’t going to be in the classroom on that particular day. The more annoyed she became with all of the changes the substitute was making to their regular Tuesday schedule, the more I hoped that she’d find something about that day that would make her happier. Finding out if this ever happened was a lot of fun. Nobody knows for sure what might happen to them in the near future, especially kids who don’t have much control at all over how their lives unfold when they’re at school.

I would have liked to see more descriptions of what the substitute did with the students as far as lessons or other activities went. The main character spent plenty of time complaining about all of the things their temporary teacher accidentally did wrong, but she didn’t say much about what they did instead with their time. This was especially true early in the day when the protagonist kept feeling disappointed and angry over all of the normal Tuesday classroom activities that they wouldn’t be doing this week.

Even though I never figured out her name, that didn’t affect how well I got to know the main character as an individual. She revealed so many important parts of her personality through her dashed expectations early on in the storyline that I felt like I could explain what she was like in great detail by the time she and her classmates were ready for lunch.

Dear Substitute is a good story for anyone who has trouble when their daily routines at school are thrown off-balance.

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

Teddy’s Favorite Toy by Christian Trimmer

August 24, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Teddy’s Favorite Toy by Christian Trimmer
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A mom goes to great lengths to rescue her son’s favorite doll in this delightful tribute to treasured toys—and mothers.

Teddy has a lot of cool toys. But his very favorite doll has the best manners, the sickest fighting skills, and a fierce sense of style.
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Then one morning, something truly awful happens. And there’s only one woman fierce enough to save the day. Can Teddy’s mom reunite Teddy with his favorite toy?

All toys are special, but some toys are truly irreplaceable.

The friendship between Teddy and Bren-Da, Warrior Queen of Pacifica, made me smile. He obviously loved his doll quite a bit, and I enjoyed seeing all of the thrilling adventures he imagined them going on. While there were only a few scenes that showed how he’d played with her before these two buddies were separated, I enjoyed learning about their backstory before the main events of the plot started to happen. It provided important context for Teddy’s reaction to her disappearance and made me hope for a happy ending for both of them.

I would have preferred to see more time spent on where Bren-Da went and how Teddy’s mom rescued her. This was such an important part of the plot that I was surprised by how quickly the narrator glossed over these events. While I’d expect the average tale for this age group to be written in a pretty lighthearted and reassuring manner, I do think there was a lot more room here to expand on how the rescue attempt might have played out since so much of it was left to the reader’s imagination.

There’s something to be said for a parent who will go to any length to make their child feel better. Teddy’s mom hadn’t meant any harm by what she did early on in the storyline. The fact that she worked so hard to find Bren-Da once she realized how much that doll meant to her son was one of the highlights of the plot for me. She was a very caring parent.

Teddy’s Favorite Toy was a gentle and heartwarming tale that should be read by anyone who still remembers which toy they liked the most when they were little.

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Astronaut Annie by Suzanne Slade

August 23, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Astronaut Annie by Suzanne Slade
Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers
Genre: Childrens, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (36 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Annie’s joyful exuberance and her family’s whole-hearted support leave no doubt that her dream is within her grasp. This delightful story―with backmatter about women astronauts―encourages young readers to pursue their dreams and reach for the stars.

Career Day is approaching, and Annie can’t wait to show her family what she’s planning to be when she grows up. But, she must keep it a secret until Friday! So curious family members each ask Annie for a clue. Convinced that she’ll be a news reporter like he once was, Grandpop gives her his old camera to use for her presentation. Grandma is sure Annie wants to be a champion baker like her, so she offers a mixing bowl and oven mitts to Annie. Hopeful she’ll become the mountain climber he aspired to be, Dad gives Annie an old backpack. Mom presents Annie with a pair of high-top sneakers to pursue Mom’s favorite sport in high school — basketball.
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Grateful for each gift, Annie cleverly finds a way to use them all to create her Career Day costume. When the big day arrives, Annie finally reveals her out-of-this-world dream to everyone.

It’s never too early to begin planning for the future.

Annie was such a friendly and enthusiastic kid. I liked her immediately, and my impression of her only grew warmer as I got to know her even better than I did in the first scene. She was the kind of character that I’d love to see an entire series of books written about. It seemed to me that we’d only scratched the surface of her life. I always enjoy it when I meet a character who feels this complex and interesting, and I’d sure be interested in reading more about her if the author ever writes a sequel.

I would have liked to see more time spent developing the plot. The blurb gave away so much of what happened that there weren’t a lot of surprises later on in the storyline. As interested as I was in finding out what Annie was planning to do for career day, it would have been nice to have a few twists along the way as I waiting to discover what was going on in this character’s life.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that happened early on when various members of Annie’s family were playfully attempting to convince her to give hints about what she was going to do for Career Day. She had close-knit relationships with all of the adults in her life, and it showed. I enjoyed seeing how her family spent their free time together and how much they cared for each other.

Astronaut Annie should be read to any child who has ever had big dreams about what he or she might be when they grow up.

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Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima

August 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (48 pages)
Age Recommendation: 3+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

From the author and illustrator of the bestselling Not Quite Narwhal comes a sweet and funny story about remembering where you belong, no matter how far you roam, or what you’re wearing when you get there.

Harriet loves costumes. She wears them to the dentist, to the supermarket, and most importantly, to her super-special dress-up birthday party. Her dads have decorated everything for the party and Harriet has her most favorite costume all picked out for the big day. There’s just one thing missing—party hats!
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But when Harriet dons her special penguin errand-running costume and sets out to find the perfect ones, she finds something else instead—real penguins! Harriet gets carried away with the flock. She may look like a penguin, but she’s not so sure she belongs in the arctic. Can Harriet manage her way back to her dads (and the party hats!) in time for her special day?

It’s not every day that a kid gets kidnapped by penguins!

The plot twists were creative and adorable. I especially loved the fact that the penguins knew how to speak and had so many strong opinions about what Harriet should do after she realized she missed her dads and wanted to go back to them. This is the sort of thing I’d happily read to the young children in my life over and over again because of how fun it was to discover all of the twists and turns in this character’s adventures after the penguins took her to their icy, faraway home.

I would have liked to see a little more exploring Harriet’s attempts to go home to her parents again. The illustrations did help to flesh out the hints in the words themselves, but there was a lot more the narrator could have done with these sections while still keeping them appropriate for such a young age group. Had these scenes been given more time to shine, I would have gone with a full five-star review as everything else about this book was wonderful.

One of the other things I loved about this tale was how much genuine kindness and empathy was expressed by many of the characters. Harriet was feeling nervous and sad about being separated from her fathers. The fact that her feelings were acknowledged was lovely, especially after she decided to try everything she could to be reunited with them.

Harriet Gets Carried Away was a heartwarming story that I’d recommend to anyone who has ever had to deal with uncomfortable emotions.

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