When Charlie McButton Lost Power

When Charlie McButton Lost Power
by: Suzanne Collins
Illustrated by: Mike Lester
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Language: English
ISBN: 0399240004
Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 10.4, hardcover, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $15.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

It's bookfair week at the school where I work and the next few posts are going to be books that I have purchased for my own kids library. Not my kids but books I use at school, at the daycare center or at the YMCA.

This book grabbed my attention right away. Young Charlie McButton is a high-tech kid. He has every gadget, every bell, every whistle. The kid is wired.

Disaster strikes Charlies tech empire when a storm takes out the power grid and his world is plunged into candlelit 19th century, Abe Lincoln reading by the fire darkness.

The book is extremely well versed. The rhymes come easily and are clever. It is brilliant. Ms. Collins has crafted a creative and devestatingly charming story.

Mr. Lester has created illustrations that both compliment and help drive Ms. Collin's words to perfection. There is a picture of Charlie's face when he can't find a power source that is worth the price of the book itself. The whole book has a slight Calvin and Hobbes-esque feel which is fine with me.


Message:
[Parents] Deer ticks be damned, get the kids outside.
[Kids] When we were kids we played army outside, not on TV.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

John, Paul, George and Ben

John, Paul, George and Ben
by: Lane Smith
Illustrated by: the author
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
Language: English
ISBN: 0786848936
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.8, hardcover, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $16.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

You must buy this book!

Once and awhile something comes along that is such a cool concept, such a fresh idea and has the potential for great payoff in the future that you must buy it. This is one of those.

Did I mention you should buy this book?

John, Paul, George and Ben is a refreshingly cute story of some of our founding fathers, John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington and Ben Franklin (oh and Independant Thomas Jefferson) and how thier behavior in early life paid big dividends not only for them but for our nation too.

The illustrations are wonderfully "antique" look of a Copley, Trunbull or Peale painting and the font used is a work of art as well. The pictures are rich and deep and, well, beautiful.

The payoff? Your kids might actually take a liking to history. What's not to love about that?

In closing, buy the book. I did and my kid is 11, ok, it was for me.

Message:
[Parents] Maybe the way your child's way of shooting peas across the room out of his/her nose will pay off someday and pay off big.
[Kids] You should always behave yourself but be yourself and find something to use your talents on.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Is There Really a Human Race?

Is There Really a Human Race?
by: Jamie Lee Curtis
Illustrated by: Laura Cornell
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Joanna Cotler
Language: English
ISBN: 0060753463
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 11.3, hardcover, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $16.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Once again Jamie Lee Curtis and Joanna Cotler have done it again with another glance into how our kids probably look at life.

In "Is There Raally a Human Race" the question we've all asked at one point in our lives is addressed in both witty and entertaining prose and glorious illsutrations.

Book Fair tomorrow and this one's in my basket. It should be in your too.

Message:
[Parents] There is truly no such thing as a stupid question.
[Kids] If something sounds silly, ask why.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct
by: Mo Willums
Illustrated by: the author
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
Language: English
ISBN: 0786837489
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 12.0", hardcover, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $16.99 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

Edwina is a dinosaur but one who didn't get the "evolve into birds" memo. She lives a wonderful life in a small community where she takes an active view of her civic responsibilities.

Unfortunately, some people just can't be happy with the way things are and this is the case here too as a know-it-all student sets out to prove that she shouldn't be, in fact, alive.

Fortunately, it all works out in the end and we are all taught that we shouldn't judge by any preconceived notions just with our eyes and our hearts.

Another great one from one of America's greatest children's book authors.

Message:
[Parents] Judge others not by what you have heard or read but by what you see and experience.
[Kids] Don't judge someone by what other people say.

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

The Book of Monsters: A Bedtime Story

The Book of Monsters: A Bedtime Story
by: Jamie Melani Marshall
Illustrated by: the author
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Jamie Melani Marshall
Language: English
ISBN: 0-9782-1090-5
Product Dimensions: 8.5" x 8.50", perfect binding, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $18.00 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Lulu.com (http://www.lululcom/jamiemelanimarshall)

Jamie Melani Marshall has created a brilliantly colorful book about monsters in the Maurice Sendak tradition. The text is delightful and the story so packed with messages about unplaced fears, why we need rules and tapping into your inner strength that it should find a home in libraries everywhere.

Marshall, who is a talented artist, uses those skills to great effect page after richly dark but colorful page.

If I have any concerns about this book they are only that it may proove to scary for young ones at bedtime the first read. So read it in the morning or at lunch the first time.

Good fun.

Message:
[Parents] Maybe not for really young kids and maybe read it at lunchtime first.
[Kids] See, we have rules for a reason and don't be afraid until you have reason to be.

Content: 4/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 4/5

Big Round Frog: A Cautionary Tale in Verse

Big Round Frog: A Cautionary Tale in Verse
by: Mike Lawrence
Illustrated by: the author
Paperback: 34 pages
Publisher: Mike Lawrence
Language: English
ISBN: 0-9782-1090-5
Product Dimensions: 9.00" x 7.00", saddle-stitch binding, full-color interior ink
Price: (without shipping) $11.00 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Lulu.com (http://www.lululcom/Macaroni)

Mr. Lawrence has done it again. In this, his second book for children, Mr. Lawrence shows us the perils of rubbernecking. The book is colorful and of a different style than his previous book "The Macaroni Disaster".

The concept is refreshingly different. The text is cute and accessible as we see the cunning plan of the Big Round Frog unfurl before us.

A good value and a great read.

Message:
[Parents] Eyes ahead and pedal to the metal.
[Kids] See what happens when try to stick our noses in someone else's business?

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5

Badly Drawn Dog

Badly Drawn Dog
by: Jeanne Willis
Illustrated by: Tony Ross
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Barron''s Educational Series
Language: English
ISBN: 0764158147
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10.0 x 0.4 inches
Price: (without shipping) $14.95 USD as of the date of this posting
Where to buy: Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

We always tell our kids to be themselves but it's hard and when they hit middle-school and high schol the pressure can be mind-numbing. Is this book going to solve that issue? No, it's a kid's book for goodness sake.

But...

This book, a story about a dog who does not like the way he looks, is a great way to teach young children that to accept yourself as you are is a good thing. It also shows us that when we give in to fads and fashion, we can loose our identity.

A great book.

Message:
[Parents] See, we should be ourselves.
[Kids] See what happens when we try to be what others think we should be?

Content: 5/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Concept: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5