The 3 Little Dassies

The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett, a retelling of The Three Little Pigs, features three dassie sisters (cute little squirrel-like rodents) dressed fetchingly in the traditional garb of the Herero women of Namibia, the setting for this story. Leaving home to make their way in the world, they encounter a hungry eagle that makes [...]

Mudshark

     Mudshark by Gary Paulsen is a humorous tale about a middle school age boy who is the school’s best problem solver.  That is, he is the best problem solver until the school librarian gets a pet parrot to replace  the other pet which really wasn’t a pet but a purse. The parrot doesn’t say [...]

Mortimer’s First Garden by Karma Wilson

             The author of  Bear Snores On is back with another story with Mortimer the Mouse first introduced in Mortimer’s Christmas Manger.  What can I say about this latest story – it’s wonderful!!! In Mortimer’s First Garden the story and illustrations are nicely done and is sure to be a favorite of young children. The [...]

Has the Caldecott Award Become a Quasi Newberry?

 Recently I was reflecting on this year’s Caldecott Winner The House in the Night. It is a nice story but were those illustrations really worthy of an award? Thinking back I remembered reading an article about the Newberry Award and the question posed about whether or not it has lost its way over time. I [...]

Death on Disaster Day by Nancy Gotter Gates

Gates lives in High Point, and the setting for this mystery novel is Greensboro.  Many places familiar to Greensboro residents, from Irving Park to the Battleground and from the Moose Café at the Farmer’s Market to Wesley Long Hospital, are locations for some of the scenes. A local setting always adds to my enjoyment of [...]

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

 After Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency ended, he decided to take a river trip in the Amazon River area. Having experienced many adventures, including big-game hunting in Africa and leading the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War, he expected this to be an easy journey. However, he changed his original plans for a relatively safe trip [...]

From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman

To all you softies, this is not a “dead dog” book – although there are some sad parts.  It’s actually an uplifting story about how far people will go to help a cute puppy.  Lt. Col. Kopelman was serving in Baghdad when a sweep of an abandoned house in Fallujah turned up a five-week-old puppy.  [...]

The Mysteries by Lisa Tuttle