The Tutu Ballet is quite a cute story about individuality and shining with your own talent. Everyone is needed and works better together than separately. The animals in the forest: bear, mouse, hare, and fox all go to ballet lessons. Each one could and wanted to perform only one move and couldn’t seem to work together until the teacher, Ms. Berry created one ballet where each animal could shine and perform their own speciality. This story is sweet and very clear. The illustrations are gorgeous and really support the text. This is the second book I have read and reviewed for Ms. Lee and I look forward to many more. I would recommend it for children ages 3-8.

Product Description
Love and hope transcend all boundaries when a boy and a dragonfly meet. An impossible encounter? Lea journeys through a beautiful garden to discover the boy’s secret. As she follows his clues, Lea meets people who need her help. And at the end, the unexpected secret is revealed. Part mystery, part surprise, this timeless story that celebrates the dragonfly’s gift to others is sure to leave a lasting impression. Beautifully illustrated, The Dragonfly Secret gently encourages children and adults to explore life’s infinite possibilities. Because of it, readers may look at nature in an entirely new light.

My Review: This book is beautifully illustrated by Barbara Gibson. The presentation is magnificent. The story is a little different, maybe because I have never read the first book, “The Dragonfly Door.” As a Christian, I would have to say that God can use any of His creation for any purpose, therefore explaining how a dragonfly can communicate and bring comfort to human beings. This book is way above the level of my second graders, and I think I would have to recommend it for older children (maybe 10 and older) because there are a lot of inferences I don’t think my students would understand. I would have to explain quite a bit, so therefore unless you come from a paradigm where you could explain this book more fully - and that’s not a teacher in the classroom, I would not recommend it for younger children. It would also be great for any counselor who deals in grief issues with people.

Product Description

Johnny Big Ears is just like every other five-year-old child, but when he starts his first day of kindergarten, children begin to tease him because of his enormously large ears. Follow Johnny as he faces the challenges that being different presents. How will Johnny react to being teased? Find out why Johnny turns out to be the winner in this endearing, thoughtful book that addresses typical childhood bullying and offers children advice on how to deal with teasing.

My Review: I’m always looking for new books to read to my class to help build self-esteem and empathy, and this book hits both marks. Johnny uses a lot of “self-talk” as he tries to deal with the cruelty of his classmates. When called names, Johnny begins to mentally rehearse all of his good qualities. My class felt that this was a great book for children in pre-school through fourth grade. They thought it would be a great book to read to unhappy children, to read for helping somebody feel better, to read for a writing assignment, to read to teach children what really matters, and just to read for plain fun. The children would definitely read another book by John Paul Padilla. Boys and girls alike would like this book. I give it four stars!

The subtitle for this book is “A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat,” which it certainly is! The back cover says: “Poetry can have both a rhyme and a rhythm. Sometimes it is obvious; sometimes it is hidden. But either way, make no mistake, poetry is as vibrant and exciting as it gets. And when you find yourself clapping your hands or tapping your feet, you know you’ve found poetry with a beat!

There is a variety of poetry included within the pages of this book. There are 51 selections in the book, and there are 30 performances on the audio CD which accompanies the book. The performances are done by such names as Eloise Greenfield, Langston Hughes, Queen Latifah, Gwendolyn Brooks, and the editor - Nikki Giovanni.

This is a very fun book. I’m planning to choose one of the selections for my class to perform during Black History Month this year. It will be hard to choose which selection, however. All of them have a lot to offer.

As there were many selections and authors, there are also several illustrators. The illustrations are alive, bright, and capture the essence of the selections.

I highly recommend this book to bring diversity, history, and fun to your children.

Book Description
Meet Miss Bindley - an ordinary teacher with an unusual appetite. Miss Bindley doesn’t eat the usual fare like tuna melts and meatloaf. Instead, when her stomach grumbles, it’s the class pets she has her eye - er, stomach - on. Watch out! You never know who might be next…

From the Publisher (Carolrhoda Books)
This picture book takes a creative look at the classic children’s song “I Know an Old Woman,” and it all starts out as an innocent accident when a tiny flea plops into Miss Bindley’s tea. But it’s downhill from there, and soon Miss Bindley is gobbling up the entire classroom menagerie! Caldecott Medal-winner Stephen Gammell’s stunning il-lustrations combine media such as watercolor, colored pencils–and even spit– to create a tone of whimsy throughout this ridiculous tale. With infectious rhyme, rhythm, and repetition, I Know an Old Teacher is the perfect read aloud. Written by Anne Bowen, illustrated by Stephen Gammell, and published by Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, I Know an Old Teacher is sure to elicit squeals of both delight and disgust as Miss Bind-ley swallows each of the class pets one by one.

Sally’s Review: I read this book to my class and they begged me to read it almost everyday after that! I don’t think they could get past what the teacher ate, plus she was an OLD teacher - just what they were used to, i.e., an oldER and silly teacher. Children love it! Silly and outrageous appeals to young children. Of course because the book is based on the song “I Know an Old Lady,” and they know and love that song, and I sang the book to them with that tune this book fast became their favorite read aloud. I recommend this book as a read aloud when things are getting just a little intense and you want to lighten up and have some fun.

Stressed after a long day? Your child had a bad day at school? Check out Dog Breath (the Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis) and read it out loud to your child. You both will be giggling and laughing by the end.

This is a cute story about a dearly loved dog with only one grave problem - her horrible doggy breath! Her loving family sees no other way to solve the smelly problem than to find a new home for their puppy. Sadly, they put up a “free dog” sign. The children search for other ways to cure the problem, but finally give up all hope save for a miracle. And a miracle indeed does come their way!

Dav Pilkey does a great job of playing with words and language to give a double (humorous!) meaning to what he is writing. Dog lovers will especially enjoy this book, as dogs are notorious for their breath!! If you enjoy this book, check out some of his others such as Kat Kong or Dogzilla which are also full of word play(and cute pictures!).

Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey is available from Scholastic Books.

From the Author’s website:

Hold on to Your Horses exists because my daughter needed a story that helped her visualize and control her impulsive ideas. I wrote the story, but quickly realized that the story needed pictures to really carry the message to a very active 5 year old. More than a dozen artists responded to my online plea. When Angela submitted, I knew I had found what I needed. I couldn’t be more pleased that someone with talent of her caliber was willing to take on a small speculative project.

My Review: This is such an adorable book. As a teacher of 7 year old children I can definitely think of children who could benefit and relate to this book. My favorite line in the book is “Amy, you are filled with ideas every day. Your ideas are like horses. You need to take care of them and keep them safe.” I think the age range for this book is from 3 to 7. Children love horses and relating ideas to them is a great idea! I know some adults who could benefit from the theme of this book! This book is self-published, but it is available from the www.holdontoyourhorses.com website OR Amazon.com. The illustrations by Angela Call are whimsical, as you can see.

Special Giveaway: Sandra Tayler has graciously offered to give one of our readers a copy of her book! To be eligible, leave a comment with a valid email address and have a United States mailing address. To triple your chances of winning, blog about this giveaway on your blog and link back to this post. Be sure to leave a link to your post here in the comments! We’ll leave this giveaway open for a week.

On the cover: It’s September 1943, and eleven-year-old Ellie McKelvey’s older brother, Jimmy, has just been drafted. Jimmy has a joyful heart and a kind word for everyone, and he’s the only person who thinks Ellie is smart and funny and as beautiful as Lana Turner, the movie star. Ellie can hardly stand to see him go. With Jimmy gone, Aunt Toots moves into his bedroom, Ellie’s mother takes a war job at a factory, and everything in Ellie’s life seems upside down. But she figures that the war will be over and Jimmy home by Christmas, so as much as she misses him, she keeps her spirits up. Even as families in the neighborhood begin to receive telegrams informing them that their boys are wounded or worse, Ellie never stops believing in Jimmy.

Tomorrow, we will have a special interview with Mary Ann!

Visit the other Blogs on tour with Jimmy’s Stars!

01 Charger, A Childhood of Dreams, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, By the Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Maw Books, Small World Reads, The Friendly Book Nook, The Hidden Side of a Leaf

      Looking for something new for your 7 -10 year old to read?  Beverly Lewis, author of some great fiction based on the Amish lifestyle, has a great little series out called the Cul-De-Sac kids.  These books are all around 80 pages in length and are about the adventures of 9 children who live on a cul-de-sac called Blossom Hill Lane. 

      There are over 20 books in the series.  Each one tells a cute story while teaching a little about friendship, living a life for God even as a child, caring for others, or similar relevant topics.  My oldest daughter learned and still remembers all the fruits of the Spirit by reading one of these books.

       I like how all the children have quite different personalities.  I also appreciate how the stories show kids who are looking to please God with their lives.  Of course they are not perfect, yet they care to do the right thing.  I love that my girls can enjoy the stories, and be shown examples of kids living their lives for God at the same time.

Beverly Lewis’ Cul-De-Sac Kids books are available from Bethany House Publishers.

Pam Davis’s Girls ‘n Grace Collection is a Christian mom’s alternative to the American Girl Series. They are books about young girls in different countries and in different time periods. I read one about Mesi, a young girl in Africa, and Sydney Clair, a young girl in the United States during the 60’s. Mesi struggled with putting her faith in God through hard times. Her family did not even have the money to put her in school and things did not seem to be getting any better. Sydney Clair was exposed to the difficulty of understanding the racial issues of her time. African Americans legally had rights, yet white Americans were not ready to acknowledge those rights.

In each book the grace of God is a central theme. Author Pam Davis says that she intentionally left out the “i” in the title of her collection “Girls ‘n Grace” to emphasize that it is not what we ourselves do that earns the love or favor of God, but His love and favor - His grace - is His gift.

Similar to the American Girl series, Girls ‘n Grace also offers dolls that look like the characters of the books, and girls can buy one that looks a bit like themselves. You can even choose to buy a doll and a small Bible together and have it sent to someone who may need to read the message of God’s grace. This is not such a bad idea, but I have to say the dolls are quite pricey at $77 each. I would never spend that much for a doll, even if it is a collector’s item. Others will feel differently, of course.

I do recommend the books. The publisher says they are for age 6 and up, but I would say the reading level is a bit higher than that for most children. 6 year olds may be interested in hearing the stories read aloud, however. The stories are sweet and the pictures are well done. They share the element I love of American Girl which is that your child can learn a bit of real history in a fun way, and they have the additional element of sharing about God’s grace, an ever-important message.