The Founding Myth by Andrew L. Seidel

Jefferson also authored the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, upon which the First Amendment would be based. That law, along with the University of Virginia and the Declaration of Independence, were the only achievements he wanted inscribed on his gravestone. The statute guaranteed religious freedom by guaranteeing a secular government. In the statute, Jefferson skewered "the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others."

~p. 36 of The Founding Myth

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American by Andrew L. Seidel is about the separation of church and state, how and why the "founding fathers" of the United States chose to create this wall of separation, and what specifically they said about religion that indicated their personal beliefs. 

If you're a Christian, as I am, you'll struggle with certain opinions of the atheist author of The Founding Myth. He can be pretty strident when describing the negatives of religion. But, while he may get certain details wrong from our perspective, the bottom line is that the historical references and quotes lay out his assertion that the US was not founded as a Christian nation in a logical, detailed way. 

Seidel also asserts that the wall of separation between church and state makes both religious groups and the government stronger. I agree with him on that, but if the idea rubs you the wrong way, all the more reason to explore why he makes such a declaration. 

Highly recommended - I have always been a strong believer in the separation of church and state and the author of The Founding Myth does an excellent job of explaining why it exists and backing that up with historical references. As to his thoughts about Christianity, while there were some minor issues with some of his assertions about it, I like having my beliefs challenged and I can't deny that he makes a lot of excellent points about how Christianity has been used as a cudgel, whether to cause the submission of women or justify violence against enemies. Christianity has a terrible, bloody history, when you get right down to it. We see, in fact, the justification of gun ownership and use by Christians using a single, out-of-context Bible quote, even today. 

There are a lot more quotes I considered using for this review as this is my most marked-up book, so far in 2022. But, the book is so worth reading that I'd rather just encourage everyone to read it, instead. 

©2022 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Business Pig by Andrea Zuill (Children's Week #5)

It was apparent from the moment the piglets arrived. Jasper was an unusual pig.

He hated playing in the mud.

And he refused to root for grubs,

acorns, and other tasty things

the way the other pigs did. 

Jasper was loved but he felt out of place. So, the volunteers at the sanctuary where Jasper lived created a place of his own where he could help with the bookkeeping. He held meetings and tried to show his flow charts to the chickens (they weren't interested). The goat ate his business card and nobody was interested in adopting him, no matter how many charts he offered or resumés he handed out. But, Jasper had a great attitude and formulated a plan. He came up with all sorts of clever ways to advertise his availability for adoption.

Then, one day he had a visitor, a little girl who studied his charts, exchanged business cards with him, and read his resumé thoroughly. I love this part:

Luckily, upper management was also impressed with Jasper's credentials.

"Upper management" is the little girl's mom. And, with the making of an offer and signing of a contract, it was a done deal. Jasper had a home.

Recommended - A cute, clever book about being different but working with your uniqueness to find a way to your goal. Business Pig is the third book I've read that's both written and illustrated by Andrea Zuill. I was surprised at how very different the illustrations were, in this one. The first two I read were both color on a pure white background. Business Pig is full color, with bright barns and fencing, brown dirt, greenery, a beautiful blue sky. It just works. The little girl who adopts Jasper has the same quirky business-like look. She wears a salmon suit, carries a briefcase, and wears glasses. Nice way to show that you may be quirky but that doesn't mean you're alone.

Other books I've reviewed by Andrea Zuill:

Marigold and Daisy by Andrea Zuill
Dance is for Everyone by Andrea Zuill


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile by B. Brier and H. Hobbs

Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile was my first finished book of the year. I really enjoyed it and think finishing it up made a good first bookend to the reading year. Although I read most of Ancient Egypt in 2013, it's not the book's fault I didn't get swept up in it till after the Christmas mania had ended.  

As the subtitle indicates, Ancient Egypt is about everyday life in Egypt during its 3,000-plus years as a powerful, ancient nation in what we used to call the years "B.C." (Before Christ - I'm not even certain when it became B.C.E.; I think I was looking the other direction when that happened). 

The book is divided into chapters on history, religion, government and society, work and play, food, clothes and other adornments, architecture, arts and crafts, technology and construction, warfare, and medicine and mathematics. They appear to have been written separately; occasionally, some process that was exclusive to Ancient Egypt is described in one chapter and then all over again in another, but those repetitive bits are brief and few.

It took me quite a while to read Ancient Egypt. Although that's mostly because I'm slow to read non-fiction and Christmas ate my lunch (usually, I'm not so disorganized!!) there were, I confess, times that I found the reading a bit dry and too text-like. Sometimes I thought an illustration or photo was sorely needed, as well.  I never found the book a slog, though; the dry bits were only occasional.  Perhaps it has to do with the different aspects of Egyptian life and what intrigued me the most, which obviously will vary from one person to another, but there are tons of Post-its in the book and it was not unusual for me to spit out factoids to the husband.  I didn't realize, for example, that the Ancient Egyptians made plywood and used veneers on some of their furnishings, things I assumed to be fairly modern practices.  

Loved this bit about the fact that Egyptians ate pork:

[. . . ] numerous scenes in tombs, going back to the Old Kingdom, show processions of people carrying food. Pigs figure prominently. Indeed, the Roman author Athenaeus, who lived for a time in Egypt, recorded one way the Egyptians ate pork that may be the earliest reference to a sandwich.

[E]ach diner is served with a loaf of pure wheat bread molded flat, upon which lies another loaf which they call oven-bread; also a piece of swine's flesh.

~p. 130 of Ancient Egypt

Recommended: A comprehensive look at life in Ancient Egypt, updated from its 2009 copyright date with new information. Entertaining but occasionally a bit dry, the book is nicely illustrated and contains a glossary, bibliography, index and picture credits.  There were times I thought the text cried out for additional illustrations or diagrams but the photos and illustrations are beautiful.

I was intrigued enough to want to learn a bit more and just happened to find a book that suited my craving while I was emptying old boxes of books, a few days ago. See Inside an Egyptian Town, ed. by R. J. Unstead is an older title purchased when I was working in a bookstore in the 90s. Because Ancient Egypt contains up-to-date material, I was able to spot a couple errors in the See Inside book, which was updated in 1986.  I was also surprised that the city chosen for illustration was Akhetaten, a city that was the capital of Egypt only during the reign of a single pharoah. Perhaps it's the best-preserved of the ancient ruins and therefore its ruins are the most revealing.  At any rate, I enjoyed the cut-away and 2-page spread illustrations. They satisfied that little-kid urge to get in close and imagine myself within the scene (apparently, I'm never going to outgrow that).

If I could have hopped a plane to London to see the British Museum's Egyptian exhibits, I would have done so the moment I closed Ancient Egypt. I loved the learning experience.  I got my copy of Ancient Egypt for review from Sterling and have several other titles from the Everyday Life series. I'll be reading about Vikings, next.  Excitement!  I'm sure as soon as I finish it I'm going to want to go to Scandinavia.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Food by Mary McCartney and a related Fiona Friday pic

Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking by Mary McCartney

Copyright 2013

Sterling Epicure - Cookbook/Vegetarian

256 pages

I'm going to abandon the standard format for this review.  You saw what happened when Food by Mary McCartney arrived at our house, right?  My husband immediately snatched up our new copy of Food and hogged it for days.  In fact, I'm surprised we've managed to take turns without any fights breaking out.  We love it that much.

We've tried at least 5 of the recipes.  To be honest, I've lost track of the number but I've liked everything except "Leek and Pea Risotto" and that was because the recipe is heavy on parmesan.  Parmesan cheese is one of those "less is more" ingredients for me so we're going to adapt the recipe a bit.  Husband loved it.  The recipes tend to be low on ingredients (very important to us) and have few ingredients that are difficult to obtain (also crucial) and most that are may easily be substituted.  They're simple dishes to put together, so Food would make a super purchase or gift for a novice and there's plenty of interesting variety.  

I got a copy of Food when I commented on a tweet by a publicist at Sterling who said it's good for picky eaters. I'm going to have to agree that, for the most part, that's true.  I'm a picky eater -- not as bad as I used to be but still pretty picky because I have too-sharp senses.  There was a time when I couldn't even sit across the table from someone who was eating bleu cheese and I meticulously removed onions from anything and everything.  When I flip through most cookbooks I'll find a handful of recipes that interest me, to this day.  Jamie Oliver (who wrote the cover quote for Food) is one of the rare exceptions. I'll eat anything by Jamie Oliver.  

Well, let me tell you . . . Food is so gorgeous and the recipes so appealing that I don't think there's anything (unless it has bleu cheese in it) that I wouldn't try. Kiddo's girlfriend is an extremely picky vegetarian so we're looking forward to cooking for her between semesters, when she'll no doubt be hanging out with us regularly. My personal favorite, so far, is the egg salad.  Basic, delicious, no strong  flavors to offend a sensitive palate -- definitely the kind of recipe I plan to try on Kiddo's girlfriend.

The best thing about Food, though is the photos.  It is the most freaking gorgeous book, with beautiful photo spreads interspersed between the recipes.  And almost every recipe contains a photo of the final result. 

In fact, my husband said I should make a special effort to let people know that the photos are so gorgeous you'll be tempted just to sit and admire them and never get around to cooking.  He's just being silly, though.  The truth is that the sheer beauty of the book inspired us both.  We've kept Food propped up in the cookbook holder (usually open to what we want to try next) when we're not reading it, since the book arrived on our doorstep.  

There's some nice text about the author's childhood and there are some photos from her youth. The author is Paul and Linda McCartney's daughter -- something I failed to notice about the book when I gushed about how perfect the book sounded for us on Twitter. The author talks about why she cooks the way she does, how she was convinced after years of friendly nudging that she should write a cookbook, how cooking goes hand-in-hand with friends and family for her and some extra cooking notes, but the text is minimal. Still, the opening bits will satisfy McCartney fans who, like me, have always admired the family's surprisingly simple, clean lifestyle.

Even Isabel likes Food.  Honestly, it's hard for me to imagine anyone not falling in love with Food, if only because it's lovely enough to set on a coffee table.  You don't even have to like the recipes.  But, we do and we're beating the heck out of our copy.  It's going to be one very well-loved book for a long time. 

Highly recommended - I can't praise Food enough.  A cookbook with simple, quick but tasty recipes that are especially great for a vegetarian with a sensitive palate and the most gorgeous photos in the history of ever.  I'd honestly recommend this book to everyone, if only for the photos, but it's too terrific to do that.  Food would be a great book to keep on-hand even if you've got no interest in a vegetarian lifestyle.  Say you occasionally need ideas for dishes everyone will find appealing so that when you entertain you have a delicious spread that won't leave out the friends who don't touch meat -- perfect.  The recipes are also great for picky little ones.  If you're not a picky eater and desire a bit more flavor, it's easy enough to adapt these recipes by tossing in a little paprika or pepper sauce here, some onion there, a bit of dry mustard . . . whatever.  Perfect for gift-giving because it's so beautiful.   

And, that's your Fiona Friday photo, above.  I wasn't expecting Isabel to walk into the frame when I was snapping interior photos and have some much better images to share but I'll save those for another time.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Itch by Simon Mayo

Itch: The Explosive Adventures of an Element Hunter by Simon Mayo
Copyright 2012
Splinter (an imprint of Sterling) - Young Adult, first in a series
425 pp.

Source:  ARC from Sterling for review; released April, 2013 in the U.S.

Quote:

The truth is, if you sleep in the room next to a fourteen-year-old science-crazed boy who likes to blow things up, you learn very quickly only to take notice of the very big bangs.

~p. 4

Why I read Itch:  I have been totally craving YA reads, lately, so I was ridiculously excited when this book was offered to me for review.  

What it's about:

"Itch" is the nickname of the hero in this book, Itchingham Lofte.  Itch is a 14-year-old scientist living in Cornwall (a British shire, or county - way down at the lower left on this British Shire map) with an unusual interest.  He is passionate about the Periodic Table of Elements.  He has studied the elements thoroughly and has a small collection of elements that he keeps in his house -- or did, till he burned off his eyebrows and his mum made him move everything to the shed.  That is, in fact, how the book begins, with an experiment gone wrong that fills the Lofte house with a nasty burnt odor and removes the eyebrows from Itch's face.  But, Itch makes an even worse mistake that causes his entire school to shut down.  And, then things go from bad to worse when Itch purchases an element that isn't even on the Periodic Table -- an radioactive element that's so important people will kill to acquire it, if they don't die first.

What I loved about Itch:

Itch is a rocking fine adventure.  It starts off with a bang (no pun intended -- and, technically, just after the bang) with a few laughs and eventually becomes a race against time.  The whole "boy genius" thing has been done and done again so I was a little nervous that Itch might veer toward the cliché but once I got into it, I enjoyed myself too much to think about tropes.

What I disliked about Itch:

There is way the heck too much throwing-up in Itch, thanks to poison and radiation. However . . . I kept going, which just goes to show you how much I love an adventurous, action-packed plot.

Will I read the next book in the series?

Yes, but if in spite of my love of action and adventure and people running from bad guys (my favorite dreams are the ones in which I'm running from bad guys -- interesting, no?), there's only so much heaving a girl can stand so if Itch keeps poisoning everyone, I'll stop at #2.  The next book in the series is Itch Rocks.  I don't know when it will be published in the U.S. but I asked the author if it has already been released in the U.K. via Twitter and he said, "Yes."

The bottom line:

Recommended - An exciting action/adventure with a clever hero, some delightful side characters and a nice comedic touch, terrific for escapist reading but with a warning that there is a lot of vomiting in the book.  In spite of the fact that I can barely even stand to read the word "vomit," I was never tempted to set Itch aside.  It's just too entertaining; the pages flew and I loved the writing enough that I occasionally read passages to my husband (or besieged him with science questions). And, I just blocked the bad mental images; it's a special talent of mine.

Funny side note:

I told Kiddo about the book and when I said the hero is collecting the elements from the Periodic Table, he laughed and said, "Good luck to him.  Some of them are very unstable or radioactive." And, he does plan to read Itch.  Am wondering why Kiddo is studying business rather than science, now.  

Addendum:

Forgot to add my thoughts about the cover -- worth mentioning, in this case, because I absolutely love it.  What a grabber!  Glowy green explosion surrounding the main character and title?  Super choice!  And, I love the faint backdrop of the Periodic Table.  The Itch cover is definitely one of the most outstanding covers I've seen, this year.  I also forgot to mention that Itch is a great hero, the kind of young hero one appreciates because he's got a good heart.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Puff the Magic Dragon - board book by P. Yarrow, L. Lipton & E. Puybaret

Puff the Magic Dragon is 50 years old!  Wow, that makes me feel kind of ancient and creaky.  Somewhere around here, I probably still have my album (as in "vinyl") of children's music and "Puff the Magic Dragon" was one of my childhood favorites.  

Oh.  Ahem.  Yes, in fact, I do have that album.  Anyway, you know how I love children's books.  Puff the Magic Dragon, published by Sterling Children's Books is basically a board book with the words from the song.  Since I haven't heard it in eons, I can't tell you if all of the lyrics are there, but the illustrations in this board book are freaking gorgeous and Puff looks very friendly, which I think is important in illustrations directed at small children.  

My favorite board books are usually the ones that have a nice rhythm and, of course, if you know the song you'll want to sing the story rather than just reading it aloud.  That Puff began as a song makes it perfect for reading to little ones.  I'd forgotten Puff the Magic Dragon is a sad story, though.  Poor Puff can't live without little Jackie when Jackie grows up and goes away.  I guess it's such an upbeat song that I never noticed.  I still love the story, love board books, adore the rhyme and rhythm and definitely highly recommend this little book.  It's a beauty.

It's also important to note that Puff the Magic Dragon has earned the Fiona Kitty Seal of Approval.  Well . . . what are you waiting for?  :)

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Who's Looking at You? and Tushes and Tails by Stephane Frattini

My copies of . . . 

Who's Looking at You? by Stephane Frattini and . . . 

Tushes and Tails by Stephane Frattini both arrived from Sterling Kids in August and both my husband and I were completely besotted.  Usually, the spouse just ignores the children's books but he actually sat and looked through these with a smile on his face.  Who's Looking at You? and Tushes and Tails! are large flap books.  I took a couple inside photos to show you the size and quality.  The first is a photo of a spread before the flaps have been opened.  I placed a ball point pen on one page as a reference to size.  

The second photo shows the flap of the above left photo, opened.  The snail image was one of my favorites.  I had never seen a snail up close and personal and actually said, "Oh.  That is so cool!" aloud, when I opened it.  The flaps are pretty sturdy and you can see by looking above that there's a good 1/2" of glued margin.  From our experience, flap books tend not to last too long.  So, I'd try to keep little hands from tugging on the pages, but the text is brief and informative so both books are super for on-the-lap reading time.  The recommended age range is 2-5.

Tushes and Tails! and Who's Looking at You? are both highly recommended.  Beautiful, often surprising photographs, just the right amount of information in a nice, bold print that's easy to read and a nice sturdy feel to the flaps make both books winners.  And, actually, they'd make excellent gifts if you're looking for books for preschoolers.  

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Bawk & Roll by Sauer and Santat

Bawk & Roll by T. Sauer and D. Santat

Copyright 2012 (Ages 4 and up)

Sterling Children's Books

36 pages

I read and reviewed Chicken Dance by the author/illustrator team Sauer and Santat -- about two chickens named Marg and Lola who can't find a talent for the barnyard talent contest but bawk, flap and shake their way to fame -- in 2009 and loved it so much that I decided I couldn't part with it. So I was really excited to hear that a sequel was being released! More chicken fun!

In Bawk & Roll, Marg and Lola leave to loving goodbyes from their barnyard friends as they head out to tour with Elvis Poultry. But, from the beginning, they experience horrific stage fright.

The chickens trembled. They fanned their wattles. They . . .

fainted.

THUNK

Marge and Lola try picturing the crowd in their underwear, "easing" into the show (Elvis Poultry arrives by parachute while the chickens fall off the barn roof -- not quite what they planned), and calming their jitters by painting, relaxing in a tub, knitting, hypnosis, meditation and listening to waves. Nothing works.

"We'll try one more show," said Elvis. "If our flock can't rock, I gotta go solo."

The next page spread is my favorite part. Marge and Lola feel "smaller than chicken feed." They ponder what they're missing and when Marge figures it out, the text says:

The chickens crossed the road.

Well, I thought it was funny.

They put a letter in the mailbox and at the next show they peer through the curtain but fear they're about to get "mooed off the stage." But, when the curtains go up, Marge and Lola find that they've got the best friends ever. The animals from Dale's Dairy Farm have shown up to support them.

And, then we get a couple more moo jokes as Marge and Lola become a success. But, as much as they love fame, the chickens love their "fan club," their friends from the dairy farm.

My thoughts:

Chicken Dance contains a subtle message about not letting the bullies get you down and, in a similar vein, Bawk & Roll is about the power of friendship as the two chickens are calmed by the support of their barnyard friends. Again, I really enjoyed the storyline -- not quite as much as I loved Chicken Dance, but Bawk & Roll has the same wonderful, goofy illustrations and plenty of humor.

I only had one problem with Bawk & Roll.

"Wow," said Marge. "That's a big crowd."

"Woah," said Lola. "And we don't know anyone."

Do you see it? The correct spelling is W-H-O-A. I realize that W-O-A-H is a common misspelling (I blame the Japanese -- I'm pretty sure this particular error got its start in graphic novels from Asia; at least, that was the first place I spotted it), but "woah" is wrong and it really irritates me when children's books contain spelling errors.

When my children were small, I actually blacked out misspelled words and wrote the correct spelling to the side. My kids did think I was a little crazy.

"I gotta" instead of "I've got to" is also obviously wrong but it's vernacular so I'll cut the author a break, there.

One thing I absolutely love about Bawk & Roll is the way the illustrator summarized Chicken Dance with a series of illustrations on the page immediately to the left of the title page. How utterly cool! If you can't get your mitts on Chicken Dance or can only afford the second volume, it's no big deal. You've still got the entire story of Marge and Lola -- abbreviated, but enough to make it clear where they came from! What a wonderful thing to do.

Recommendation:

4/5 - Recommended. A delightful sequel to Chicken Dance with the same great puns and wonderful illustrations. A single misspelling irritated me, but I've blacked out such errors, in the past. No biggie. The book won't look perfect but Bawk & Roll is worth owning for the giggles.

Naturally, I have a chicken photo in the files. But, this one's doing ballet, not rock dancing. Ah, well. Close enough.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans

I don't feel like being formal with the book info I normally type at the top of each post, today. Instead, I'll just tell you in text that Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans is a Sterling Children's publication that's 271 pages long, an April 2012 release and a middle reader. I got my ARC from Shelf Awareness and I am so, so glad I requested this book! I almost never request anything via Shelf Awareness, anymore, but I love children's books and the word "adventure" will grab me, every time.

Ten-year-old Stuart has wonderful, wacky parents -- a father who writes crossword puzzles and an absent-minded scientist mother. He loves his home and friends. So, when Stuart's family decides to move, he's dismayed . . . and then bored, till he finds a note challenging him to find Great-Uncle Tony's hidden workshop, where he created magic tricks using clever mechanisms. Great-Uncle Tony, aka "Teeny-Tiny Tony Horten" mysteriously disappeared in 1940, after his factory was destroyed by a firebomb.

Stuart sets out to uncover clues to the location of the lab while trying to avoid the pesky triplets who live next door, eventually finding that one of the triplets is not only quite helpful but also very fun to hang out with. Will Stuart find the missing laboratory or has too much time passed since his great uncle disappeared? What became of Great-Uncle Tony and the woman he loved?

I love a good "quest" book and Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms is one of the most delightful adventures I've read in quite some time. Stuart is a likable hero and his father is hilarious in that sly way that happens to be educational (by using big words, which are always nicely defined). There are a few slapstick scenes mixed in with the moments during which Stuart ponders clues, making for perfect pacing. A "madcap sequel" is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2012 and I absolutely cannot wait.

5/5 - Excellent writing, great characters, well thought-out quest with loads of humor and fantastic pacing make for an enchanting read.

I was looking for a link to Sterling Children's Books and found this review:

Slaven Says review of Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms

Also worth mentioning: Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms was longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2011 in the UK (England is the setting), which is likely to send me on a quest to locate the titles of the winners.

I chose to highlight the title in red, even though there's no red on the cover, to make it stand out. But, the red reminded me that I have a photograph that makes me wonder . . . Do you think it's difficult for people who paint telephone boxes in Great Britain to get home without being stopped by a police officer? In absence of the paintbrush, I think I'd be convinced the man below committed some heinous crime.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Olive Branch: Red & Yellow's Noisy Night by Josh Selig

Title: The Olive Branch: Red & Yellow's Noisy Night by Josh Selig

Copyright: 2012

Published By: Sterling Children's Books (Ages 4 - 7)

Length: 24 pages

Reason for Reading: Because I'm crazy about children's picture books and Katie at Sterling Children's asked if I'd like to review.

Release Date: April 2012

Brief Summary: Red and Yellow live in the branches of an olive tree. When Yellow's sleep is disturbed by Red playing his strummy, they must find a way to compromise.

Yellow was upset.

"Stop playing your strummy so I can sleep!" said Yellow.

Red was also upset.

"Stop trying to sleep so I can play my strummy!" said Red.

They weren't getting anywhere.

Any mother with more than one child has been there. Two little ones, one is restless and the other is dead tired. Red & Yellow's Noisy Night is perfect for times when children need a reminder of how to get along.

Red began playing

a quieter tune on

his strummy.

Yellow liked it.

Red liked it too.

Then they both had a wonderful idea,

which happens sometimes.

Red played his strummy very sweetly for Yellow. The sounds of

Red's strummy helped Yellow

fall

asleep.

And everything was good in the Olive Tree again.

As you can see from the excerpt, the storyline in Red & Yellow's Noisy Night is extremely simplistic, probably best for children at the younger end of the spectrum. I'd say it's short enough that Red & Yellow's Noisy Night could easily be read to a 2-year-old. The illustrations are expressive and also quite simple. Red and Yellow are always shown in their olive tree, trying to get along. Sometimes there's a blue sky behind them, sometimes stars. Although Red initially comes up with the idea to play his strummy quietly after listening to the quiet of the night, I like the fact that they resolve their conflict together.

I received my copy of Red & Yellow's Noisy Night for review from Sterling, so I've got a publicity sheet that says the book is based on an animated series. I don't watch much TV, so that's news to me.

Red & Yellow's Noisy Night will be released in April and Sterling Children's Books will also release Red and Yellow plush toys. I skimmed over the material and didn't realize there were going to be toys to go with the book or I'd have asked for a photo. At this point, I can't find any photos of the toys online, but I'll see if I can get my mitts on a picture to share. I know my kids and I would have had fun acting out the story with stuffed critters. I spent at least a dozen years of my life on the floor reading and playing with my two. No wonder my knees are going.

Recommendation:

Recommended for children as young as 2 (if they're past the book-shredding stage) and teachers of little ones. Although the book says it's for ages 4-7, I think any small child from about age 2 and up will probably enjoy Red & Yellow's Noisy Night, but I particularly recommend it to parents of more than one child, those who are trying to teach their child to get along with others at preschool/kindergarten and teachers of very young children.

Whenever I review a picture book, I like to find the best possible home for it to go to after I've reviewed and right now it's a toss-up between a friend who is expecting her 4th child and another friend who teaches preschool. Both are in my Bible study class, so I may take it along to this evening's class and see who shows up.

Update for the curious: My copy of Red & Yellow's Noisy Night was claimed by a preschool teacher -- not the one I was thinking of, but another (there are a lot of teachers in my group). She read it, laughed at the cute characters and seemed thrilled to take the book off my hands.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Time for a Hug by Gershator, Green & Walker review and update

Time for a Hug by Phillis Gershator & Mim Green

Illustrated by David Walker

Copyright 2012

Sterling Children's Books

(Ages 3-5)

24 pages

Wake up! Wake up!

The day is new.

The clock says eight.

What shall we do?

Wash our faces,

comb our hair,

choose the clothes we like to wear.

Eat from a bowl,

drink from a mug--

What time is it?

Time for a hug!

The little bunny in Time for a Hug is one well-loved little guy. After the intro, above, he gets another hug at 9:00 and then 10:00. He and his mother bake a pie, make sock puppets, build with blocks, read and snuggle, then hug some more.

Time for a Hug is a lovely, upbeat book for preschoolers with cheerful illustrations. As a small child, many of my favorite books had catchy rhymes and happy themes; and, they were always the first I'd reach for to read to my own small children, particularly when I was tired. A happy book with a nice rhythm is always a pleasure to read. Time for a Hug is one of those books I can imagine a small child adoring and it's certainly a great book to snuggle up and read (plus, a good excuse for lots of hugging).

Highly recommended for parents and grandparents of small children. Many thanks to Sterling Books for the review copy. I usually try to pass on children's books to a new home after reviewing them but am sorely tempted to keep this one.

In other news:

I haven't said much, this week, because it's my last week with Kiddo around the house and he made it a busier week when he was involved in a fender-bender (hit from behind -- all involved were uninjured). Other than the accident, the start of the year has been a good one. I've finished two books:

• The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy by Marsha Altman - The fourth installment in my all-time favorite Pride & Prejudice spin-off series, and
• Hal Spacejock by Simon Haynes - A crazy, slap-stick sci-fi by a Nano buddy of mine, which is currently free for Kindle download (I'll be buying the next in the series).

Time for a Hug will be counted as my third, short as it is, and I'm on the verge of finishing Little Princes by Conor Grennan - the memoir of a man who made it his mission to rescue trafficked children in Nepal and reunite them with their parents. So far, I've loved everything I've read in 2012.

I'm slowly but surely working on my reading, writing and blogging goals for 2012 but I'm not sure they're worth posting about. However, among them is a goal to clean up the look of my blog and I'm working on moving my blogroll to a separate page for starters. Recreating links is turning out to be a bigger chore than I'd anticipated, so it may take me a while.

I've also decided to rewrite my review policy. My first attempt was more like a novella than a review policy, so I took down the link and will attempt to create something very brief.

No new books have entered my house, this week. I did receive a few over the Christmas holiday. I've already read one and am about to finish another, which leaves three:

• Vurt by Jeff Noon from Paperback Swap - I have no idea where I read about this book but it sounded unique and was readily available, so I ordered a copy.
• A Light on the Veranda by Ciji Ware - from Sourcebooks, for review
• The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel - from Unbridled Books, for review

Fiona Friday post is coming up, next. I decided to remove the cat photo from this entry and make it a separate post. Sorry, Christmas apparently ate my brain. I forgot Friday and cats go together!

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Quiet Bunny's Many Colors by Lisa McCue

Quiet Bunny's Many Colors by Lisa McCue

Copyright 2011

Sterling - Ages 4-8

32 pages

Quiet Bunny loves springtime in the forest.

He loves the warm sun on his soft little nose.

He loves the tickly new grass between his toes.

Most of all, he loves the beautiful colors.

Quiet Bunny is a character created by author and illustrator Lisa McCue, who just happens to be a favorite illustrator of ours. We still occasionally recite the entire text of Kiddo's childhood favorite board book by McCue, "Raccoon's Hide and Seek," a book that was in tattered shreds by the time Kiddo exited the board book stage. So, I'm always thrilled to read anything at all by Lisa McCue and Quiet Bunny's Many Colors is another wonderful book by McCue.

As Quiet Bunny explores his world, he ends up going from one double-page spread to another, each full of flowers, animals, insects and other sights in a particular color. Here's yellow:

Sorry about the awkwardly-posed book. I wore out the cats with a game of laser chase, so I propped the book on my computer keyboard to snap a photo. In this page spread, Quiet Bunny realizes he's, "the color of winter. White like the snow and brown like the trees." He wants to be yellow. So, he spreads sticky honey on his fur and covers himself in yellow flowers.

Unfortunately, then he falls into the water, but that's okay because the whole point of the book is to teach children about colors, isn't it? The story continues in like manner, with glorious two-page spreads of beautifully detailed spring colors, Quiet Bunny's attempts to turn himself yet another color and then a bit of slapstick that lands him back at Square One, till he looks down in the water and sees a reflection of himself and an owl.

At this point, a flap opens up to a shockingly beautiful 3-page spread of life in and around the pond. And, the final note:

"We are all different colors, and we are all beautiful!"

My review: Highly recommended. Quiet Bunny's Many Colors is simply breathtaking, the kind of book that I shamelessly bought for my children because I liked ogling the illustrations, myself. The story is cute and upbeat, each color described is dominant enough within the illustrations to make the differentiation of color plain to small children. And, of course, the illustrations are marvelous. Because there's a flap, you'll want to make sure not to let smaller children open that last page or it's bound to tear but with a little help it should stay in fine shape. A lovely book to buy as an Easter gift (although it does not have an Easter theme, anything with a bunny is fodder for Easter giving, in my mind) or a spring birthday for little ones learning their colors . . . or, for just about any other excuse you can come up with.

So, I said, "I'll be back tomorrow". . . two days ago

Funny how the best-laid plans always end up ganging aft agley. Well, I'll get to the next review when I get to it. I should know better than to say I'll be back to post on a particular day, by now, shouldn't I?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Copyright 2011

Sterling - Young Adult

400 pages

Book #1 in a series

Tiger's Curse website

I felt overwhelmed. I didn't expect a first kiss to be so . . . life altering. In a few brief moments, the rule book of my universe had been rewritten. Suddenly I was a brand new person. I was as fragile as a newborn, and I worried that the deeper I allowed the relationship to progress, the worse it would be if Ren left. What would become of us? There was no way to know, and I realized what a breakable and delicate thing a heart was. No wonder I'd kept mine locked away.

--from p. 250 of Tiger's Curse, Advanced Reader Copy (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

When Kelsey takes a temporary job at the circus, she's not sure quite what to expect beyond a little extra money and hard work. What she finds is a family atmosphere and a wide variety of odd jobs that include feeding a beautiful white tiger with stunning blue eyes. Kelsey is entranced by Dhiren (whom she almost immediately begins to call Ren), but she doesn't realize the tiger is no ordinary tiger but a prince who has been held captive by a curse for hundreds of years. Kelsey's presence briefly sets him free -- just for 24 minutes per day, but long enough for him to start down the path that will lead him home.

Unaware that Ren is a cursed prince, Kelsey willingly accompanies the tiger and a man named Mr. Kadam to India. There, they will see the tiger safely ensconced in a nature preserve. Or, so she's been told. But, once Kelsey and Ren arrive in India, things suddenly change. The human Ren appears and Kelsey is shocked to find that he is a stunningly handsome prince and that she is the only person who can help break the curse. And, she must go into the jungle alone, with only the tiger to accompany her.

Will Kelsey and Ren be able to find the clues to break the curse? Or, will Ren's brother, Kishan, find a way to lure Kelsey away from Ren? Can Kelsey and Ren survive the dangers of the jungle and the world of the monkey gods?

Warning: This review contains potential spoilers. Please read it only if you do not plan to read the book right away.

What I liked about Tiger's Curse:

I have mixed feelings about Tiger's Curse; I liked the idea more than the execution of the book. But, before I go any farther, I highly recommend that you visit the Tiger's Curse website (link in the header, above) if you're interested in the book. There, you can read the first 7 chapters of the book and view the trailer. It's the trailer that grabbed me. I've never actually requested a book based on its trailer, till Tiger's Curse. It's one of the most appealing trailers I've ever seen.

Kelsey was a character that I liked immediately because of her spunk. She had almost no fear around the tiger from the beginning, although you get a sense that there's a little magic drawing the tiger and Kelsey to each other. There are some exciting moments but what I liked most about the book was the opportunity to learn a little bit about some sites in India and a smattering of info about the Hindu religion. If you read Tiger's Curse, take the time to look up the various places Kelsey and Ren visit, like Hampi:

Image Credit

What I disliked about Tiger's Curse:

I might be a little on the picky side but I found the book was almost entirely devoid of conflict and that bothered me a lot. Apparently, the book is a big hit. It hit the #1 spot on Kindle's children's bestseller list for 7 weeks and that led to the print publication. But, I think it might be the tug of romance that sucks in younger readers. I kept thinking of Twilight as I read the book. There's almost no similarity to Twilight beyond the sometimes-gushy magnetic pull between the two characters and the pushing away to prevent heartbreak, but the romance aspect did have a familiar, overwrought feel. That might be a draw for younger readers but I found it annoying.

My biggest problem with the book, though, was that lack of conflict. I'll give you an example that is a bit of a spoiler but not much. At one point, Kelsey is hit on the head by a falling rock. My inner writer immediately thought, "Who pushed the rock from above or threw it?" There was, I thought, a perfect opportunity for conflict. Who would want to stop Kelsey and Ren from breaking the curse? Well . . . if there's a living villain in Tiger's Curse, I totally missed figuring out who it is. Kelsey is knocked unconscious and since she's in the water she nearly drowns. There are a few tense moments, but there's nobody behind that rock. It was simply a rock that fell. Like the falling rock, there are a lot of other little incidents in Tiger's Curse that come to nothing -- too many descriptions with no purpose.

I also thought the author was too easy on Kelsey. Rather than have her forage in the jungle when she begins to run out of food, for example, Mr. Kadam always fills her backpack with everything she could possible need -- food, energy bars, bottled water, first-aid kit, flashlight . . . you name it. And, if she gets low on food? The tiger goes dashing off to find Mr. Kadam or Kadam simply conveniently shows up.

There's a lot of Kelsey waking up, being handed food and drinks, a loaded backpack, even keys to a car when she and Ren inexplicably need to go somewhere on their own, without the aid of Mr. Kadam. I found that frustrating. Tiger's Curse would have been much more enjoyable if Kelsey had to find her own food, deal with injuries without a first-aid kit handy -- sometimes I even wished Mr. Kadam had some hidden evil side, a deep dark secret that would make things suddenly become more difficult. I literally craved conflict.

And, why Kelsey? What was it about her that made her the only person who could help break the curse? Kelsey was babied so much by both Ren and Mr. Kadam in India that she lost the appeal she had early on, when it did actually appear that maybe there was something special about her, something magical.

Kelsey and Ren go to some interesting places and, particularly in the last 100 pages or so, they have some dangers to overcome. But, I just felt like something was missing.

The bottom line:

A romantic quest that takes readers through some fascinating historical locations in India with an interesting fantasy storyline that is generally lacking in conflict, containing flat, awkward dialogue and too-easy solutions. Some danger and adventure perks up the story toward the last 100 pages or so and there are some mysteries that are left unanswered, as well as a little bit of confusion about which brother-slash-tiger is the "good guy" but if I hadn't requested this book and hoped something would improve, I don't believe I would have made it past about page 100. I think younger readers might not mind the lack of conflict because of the romance and the sense of adventure. I would have definitely enjoyed it more at a younger age and particularly recommend it to those who like books like Twilight that lean toward the romantic side.

Would I read the second book in the series? Maybe. Part of me wants to know what will happen to Ren and Kelsey. There are certainly some exciting moments and there's a hint that there may be a dangerous enemy who intends to steal the "Damon amulet". Kelsey wears a piece of the amulet and I can't remember but I think Ren wears a part of it, as well. The next book sounds like it has some potential.

Cover thoughts:

What a stunning cover! The image above looks pretty but in real life the cover is just flat gorgeous. The design at the top is textured silver and the tiger seems to be materializing through a beautiful background that looks like it's part jungle, part cloth with an intricate Indian design. Inside, the patterns continue at chapter headings and even the top of each page. Tiger's Curse is one of the prettiest books I've seen, this year.

My thanks to Sterling Kids for the review copy!

In other news:

We had snow, last night! Or, rather, sneaux. In fact, I began to write this review, yesterday, but I didn't get very far because I had to keep hopping up to look out the window. We were expecting snow or a winter mix around 3:00. At 3:00, it was raining. At 4:00 it was raining. Sometime around 4:30, the air suddenly cooled and the rain turned to sleet within minutes. A few fluffy flakes were mixed in but it didn't really become just snow till full dark, around 6:00 or 6:30. I'm guessing we got about 1/2" of accumulation, maybe a tiny bit more. It was enough to admire but not enough to cover absolutely everything or stick around for long.

This next picture makes me snicker. I photographed my first snow ghost!!! Okay, yes, I made that up. But, if you look closely, it looks like a man with a mustache. Can you see his face? And, he's reaching for the camera!!! WooooOoooo.

The cats seemed to enjoy the view, this morning:

We're supposed to reach 70 by Thursday of next week, so I'm just going to hold this snow memory close to my heart for a year or two. I think winter is just about done with us.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.