Mr. Putter and Tabby Spill the Beans
by Cynthia Rylant
4-Year-Old: Thumbs Up
Mom: Thumbs Up
Summary: Mr. Putter's neighbor invites him and his cat, Tabby, to a cooking class to learn 100 ways to cook beans. During the class, Mr. Putter and Tabby fall asleep but then are awakened when Zeke the dog starts a chain reaction that ends with beans flying everywhere.
Review: When I read this book to my son, I could not stop laughing. We love this book and the entire Mr. Putter and Tabby series. My son always has an "again" reaction to them. He likes that the book is split up into chapters and he can relate to the book's humor as well as I can. We went on a vacation this summer and I bought several of the Mr. Putter books for the trip. It was a good investment. I didn't see this one at the time, but I'll probably buy this one as well.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Let's Count Goats!
Let's Count Goats!
by Mem Fox
4-Year-Old: Thumbs Up
Mom: Thumbs Up
Summary: The author introduces you to all different kinds of goats and then on certain pages, challenges the reader to count the goats.
Review: Unlike other counting books that explicitly use the numbers one through ten, this clever book simply asks the reader, "Can you count the goats?" For my son, this trick worked like a charm and he enthusiastically counts all the goats on each page. This is a winner for me as a Mom. My son especially likes the illustrations because the goats are often eating random objects and are doing silly things like playing a trumpet the wrong way. The only problem we had was that on the last round of counting, we were asked to count the goat ears and he started to include the horns as well. Even though he is well beyond counting from one to ten we have read this book dozens of times.
by Mem Fox
4-Year-Old: Thumbs Up
Mom: Thumbs Up
Summary: The author introduces you to all different kinds of goats and then on certain pages, challenges the reader to count the goats.
Review: Unlike other counting books that explicitly use the numbers one through ten, this clever book simply asks the reader, "Can you count the goats?" For my son, this trick worked like a charm and he enthusiastically counts all the goats on each page. This is a winner for me as a Mom. My son especially likes the illustrations because the goats are often eating random objects and are doing silly things like playing a trumpet the wrong way. The only problem we had was that on the last round of counting, we were asked to count the goat ears and he started to include the horns as well. Even though he is well beyond counting from one to ten we have read this book dozens of times.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Clever Jack Takes the Cake
Clever Jack Takes the Cake
by Candace Fleming
4-Year-Old: Thumbs Down
Mom: Thumbs Up
Summary: A poor boy is invited to the Princess' 10th birthday party. He doesn't have enough money to buy a gift worthy of royalty, so he bakes the Princess a lovely cake from scratch. As he walks to the Princess' castle, he comes across some hungry birds, a troll, a dark forest, and a dancing bear, some of whom eat part of the cake or require Jack to give away or consume some of the cake. At the end, all he is left with is his story. But maybe a story is exactly what he needs.
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. The main character comes across obstacles and overcomes each one. He has a positive attitude after he loses each part of his precious cake and in the end wins over the Princess (who is bored by all her fancy gifts). I liked the main character's perseverance. When I finished reading it to my son, I said that I liked the book. He immediately told me that he did not! First, he actually didn't want me to read it in the first place, so I don't think the art captured him (especially on the cover). He explained to me that he didn't like the birds. I think he was disturbed that they swarmed around and ate the walnuts off the cake. He didn't like the troll (he's scared of trolls in children's stories generally), and the dark forest was scary for him too. So, even though the story had a happy ending, it didn't matter to him because he remembered all the disturbing parts of it. I'm not sure what the reaction would be for other kids who are not so skittish, but for my son, this book did not take the cake.
by Candace Fleming
4-Year-Old: Thumbs Down
Mom: Thumbs Up
Summary: A poor boy is invited to the Princess' 10th birthday party. He doesn't have enough money to buy a gift worthy of royalty, so he bakes the Princess a lovely cake from scratch. As he walks to the Princess' castle, he comes across some hungry birds, a troll, a dark forest, and a dancing bear, some of whom eat part of the cake or require Jack to give away or consume some of the cake. At the end, all he is left with is his story. But maybe a story is exactly what he needs.
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. The main character comes across obstacles and overcomes each one. He has a positive attitude after he loses each part of his precious cake and in the end wins over the Princess (who is bored by all her fancy gifts). I liked the main character's perseverance. When I finished reading it to my son, I said that I liked the book. He immediately told me that he did not! First, he actually didn't want me to read it in the first place, so I don't think the art captured him (especially on the cover). He explained to me that he didn't like the birds. I think he was disturbed that they swarmed around and ate the walnuts off the cake. He didn't like the troll (he's scared of trolls in children's stories generally), and the dark forest was scary for him too. So, even though the story had a happy ending, it didn't matter to him because he remembered all the disturbing parts of it. I'm not sure what the reaction would be for other kids who are not so skittish, but for my son, this book did not take the cake.
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