Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

Books for Anna:

The Christmas Story  retold by Deborah Hautzig, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
This is not my favorite book sharing the Christmas story.  It claims to be based on the gospels of Matthew and Luke but right from the first page it strays from those writings by claiming that Mary and Joseph are a married couple with no children.

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
A cute story about a chameleon that wishes he could have a color of his own instead of always changing color.  Anna was thrilled to be able to do the reading of the first few pages all on her own.

The Sweetest One Of All by Jean Little, illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin  (Canadian author and illustrator)
I love this book!  We read it earlier in the year but it is worth the repeat.  All the new mothers in the barnyard think their babies are the best.  The prose has a sprinkle of rhyme and alliterition that makes it fun to read and listen too.  It would make a good resource to use to introduce the idea of alliterition.

The Snow Storm by Heather Amery, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright
Apparently this book is part of a series of Farmyard Tales stories.  I will be looking for the others.  In this story Poppy and Sam help Rusty take hay to the sheep after a snow storm and discover a wonderful surprise.  An added bonus is a little duck that is hidden on each page.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Funny story about a frog that discovers it's a lot of work to get ready to go out in the snow.  Non-words for sounds, such as zoop, zup, and zat are part of the fun of this book.  Anna and I also enjoyed shouting out parts of the story as we took on the role of the mother and froggy.  A very fun book.

I'm a Truck Driver by Jonathan London, illustrated by David Parkins (Canadian illustrator)
With great pictures and simple words this book teaches children about twelve different kinds of trucks.

The Little Rooster And The Diamond Button by Celie Barker Lottridge and Joanne Fitzgerald (Canadian author & illustrator)
Cute story about a rooster that finds a diamond button but has it stolen by a rich sultan.  The rooster, however, does not give up easily.  There is a repeated phrase that is fun to read together.  Anna and I both enjoyed this one.

Sleeping Over by Barbara Lucas, pictures by Stella Ormai
Froggie discovers that it's sometimes difficult to get comfortable when sleeping over at a friends house.  A cute story with just a sentence or two per page.

Little Panda by Renata Liwska (Canadian Author and illustrator)
A very cute story.  Little Panda's grandfather tells him about Bao Bao, the Panda that made a tiger fly.  Anna and I both enjoyed this book

How Rocket Learned To Read by Tad Hills
Love this book!  Rocket the dog is enticed into learning to read and once he gets started he doesn't want to stop.  Very cute.  A great book for children that are just starting to learn to read and spell.  I found an Interview with Tad Hills.

The Umbrella Party by Janet Lunn, pictures by Kady MacDonald Denton (Canadian author and illustrator)
Christie loves umbrellas and tells all her friends to give her umbrellas for birthday presents.  Her friends think umbrellas are boring, but they sonn discover that they can be fun.

Color Dance by Ann Jonas
This book would be a great resource for an art class about color.  Dancers with light flowing material show how the different colors can be made with the primary colors.

The Sights Before Christmas by Beni Malone & Marian Frances White, illustrated by Darka Erdelji
Barnaby Doyle is pretty excited that it is Christmas Eve and the night is filled with all kinds of adventures for him.  To be perfectly honest I didn't especially enjoy this book and I'm not sure if Anna did or not.  Neither of us are terribly into fantasy.  Anna commented that she didn't like some of the scary looking faces of some of the characters.  That being said, I'd love to see the show.

First Snow by Emily Arnold McCully
We read this one before.  With just a short sentence or two per double page spread, the pictures help tell the story about a fun day in the snow for a family of mice.  Anna and I both enjoyed this book.

Otto's Orange Day by Frank Cammuso, pictures by Jay Lynch
This is a toon book, meaning the story is written like a cartoon.  I am not a fan of this style of book, but that's just me.  Otto loves the color orange but when he makes a wish that turns everything orange he soons finds out that it's nice to have a variety of colors instead of just one.

And one for me:


Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury
Gideon, a little girl that is battling luekemia, has a life changing influence on a man that lives on the street.  Part of the Red Glove Collection.  This is the third one that I've read and I'm already working on the forth.  I really enjoy these books.