Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

The first few are I Can Read Books but I actually like these.

Little Critter: Going to the Sea Park (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter has great fun when his class makes a visit to the sea park.

Little Critter: To the Rescue (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter comes to Dad's rescue by calling 911 when Dad gets stuck in the basement. A good resource for a unit about what to do in emergency situations.

Little Critter: Just Saving Money (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter needs a new skateboard.  Dad tell him he needs to save his money and helps him set up a savings account at the bank.  A great book to get children talking about money matters.

Little Critter: This is My Town (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter takes you on a tour of his town.  A great resource for a social studies theme about important places in the neighbourhood.  I had every intention of using this book as inspiration for Anna and I to make a mini book about our neighbourhood, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

Little Critter: Going to the Firehouse (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter is thrilled when his class visits the fire station.  A good addition to a social studies themed unit about firefighters or neighbourhood helpers.

Little Critter: The Fall Festival (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter and his family have a fun filled day at the Fall Festival.  Good addition for a science themed unit about the fall. Could be inspiration for putting together your own fall festival.

Just Go To Bed by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter tries everything he can to avoid going to bed.  Anna could really relate to this one.  ;)

Just Big Enough by Mercer Mayer
After a rough experience at school, Little critter longs to grow bigger, but he soon finds out that there can be advantages to being small.

George  And Martha: Full of Surprises written and illustrated by James Marshall
Apparently this is part of a series of books, but this is the first one we've come across.  Anna was pretty excited when we turned to the first page and discovered it is a chapter book with Two Stories About Two Best Friends.  Story one starts with George scaring Martha and Martha vowing to get back at him and resulting in him not being able to relax for the rest of the day.  She finally gets her revenge when George least expects it in chapter two.  A very cute story which we enjoyed all the more because I frightened Anna when Martha frightened George.  :)

Out Of the Egg written and illustrated by Tina Matthews
This book is a little twist on the story of the Little Red Hen.  Very cute.

Piggy And Dad Go Fishing by David Martin, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Piggy is so excited because he is going on his first fishing trip!  He's so soft hearted, however, that he can't bare the thought of hurting the worms or the fish.  He comes up with his own kind of fishing - "feed the fish fishing"!  Anna and I both got a kick out of the story.

All  For Pie Pie For All by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev

I loved this book!  Grandma Cat makes a pie and everyone enjoys a piece of it, leaving one piece behind.  A family of mice share the leftover piece with everyone getting a small piece, and they leave behind six crumbs.  Those six crumbs are enjoyed by a family of ants, and then everyone decides to help Grandma make a new pie.  Lots of repeated words in the book make it a great one for shared reading.

Bittle by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
Julie, the dog, and Nigel, the cat, name the new baby Bittle, because she's a "little bit of a thing", and they are not impressed with her at first but they soon come to love her.  A very cute story.

Old Mr. Mackle Hackle by Gunnar Madsen, illustrated by Irana Shepherd
Mr. Mackle Hackle is concerned because he has a hen that doesn't cackle and he tries to find a solution, but when the hen has chicks he is soon wishing the cackling would stop!  The story is told with rhythm and rhyme and illustrated with fun pictures. The book is actually based on a song written by Gunnar Madsen.

Angelo by David Macaulay
Angelo, an aging plaster artist, makes friends with a pigeon and soon the pigeon helps him to do the things he needs to do.  It took some convincing and work to get Anna interested in this book  and she was sad when we came to the page where they were carrying Angelo's body into the church.  The story is okay but I don't think Anna is old enough to really get what she could out of it.