Know your fish humor when DIVING into this book as it’s full of little slips of humor about fish. Are you EELING it? Yes, that is exactly what you’ll get.
My little ones like to fish so they were all aboard on this one. I did have to stop and repeat a few of the sentences so they could CATCH on to the humor, but they liked this book.
The excitement in this book comes spilling out of the pages so this is not a book you want to read before bed.
With the in-your-face illustrations, the bright colors and the variety of text fonts, this is one book that jumps out at you page-after-page-after-page.
Who doesn’t love Harry? You know that white dog with black spots who lives with his family. In this story, the guinea pig who lives in the neighborhood comes over to visit and Harry gets jealous. The guinea pig is getting all the attention and treats from his family, and Harry is not liking that.
Harry decides that he will try to be like a guinea pig so he can get in on the action. Ha! Oh Harry, you’re a dog and not a guinea pig!
Harry tries to act and look like the guinea pig, but his family doesn’t notice. The guinea pig is even going to show-and-tell at school. Now, Harry has to share that time too! Harry thinks he has a way to solve this issue but instead he causes a bigger problem.
A problem that Harry (because he is a dog) can solve and come out looking like a hero!
This is a great story that has some great key points in it. The issue of jealousy and sharing are brought up in the story. You can also talk about how they could have included Harry when they were playing with the guinea pig so Harry would not have felt excluded. The idea of playing together or setting time apart to play separately could be addressed as that would have helped Harry feel better and not so jealous. I like the illustrations in these books are they are bold yet not playing with a lot of colors. Great book!
This is such a sweet story! I think I almost cried at the end. Dasher the reindeer is so caught up in watching the Northern Lights that he ends up in polar bear territory. Dasher thinks that the Northern Lights look like Christmas lights.
George, the polar bear, wants to know how Dasher got there, and he explains that he was flying around and got sidetracked by the Northern Lights. Flying? What?!? Dasher can fly?! George is intrigued by the notion of flying and soon, Dasher tries to teach George how to fly.
There are many great attempts by George as Dasher tries many ways to get George into the air. Every attempt ended with George’s feet still on the ground.
It’s the end of the day and Dasher must go home. Dasher, like George, was disappointed that George wasn’t able to fly. In the end, Dasher was able with his connections to help George feel what it is like to fly and that my friends is what it’s all about.
The illustrations were fantastic and the pace of the story was intriguing and tranquil as you wondered what was going to become of this pair. A great friendship that is sure to last. 5 stars
Henry had a fish named Marigold. This fish looked almost exactly like his suit. Henry loved his fish suit; he wore it everywhere. He loved the way his suit sparkled, its secret pocket, the way the suit felt like a hug and protected him when he wore it.
School was starting soon and Henry was worried about his first day of school. He didn’t tell anyone about his concern except his fish, Marigold. When the first day of school arrived, Henry finally told his mom how scared he was. Henry told her too that he wasn’t going to school unless he could wear his fish suit.
Wearing his fish suit, Henry arrived at school. Everyone stares at him. He needed to wear that suit but as the day progresses, Henry starts to realize that he’s braver and stronger than he thought. Little-by-little he begins to shed pieces of his suit so that he can enjoy his day more. By the end of the day, he’s not wearing much of his fish suit. Henry is having a fantastic day.
I loved the transformation that Henry made in this book. He used the suit for stability and comfort. As he gets used to his surroundings, he starts to shed his suit, and he stands up stronger on his own. The illustrations are wonderfully done and show the confidence and excitement that Henry feels as the day progresses. At the end of the day, as Henry looks back over his day, his progress is shown. His comfort level has increased. A great book!
I liked the idea behind this book, but the language used was a bit over the top for my young readers. I ended up having to condense the text as they were losing interest as I read it to them. For older elementary students and up, this might be a great read, but for my little ones, they didn’t care about it.
What was this book all about? Prince and Pirate had their own separate fishing bowls and they were happy. Prince had a castle, a carriage, and some lovely green plants amongst his yellow rocks. Pirate on the other hand had his schooner ship, a skull, a telescope, some green plants and a treasure chest beaming with treasure amongst all his black rocks. They were each the rulers in their own kingdoms. One day, that all changed when their human dumped them into a larger tank…..together!
This was a big surprise to be moved but a bigger surprise awaited them. They now were sharing living quarters! They instantly became enemies when they discovered each other. Name calling, superior behaviors, yelling, just about everything you can imagine, these two threw at each other.
Finally, a line was drawn, a physical line down the middle of the tank. There would still be two separate kingdoms in this larger tank, one for each of them. They would each have half of the tank and life would be good. And it was, until……..
One day a new house is lowered into the tank. A new dogfish is introduced into the tank, and his house, well it sits right between these two-bickering fish. Now what? The dogfish is scared. Dogfish is in new surroundings with new fish, so he hides inside his house. How do Prince and Pirate react to their new tenant? It’s a cute ending to this book, something I didn’t expect to happen so quickly.
I enjoyed the pirate slang and listening to prince’s higher-than-though approach as they slung their comments back and forth. There are lots of great words in this book: majestic, horn-swoggled, keen, splendiferous, frisky, jeered, hiney. These are just a few of the powerful words that are used throughout the book that might need some clarification for younger readers.
“Ye best be keeping clear of me treasure!” Pirate bellowed. “Egad! Keep your filthy fins off my carriage!” Prince exclaimed.
It’s a cute book for the right reader. For me 5 stars but for my grandchildren who liked the fun, bright illustrations but failed to understand and follow the text 2 stars. Middle of the road 3.5 stars- rounded to 4.
When I saw this book at the library, I was so excited! A picture book of the Wild Robot, yes!! Now, I can share the Wild Robot with my grandchildren! I hoped they loved it.
They absolutely loved this book and so did I. The illustrations are so frickin’ cute and perfect! Opening the book, we see a ship in a horrible storm. A wild, dark storm has caused a white crate from the ship’s deck to fall into the ocean. On the next page, the storm has ended, and the crate has floated close to an island. The land is lush with life and full of activity.
There are forest animals everywhere, birds are in sky, animals are swimming in the ocean, a waterfall curtain is in the distance and there are birds circling the white crate. Roz pops out of the box and well, this is where she belongs.
The island is dangerous and wild so Roz must learn to adapt to her new surroundings. Roz is a smart robot, so she studies everything around her and begins to fit right in.
She even discovers an orphaned goose egg which she decides to adopt and soon, she is a proud mother. Brightbill and Roz make a great pair, but Brightbill is a bird, and he must migrate with all the other birds.
Leaving Roz behind is a sad turn in this story. My grandkids had all kinds of questions about what Roz would do with Brightbill there and who would take care of Brightbill when he flew away.
As we continued with this story, they loved the ending and wanted to read it again. YES! I can’t wait till they get older and we can read the chapter books together.
We loved this book – from the illustrations to the condensed version of the story. Such a wonderful story and yes, I really want to get this one for myself. 5 stars for sure!!
Awwwww, so sweet! As I was reading this to our grandchildren, I kept wondering how this was going to end. I felt so sorry for Bernard, and I was beginning to think that he might just need a new style to fix his problem but Bernard was fine, he was perfect just the way he was.
Bernard is a bird. A bird with very huge wings. You might even say humongous wings. As Bernard sat on a branch, his wings almost touched the ground. Bernard looked like he had a huge scarf having around his neck but no, they were his wings. As a young bird, it didn’t matter that his wings were so long as Bernard and the other birds didn’t really use the wings much. As Bernard and his friend grew, his friends started to test their wings for flying. Soon, his friends were flying and Bernard, well, he tried.
Bernard couldn’t fly no matter how many times he tried or who tried to help him. Nothing worked.
His wings had to be good for something, right? Bernard tried to come up with ideas that would make his wings have a purpose, but he couldn’t find anything. Poor Bernard. Defeated, Bernard decided to just hang out on a branch .
It’s there that accidently he made a huge discovery! Bernard had finally discovered what his wings were good for and it made everyone happy. Especially Bernard.
Such a sweet story! I loved how this story flowed. Bernard, as a young bird was on top of the world, then he got sad as he faced an obstacle, but he finally rose to the top again when he overcame his obstacle. It’s a great story for children as it shows the ability to accomplish something and be different. It shows that everyone is special ,unique person and that everyone should be happy and accept each other’s talents. The illustrations are nicely done and not too colorful and bright. 5++ story.
Charlie is a furry rodent. Like all furry rodents, he attends school. It’s fall and he has just returned from the pumpkin patch with his very own pumpkin! He’s got a sore throat, so Charlie is coughing, and coughing, and coughing. This sets off an alarm with his mother who checks Charlie out and finds that his adenoids are swollen. What adenoids!?! Charlie is alarmed at first, like what are they, but his mother calms him down and he realizes it’s not a death sentence and he’ll just needs to visit the doctor tomorrow.
Yep, the doctor confirms what his mother diagnosed and he’ll have to have them removed. WHAT?!? I liked Charlie’s reactions to all this new information that he hears about his body. Charlie’s vocal and dramatic which made me laugh. There’s a lengthy conversation between the doctor, his dad and Charlie and it’s decided that Charlie will be able to keep his tonsils after they are removed.
You can imagine the excitement and images that invade Charlie’s mind as he envisions bringing his own extracted tonsils to school to show everyone. As that surgery day approaches, Charlie starts to have mixed feelings. As Charlie is being prepped for surgery, a problem occurs. Situated on the table , Charlie enters the world of the unknown. He’s lost and confused. He is trying to escape but he can’t find his way out. Oh Charlie…it’ll be okay.
I liked the drama and the flow of this story, it had a lot of energy, and it moved quickly. Convincing the doctor into letting Charlie keep his tonsils was an unexpected twist in the book and it helped change his mood. Charlie’s emotions were felt, and the illustrations conveyed the book’s message. It was a fun story and not creepy for individuals who know reality from fiction. 4.5 stars
It’s supposed to be a wordless book, but two friends won’t stop talking. Rupert wants to write a wordless book, but his companions will NOT be quiet! Rupert gets angrier and angrier throughout the book until he’s screaming for Nibbs and Thistle to stop talking.
The friends are three mice. Rupert wants to write a wordless book but that would mean silence and Nibbs and Thistle cannot provide that to him. Nibbs and Thistle try to help Rupert in other ways with his book but what Rupert really wants is silence. The book tries to be funny, but I didn’t appreciate the humor. It got old for me. I was getting angry like Rupert. This book didn’t work for me.
I loved the illustrations inside this book. The illustrations are colorful, funny and are full of emotions. The facial expressions on both humans and animals are definitely something that you need to notice as you turn the pages of this book, the illustrator did a fantastic job capturing these sentiments. From the innocent, ecstatic dog to the devious eyes of the feline, you just never know what these two are up to.
Chip feels that he has a lot of knowledge to share with his readers. He has had his share of issues with cats and he’s here to share his experience. Chip, by the way, is a dog. Chip knows for sure that cats are not your friend, and they cannot be trusted. Chip would rather trust anyone but a cat, yet by looking at the situations that he gets into, I think he better start trusting cats. It’s funny watching Chip as he gets into some awkward and hilarious situations as the cats sit by and just watch him.
I think this is a book for older elementary school readers, as some younger readers might not understand the humor. 3.5 stars
One Chapter 