animals – Page 3 – One Chapter

The Monster in the Lake by Leo Timmers

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Three ducks want to go to the lake but the mallard is worried about the monster. His friends say there is nothing to that story. When Mallard looks under the water at the lake he sees a huge monster fish. The monster fish smiles at him, and Mallard follows him under the water. Mallard finds at the bottom of the lake a huge party of monster fishes and Mallard has a good time down there. Mallards’ three friends are still swimming up above and don’t really notice that Mallard is gone until later. When they realize that Mallard is gone that are scared that he was taken by a monster until Mallard tells them that there’s no monster in the lake. Yet, as Mallard walks off on dry land, all the monsters from down below are making their way onland, happy smiling monsters.

Funny, cute story. The illustrations are amazing! It’s a simple story with few words but the story is good and has a good message. 5 stars

There Was An Old Scientist Who Swallowed a Dinosaur by Lucille Colandro

2 stars Children’s Picture Book

take on I Know An Old Lady, this book adds pages of information between the traditional rhyming storyline which my grandchildren did not like. In the traditional rhyming storyline, a person swallows various items, correlating to the previous swallowed item and then, at the end, they spit everything out. In this book, between each of the pages of the scientist swallowing items, there is a two-page spread of two children questioning each other about dinosaurs.

This questioning is told in a rhyming format, and it is informative, but it does throw off the pace /rhythm that a reader gets into when reading one of the “I Know an Old Lady” books.

The illustrations are fun and colorful also. There’s a glossary of terms at the back of the book which is informative.

There is also a game of Search and Find which is outlined in the back of the book, where you can go back through the pages in the book and find about 20 items that are listed and illustrated in the pages at the back of the book.

I think the reason why I didn’t care for this book was the interruption in the flow of the rhythm of the book and the ending. The scientist had been swallowing all this “stuff “ throughout the book and the last couple items that she swallows, there are no tie ins into the previous items that are already inside her. What happened to that sequencing? It suddenly stopped. What finally happens to this scientist who swallowed all this “stuff” inside her at the end? Who knows.

My feelings: don’t mess with a good series. If you want to be creative, make another book and make it different but don’t tie it in with a series, if it doesn’t follow the same format.

The Imposter by Kelly Collier

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Oh, how funny! He only wanted a family. His own family, someone who would want and love him. Perhaps he might just get his chance. Seeing a Lost Poster for Max, a black and white dog, he wonders if perhaps he might take the place of Max. Would the owners of Max even know he is not Max? It is worth a shot.

So, Skunk, yes Skunk tries the idea out and soon, he has some animal friends who decide to help Skunk.

They try to teach him how to look, sound, and act like a dog. It’s time to approach Max’s owners and pretend to be Max, can Skunk be Max?

Hilarious! The ending is sweet, and you’ll love this book!!

My grandchildren and I have read this book over and over again as it’s funny and the illustrations are cute and fit perfectly with the story. 5 stars

How Will I Get To School This Year? by Jerry Pallotta

5 stars Children’s Picture book

My grandson is addicted to Who Will Win? Series so I found this book at the library which is also written by the same author. With a fun, lively storyline, the story is about a girl who doesn’t want to take the smelly school bus this year. She took it last year and she’s thinking she wants something different this year so….what about a giant mosquito, a bald eagle, a hammerhead shark, a pride of lions, or the list goes on with a wide variety of animals.

Each two-page spread tells what animal she would take and what that animal would do and has a bright, colorful illustration of her on that mode of transportation.

It’s a fun and entertaining book for all ages. What does she decide to ride this year to school?

Read the book and find out. My only clue is that she has more fun when travelling with her friends so she needs something her friends can ride on too. 5 stars

Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction

What a fun book. “Can you tell which end you’re looking at?” Animals have evolved throughout the years and it’s no surprise that animals use their bodies so that they can survive in their environments. Author Kari Lavelle presents readers with a variety of pictures asking readers to decide whether they are looking at a close-up look at the butt or face of an animal.

They are also asked what animal they think they are looking at. Turning the page, the reader is given the answer and a picture of the animal. The reader also gets some interesting information on that animal.

Most of these animals are not your typical animal, like a hippo or a giraffe. These animals are specific and unique. A Cuyaba dwarf frog, a star-nosed mole, or my favorite the Mary River turtle. I enjoyed reading all the interesting information about each animal and I loved how they covered different parts of the globe.

The different text fonts added a fun element to the book too. The vocabulary might be challenging for some younger readers, but it might also encourage younger readers also.

Advance words: delicacies, coincidental, deceptive, amplifying, parasitic, etc. I thought this was a great book and one that makes nonfiction learning fun. 5 stars

Butt or Face? Volume 2 Revenge of the Butts by Kari Lavelle

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction

What a fun book. Just like its predecessor, this book continues with the question: “Can you tell which end you’re looking at?” Animals have evolved throughout the years and it’s no surprise that animals use their bodies so that they can survive in their environments. Author Kari Lavelle presents readers with a variety of pictures asking readers to decide whether they are looking at a close-up look at the butt or face of an animal.

Most of these animals are not your typical animal, like a bear or an elephant. These animals are specific and unique. An Indian peacock, dugong, saiga antelope, or my favorite the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar. I enjoyed reading all the interesting information about each animal and I loved how they covered different parts of the globe. The different text fonts added a fun element to the book too.

The vocabulary might be challenging for some younger readers, but it might also encourage younger readers also. Advance words: intimidating, dependent, bodacious, regenerate, bulgy, etc. I thought this was a great book and one that makes nonfiction learning fun. 5 stars

This is MY Fort by Drew Daywalt

5 stars Children’s Picture book

I love Monkey and Cake! Yes, this 60+ Nana loves these two. A children’s book written in the format of a graphic novel, these two are as honest and true as it can be. Geared for young readers, they are best friends whose stories are comical, fun, and they really do make you think.

In this story, cake (he really is a slice of cake) is making a fort. Monkey loves fort, only the fort that Cake is making is not for Monkey. Cake is making a fort that does not allow monkeys. Sounds rude and mean yet, in reality, this is how children play sometimes.

Monkey is offended that Cake is creating such a thing. After pondering for a few minutes, Monkey decides to create his own fort which now has Cake intrigued. I loved this! I really loved this!! Cake wants to know what Monkey is up to now. This is such a super read!

Cake and Monkey get into a disagreement and now it seems, Monkey is calm now and Cake is upset. They can’t let the fort get between their friendship. As they go about settling the matter, the ending will put a smile on your face and you realize what a great friendship they have.

My Tooth is Lost! Monkey & Cake #3 by Drew Daywalt

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

In this story, Monkey has lost his tooth, and he’s sad. Cake tries explaining to Monkey that losing a tooth is a good thing and that Monkey shouldn’t be sad. Explaining about the Tooth Fairy, Cake explains how while individuals are sleeping, the Tooth Fairy will take lost teeth that are underneath their pillow and replace the tooth with money. Hoping this will provide comfort, Monkey is not impressed. Monkey doesn’t want money; he wants his tooth.

Cake doesn’t understand. Why would someone want to keep an old tooth? Why would Monkey want to keep his old tooth, what can he do with it when he has the option of getting money and then he could buy something? Turning the page, the reader sees why Monkey wants his tooth back. You’ll have to smile when you see Cake’s reaction and laugh as the book ends. It’s now time for pie. 😊

I love the simple text and how fun the story is. Using text bubbles, the story is easy to follow and having the text bubbles in two different colors for the two best friends is a great addition. With great illustrations that are colorful and have fantastic facial expressions, this is a book you need to pick up. 5 stars.

Top 10 Spooky Mysteries: You Wouldn’t Want to Know About! by Fiona MacDonald

3 stars Children’s Nonfiction

I do like a good mystery, and spooky, yes that would make it extra special. This children’s nonfiction caught my attention at the library. This is a slim book consisting of only 32 pages. Those pages include 3 pages of introductions, two pages for the index and table of contents, and two pages for the glossary. In between all of that you have 10 pages of what the author believes are the Top 10 Worse Spooky Mysteries You Wouldn’t Want To Know About!

A mystery is a problem that hasn’t been solved yet inside this book each of the mysteries the author explains, they contain a “probable explanation printed upside down” on the pages of that mystery. As a reader, you’re supposed to try to solve the mystery before reading the upside “probable explanation.”

So let the countdown begin! Each of the two-page spread mysteries feature some vital statistics on the mystery: the name, place, date, the mystery, why you don’t want to know about it, and it’s “probable explanation.” The rest of the two pages are filled with information and illustrations. There are numerous paragraphs with separate titles describing the mysteries accompanying illustrations which are cartoon in nature. The illustrations take up about a third of the space on these pages.

From aliens to Curse of Tutankhamum to Mary Celeste to Dyatlov Pass incident, these mysteries cover ones that everyone should be familiar with and some that are not. I was surprised at the ones that made the list, and I welcomed reading something that I was not that familiar with.

After reading a short paragraph on the spooky mystery, I would read the vital statistics as that is how the book flowed for each of the mysteries. The supporting information followed as I read, and I was not a fan of how that additional information was presented on the pages. I tried different ways to read this information, but this information just felt disjointed, like some of the FYI Facts that someone had just plastered on the pages. I thought they did a great job with the various sizes and font types that were used on the pages, as they set the different sections of the information off from one another. I have mixed feelings about the illustrations that were used. They did a great job in creating the cartoon art for each of the mysteries but I’m not sure if humorous cartoon art was appropriate for this book. Again, this is just my own thoughts and preference. I give this book 3 stars as I was expecting to love this book but I didn’t.

Squirrel and Bird by Laura Baker

3.5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Great illustrations and I loved the use of just a few colors within the pages as I think that brought a special element to this story. I did think that the wording in this children’s book was a bit jumbled and it didn’t flow very well for me. I did like the message that the book was trying to convey and as I read it, I had to explain it to my grandchildren.

The book centers around Squirrel and Bird. The author tries to tell the reader that Squirrel is the busy, excited, and basically the extrovert of the two. The Bird on the other hand, is the quiet, calm, and introvert of the two.

Hosting a concert, these two best friends are getting ready for the forest friends to listen to them perform. Now, you would think Squirrel would hold center stage and Bird would be nervous and shy yet as the author is explaining how they are getting ready, Bird speaks up and starts to sing. He’s wonderful!

And squirrel, he listens as his friend’s voice bellows throughout the sky. The author reflects on the moment when Bird and Squirrel decide that they can be however they want to be, one size does not fit all.

A great message in the book but I wasn’t fond of the text and how it was presented. It was too cumbersome. 3.5 stars