humor – One Chapter

The Underwearwolf by Gideon Sterer

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

This book is hilarious! I read this one to my 6-year-old grandson and we laughed and laughed. A birthday gift from his Uncle Larry turns into an awesome present he wears them.

His uncle knew that he liked underwear, but the weird yellow wool pair was STRANGE! He didn’t think the moon looked full as he looked out his window, but we sure did (the full yellow moon took up most of the page in the book). He read the warning label that came with the underwear and he slipped them on. Instantly, his body began to change. Shivering, tingling, his body was changing into the underwearwolf. Growling and a grunting, he flew out the window and was now on the loose. Tearing up the neighborhood! He knew he should take off the underwear but then he would be BUTT NAKED and he didn’t want that to happen.

He doesn’t stop. He takes to the streets, swinging from roofs and lampposts. He’s having the time of his life. He knows he really should take off the underwear, but he doesn’t. The night is getting crazy and then, he hears them. They are calling him. Who? Yep! He runs into the dark woods where he meets them, and the ending of this book will have you smiling.

As an adult I thought this book was funny. The boy puts on the underwear, and he turns into The Underwearwolf. Covered in fur, complete with big ears, long arms and legs, he transforms and runs through the night under a full moon. He runs, jumps, climbs and acts crazy while wearing the underwear. He knows that he should take off the underwear but, if he does that, he will be butt naked and he probably will turn into a regular boy again. So, he doesn’t and he continues on into the night. It’s only when the night starts to turn into the next day does the boy realize that his fun is about to come to an end and he has to do something about the underwear. The illustrations are cute in this book, and I liked how the boy acts like a “maniac” and a “menace” but he doesn’t do anything harmful. My grandson thought the book was funny and he liked how the boy changed. A fun book to read. 5 stars.

Scaredy Squirrel Gets a Surprise by Melanie Watt

4 Stars Children’s Picture Book

Always the extreme with this guy! He’s a hoot!! Scaredy reads his horoscope and finds out that he’s supposed to get a surprise. What! He doesn’t like surprises so …. Of course, he gets all dressed like he is going on a safari hunt, and he sets out to look for this “surprise.” Scaredy finds a crate under his tree and Scaredy thinks of all the horrible things it can be. A shocking robot, an octopus that will ink him, a dinosaur egg that will hatch (and who knows what will happen then), and of course there are other scenarios that has Scaredy all nervous. Scaredy tries his best to get rid of the crate with the help of Ivy. I loved how Scaredy wanted to move, and then, he wanted to move the crate to Antarctica. Ha! Good thing Scaredy has some logical friends.

When the gang finally get the crate open, it proves not to be so scary. But they do have more problems to solve. Always more problems, ha. Things do calm down for a while…..just for a while and the gang does have some fun. And the story, it somehow ends in Antarctica 😊

I have to be in the mood for Scaredy as he jumps all over the place for me. I do like how his imagination works as he dreams up lots of ideas for things, but I don’t like his negativity. There seems to be too much of it. I did like this book more than some of the other books I have read about Scaredy. 4 stars

The Thing on the Wing Can Sing: A Short Vowel Sounds Book With Consonant Digraphs by Brian P. Cleary

5 stars Nonfiction

This is part of a series of books which can help an individual learn to read. This book is devoted to short vowel sounds with constant digraphs. Letter combinations that create a new sound. Combinations like CK, NG, KN are used in this book. The author uses three rhyming words on each two-page spread in this book; to create a sentence and it’s then illustrated on these pages for the reader. The author takes those words and illustrates them first. Then, there is a sentence and an illustration based on that sentence.

On the first two pages the words are Chin, Shin, and Thin. The sentence is: “His chin and his shin are thin. “The rhyming words are highlighted in bold print in the sentence, and the illustration is colorful and it shows a man pedaling a bicycling. There is also a mouse on each 2-page spread throughout the book and the mouse asks the reader a question about the words that were used on these pages. This book seems simple yet it’s a great concept for new readers to grasp. Repetitive, rhyming, simple, and a great way to get emerging readers exposure to these concepts

What I liked: * easy to understand * easy to follow * large print * illustrations are colorful and go with words on the page. * rhyming * words used are illustrated (for clarification) * difficulty of this book gets harder as you progress through it * great as a refresher for vocabulary words

What I didn’t care for: * the book progress (which is good) but at the back of the book, there are added rhyming words added to the sentences which are not illustrated and part of the 3 rhyming illustrated words for that 2-page spread. Which could be confusing or hard for some readers.

Overall, I liked this book, and I think I am going to check more of these out for my grandson this summer as he is going into 1st grade and I think it would be a good series to keep him reading. 5 stars

You Poop Here by Paul Meisel

4 stars Children’s Board Book

This is a very basic board book which addresses where different creatures poop.

The creatures range from ants, beetles, grasshoppers, bears, bats, bees, seals, seagulls, jaguars, sloths, etc. So, you see….it’s a wide range of creatures. The concept is simple but important for little ones. Where do these creatures’ poop at? In the air? In a rainforest? In a desert? In the water? From a tree? So many different places! At the end of this book, the author asks the reader, “Where do you poop?”

And it gives the answer with great illustrations with a variety of children sitting down on the potty. 4 stars

What I liked:

the easy-to-read text * great color scheme * the easy-to-read text * text has repeated words * characters have great facial features *variety of children *variety of animals and situations * subject matter

What I didn’t care for:

the children on the potty were playing with toys

Judgy Bunny and the Terrible Beach by Scott Rothman

4.5 Stars Children’s Picture Book

I liked this book a lot! With colorful illustrations and a great message – this book gets huge marks from me. Judgy Bunny is a negative bunny at the beginning of the book. The reason? He is not part of the group, or he just likes to see the negative in every situation. It’s “too hot!” or “I can do that better!” or “that is terrible.” Some of the situations involve other bunnies and some do not. The book changes gears when Judgy Bunny is invited to join the other bunny’s party. Judgy Bunny gets all snooty at first and is resistant to join, it’s like he wants them to beg him to come.

When the other bunny grabs his hand and pulls him to the party, Judgy Bunny is shocked! Does he have a good time? No, he’s still miserable until something happens at the party which Judgy Bunny feels is his fault. The other party guests are shocked but…….the party continues on.

I liked Judgy Bunny emotions in this book. I liked how the other bunnies accepted him into their party and how their party continued on after Judgy Bunny joined them. I liked how they didn’t try to “cheer him up” but just accepted him as he was.

The expressions in this book were good and helped tell the story. I think this story would be a great read a loud for children. 4.5 stars for me.

How To Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson

5 stars Nonfiction

Another great book by Jenny. I have read 3 books by Jenny, and I felt this book was more serious than any of the previous books that I have read. Jenny tackles the issue of depression, anxiety and ADHD as she herself deals with these issues herself. I like how she approaches these issues with her honesty, her sincerity, as she is all in. She holds nothing back. I met Jenny at an author event a few years ago, and she was one real individual!! I appreciated her down-to-earth style and that she actually came to Iowa. Seriously, we do have a lot of book readers and book fanatics in Iowa.

I seem to read books of this nature as they can help others, and they have tons of information that opens my eyes to the real world around me. Jenny has some LOL moments inside this book which follow the format of her other books. She mentions a letter that Sigmund Freud sent his fiancée in 1884. She mentioned this letter as she addresses the topic of confidence. Her advice is to act confident because you can. Fake it, if you have to because someone has to believe in you and that might as well start with you. Reading Sigmund’s letter, had me laughing but it made total sense, if you think about it. “So, I gave my lecture yesterday. Despite the lack of preparation, I spoke quite well and without hesitation, which I ascribe to the cocaine had taken before hand. I told about my discoveries in brain anatomy, all very difficult things that the audience certainly did not understand but all that matters is that they get the impression that I understand it. “ (Sigmund Feud’s letter)

Here are some things that I am taking away from this book:

Rose, Rose, Thorn, Bud exercise – practicing gratitude. Done nightly describe Each of these four subjects: Rose – something good that happened during the day or something that made you happy. Thorn- something that difficult that you had to deal with during the day. Bud – Something that you’re looking forward to the near future. This sounds like a great activity although I’m not sure if I could do it every day.

She also mentioned making a list of items that bring you joy or comfort and continuing going to this list adding items.

Her comments about Buffering hit home with me as I find myself lost every day in thoughts, unable to quickly recall information while others wait on me. Now, I hope I can remember to use “buffering” instead of “it’s the meds”

Buying Wine for Babies – wonderful idea! I love it! Hilarious when she talks about.

Everyone deserves joy and contentment. WE all deserve people who will take care of us but we also need to take care of ourselves, which is a hard concept for me. She talks about giving ourselves a special treat, a special activity, or even forgiveness because we are worthy. We don’t have to rely on others for that.

Noise colors? This is a totally new concept for me. I have heard of white noise since our grandkids use the good old sound machines but pink noise, brown noise, green noise, blue noise, violet noise, gray noise, and zombie noise? I am intrigued and will have to investigate this.

All in all, this is a great book – one that I will have to come back to and address over and over again. Don’t blow it off just because you don’t have anxiety or depression or ADHD, read it because there is knowledge in there that might help others or might help you and you just don’t know it yet. 5 stars

Duck Duck Taco Truck by Laura Lavoie

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Duck and Duck want to make some money to buy themselves a boat for the water. They set themselves up on the beach trying to sell tacos and they’re ready to make some money. They’ve worked hard and now they’re ready. But wait, who is that in that other food truck? It’s Goose and he’s selling food too! No way!! Duck and Duck are mad but they try harder to make their food/business look better. When its time to sell…..the line outside Goose’s truck is long! Duck and Duck have no one in their line. Goose is going crazy with all the orders, he can’t keep up and his customers are not happy.

Duck and Duck feel defeated and start to walk away but Goose realizes that he needs help. Goose suggests that maybe they can work together! They then come up with a plan to combine their foods and sell taco items. Taco pizza, taco burgers, taco hot dogs, etc. What a plan!! They start whipping out orders and everyone is happy! The ending is cute. Bright colorful illustrations. Fun rhyming text. 5 stars.

Oh Dear, Look What I Got! by Michael Rosen

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

A great read along or would make a great book for a classroom. It begins with a small boy going to the shop to get a carrot. The shop owner does not give the boy a carrot, but he brings him a bundle wrapped and tied in brown paper with a tail sticking out of the end. Have your little one guess something that rhymes with carrot….yes, a parrot! The look on the boy’s face is shock, and the poor bird looks sad as the boy says “Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No, I do NOT!” The boy then travels to another shop with the parrot flying behind him. This time the boy asks for a hat. Guess what?

The shop owner comes out with a brown bundle tied with string and sticking out at the end is a black tail with white on the end. Do you think that is the hat the boy wants?

I loved how this book continues on in this fashion. The boy asks each different shop owner for something different as each shop owner giving the boy something besides what the boy wanted yet the item they give him rhymes with what he originally wanted. The rhyming and the repetitive phrasing are fun and will have your child helping you read this book.

As the book concludes, it’s a cute ending and everyone is happy. I also enjoyed the colorful illustrations that did not take away from the story. The facial expressions are wonderful and the animals are cute. This is a must read for little ones. 5++ stars

Fish Don’t Go To School by Deb Pilutte

5 stars Children’s Picture Books

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!

Prince and Pirate by Charlotte Gunnufson

4 stars Children’s Picture 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.