Freckleface Strawberry – by Julianne Moore

Freckle Face StrawberryA cute book by a famous freckleface.

Feckleface strawberry is tired of people bugging her about her freckles, she wants rid of them. She tries hard too. She decides if she can’t make her freckles go away she will hide. In the end she decides, “who cares about having a million freckles when you have a million friends.”

Personally, I have lots of freckles. I figure my daughter might too, and that is why I picked up this book. When I was young I never met anyone with as many freckles as me. I was always fascinated by magazines that had pictures of people with freckles. I know this book would have been a bit of a comfort to me as a kid, knowing that I was not alone.

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Thea Stilton and the Dragon’s Code – Thea Stilton

Dragon's CodeThis is the first book by Geronimo’s sister; Thea.

In this book Thea is teaching a course in journalism at her old school. She meets 5 female students who end up on an adventure when another student disappears. There are lots of clues to be discovered and solved. There seems to be more full page pictures (some with clues) in this book than the Geronimo books.

This is a strong female book. Not terribly girly, but the main characters are girls. All of the girls (except one) does not fit the stereotypical girly-girl. It is a great mystery book, and I think boys would enjoy the book even though there are not as many male characters. It might be a nice change for them to see a female being the hero in a book.

I know there is one more Thea Stilton book out there, I am hoping that there will be more in the future. I like the strong female role modeling for my daughter.

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David Goes To School – By David Shannon

David is a mischievous boy, who always seems to find trouble. This time David finds trouble at school. He chews gum in class, forgets to come in from recess, gets in a food fight, forgets to wait his turn… you get the picture.  For some reason I always feel sorry for David. I guess I think he is misunderstood.

This is one in the series of David books. I believe the first book is entitled “No, David”.

Very distinctive art work. David may look a little scary to some children. Very few worlds on each page, which may be great for children learning to read. The words are written like that of a child’s, and written on lined paper (like at school).

My kids love David’s adventures, and it has been an opportunity to talk about rules at school, and how does it feel when someone does (whatever David is doing in the book).

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Five Little Penguins Slipping On The Ice – By Steve Metzger

Five Little PenguinsSounds like 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, but these little penguins get into 5 different situations that cause mother to call the doctor. One penguin fell down another banged her bill. I think you get the picture.

My son (3yrs.) loved that when there were no little penguins left, the doctor said, “Let those penguins have some fun!”

Nice winter book. Lots of pictures of the penguins doing active things in the snow and ice. Great for pre-math skills. Talking about how many etc.

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Emily The Emerald Fairy – by Daisy Meadows

Emily the Emerald FairyThese books are great for young girls who are learning to read and want to start reading chapter books. They are a Scholastic Reading Level 2.

Each book in the series seem much the same. Jack Frost is the bad guy who usually takes something that belongs to the fairies, and the girls; Rachel and Kirsty, need to help get them back.

The fairies help the girls, or vice versa. Jack Frost has goblins who are in each book. They tend to do Jack Frost’s bidding, and the girls and fairies have to be on the lookout for them.

The Jewel Fairy Series (1-7) is about Rachel and Kirsty helping the fairies get the seven jewels stolen from Queen Titania’s crown back. Each different book has a new adventure and a new jewel for the girls to find.

These are good stories for young girls, that have nothing scary or really too worrisome in them. The goblins in the story are kind of goofy and funny at times.

These books are ok, but they have no substance and repeat the same general plot over and over in each book. My daughter loves them, but as a parent I am bored of the same plot. I guess it is fluffy reading for kids. lol

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Geronimo Stilton: Watch Your Whiskers, Stilton – By Geronimo Stilton

Great series of books! I would call them children’s mystery-adventure books.

I love reading these, and get frustrated when I read a couple chapters to my daughter and then she reads ahead, and I have to catch up.

Very clever books. Geronimo Stilton is the owner of the Rodent Gazette newspaper. He gets in many exciting adventures, but he would prefer to stay at home. He is a bit of unadventurous mouse. But adventure always seems to find him.

The back of the book says:
“Cheesecake! A mysterious one-eyed rat was trying to steal the Rodent’s Gazette from under my snout! There was only one mouse who could save the paper – Shif T. Paws, my crafty businesss manager. Shif booked me onto the infamouse TV game show The mousetrap. If I won, The Rodent’s Gazette would be saved. But if I lost – SQUEAK! – those scary TV rats would chop off my tail!”

There are 4 main characters that are in each book. Geronimo; who is smart and loves to read. You could say he is kind of a nerd. Thea; Geronimo’s sister who is also smart but a lot more adventurous. Trap; Geronimo’s cousin who is the typical annoying sibling-type. And Benjamin; Geronimo’s nephew who he adores. Benjamin seems to find solutions to problems when the adults can not.

Scholastic Reading Level: 3

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Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime – Barbara Park

Junie B. Jones Mushy Gushy ValetineTo be upfront, I am not a fan of the Junie B. Jones series. My daughter likes them and they are quite popular, so I figured I should say something about them.

The reasons I don’t like the series of books is: Junie is obnoxious, and my child and yours does not need encouragement to be more obnoxious. The grammar is terrible. I understand that the book is from a grade 1’s point of view, but it just does not help children who are learning to read. Sometimes it makes it hard to follow.

Also, as you can see by the title of the book that proper spelling is not used (Valentime’s Day). Lastly, she lacks respect for her teacher. She calls her Mrs.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

“Do not stand on your chair, Junie B.!” she said. “And please don’t fight about valentines. If someone didn’t sent you a card, it was just a mistake. no one would do something like that on purpose. I’m sure of it.”

After that, I sat back down in my seat. And I looked at that woman very curious. Because Mrs. is a nice teacher.
But sometime she doesn’t understand children at all.”

I know people will disagree with me and say that they are just fun books. For me, I never purchase these books for my daughter, and try and encourage a better choice when going to the library.

So, this book is about Valentine’s day and how Junie gets a huge card from a secret admirer. She then tries to figure out who it is. It is someone she least suspects.

Cute plot and ending. Still not a fan of Junie B.
Scholastic Reading Level: 2.1

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – By Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault

An extraordinarily fun book about the alphabet. The letter of the alphabet running up the coconut tree. You meet each letter as they go up and eventually fall out of the coconut tree. Very rhythmic with really colourful pictures and fun looking letters.

A great way to help with letter recognition. Both my kids loved this book.

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The Christmas Penguin – by Mary Packard

Rollie the penguin writes a note to Santa asking to have an opportunity to fly. Santa does come on Christmas night to take Rollie for a ride in his sleigh. Santa looses a bag of toys in the water and Rollie is able to use the abilities he has to help Santa.

Nice story about appreciating who you are and the abilities you have.

This is a level 1 Scholastic Reader.

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Goodnight Moon – by Margaret Wise Brown

Lovely little book. The book I have is a small board book and both my kids love it. It also helps with the wear and tear. :)

A fun story about a room and all the different things in it. You say goodnight to different items: moon, red balloon, bears, chairs, etc. Both my kids thought it was very funny to say goodnight to “nobody” in the story.

Great bed time story. There is nothing fancy about the book, but it has something that kids love. Both my kids around the age of 3 could not get enough of this book.

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