Mini Book Reviews

My TBR pile has been collecting dust. Of course, here in NM, dust is not necessarily indicative of time passing, but in this case I have had some of these books an embarrassingly long time without writing a review of them. Not fair to the authors or publishers who so kindly sent them to me for review, so I am going to highlight a few fiction titles together today in an attempt to catch up. Please don't take my procrastination as reflecting in any way on the quality of the books, and stay tuned for some nonfiction reviews tomorrow.

by Sue Fliess
Marshall Cavendish
978-0-7614-5825-8
Review copy from publisher

This is one of those books you instantly want to schedule for a story time. The short, snappy rhymes and attractive illustrations make it a natural read-aloud, whether for a child on your lap or a group sitting in front of you. Children will enjoy bits such as

"Fuzzy, furry -
shoes that quack?
I'm no duck.
Please put those back."

while parents will smile as they recognize the upturned nose and crossed arms greeting Mom's attempts to get a decision made. Looking forward to sharing this with S., who doesn't mind being butt-naked as long as she has shoes on - preferably someone else's!

by Jamie Lee Curtis
HarperCollins
978-0-06-029016-0
Review copy from publisher

Books by celebrities. Book stores like them because they sell, sometimes based solely on name recognition. Reviewers and librarians hate them for the same reason. Some celebrities turn out to be good authors after all - Julie Andrews Edwards comes to mind. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. But most of them...yeah. Madonna? Please stop now.

USUALLY, Curtis's books fall into the latter category. They are the type of overly-sentimental, preachy books that many parents eat with a spoon, and kids couldn't care less about. (Can we say that we hated "Is There Really a Human Race?" without getting bashed?) This one, however...is cute. Without being cutesy. It is over-the-top in the things the child says his/her Mommy can do, but in an appealing way. The language doesn't seem as forced as in some of her previous books. This is one I will read with C. and S. (because, of course, I can do all those things, too), and may have to add to my Mother's Day story time at the library. Here's hoping this is indicative of Curtis working on improving her writing, rather than coasting as some well-published authors seem to do.

Okay, that was an odd review. Basically: If you like Curtis's other books, you will love this one. If you didn't like Curtis's other books, ignore the author's name and pick this one up anyway.

by Peter Hannan
HarperCollins
978-0-06-128466-3
Review copy from publisher

Freddy's just a normal kid . . . with an out-of-this-world life!
Freddy, his sister, Babette, and their parents have been abducted by aliens! Next stop, the planet Flurb, where things couldn't be more different from their ordinary life on Earth. On Flurb, they snack on yootleturds, the buildings are alive, and the aliens make Freddy King!
But his reign won't last long if the evil Wizbad has anything to say about it . . . or Babette! Her brother as king? No way!

Okay, after reading that Hannan is also the creator of the CatDog series, I get it. No, I don't get CatDog, or SpongeBob, or any of the similarly stupid cartoons out there, but I get what group this series is written for. This is a tricky thing for reviewers: we don't have to personally like a book to give it a good review. We can recognize quality writing or interesting character development even if we aren't in the intended audience.

Unfortunately, this has...erm...well, neither of those. It kind of reminds me of writing assignments I got from my elementary school students, with the spelling and grammar cleaned up. Jumpy plot, stereotyped characters, 'funny' lines that aren't even worth a groan. BUT...I just described half the TV shows kids seem to enjoy these days, so if you are looking for a way to lure them from TV to books, these may be perfect. The second in the series is already out, and pretrty cheap to pick up in paperback - or even cheaper at your local library:)

(I don't know what happened with the indents there, and have given up trying to fix it.)

The Great Migration

As many of you know, I have two blogs - this one, and one 'run' by the library turtles. That one is mostly book and product reviews, plus news about library events. Both are hosted by Blogger. There are many different hosting sites, all with their own positives and negatives, and generally speaking I like Blogger better (plus, I'm used to how it works, and you are talking to someone who still won't carry a cell phone, so newer or more bells and whistles don't necessarily impress me).

One of Blogger's recent issues, however, is that it sporadically won't let people log out of one of their blogs and onto another, which is really, REALLY irritating when you have things to post on both. Largely for that reason, I have decided to combine the two blogs - and since this one has been getting more 'hits' recently, and since its 'theme' is less limited in scope than the turtles', I am slowly moving everything over here. Besides, the turtles' popularity has gone to their heads, and they are demanding all sorts of upgrades to their tank. There just isn't room for a tiki bar, sorry!

So, a few changes you may have already noticed:

1. Fewer posts on the turtles' site. Mostly that's because of the logging-in-and-out issue, but it has also been a matter of time. I often do my reviews at the library, and it has been just a tad busy there. Baby-to-Be means when I get home, I don't have much energy for anything beyond spending time with the family and making desultory stabs at cleaning (why does the floor have to be so far away? And can we put the washer and dryer up on blocks?) Starting this week, you may see some double posts (i.e. same post on both sites) to get people used to clicking over here instead - IF I can get logged into that one!

2. Initials instead of names. Most of the people who currently follow this blog are people I actually know, whereas followers of the turtles' blog come from all walks of life. All very nice people, I'm sure, but the more open your privacy settings, the more you need to watch your privacy. So, while I will post pictures of the kids, I will just use their initials, and as they get older you will get fewer details. C. doesn't care if you see him covered in muck and hear the whole sordid story of how it happened. M., on the other hand, may not want strangers to know what happened when she was the first to fall asleep at her slumber party last night, let alone have photo evidence splashed across the internet. That's what Facebook is for:)

That's it, really. Nothing exciting, just an FYI-type of post. You may now carry on with your regularly scheduled lives:)

Another Handy Tip - or, Reason #7

If you just sit in the drawer and play, you don't have to mess with taking toys out and then having to put them away again.

Not that we worry overly much about putting our toys away anyway.

It's Official.

Cutest. Toddler. Ever.

Here's Your Sign

Absolutely NO driving on the ceiling!

(It has looked like this for a week)

A Short Commercial Interruption

Introducing the revolutionary new IGU* laundry method! Works with ANY type of laundry detergent or spot remover, guaranteed! Just follow these seven simple steps:

1. Begin with your average toddler's t-shirt, showing a typical day of food and fun (in this case, involving dirt, dogs, green beans and strawberries):

2. Treat shirt with your favorite spot remover.

3. Soak shirt overnight in hot water and bleach.

4. Scrub shirt in sink with your favorite laundry booster.

5. Toss shirt in washer on highest settings, with copious amounts of detergent.

6. Take shirt out of washer and allow to air dry.

7. Burn shirt and buy a new one.

Voila: now your toddler has a new, bright white shirt to wear - and you can start the whole process all over again!

Just look at them side by side - what a difference! And yours to achieve as well, now that you know the patented IGU* secret!

*I Give Up

Reason #6

S. is very astute at figuring out what will make you craziest. All week she has been teasing Daddy by refusing to give him kisses. She will even pretend she is about to, then turn her head away at the last minute. If he asks for a kiss, she will flat-out tell him "No," and walk away.

This morning, as Daddy was getting ready to leave for work, it occurred to me that M. had taught her to blow kisses. "Blow Daddy a kiss!" I suggested.

S. raised her little chubby hand to her mouth and kissed it, and Daddy's face lit up. Then she grinned and held the kiss to herself.

Turd!