Book Review: The Rescuing Day – by Christine Goodnough

















Book: The Rescuing Day
Author: Christine Goodnough
Illustrator: Wendy Siemens
Publisher: PrairieView Press
Date: 2015
Genre: children's; Christian; grades 1-3
Pages: 48; paperback
Price: $7.75
My rating: an easy pleasant read for children

The Rescuing Day is a chapter book by Canadian author Christine Goodnough, sketched illustrations by Canadian illustrator Wendy Siemens.

First of all, look at the pretty red cover! Between the red covers are short chapters just right for a young reader.

It’s summertime. The story starts with Mom suggesting to her two young daughters that they get their room cleaned up quickly, their Saturday rule, so that they can be in the strawberry patch early – before it gets too hot in the sun. Megan has trouble being neat like her older sister so in her hurry she shoves everything out of sight. When she gets back she can’t find her favourite doll. This is a major crisis for a little girl, and the author depicts her feelings well.

In each chapter is an adventure for some members of the family. They have a mischievous little puppy, a younger brother who gets into his own trouble, and somebody is in need of rescuing in one way or another. There is an incident where the children are in need and they think to pray about it. It’s nicely done by Christine Goodnough, in a natural, non-preachy way.

Table of Contents:

Chapters:

Trip to the Strawberry Patch
Damien’s Equipment Gets New Paint
Callista is Lost
Callista to the Rescue
The Naughty Student
Megan Rescues Shaggy
The Wasps’ Nest
Shaggy to the Rescue

You can find The Rescuing Day on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: The Princess and the Frogs – by Veronica Bartles

Book: The Princess and the Frogs
Author: Veronica Bartles
Illustrator: Sara Palacios
Publisher: Balzer + Bray of HarperCollins Publishers
Date: November 15, 2016
Genre: picture book; 4-8 yr, preschool to gr 3 
Pages: 40
Price: $17.99
My rating: such a great example of "girl power"

You know the saying, sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. Well, this little princess just wanted the frog.

The Princess and the Frogs, written by Veronica Bartles, is a clever twist on the Princess and the Frog fairy tale. This little princess wanted a pet that would be her best friend. It was hard for the Royal Pet Handler to find one to match her specifications – one that liked to swim and play and jump all day, one that would match her green dress and at night would sit on her pillow and sing to her. Finally it was decided that a frog would be the perfect pet.

Princess Cassandra was so happy and everything was fantastic until, in her delight, she kissed the frog. Well, you know what happens in fairy tales when the princess kisses the frog. Yep! She had herself a prince. That was NOT what Princess Cassandra wanted! She put the prince to work in her castle and the Royal Pet Handler had to find another frog for her. Alas, the same thing happened! Several times.

This story is beautifully illustrated by Sara Palacios. The little princess either wears her running shoes or goes barefoot and is always in her tiara and eyeglasses. She is a determined and smart little girl, making the Princess and the Frogs a delightfully funny story with an empowered female main character.

You can find The Princess and the Frogs on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: How Smudge Came – by Nan Gregory











Book: How Smudge Came
Author: Nan Gregory
Illustrator: Ron Lightburn
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Date: December 12, 1995
Genre: Children's picture book
Pages: 32, hardcover and paperback
Price: may have to find used copies, so price varies from 
less than $1 used, to up to $19.50 in very good condition
My rating: Such a sweet story with fabulous illustrations

How Smudge Came is a gorgeous hardcover book I purchased (unused) at the children’s book fair last year. The author wasn’t there, but I met the illustrator again, Ron Lightburn, whose work is fabulous. I reviewed his picture book here.

Look at the cover illustration of How Smudge Came. That immediately drew my attention to this book. The illustrations throughout are soft and beautiful, created with coloured pencils.

While walking home from her work at the hospice one cold rainy day, Cindy finds a little puppy and tucks him into her bag. She knows she’s not allowed pets so she sneaks him into her room at the group home, and the next day she hides him in the large pocket of her cleaning apron so he can stay with her while she works.

Residents at the hospice enjoy the puppy, but things turn sour for Cindy when he is found. The puppy, whom Cindy named Smudge, is taken away from her and given to the SPCA so a good home can be found for him. Cindy is very upset and determined to get him back, so with help finds where they took him. Things don’t go quite the way Cindy had in mind, though.

At first the reader will not pick up on the fact that Cindy is a young adult with Down Syndrome. She has a cleaning job and is able to travel by bus alone, and has the respect and appreciation of the people around her. The way Cindy is portrayed through how she speaks and the illustrations of her, children will understand how she feels. It’s easy to care about Cindy and Smudge.

This story is sad, but hopeful, and is told by Nan Gregory in such a gentle way with soothing illustrations by Ron Lightburn. The ending is very satisfying.

How Smudge Came won Mr. Christie’s Book Award for Best Canadian Children’s Book, won a B.C. Book Prize, was honoured as an “Our Choice” selection of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and was on the American Bookseller’s Pick of the Lists.

You can find How Smudge Came on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: A Morning with Grandpa – by Sylvia Lui

Book: A Morning With Grandpa
Author: Sylvia Lui
Illustrator: Christina Forshay
Publisher: Lee & Low Books 
Date: May 1, 2016
Genre: picture book for 5-8 yr; pre-school - gr 3
Pages: 32
Price: $17.95 - $23.50
My rating: a lovely story about family differences 
and acceptance

In talking about A Morning With Grandpa, the first thing to mention is the beautiful cover illustration of a little girl doing tai chi with her grandfather. Next to note is the gold sticker as A Morning With Grandpa won the 2013 New Voices Award!

Sylvia Lui has created a sweet story about a little girl and her grandfather who discover they can’t do exactly the same things so they learn from each other.

Mei Mei, is watching her grandpa do tai chi, so he encourages her to do poses with him. Although she tries, she has so much energy she is more bouncy than calm and her youthful excitement takes her beyond the graceful flow of movement he can do. Mei Mei then offers to teach her grandpa yoga poses which he finds a little difficult to do because he is not as nimble as his granddaughter. Despite their differences, they demonstrate patience and love toward one another and enjoy their time together, modifying their poses to what they can manage. No judgement.

A Morning With Grandpa is a book that makes the reader smile. It is refreshing to see the appreciation and acceptance between such widespread generations. The illustrations by Christina Forshay are realistic and very clearly demonstrate the art of tai chi and yoga – and the difficulty and fun Mei Mei and her grandpa have in doing each other’s preferred exercise. In the back of the book, Sylvia Lui has explanations of the different poses mentioned so that children can try them, too.

You can find A Morning With Grandpa on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thank you for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

Book Review: The Stowaways – by Meghan Marentette












Book: The Stowaways
Author: Meghan Marentette
Illustrator: Dean Griffiths
Publisher: Pajama Press
Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Genre: Children's chapter book; ages 8-12
Pages: 236
Price: $19.95
My rating: an adventure one does not want to leave 
until the end

Last year I had the privilege of meeting several authors at a local children’s book fair, Meghan Marentette being one of them. Her table was directly beside Carolyn Mallory‘s whose book I reviewed HERE.

Here is a photo I took of them holding their books.

The Stowaways is an exciting first novel by Meghan Marentette. The main character, a little mouse by the name of Rory Stowaway, has been compared to Stuart Little, and he does have that gutsy and daring personality.

Rory lives with his twin brother, his little sister, his parents, and his grandmother. Since Rory’s grandfather failed to return from a daring adventure to the World Beyond, his father won’t let anyone go very far. He is anxious and has put a stop to exploring, but Rory is restless and wants to go searching for his grandfather and bring him home. His father is firmly against such an idea and will not hear of it.

The neighbours all believe Rory’s grandfather was killed in a trap, so they are standoffish with the family. They all are Weedle mice, and Weedle mice are normally not adventurous – the Stowaways being the exception for generations. Rory’s brother, Morgan, is a dreamer and wants to go on a sailing adventure, but when Rory learns his grandmother’s secret he is all the more determined to go on what he plans to be a rescue mission.

Life for the Stowaway family gets turned upside down by a series of unexpected events, scary and dangerous situations including a hurricane, a girl who likes to catch and cage mice, a cranky cat who wants to do worse than that, and more adventure than even Rory imagined.

The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette is a fast-paced tale consisting of eighteen chapters, lots of page-turning action, and Dean Griffiths’ wonderful illustrations that include maps on the end pages. It is not only young readers who will enjoy this book.

You can find The Stowaways on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: 10 Little Ninjas – by Miranda Paul

Book: 10 Little Ninjas
Author: Miranda Paul
Illustrator: Nate Wragg
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers 
Genre: picture book; 2 - 5 yrs; preschool to kindergarten
Date: August 9, 2016
Price: $14.99
My rating: Delightful variation of 10 little monkeys

10 Little Ninjas is a clever, thought-out variation of 10 little monkeys. It’s a rhyming book, in keeping with the nursery rhyme, but with children instead of monkeys. If you can imagine a household with ten children all the same age then you can understand the tiredness of the parents by the end of the children’s day.

It’s bedtime. Miranda Paul has 10 little ninjas sneaking out of bed, 9 tiny astronauts zooming in the dark, 8 rapid racers revving out the gate … and so on. The fun part is that Daddy is always calling in Mama to sort things out and she appears dressed for the part. For 10 ninjas she’s the sensei, for 9 astronauts she’s the pilot, for 8 racers she’s the marshal.

The illustrations by Nate Wragg are exciting, and rightly depicting Mama the lifeguard – by the time it’s 5 hungry sharks swimming lazy laps – looking a little worn out. When it’s down to 2 sleepy dragons struggling to fly she’s dressed as a wizard and scolding with a yawn.

The last double page illustration is of all ten children sleeping in and on the huge bed, each in a different costume.

This is a fun story by Miranda Paul for young book lovers and early readers.

You can find 10 Little Ninjas on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

2 Book Reviews: Granpa Guff, Accidental Astronaut; Granpa Guff, The Pasta Wars










Book: Granpa Guff, The Accidental Astronaut
Author: G. Guff
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 
Date: May 6, 2013, 2nd edition
Genre: children's; humour
Pages: 86
Price: Kindle, under $5.00; paperback $20.00
My Rating: Amusing story children will enjoy

I’d received early copies of Granpa Guff’s two books shown here in exchange for my honest review. (My apologies to Granpa Guff for the late post.) I enjoyed reading the stories again to tell you about them.

What an interesting imagination the author has! In his desire to create stories that amuse and entertain young readers he also has managed to stir the imagination with his visuals and vivid storytelling. The illustrations are fun, too.

Granpa Guff, The Accidental Astronaut, has Granpa Guff innocently climbing on board a space ship. Too late he realizes it’s time for “blast off” and he has to stay there. What ensues is the craziest trip to Mars you can imagine. Mexican Barking Spiders are hidden on board, Granpa gets spacesick, and on it goes. This is a very entertaining story, and … who’s to know but that it might even be true? Just a little.

Book: Granpa Guff, and the Pasta Wars

Author:

G. Guff

Publisher: Fort Guff Press

Date: October 7, 2013

Genre: children’s; humour

Pages: 67

Price: Kindle, under $5.00

My Rating: Amusing story children will enjoy

Oh My! What stories Granpa Guff can tell! He seems to know so much.

In this book Granpa relates some history to his grandchildren. He tells about Italians arriving in America and setting up restaurants. The competition between rivals was fierce and so began the Pasta Wars. The craziest things happen. Creepy things hidden in spaghetti to sabotage the competition, giant pizzas that just kept growing, and no one knew what was really inside them because they were made like pies with a top crust back then. Or, that’s Granpa’s story. Oh, and you’ll learn why large wooden pepper mills are handy to use, the origin of ‘raining cats and dogs’, and … come to think of it, Granpa’s book is quite … um … informative! 🙂

The illustrations are funny and very well done with flair. They add a beauty to the story.

Both stories are written from Granpa Guff’s old-timer voice as he relates these tales to his two grandchildren who, mostly, believe every word he says – with some argument worked in. Very entertaining.

You can find Grandpa Guff, Accidental Astronaut and Granpa Guff, Pasta Wars on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂