A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

This review is slightly out of season, but I watch Christmas movies out of season, so to me it's not a big deal to review a book about Hanukkah when it's not Hanukkah.   Oskar and the Eight Blessings by Richard Simon and Tanya Simon and illustrated by Mark Siegel is a lovely story about the grace of humanity that still exists during scary times. It's 1938, and it's the seventh night of Hanukkah and also Christmas eve when Oskar arrives in New York City to live with an aunt he has never met.  Oskar believed in blessings until Kristallnacht (or the Night of Broken Glass on November 9, 1938, in Germany), an event that forces Oskar's parents to send their son to safety in New York City.  When Oskar disembarks from his ship, he must walk from the port down Broadway to his aunt's house at the other end of the city.  Along the way the kindness of the people that Oskar meets restores his faith in blessings.  And he is shown that his father is right--people can be g...

Last week I confessed my weakness for fairy tales and shared a review for the book Cinderella and the Incredible Techno-slippers .  You can scroll down to read that review and also to see what I reviewed earlier in the month.  This week I'm reviewing Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Meg Hunt.  I mentioned it in the last week's blog. This sci-fi twist on the Cinderella fairy tale is set in outer space where Cinderella is a brainy gal who fixes space ships while her stepmother and stepsisters jet off to the prince's space ship parade taking Cinderella's tool box with them and leaving her stranded at home.  Fortunately Cinderella's fairy godrobot shows up to save the day and get Cinderella to the space parade where she arrives just in time to save the prince's bacon when his space ship breaks down (you know, because the royal space ship mechanic quit and all).  Unfortunately, before the prince can get Cinderella's name she ha...

Ya'll already know about my weaknesses for British TV/period dramas and Jane Austen adaptations.  But now I have another confession to make.  I also have a weakness for fairy tales.  They are a fascinating genre to study, which I did in college when I did an independent study with a professor on fairy tales.  That professor now teaches a course on fairy tales that shares some of the same readings we did in our independent study.  My undergraduate honors thesis was a case study of the Snow White fairy tale.  I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are hundreds of versions of most fairy tales across the world and dating back hundreds of years.  If you're interested in learning more about the study of fairy tales, some authors who have written books about the subject include Jack Zipes and Maria Tatar.  You can also check out the website SurLaLune Fairy Tales ; it's a great place to start because it has almost 50 different fairy tales annotated, in...

In an earlier post I mentioned that we acquired some new easy reader books that I really liked and would probably be reviewing on the blog.   Stick and Stone is one these books.  I'm not sure how I found it; I may have seen it on Amazon.  But it's one of my favorite books from this year.  I don't care that it's an easy reader.  I love this book.  I think both adults and children will enjoy it, and it also contains a great lesson for children.   Stick and Stone is written by Beth Ferry and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. You guys.  I.  Love.  This.  Book.  I've read it three times now (and I'll probably read it again too), and I love it every time.  The story is told in spare, rhyming prose, and the illustrations are lovely, interesting, and creative.  It's both uplifting and a little sad--stick and stone are both alone!  They don't have friends!  Then some pine cone comes along and starts bullying ston...

Are you looking for a children's book about flower gardening? Zinnia's Flower Garden by Monica Wellington may be just the book you've been searching for. It tells the story of girl named Zinnia who decides to plant a flower garden. The book is filled with bright pictures and simple descriptions of how Zinnia planted her seeds. The story also teaches the reader how to care for the seeds and what the seeds need to grow. It also includes pictures of some common flowers. The next time you're in the library check out this book; it is located in Easy Reader fiction at E/Wel. It is also available upon request from Lebanon Community Library and Annville Free Library. --Reviewed by Ms. Kathy