Picture Books
Basket Moon
Written By: Mary Lyn Ray
Illustrated By: Barbara Cooney
Reviewed By: Tiju T.
"A tisket, a tasket, a hillbilly basket. That’s all a bushwhacker knows," according to a mean pair of townies. Barbara Cooney’s fantastic illustrations bring to life Mary Lyn Ray’s fascinating words in a book that will be enjoyed by four to eight years olds. This story takes place in the olden years. When a full moon comes, a nine-year-old boy and his father, Pa, pack up the man-made baskets and travel to Hudson to sell them. But that’s when trouble strikes, for the mean old townies insult them. What will they do next? Will they start to cause even more trouble? Read it to find out! I highly recommend this book!
Down the Road
Written By: Alice Schertle
Reviewed By: Susanne L and Dana R
"Mama, can I go to Mr. Birdies store and get 1 dozen eggs with no cracks?" asked Hetty? "Yes," said mama. So Hetty went off to go to the store. When she got there, she asked for 1 dozen eggs with no cracks. When she started going back home she saw an apple tree. She wanted to get some apples, but when she did, splat all the eggs broke. So Hetty climbed up the apple tree. Her parents were worried about Hetty when she did not come home, so they went to look for her. When her dad found her, he climbed up the tree, too. Then mama came and she said, "I see two big birds sitting in the tree." Wait until you see what happens with the apples! We won’t tell you the rest, but it’s superb. We would recommend this book to all ages and would give it 5 golden *****!
Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance
Written and Illustrated By: Keith Graves
Reviewed By: Natalie S. and Michael B
Are you afraid of Monsters? Then you should read Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves. This story is about a monster named Frank who tried his hardest to entertain people. It is an amusing and hilarious story and one that you can read-aloud to a child. I would highly recommend this book to children of all ages to read, because even the smallest children will enjoy it. Kids who are scared of monsters should read this book because they will soon understand that monsters are their friends.
The Huckabuck Family
Written by: Carl Sandburg
Reviewed by: Kyle L.
Pop! Pop! Pop! The popcorn farm has popped a colossal amount of kernels. This king of popcorn in Nebraska is the Huckabuck family because of the amount of popcorn they produce. Their farm is flooded with corn poppin’ because of a mistake with a candle. They were forced to move away, because the farm became flooded with popcorn. Three years later they came back to discover that…Well, I will let you find out for yourself. I think this book is fantastic. The characters are well developed because of their funny personalities. The description of the farm and the characters are remarkable. I give this book two thumbs up and a big five *****.
Joan of Arc the Lily Maid
Written by Margaret Hodges Illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
Reviewed By: Ben L. and Joe S.
Long ago in France there lived a girl named Jeanne d’Arc." She grew up as a peasant girl, tending sheep and playing in the fields. One day, Jeanne (Joan) sees visions of angels. They tell her that she will lead the French Army to victory over the English Army. She gets pennies from people to buy her a horse and some armor to wear in battle. If you want to know how this story turns out, you can borrow it from the Wolcott library.
There are colorless and coarse illustrations in this book, with different styles of art on every page. The reading is fairly easy, and it has a good plot.
John Willy and Freddy Mcgee
Written By: Meade Holly
Reviewed By: Suzanne G
John Willy and Freddy McGee are always getting out of their cage! John Willy is a light brown and white hamster and Freddy McGee is a dark and light brown hamster with white on his nose. They run around the dog and onto the game board and under the table. They go onto the green rug, over top of the book, up onto a chair, and around on the pool table. They run round and round and round and round and finally enter into some holes. The cat is going to eat them - tap - Bonk - tap Bonk tap tap Bonk, and then suddenly it is all quiet. Quickly, the hamsters go back into the cage. I think this is an exciting book for little kids, and I loved it because the hamsters were everywhere around the room!
Like Butter On Pancakes!!!
Written By: Jonathan London
Illustrated By: G. Brian Karas
Reviewed By: Tiffany M. & Amanda L.
Rating 2-6 years of age
"Yum,Yum," is what I say every morning when I have butter on my pancakes!" This is what the main character in the book, Like Butter On Pancakes, says every morning when he consumes his pancakes. In this story there is a very little boy who loves to have butter on pancakes every morning. He enjoys the yellow liquid butter that floats on them. The little boy likes to do his famous pajama dance when he wakes up. When he wakes up he finds the irresistible smell of the sizzling bacon that warms his heart. After having his awesome breakfast, he has a marvelous day. The book has lots of descriptive pictures, sketched and brightly colored. The pictures beautifully describe the plot. We recommend this book for young children, because it shows how much fun breakfast time can be!
Sitting Ducks
Written By: Michael Bedard
Reviewed By: Cameron E. and Steven F.
Sitting Ducks gets four thumbs up and ****. It is a hilarious book about a duck and an alligator. The alligator finds the duck at the duck factory and instead of putting him back, he takes him home. The alligator "adopts" the duck and takes care of him. The alligator was secretly going to eat the duck but then he became attached to him. One day the alligator was working late. The duck knew the alligator said to stay put at home but he disobeyed. One duck saw the other duck at the Decoy Café. He soon found out it was really an alligator that wanted to eat him. After spreading the news "fly or die" the ducks take action. We think that everyone should read this book!
The Tale of Willie Monroe
Written by: Alan Schroeder
Illustrated by:Andrew Glass
Reviewed by: Peter G.
Recommended for grades 1- 4 32 pages
"I can whip ye with both hands tied behind my back", said Willie. Willie Monroe was the strongest critter in Tennessee. One day he saw a sign for an arm-wrestlin’, log-stackin’, cow-milkin’, field-plowin’, barn-raisin’ contest in Carolina. On the way, he met a girl named Delilah. Delilah and her Granny helped him get stronger for the contest. Willie asked Delilah if she would marry him. She said she would marry him if he won the contest. So Willie set off for the contest in Carolina. If you want to find out the answer to this question, read this stimulating book!
Totally Uncool
Author: Janice Levy
Illustrator: Chris Monroe
Reviewers: Holly T. and Lisa N.
R- grades 1-3
Have you ever thought your Dad’s new girlfriend was totally uncool? A little girl named Alex thinks that her dad’s new girlfriend is uncool in everything she does. For example, Alex realizes that his girlfriend doesn’t have a clue on video games, she sleeps sitting up, and everything she eats is green. She speaks Spanish to her neighbors, Japanese to her plants, and mish-mosh to Alex, and her hair looks like a porcupine! In the middle of the book Alex gets a different opinion about her dad’s new girlfriend. We recommend this book because of the funny words and pictures.