Review: Anansi and the Talking Cloth by Caroline Brewer with Kwasi Asare

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In a spider city in Africa, cloth-weavers stop making kente cloth in protest against machine-made fabric. Even Anansi, who gathers stories to share, struts around in the cheap cloth. Until he finds that without this traditional weaving, there is no storytelling and no harmony to life.

Once he realizes the problem, Anansi tries to trick the weavers into working again. When his efforts fail, he turns to his wife Aso for help, and she comes up with a plan that will fix things in the city.

Written by Caroline Brewer along with Kwasi Asare, a master kente-cloth weaver, Anansi and the Talking Cloth is a picture book that creates a new tale for Anansi the Spider, an African trickster and folk hero who serves as the keeper of stories. Kente cloth, which as an art form often has proverbs, folktales, and more embedded in the patterns, provides an interesting connection for an Anansi story.

Illustrations by Ekua Holmes bring the vibrant colors of the traditional cloth to life. An author’s note at the end sheds light on both the legend and history of Anansi and kente cloth.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: Little Monsters by Maire Roche

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The March Sisters have a secret. Each of them exhibits traits that make them think they may be monsters. Meg’s finger and toenails turn into claws. Jo gets furry like a wolf. Beth grows bat wings, and Amy sprouts a tail around salt water. It’s hard keeping the other kids from school, or their foster mother Marmee, from finding out.

The closer it gets to Halloween, the more often these traits appear. Even worse, something is attacking animals and people and night. Meg worries it might be her. To find out for sure she sets out to find who, or what, is causing havoc. But in the town of Salem, nothing is as it appears to be.

Little Monsters by Maire Roche is an inventive take on the Little Women story. In this telling, the girls are orphans who have been shuttled to lots of different foster homes. It’s hard for them to trust anyone but each other. As the oldest, Meg feels she is responsible for making sure all the younger ones have what they need. But it’s too much of a burden on her, as she’s just a kid herself.

The story takes a few twists and turns as Meg investigates what’s happening around her. Along the way, she finds out what it means to trust, the definition of true friendship, and how to embrace her own reality. It’s a cute story with deeper meaning. Plus, it’s extra interesting to read it in the times leading up to Halloween.

I recommend Little Monsters for readers aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: How to Ruin a Wedding by Elba Luz

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Lucy’s life is a mess. She was let go from her job and evicted from her apartment. She’s crashing in her sister’s guest room, but her brother-in-law has made it clear she needs to be out sooner rather than later.

To make ends meet while she raises money for her real passion, owning an animal shelter, she becomes a professional wedding wrecker. But even that goes haywire when she messes up a job she’s on and doesn’t earn her fee. Enter Anders, who she randomly met on assignment.

Anders wants Lucy to wreck his sister’s wedding for a payment that will solve all her money problems. The trouble is, Lucy is falling for Anders and his family. But she’s sure they’ll all hate her when they ultimately find out her real motivation.

Figuring out how Lucy can get everything she wants is the story in How to Ruin a Wedding by Elba Luz. At 28, Lucy has had to be responsible since she was 17, when her parents died in a car accident. She has taken care of her younger sister since then and gone through two marriages looking for stability. She’s pretty sure she’s unlovable because she doesn’t have her act together. Anders sees through that to the funny, kind person she is.

I was a fan of Lucy’s straight talk, funny lines, kindness to animals, and loyalty to family. Not such a fan of her excessive alcohol intake, which usually got her into trouble. The chemistry between Lucy and Anders is steamy, and it’s easy to see him as the perfect guy. Though I did want to see Lucy stand more firmly on her own without relying on him to solve most of her major challenges.

All in all How to Ruin a Wedding is a fun read that give a satisfying ending.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: Milton Makes a Move by Jonathan Graziano

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Milton is a pug who lives on a farm with a lot of dogs and an array of other animals. He has a good life with lots of things to eat and sniff and plenty of critters to play with. Still, he longs for the day when someone will take him to live with his own family.

Then one day he’s off an adventure and moving in with Jonathan. It’s scary at first, getting used to all new things. But Jonathan is kind and patient and comforts Milton through thunderstorms. Before he knows it, Milton as settled right in just like on his old farm but even better because this time he’s settled for good.

Milton Makes a Move by Jonathan Graziano tells a sweet story on many levels. There’s the bond between a pup and his human. There’s the comfort in reading that scary new things can become comfortable regular things. And there’s the general cuteness of a pug discovering and fitting into the world around him.

Dan Tavis’s art illustrates the story perfectly. Showing Milton’s emotions through his facial expressions and tail wagging and more. It’s all very playful and fun. Milton Makes a Move is sure to be a hit with young readers even if they don’t have pets of their own.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: So You Want To Be A Veterinarian by Linda Soules

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Lots of kids who love animals say they want to be a veterinarian when they grow up. Often, they know they’d like to help animals, but they don’t really know what kind of work a veterinarian does. That’s where So You Want To Be A Veterinarian by Linda Soules comes in. It’s a small book that packs a lot of details that help kids understand the ins and outs of the profession.

The book breaks down how different vets can specialize in different kinds of animal care. For instance, large-animal vets treat animals like horses, cows, sheep, and others mostly found on farms. Neighborhood clinic vets usually treat pets, like cats and dogs, but also bunnies, hamsters, birds, and more. There are vets that treat exotic pets, and those who work at zoos.

The book talks about tools of the trade, the best and hardest parts of the job, and surprising things. The back has lots of other information, like famous people in animal medicine, fun facts, a glossary of terms, and what a kid can do to prepare for the profession while they’re young.

So You Want To Be A Veterinarian is part of a series of books that take young readers behind the scenes of all kinds of professions. More than 180 titles are already available, and you can find out more by visiting the author’s website, lindasoules.com.

The author provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: Adventure in the City of Stories by Emma Otheguy

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Cousins Jorge, Camila, and Siggy don’t realize two things when they take an old book and some paper mâché puppets from their aunts cupboard: the items have historical significance and they are being reported as stolen. They know their aunt didn’t steal them, and to make sure she’s not blamed for it, they travel back in time to make things right.

Adventure in the City of Stories by Emma Otheguy is the story of their fantastical journey. The three end up in Depression-era New York City, when people were struggling and when some news reports whipped up anti-Puerto Rican sentiments. Right away they run across a woman who sees them as hooligans, and believing the book is stolen, she takes it from them.

To get it back and figure out what to do with all three items to safeguard them for the future, the cousins call on a whole community of kids and parents and librarians and poets and more. It’s a fun adventure that’s sure to appeal to readers aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

Review: Sharks in Kansas by Melissa Stewart

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It’s hard to imagine sharks living in Kansas, which sits near the center geographically of the U.S. and far from an ocean. But if you go back far enough, like 85 million years ago, an interior seaway separated North America into two land masses.

Melissa Stewart’s picture book, Sharks in Kansas: The Ancient Sea in the Middle of America, introduces curious children to a time when dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, and yes, sharks, roamed freely in the area. Each page, colorfully illustrated by Becca Stadtlander, features a scene from back then. A herd of Claosaurus strolls along a beach. A Squalicorax (shark) swims beneath the water’s surface.

Each page also includes the scientific names for the creatures who lived at this time, which will appeal to kids who love to learn about the world through nonfiction. At the end readers find an illustrated explanation of how the Western Interior Seaway came to be created and how it disappeared. Also, readers will find suggestions for reading more.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

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Review: The New Norm by Matthew J. Gilbert

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Norm is just a regular kid in middle school with a trusted group of long-time friends. He’d love to fit in more with the popular kids, but that’s not the kind of person he is. He lives with his dad, who’s a therapist, and the two of them counsel each other. Norm keeps his dad up to date on current kid terminology, and his dad helps him figure out how to deal with school and friends.

I’ve read two books in the series by Matthew J. Gilbert: #1, The New Norm, and #2, The New Norm: Pranks and Prejudice. In The New Norm, a video of him doing a crazy dance at his dentist’s office goes viral and suddenly everyone wants to be his friend. The trouble is, his old friends aren’t invited into the new circle. And every time he tries to include them, he usually messes things up. Ultimately, he must decide what’s more important, upping his status at school or sticking with the people who have always been there for him.

In Pranks and Prejudice, Meadowview Middle School is taken by a great prank challenge, with increasingly inventive pranks played on students. Norm encourages his friend Mia to put her science-brain to work and come up with the ultimate prank, saying he’ll help her carry it out. But when Mia comes up with something that disrupts the whole school, Norm is worried they will get in big trouble. He has to decide how to own up to the mischief without making things worse.

The series is great at identifying issues that kids deal with in middle school—friendship, popularity, following rules— and helping Norm figure out how to deal with them. I recommend The New Norm series for readers aged 9 to 12.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

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