Book Review: Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

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Steam Train, Dream Train cover imageSherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld, the duo that brought us the award-winning Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, have created another bedtime picture book that’s sure to be a hit with parents and preschoolers alike.

Steam Train, Dream Train is the story of a train with a very unusual crew: bears, elephants, monkeys, kangaroos and other animals. When the train pulls into the station, crew members load it up with all kinds of things kids love to play with. The monkeys bring in monkey bars (and juggle while hoola-hooping and skate boarding), kangaroos bounce balls onboard, polar bears truck in ice cream and a camel balances a bike, a kite and more.

It’s a visual circus of activity in a kid’s fantasy world. Since everything takes place at night, illustrations are muted and calm, yet still portray the fun everyone seems to be having loading the boxcars. They have the grainy look of kids crayon drawings. The combination of words and drawings is sure to stir the imaginations of little ones as it lulls them to sleep.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler

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Rapture Practice cover imageAaron Hartzler grew up in Kansas City as the oldest son in a strict Baptist family. From early on he was happy to help as his mom spread the word to neighborhood children about the rapture, when Jesus would return to Earth and his followers would be lifted up. Yet, he also questioned the constraints he lived under. He wasn’t allowed to see movies, listen to most music or read books that his parents questioned. He couldn’t believe that his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins—who had no such restrictions—would go to hell for their actions.

As Hartzler grew, he began to rebel against the tight rules his parents asked him to adhere to without question. He writes about his experience, and his efforts to maintain a relationship with his parents while finding his own path toward religious belief in his memoir, Rapture Practice.

Hartzler writes with candor about the Christian school he attended when he was growing up, the friendships he formed there, and the ways he got around his parents’ rules. This is his story, which means he doesn’t speculate about or describe how his brothers and sister reacted to the same rules as he did or tell scandalous stories about teachers and administrators. He seems to accept the fact that some people do well with the rules he was subject to while sharing the reasons he wasn’t one of them.

Rapture Practice is a thoughtful story about Hartzler’s journey, and while I would have liked to know more about how his decisions affected his relationship with his family as he became an adult, I was thoroughly engrossed with story.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Absent by Katie Williams

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Absent cover imagePaige died when she accidentally fell from her high school roof. Now she’s stuck in place, able to move around the school grounds and in the building, but her spirit can’t pass the parking lot. At least she has friends: Brooke and Evan, two other teens who also died while at school.

But when Paige overhears a rumor that she committed suicide she can’t let it rest. She finds a way to inhabit her classmates and control what they say, hoping to stop the rumor. In the process she discovers surprising things about the people she thought she knew when she was alive.

Absent by Katie Williams explores the dynamics behind fitting in at high school and how easy it can be to pigeonhole people into stereotypes. When Paige starts talking through her classmates, she shakes things up, because she forces everyone to look at the person, not the image they portray.

There’s also a bit of mystery in the story, which Paige unravels as she puts pieces of the puzzle together from each of her former classmates and friends. Absent is a thoughtful tale that may even prompt you to question the assumptions you make about people you know.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Reading Tip: Help Kids Become Better Readers with Funny Poems

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Funny poems are a great way to keep your kids turning pages and reading for fun. The main reason? When kids laugh, there’s an incentive to see what the next poem says, and then the next. Kenn Nesbitt, who has been writing poems for children for 19 years and frequently talks to students at elementary schools says while parents may dismiss funny poems as too light and fluffy to count as “real reading,” they help kids develop real reading skills and real vocabulary.

Summer break can be a great time to help your kids pick up a few books of funny poems from the library. Here are a few authors to look for:

Shel Silverstein

  • Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings
  • A Light in the Attic
  • Falling Up
  • Everything On It

Kenn Nesbitt

  • The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids
  • The Tighty Whitey Spider and More Wacky Animal Poems I Totally Made Up
  • My Hippo Has the Hiccups and Other Poems I Totally Made Up
  • When the Teacher Isn’t Looking and Other Funny School Poems

Jack Prelutsky

  • The New Kid on the Block
  • It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles
  • A Pizza the Size of the Sun

 

Book Club Recipe: German Potato Salad

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My husband’s great-grandparents came over to the U.S. from Germany and brought great recipes with them to hand down to the family. Here’s a recipe for potato salad that I use often for book club gatherings, neighborhood events or any other event where I have to contribute a dish.

German Potato Salad

Serves 4 to 6

  • 6 to 10 medium red potatoes
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon fresh dill
  • 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley
  • 2 teaspoons capers
  • sprinkle of green or red onions

Wash the potatoes, then cut them in quarters. Boil potatoes in plenty of water for about 10 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and put the potatoes in a large serving bowl.

Mix the olive oil, vinegar and all herbs together. Pour over the potatoes and mix with a spoon. Break up any larger potato pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. The oil will soak in as the potatoes cool.

Book Review: When the Butterflies Came by Kimberley Griffiths Little

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When the Butterflies Came cover imageWhen Tara Doucet’s Grammy Claire dies unexpectedly in a car accident Tara feels as though her whole family is falling apart. He mom disappears in depression and grief, her older sister retreats into her bedroom, and her dad has recently left the family to live in another state. Tara isn’t sure what to do to pull them back together when something magical starts to happen. Butterflies appear and soon after a letter from Grammy Claire shows up.

The letter contains a mystery, a key and a clue to another letter. Tara discovers that Grammy Claire was afraid that her research on a tropical island had attracted the attention of someone who wanted to take it, someone who may be willing to cause her harm to get it. She calls on Claire to solve the mystery through a series of clues that will lead her to a solution that may protect something precious.

When the Butterflies Came by Kimberley Griffiths Little focuses on the importance family members play in our lives while weaving a tale of mystery and fantasy. Tara feels the importance that Grammy Claire has entrusted something significant to her. As she learns things about herself along the way, she also becomes determined to forge a stronger relationship with her sister and help her mother emerge from depression.

Readers aged 9 to 12 will find a lot to like in Tara’s journey of self-discovery set along the bayous of Louisiana and the islands of Micronesia.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Raptor Ravine by James L. Butler

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Raptor Ravine cover imageWhen Trik gets lost in the woods and falls down a deep ravine, he discovers a land that seems untouched by time and where unknown creatures screech in the night. After watching a strange lizard/bird hatch from a nest destroyed by a falling tree, he takes the little thing along on his quest to find home. Little does he know that his “pet” Apollo will protect him from harm, help him forge new friendhsips and take him on a journey of discovery in his own back yard.

Raptor Ravine by James L. Butler is an adventure story set in the small town of Mist, Oregon, where the trees grow tall and families make a living off the land. Trik and his friends come together over their shared curiosity about Apollo, and in the process learn a lot about each other that they otherwise would have never known.

Apollo is a mystery they seek to solve, and their quest leads them to learn about paleontology, Native American legends and more. Raptor Ravine is a captivating story that will charm young readers with its sense of adventure and issues important to kids aged 9 to 11, such as making the transition to middle school, friendships between boys and girls, and growing up.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The Truth About Letting Go by Leigh T. Moore

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The Truth About Letting Go cover imageWhen Ashley’s dad dies after a months-long battle with cancer, she finds that thinking of him is too painful. To numb the pain she decides to change her life. Instead of church-going, rule-following, nice-girl Ashley, she becomes risk-taker, bad-girl Ashley. Soon she finds she needs to keep ramping up her actions if she wants them to keep the pain down. And with her mom numbing her own pain through constant work, there’s no one she can talk to and help her figure out how to step back from the brink.

The Truth About Letting Go by Leigh T. Moore is a sensitive look at dealing with the pain of loss. Ashley doesn’t want to be who she was before, because life for her is no longer the normal it was before her dad’s illness. Her first forays into change are with people around her she would have never noticed before: a girl who lives nearby and struggles with weight issues, a nerdy boy who is debating becoming a minister. But she’s not ready to give anything to them yet, she can only take. When she meets a bad boy who is known for the trouble he creates, her own actions escalate out of control. The question is, will she get past her pain and decide how she wants to go forward with her life before she does something that will cause irreparable damage?

Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up will find complex issues to discuss when reading The Truth About Letting Go: Why do bad things happen to people we love even though we pray they don’t? How can we get through personal loss without changing into a person we no longer recognize? How can we stick to our values even when we question what those values mean?

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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