Wishing For Tomorrow

Wishing For Tomorrow: The Sequel to A Little Princess
by Hilary McKay (J MCK)

Award-winning author Hilary McKay always wondered what happened to the girls Sara Crewe left behind at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary For Young Ladies at the end of the classic novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Now she has written a story to answer her question.

McKay picks up where Burnett stopped, using both the third person omniscient narrator and Ermengarde’s letters to Sara to give her readers a new story about Burnett's classic beloved (and reviled) characters. We watch Ermengarde wrestle with her feelings after Sara’s departure, Lavinia become a driven scholar in pursuit of an Oxford education, and Lottie cause mischief and mayhem. McKay shows glimpses of a tormented Miss Minchin who has acquired a new smell (a subtle reference to the headmistress’s reliance on alcohol) that Lottie likes and finds interesting. McKay keeps Sara in the story through letters to Ermengarde, flashbacks, and an appearance at the end of the novel.

Wishing for Tomorrow is an enjoyable and sometimes humorous read, but does not reach the heights that its predecessor reached, which is a high bar indeed. Recommended for fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett and girls in grades 3-6.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

A Very Big Bunny

A Very Big Bunny
by Marisabina Russo
E RUS

Amelia is a bunny. A very big bunny. She is so tall and so big that the kids at school make fun of her. They don't want to play jump rope with her, "We can't turn the rope go high enough for you" or let her join them in hopscotch, "Your feet are too big for hopscotch." So Amelia spends most of her time alone.

One day the class gets a new student, Susannah. She was a small bunny. A very small bunny. Soon she too is made to feel like an outsider. Eventually the two bunnies find a common ground and learn to stand out while still being themselves.

The language is simple and childlike and the illustrations, done in gouache, reflect this same simplicity. Be sure to check out the endpapers where the story truly begins, with Amelia alone with down-turned ears and at the end, with her new best friend Susannah, ears and hands up high.

A fun exploration of friendship!

Pair this up with some other unlikely pairs like:
Hello, my name is Bob by Linas Alsenas and
Dog and Bear: two friends, three stories by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Review by Marianne

Chester's Masterpiece

Chester's Masterpiece
written and illustrated With NO help from Melanie Watt
E WAT

Chester is a cat with a mind of his own. Who needs a silly author when we have his creative genius behind this book? And so the struggle begins.

Our fat tabby friend has taken over the book which is written "with No help from Melanie Watt." The cover is a hodge-podge creation with visible staples, bits of masking tape and lots of red marker.

As the story progresses we learn that Chester has hidden Melanie Watt's art supplies and computer mouse! Thankfully she has a pencil and some sticky notes, and this is how her voice is heard. Little by little, Chester's marker runs out; and litle by little, Melanie explains to readers the bits and pieces that make up a good story.


The illustrations are done with Chester fully drawn, while the rest are done with heavy red marker. You can almost hear the squeak of the marker against the paper. The dialog is snappy and will cause giggles to errupt from readers! Be sure to check out the last illustrated page to solve the mystery of the missing art supplies...and to find out if that cat really got Chester's tongue.


This is the third book in the Chester series and is currently on order at the Irving Public Library. Check out the catalog and put it on hold.

For a storytime on creative writing, you can pair this book with Mary Jane Auch's "THE PLOT CHICKENS."

Another great interactive, cat story try "THERE ARE CATS IN THIS BOOK" by Viviane Schwartz.

Review by Marianne

The Book That Eats People

The Book That Eats People
By John Perry
Illustrated by Mark Fearling
E PER

The Book That Eats People opens with a dire warning: “CAUTION! This is a book that eats people.” The book has consumed many victims and is hungry for more. One fateful day little Sammy Ruskin forgot to wash the peanut butter off his fingers before reading his book. The book got a taste of the peanut butter, ate Sammy, and realized that people tasted better than anything else. His parents donated the book to the library, where it went on a rampage eating library books, disguised itself as a harmless book, and escaped.

The red cover’s menacing eyes, yellow caution tape, credits shaped as fangs stand out and draw the prospective reader’s curiosity. Fearling’s collage illustrations, reminiscent of Lane Smith’s work, capture the spirit of the narrative and are full of details for the reader to study. The ravenous book’s facial expressions are menacing without being too scary, giving the book personality.

Be on the alert while reading this book and have clean hands.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

The Potato Chip Puzzles

The Potato Chip Puzzles (The Puzzling World of Winston Breen)
By Eric Berlin
J BER

Winston Breen, a precocious junior high school student with a proclivity for puzzles, is picked to represent his school in a puzzle-solving competition hosted by a local potato chip tycoon. The prize is $50,000 for the winning team’s school. Winston, to the dismay of his competitive school chaperone Mr. Garvey, chooses his friends Mal and Jake to be on his team. The competition consists of six puzzles scattered in places throughout the city, taking the teams to a planetarium, a farm, an amusement park, and other interesting locales. Throughout the competition, a saboteur wreaks havoc with the competing teams and sows discord and suspicion between the contestants. Winston must not only solve all the puzzles created for the competition, but also figure out who is trying to win at all costs.

Winston faces many ethical dilemmas throughout the competition and shows more maturity and diplomacy than some of the teacher chaperones, who seem a bit one-dimensional. The plot moves at a quick pace and incorporates various fun word and number puzzles for the reader to solve along with Winston and his teammates. (Answers are provided in the back.)

Mystery fans and lovers of puzzles should enjoy The Potato Chip Puzzles. Those interested in solving more puzzles can work on the extra puzzles in the back of the book or visit www.winstonbreen.com. Pair this book with The Red Blazer Girls by Michael Beil (J BEI) or some puzzle books in the 793 section of the library.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me
By Rebecca Stead
Call Number J STE

Miranda is a twelve-year-old girl who lives with her single mom in a New York City apartment. When the story opens in early 1979, Miranda relates to a mysterious person how her mother had just been invited to be a contestant on Dick Clark’s game show The $20,000 Pyramid in April, an event the mysterious person had predicted. This mysterious person wants Miranda to write a letter retelling the events of the autumn and winter of 1978.
Miranda writes:

“Sometimes I work on it in my head, trying to map out the story you asked me to tell, about everything that happened this past fall and winter. It’s all still there, like a movie I can watch when I want to. Which is never.”

Fortunately for both the reader and the mysterious person, Miranda does consider writing the letter and in the process tells an amazing and tragic story.

As Miranda recalls recent events, we meet her friends and are introduced to the crazy man who has taken residence under the mailbox on the corner by Miranda’s apartment. Miranda’s favorite book is A Wrinkle In Time, which won the Newberry in 1963. Familiarity with A Wrinkle In Time is not necessary, but would enrich the overall story. Miranda makes multiple references to events in her favorite book and her mysterious schoolmate Marcus uses scenes from the book to explain the concept of time travel.

This 2010 winner of the Newberry Medal is an intriguing and quick read. Stead’s narrative is tighter than it seems at first glance, so don’t skim. Part of the suspense is derived from slowly realizing what is going on. When You Reach Me touches on the themes of growing up, friendship, sacrifice, redemption, and even time-travel. The story is powerful and makes the reader think while reading and reflect on the story long after closing the book. After finishing, you might want to turn back to the beginning and re-read to appreciate how all the little details come together and savor the spectacular storytelling.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

The Day-Glo Brothers

The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors

By Chris Barton
Illustrated by Tony Persiani
Call Number J 535.352 BAR

Have you ever wondered about who invented the color of the ink in your highlighter or where the orange color of a traffic cone came from? In The Day-Glo Brothers, Chris Barton tells the story of how two brothers named Bob and Joe Switzer, who through a combination of hard work, dedication, problem-solving, and serendipity invented what is known as Day-Glo, the bright fluorescent colors used in highlighters, safety equipment, signs, and many other objects.

Bob was a hard worker and a planner who aspired to be a doctor. Joe enjoyed performing in magic shows and excelled in problem-solving. While working a summer job in 1933 inspecting railroad cars at a factory, Bob fell and sustained a head injury that impaired his memory, gave him seizures, and ended his ambitions in the medical profession. While Bob recovered in the basement, Joe kept him company experimenting with ultraviolet light and fluorescence so he could improve his magic acts. Together Bob and Joe built an ultraviolet lamp. They later took it to their father’s pharmacy and shined light on objects in the dark storeroom. One bottle emitted a yellow glow. This phenomenon inspired the brothers to do further experimentation and research to create different fluorescent colors. At first, the brothers were limited using fluorescent colors in the dark, illuminated by an ultraviolet light. They eventually figured out how to make colors glow during the day and invented Day-Glo.

To find out more about Bob and Joe and how they developed Day-Glo and grew rich, head to the physics section of our library and check out this book, and perhaps some of the surrounding books on light. Author Chris Barton’s narrative of the story is engaging. Illustrator Tony Persiani creatively uses Day-Glo colors to highlight the brothers’ progress throughout the story. If you are interested in learning more about fluorescence and ultra-violet light, visit the book’s website for a brief demonstration.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard