Older Than the Stars

Older Than the Stars
by Karen C. Fox
illustrated by Nancy Davis
J 523.1 FOX

Older Than the Stars creatively presents how the atoms that make up the reader came into being, taking the reader on a journey from the Big Bang to to the present.

There are two components to Older Than the Stars. The first is the main text which is found in a colorful box on each page and is written in an informative easy-to-understand style. The second component, which is what makes the book so wonderful, is a narrative in the style of The House That Jack Built:

“These are the blocks
that formed the bits
that were in the bang
when the world began."

This narrative fills each page spread and is accompanied by vivid illustrations. This narrative’s rhythm is energetic and fun to read aloud. Each verse added is a summary of the main text. A timeline and glossary in the back are helpful references.

Recommended for students interested in science or fans of inventive verse.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

The Mysterious Howling

The Mysterious Howling
By Maryrose Wood
J WOO

In this first installment of the wonderfully quirky, funny new series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, we meet fifteen-year-old Penelope Lumley, the brightest graduate from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, who has just been hired for a position as governess at Ashton Place. Lord Frederick, the master of the house, had recently discovered three children on his grounds while hunting for game. The children had apparently been raised by wolves and display lupine tendencies. Lord Frederick, for reasons not explained except for “finders keepers”, decides to keep the children and hire a governess to educate them. He names the foundlings Alexander Incorrigible, Beowulf Incorrigible, and Cassiopeia Incorrigible.

Penelope quickly bonds with the children and begins the task of educating the children while teaching them how to behave in a civilized manner in time for Lady Constance’s Christmas ball. Lessons include reading classic literature and poetry, learning how to dress properly, learning to refrain from chasing squirrels, and Latin grammar. During a poetry lesson, Beowulf composes a heartfelt poem that combines what he has learned so far about chasing squirrels and poetry:

“Yum, yum. Squirrel!
No! No!
Yum, yum. Cake?
Yes! Yes!!"

The narrator has a personality of her own and sprinkles her own opinions throughout the story. Though the story is set in the nineteenth century, the narrator is clearly modern and makes comments on modern society, including a snide remark about hyperbole and stock market bubbles. She does not underestimate the reader’s intelligence and makes multiple references and jokes based on classic literature (there is a joke about eavesdropping and Hamlet) and Newtonian physics.

The ending leaves many questions unanswered and sets up the series to resolve those questions. Why were the children raised by wolves? Why is Penelope’s past so mysterious? Is there a connection between Penelope and the children? Why is Lord Frederick keeping the children when his wife clearly wants to dump them in an orphanage? Fans of Lemony Snicket, Roald Dahl, and Lois Lowry’s humorous novel The Willoughbys will enjoy The Mysterious Howling and will be impatient for the next installment of the series. Recommended for children and adults with an off-beat sense of humor.

Games and quizzes based on The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place can be found at http://www.awesomeadventurebooks.com/.

Reviewed by Margaret Ballard

April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman

April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman; Ill. by Nadine Bernard Westcott.
Holiday E BAT

Grandma and Grandpa are happy to have their grandchildren come to the farm for a visit, but they are prepared...after all, it's April 1st!

When the children come bursting in the door shouting "Grandpa, oh Grandpa, The cows have got loose - I think Big Brown Bessie just stepped on a goose!" Grandpa just shrugs and pours a glass of milk.

As more and more of the farm animals "escape" the children relay the bad news in excited (and rhyming) detail. Grandpa remains cool and calm until Grandma reminds him that April 1st isn't until tomorrow!

This illustrations are done with pen and watercolors in an exaggerated cartoon style. They are bright and colorful and tell quite a story all on their own. Be sure to check out the inside jokes...after Grandpa hears about the hens, he makes eggs! (then bacon, and cheese and milk....)

Be prepared for some big laughs!

Happy April 1st! And by the way...do you know where your cows are?

Reviewed by Marianne

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