Sunday, September 18, 2011

DOG IN BOOTS (Picture Book)

by Greg Gormley, illustrated by Roberta Angaramo

Holiday House, 2011


A Book Review by

Violet the Telekinetic Puppy


I’m Violet and I don’t wear boots but the dog in the book I’m going to tell you about tries to wear boots and it is a funny book because dogs should not wear boots unless they are sled dogs.


The dog who tries to wear boots in this book is not a sled dog and his name is Dog. Dog likes to read and at the beginning of this story he is reading a book called PUSS IN BOOTS and that is a real book that maybe you have read. It might be a book about a sled cat but I don’t know because I have never read PUSS IN BOOTS. But Dog reads it and after he does he wants to wear boots and so he goes to the store and buys some boots and he has to buy four boots because he has four paws. Poor Dog finds out that he can’t dig when he is wearing the boots and dogs like to dig so Dog returns those boots and gets some different boots that are rain boots. And you might think the store wouldn’t take back the boots because Dog wore them while digging but the man at the store is nice and lets Dog trade in the boots for rain boots. But you know what? Not all dogs like to swim but Dog is a dog who likes to swim and when he is wearing the rain boots he can’t swim because the rain boots make him sink. That is a funny page because the fish in the pond are surprised to see a dog at the bottom of the pond and there is also a smiling frog in that picture. I like that picture.


Dog keeps going back to the store and getting different things to put on his paws but they all cause problems like how Dog can swim when he is wearing flippers but he can’t scratch behind his ears when he is wearing flippers. Dog even tries to wear high heels but he finds out that it is hard to run in high heels and that is a funny picture too. In the end Dog figures out what he needs to wear on his paws but I’m not going to tell you what that is because you can find out for yourself when you read this book.


The pictures are so good and when Dog has troubles with his boots and his flippers and his high heels and his skis you will laugh because those are funny pictures. And you will laugh at the end of the book when Dog reads another book that is also a real book that maybe you have read and that book is called RED RIDING HOOD. I have read that book before so I know what Dog will probably try to wear next and I think Dog will look good in a red riding hood even if he won’t be able to roll on dead fish very well while he is wearing it. And if Dog carries a basket like Little Red Riding Hood does he can put all of his bones and his books in it and take them with him when he visits his grandma.


Here is a list of who will like this book:


Mushers.


Podiatrists.


Cobblers.


Bigfoot.


Good-bye.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Briar’s Journal (September 13 to 20, 2011)

Dream Entry*
May 23, 2007

Bigfoot is whittling.

“It’s a snake,” he tells me.

He sets down his knife and runs his fingers over the long, crooked stick.

“Nice and scaly,” he says.

He whips back his arm and then launches the stick across the field. I’m running after it before it hits the ground. When it does, I can’t see it through the tall grasses and wildflowers. I sniff for it, but the only scent I pick up is the sweet tang of peanut buttercup blossoms. I hear a sound like paper rustling. A snake slithers past me.

“Fetch me if you can,” the snake says.

I chase him, but he’s too fast. I run into a duck.

“There!” the duck says, pointing his wing under a fallen tree trunk.

I grab under the trunk and come out with a piece of a broken hula hoop.

“Oh! That’s where I put that!” the duck says. “I’ve been looking everywhere for it.”

I hear the papery sound again. I follow it to the snake who is now racing back towards Bigfoot. Bigfoot reaches down and easily snatches him up. The snake wriggles in his hand. When Bigfoot takes out his knife, I want to look away. But when he scrapes the blade across the snake’s back there’s no blood, only curls of wood shavings. The snake is a plain stick again.

“What are you making now?” I ask.

Bigfoot doesn’t answer. With each stroke of his knife, a curled wood shaving falls from the stick. As each one drifts to the ground, it becomes a piece of paper. I collect all the pages and assemble them into books for my friends and the duck.



Books for BIGFOOT:

BLUEFISH by Pat Schmatz
[YOUNG ADULT]
Candlewick
September 13, 2011

DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
September 13, 2011

GOING UNDERGROUND by Susan Vaught
[YOUNG ADULT]
Bloomsbury USA
September 13, 2011

THE UNFORGOTTEN COAT by Frank Cottrell Boyce
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Candlewick
September 13, 2011

THE FINGERTIPS OF DUNCAN DORFMAN by Meg Wolitzer
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Dutton-Penguin
September 20, 2011

HOUND DOG TRUE by Linda Urban
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September 20, 2011


Books for MORZANT:

WITCHES: THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE TALE OF DISASTER IN SALEM by Rosalyn Schanzer
[YOUNG ADULT—NON-FICTION]
National Geographic Children’s Books
September 13, 2011

EVERY THING ON IT by Shel Silverstein
[POETRY—MIDDLE GRADE]
HarperCollins
September 20, 2011


Books for PENNY:

AFTER OBSESSION by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel
[YOUNG ADULT]
Bloomsbury USA
September 13, 2011

THE AVIARY by Kathleen O’Dell
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Knopf-Random House
September 13, 2011

CIRCLE NINE by Anne Heltzel
[YOUNG ADULT]
Candlewick
September 13, 2011

FROST by Marianna Baer
[YOUNG ADULT]
Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins
September 13, 2011

THE ISLE OF BLOOD by Rick Yancey
[YOUNG ADULT—THIRD IN THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST SERIES]
Simon & Schuster
September 13, 2011

AS I WAKE by Elizabeth Scott
[YOUNG ADULT]
Dutton-Penguin
September 15, 2011


Books for the DUCK:

DOWN THE MYSTERLY RIVER by Bill Willingham,
with illustrations by Mark Buckingham
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Starscape-Tom Doherty
September 13, 2011

WISDOM’S KISS by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
[YOUNG ADULT]
Houghton Mifflin
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

DARK OF THE MOON by Tracy Barrett
[YOUNG ADULT]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September 20, 2011


Books for NORMAN:

JOURNAL OF A SCHOOLYARD BULLY: NOTES ON NOOGIES,
WET WILLIES, AND WEDGIES by Farley Katz
[MIDDLE GRADE]
St. Martin’s Griffin
September 13, 2011

LUNCH LADY AND THE FIELD TRIP FIASCO
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
[MIDDLE GRADE COMIC—SIXTH IN THE SERIES]
Knopf-Random House
September 13, 2011

THE ONLY ONES by Aaron Starmer
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Delacorte-Random House
September 13, 2011

GUYS READ: THRILLERS edited by Jon Scieszka
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Walden Pond-HarperCollins
September 20, 2011


Books for BEVERLY:

BLOOD WOUNDS by Susan Beth Pfeffer
[YOUNG ADULT]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September 13, 2011

THE MIDNIGHT ZOO by Sonya Hartnett,
with illustrations by Andrea Offermann
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Candlewick
September 13, 2011

WAITING FOR THE MAGIC by Patricia MacLachlan,
with illustrations by Amy June Bates
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Atheneum-Simon & Schuster
Septmeber 13, 2011

WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Scholastic
September 13, 2011

JEFFERSON’S SONS by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
[MIDDLE GRADE]
Dial-Penguin
September 15, 2011

WHAT YOU WISH FOR: A BOOK FOR DAFUR
by Book Wish Foundation
[YOUNG ADULT]
Putnam-Penguin
September 15, 2011


Books for OLIVER:

THE CROWN ON YOUR HEAD by Nancy Tillman
[PICTURE BOOK]
Feiwel & Friends-Macmillan
September 13, 2011

ROOSTER’S REVENGE by Beatrice Rodriguez
[PICTURE BOOKS]
Enchanted Lion
September 13, 2011

TOYS COME HOME: BEING THE EARLY EXPERIENCES
OF AN INTELLIGENT STINGRAY, A BRAVE BUFFALO,
AND A BRAND-NEW SOMEONE CALLED PLASTIC
by Emily Jenkins, with illustrations by Paul O. Zelinksky
[CHAPTER BOOK—THIRD IN THE SERIES]
Schwartz & Wade-Random House
September 13, 2011

BLUE CHICKEN by Deborah Freedman
[PICTURE BOOK]
Viking-Penguin
September 15, 2011


Books for LENNY:

COWS TO THE RESCUE by John Himmelman
[PICTURE BOOK]
Henry Holt
September 13, 2011

EVERYTHING GOES: ON LAND by Brian Biggs
[PICTURE BOOK]
Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins
September 13, 2011

MR. PUTTER & TABBY RING THE BELL by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Arthur Howard
[EARLY READER]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September 13, 2011


Books for VIOLET:

LEVI STRAUSS GETS A BRIGHT IDEA:
A FAIRLY FABRICATED STORY OF A PAIR OF PANTS
by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Stacy Innerst
[PICTURE BOOK]
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
September 13, 2011




* The dream entries from Briar’s journal contain premonitions of books that will be published in the future. Briar’s dream self foresees the books’ summaries and knows which will likely appeal to each of her friends. Briar always wakes up before she can see whether her friends will enjoy the books.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Briar’s Journal (August 23 to September 1, 2011)

Dream Entry*
November 5, 2003

The jellyfish who lives in the lake behind the library calls me over.


“I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 54,639,326,” he says. “If you can tell me what the number is, you can have the lake treasure.”


I want the lake treasure. It’s rumored to be a chest full of peanut butter cookies. But I don’t know what number the jellyfish is thinking of because I’m psychic, not telepathic. I’m about to guess 14 when I notice a beagle puppy watching us from across the lake. His tail starts to wag. Suddenly the answer comes to me.


“Bowling ball,” I say.


The jellyfish dives back under the water. A second later, a red cooler bobs to the surface. I pull it to shore. Ready to gobble up all the peanut butter cookies inside, I throw open the lid. All I see is seaweed. A second beagle puppy peeks inside. The seaweed quivers, then shoots out of the cooler. There aren’t any peanut butter cookies at all.


“Books!” says a third beagle puppy who is hovering over the cooler.


A duck lands nearby and nibbles on the seaweed. I try some, too, hoping it will taste like peanut butter cookies. It doesn’t.


All my friends ride up on water skis. They, the puppies, and the duck divide the lake treasure.



BIGFOOT’s share of the lake treasure:


HERE LIES LINC by Delia Ray

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Knopf-Random House

August 23, 2011


PEARL VERSES THE WORLD by Sally Murphy,

with illustrations by Heather Potter

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

August 23, 2011


AMERICUS by MK REED, illustrated by Jonathan David Hill

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

August 30, 2011


BAKE SALE by Sara Varon

[MIDDLE GRADE—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

August 30, 2011


THE MAP OF ME by Tami Lewis Brown

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

August 30, 2011


RACHEL SPINELLI PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE

by Paul Acampora

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Roaring Brook

August 30, 2011




MORZANT’s share of the lake treasure:


TRAPPED: HOW THE WORLD RESCUED 33 MINERS

FROM 2,000 FEET BELOW THE CHILEAN DESERT

by Marc Aronson

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

August 30, 2011


THE FABULOUS FLYING MACHINES

OF ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT

by Victoria Griffith, illustrated by Eva Montanari

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Abrams

September 1, 2011




PENNY’s share of the lake treasure:


EDDIE: THE LOST YOUTH OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

by Scott Gustafson

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Simon & Schuster

August 23, 2011


THIS DARK ENDEAVOR: THE APPRENTICESHIP

OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN by Kenneth Oppel

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon & Schuster

August 23, 2011


THE PROJECT by Brian Falkner

[YOUNG ADULT]

Random House

August 23, 2011


ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD by Kendare Blake

[YOUNG ADULT]

Tor-Tom Doherty Associates

August 30, 2011


THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Aladdin-Simon & Schuster

August 30, 2011


THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch

[YOUNG ADULT]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic

September 1, 2011




The DUCK’s share of the lake treasure:


THE JEWEL AND THE KEY by Louise Spiegler

[YOUNG ADULT]

Clarion-Houghton Mifflin

August 29, 2011


WITCHLANDERS by Lena Coakley

[YOUNG ADULT]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

August 30, 2011




NORMAN’s share of the lake treasure:


DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK by Tom Angleberger

[MIDDLE GRADE—SECOND IN THE ORIGAMI YODA SERIES]

Amulet-Abrams

August 23, 2011


13 GIFTS by Wendy Mass

[YOUND ADULT]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic

September 1, 2011


FLOORS by Patrick Carman

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic

September 1, 2011


SIX DAYS by Philip Webb

[YOUNG ADULT]

The Chicken House-Scholastic

September 1, 2011


S.0.S. by GORDON KORMAN

[MIDDLE GRADE—THIRD IN THE TITANIC TRILOGY]

Scholastic

September 1, 2011




BEVERLY’s share of the lake treasure:


MIMI by John Newman

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

August 23, 2011


MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND by Tricia Springstubb,

with illustrations by Heather Ross

[MIDDLE GRADE—SEQUEL TO WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

August 23, 2011


BRONXWOOD by Coe Booth

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO TYRELL]

Push

September 1, 2011


IN TROUBLE by Ellen Levine

[YOUNG ADULT]

Carolrhoda-Lerner

September 1, 2011




OLIVER’s share of the lake treasure:


HAND BOOK by Jeff Newman

[PICTURE BOOK]

Simon & Schuster

August 23, 2011


GRANDPA GREEN by Lane Smith

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

August 30, 2011


ONE MOON, TWO CATS by Laura Godwin,

illustrated by Yoko Tanaka

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

August 30, 2011


ART 123: COUNT FROM 1 TO 12

WITH GREAT WORKS OF ART by Stefano Zuffi

[PICTURE BOOK]

Abrams

September 1, 2011




LENNY’s share of the lake treasure:


BE QUIET, MIKE! by Leslie Patricelli

[PICTURE BOOK]

Candlewick

August 23, 2011


BINKY UNDER PRESSURE by Ashley Spires

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—THIRD BINKY ADVENTURE]

Kids Can Press

September 1, 2011




VIOLET’s share of the lake treasure:


ESTIE AND THE MENSCH by Jane Kohuth,

illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

[PICTURE BOOK]

Random House

August 23, 2011


THE LITTLE BITTY BAKERY by Leslie Muir,

illustrated by Betsy Lewin

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

August 30, 2011


THE BASKET BALL by Esmé Raji Codell,

illustrated by Jennifer Plecas

[PICTURE BOOK]

Abrams

September 1, 2011


MY NAME IS ELIZABETH! by Annika Dunklee,

illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

[PICTURE BOOK]

Kids Can Press

September 1, 2011




* The dream entries from Briar’s journal contain premonitions of books that will be published in the future. Briar’s dream self foresees the books’ summaries and knows which will likely appeal to each of her friends. Briar always wakes up before she can see whether her friends will enjoy the books.