Current & previous staff reviews (by year):
May 2010
New Book Reviews from The Children's Bookstore Staff
The Weaver
Up in the sky, the weaver spins thread of clouds, shooting stars and spiders web. Her colors come from the sky, the grass, the sun, and the water. She collects children's laughter, kisses, hugs, friendship and love as weaves them into the fabric of a coat. At sunset, she spreads the coat over the world to warm us, protect us, and fill us with joy. This reassuring gentle story with its beautiful illustrations makes perfect bedtime reading and will delight fans of Grandfather Twilight and Time for Bed.
Goliath: Hero of the Great Baltimore Fire
Goliath was a noble Percheron who led the team of horses that pulled the five ton water tower for engine company fifteen. Engine Company 15 was first to arrive at the John E. Hurst Company, where the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 began. Goliath was badly burned when the building exploded but he pulled the water tower and its driver to safety. Any ordinary horse would have died of the injuries Goliath suffered but when he returned to the firehouse after months of healing, Goliath was ready and willing to take up his work again. Claudia Friddell (a teacher at Gilman) has brought to light a fascinating piece of Baltimore history. Friddell's text is accompanied by Howell's beautiful illustrations.
A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Creatures
A group of crows is called a Mischief, but what about a group of Sphinxes? Cirrone's elegant artwork illustrates groups of magical creatures with their proper terminology. The book ends with a glossary which explains the origins of the various creatures.
The Birthday Ball
Princess Patricia Priscilla escapes from her royal life and the planning of her 16th birthday ball by disguising herself as a peasant and attending the local village school where she makes new friends and attracts the attention of the handsome schoolmaster. Disgusting suitors, lovable peasants, the princess, and her clueless parents all meet at the birthday ball where Princess Patricia Priscilla calls the shots. Lowry's gifted storytelling is accompanied by Jules Feiffer's famed illustration.
Drizzle
Magic is at work on Peabody Farm. Every day at one p.m. the rain comes and the family's unique rhubarb flourishes. Then one day the rain doesn't come and everything seems to be going wrong. Polly Peabody has always thought of herself as a coward, but now she must find the courage to save the farm she loves so much. As she unravels the tangled web of mystery, she finds friends in unexpected places, courage from hidden depths, and an awareness of the role she was destined to play. This clever, magical tale and its charming messy-haired heroine will keep readers riveted to the last page.
68 Rooms
The Thorne Rooms, the 68 exquisitely detailed miniature rooms of varying time periods housed at the Chicago Art Institute, are the setting for this art-inspired adventure-fantasy. Jack and Ruthie are able to travel in time and to change their size from dollhouse miniature to real size. These abilities allow them to solve more than one intriguing mystery.
Alchemy and Meggy Swann
Meggy Swann is sent from her small country village to live with her father, an alchemist whom she has never met, in the great city of London. Once there, she finds her father obsessed with his work and barely aware of his crippled daughter's existence. Meggy's determination to survive leads her to new friendships that make her realize she is more accepted in the dangerous and dirty city than she ever was in her small country village.
The Kane Chronicles Book One: The Red Pyramid
After tackling the Greek pantheon in the Lightning Thief Series, Rick Riordan takes on the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Carter Kane lives out of a suitcase as he travels the globe with his famous Egyptologist father , Dr. Julius Kane, while his younger sister, Sadie, lives with their grandparents in London where she goes to school and has friends like a normal kid. After being separated for nearly six years, the three come together at the British Museum where a magical summoning goes wrong, and the children discover that the great gods of Ancient Egypt are waking and that the great god Set has a frightening plan. Together they set out on a quest to rescue their father and discover the truth about their family and its links to an ancient society that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
Ashes
Gabriella Schramm, a bright, well-adjusted book-loving 13-year-old german girl, has her world turned upside down when the Nazis come to power. In this captivating story of Germany in the 1930s, Kathryn Lasky shows readers a side of this horrific time in history that has not often been told.