Book Review: The Jesus Storybook Bible

I love this book and everything about it. When my daughter was an infant, it was cool in our circles to buy this Bible for your children, and a friend of the family bought a copy for our daughter. Over the years, there have been many children’s Bibles that I have seen that did not…

Author Review: Eric Carle

There won’t be a lot to say here, as most of this has been said elsewhere. Plus, it’s pretty straight-forward. Eric Carle is a writer and illustrator of children’s books, made famous by his simple, repetitive words and his pioneering work in collage illustration. He takes all his books from concept to final form, himself.…

Book Review: The BFG

I picked up this book this summer as part of a plan to read several books for movies coming out which I wanted to go see. As a life-long Roald Dahl fan, I had read The BFG before. I did not remember it being a favorite. (Technically, the top spot belongs to Matilda.) But on…

Book Review: Roscoe Riley Rules #1

My son is what is termed a “reluctant reader.” It seems a little more–a little stronger–than reluctant, sometimes. About a year ago, a kind bibliophile who also happens to be family, sent along a small pile of easy reader-esque books which she hoped would entice my son to read. Alas, although he spent some time…

Series Review: Jack Stalwart

I will dare to give the Jack Stalwart series of children’s secret agent books three stars, but only because my eight-year-old son loves exactly two series of books, and this is one of them. If I had found these Elizabeth Singer Hunt books on my own, I would have only made it through the first…

Book Review: The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook

The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook, featuring Jim Henson’s Muppets. It was published in 1978 by Random House. I don’t really know how or why my kids picked this book out of the stack that was left in the room into which they moved for the summer. (We are in the process of building a house.)…

Series Review: Ramona

The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary, which is, in order: Beezus and Romona, Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, Ramona and Her Father, Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona Quimby Age 8, Ramona Forever, and Ramona’s World. They were published from 1955 to 1999 (!) and include two Newbery Honors and one National Book Award. We…

Tenacious Dee

In the writing world, much of our advice becomes trite. Partly, I think, this is because it is true and therefore gets batted around so much it becomes tattered and, at times, useless. For example, my last post was about Write what you know. I have the feeling I could have written the first two…

Author Review: Jacqueline Wilson

Dustbin Baby, by Jacqueline Wilson–ahem, Dame Jacqueline Wilson–published in the UK in 2001 by Random House/Doubleday. Or at least that was where it started. I had a week before me, during which I was planning and packing for a very big trip, two thick books lined up in the queue (which would be the wooden…