Review (Book) - The Very Fairy Princess: Here Comes the Flower Girl by Julie Andrews

"Aunt Sue is getting married, and Gerry could not be more thrilled - especially since she's been chosen to be the flower girl! Gerry is determined to add her special touch to all the preparations. She paints glittery signs, decorates the cake with lots of pink, and helps her brother make fancy favors. When the wedding doesn't go exactly as she's planned, Gerry comes to realize that what matters most on such a special day is the sparkle that comes from inside - happiness and love." (inside jacket cover)

One word : GLITTERRRRRRR!!!11omgzzzsotuhedcywtcifw

*Ahem*...Anywho...yeah...the glitter alone on the front of this book is quite likely to attract any girl's attention.

The pictures are very Fancy Nancy-esque (done in ink and color pencil on Kaecolor paper), though they are not quite as bright. Really the whole book is reminiscent of Fancy Nancy (and what girl isn't a fan of those books?), although Geraldine doesn't seem to care about being quite as fancy as Nancy, so long as she has her fairy wings and wand.

The things I dislike about this book are the illustrations - I don't think they are as clean and crisp or as well done as Fancy Nancy - and some of the text. It's hard to verbalize, but some of the words on the page are emphasized by being written in ALL CAPS (I have no problem with that in picture books), but also look...shakily written? A _LITTLE LI^KE TH_IS. I don't see myself using this book in a storytime, but despite its flaws it is written by the fabulous Julie Andrews...I would still be quick to recommend this series to all fans of books like Fancy Nancy and/or Pinkalicious.

My rating:

 

(only 2.5 if your copy doesn't have glitter on the cover)

Review (Book) - Sign Language ABC by Lora Heller

"Learn how to say your ABCs with your hands!
Use the sign language alphabet to...
~ Share messages with friends
~ Spell something top secret
~ Talk - without speaking - in a quiet place" (inside jacket cover)

I recently learned that alphabet books are supposedly valuable in any children's storytime, as it promotes early literacy. So, I guess it's a good thing that I already enjoyed using them in my storytimes! This book is great for any storytime then, because it's a very general one that will likely be able to fit in with any theme.

While the author seems to have intended the book for a slightly older audience (in her notes she says things like "use sign language to help practice spelling any word you want, sending messages across the playground, etc."), but I would not hesitate to use this book with even the youngest children. It is your typical alphabet book (i.e. "A is for Astronaut, B is for Bird"), including a variety of words that should already be familiar to young children, as well as fun, albeit slightly exaggerated illustrations. On each page, there is also an illustration of what your hand should look like if you are signing each letter. At the end of the book is a page with the entire sign language alphabet.

The only criticism I have to make about this book is that some of the lines on the hands (i.e. around each finger) are not particularly distinctive, which may make the hand illustration confusing to younger children who are trying to correctly imitate what is in the picture.

Amazon recommends this book for ages 4 and up, but I think I've made myself pretty clear where I stand on this issue.

My rating:

Review (Book) - Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand

"What a day! 
Bear can't believe it. 
It's the perfect day to make and fly a kite with Mole! 
But a surprise is waiting for the two friends on their windy-day adventure." (inside jacket cover)

I'm not sure what to say about this picture book...it is one that I could definitely live without, but at the same time, would be willing to try using in a storytime with a wide range of themes from bears to birds or friendship to rain.

The story is super short - there are typically only two lines of (larger) text per page. I think these sentences would be easily understood even by toddlers, but worry that some children will not be able to follow what is happening in the pictures at the same time without a little prompting (then again, I tend to enjoy asking the children if they notice what is happening in the pictures anyway). In the meantime, the accompanying pictures are well done, using bright colors in a soft hue. (Does that even make sense? I'm so NOT an artist...) I would be interested enough to pick up another Bear and Mole story.

Do you have any experience reading or using this book? Please share your experience with me if you have!

My rating:

.5

Teaser Tuesday - Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.
The "rules" are as follows:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two “teaser” sentences from that page.
• *NO SPOILERS*
• Include the title and author in case other TT participants want to add the book to their TBR list.

""Ten minutes till sunrise," he said. "I think this is going to be my lucky day.""
~pg. 78 of Jack Gantos's "Dead End in Norvelt"

Follow Friday

Question (11/2/2012) : What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can't deal with bad editing?

I have a tendency to give up on books if they have a slow start. I don't particularly care for love triangles anymore, since they're so over-done, but it won't stop me from reading a book if I like the story. Also, I vaguely remember reading something (can't remember if it was a book or an article for school) that was littered with quotation marks - and not the kind you use when you actually quote someone, and not in the sense of dialogue. That drove me up a wall and I couldn't finish it...whatever "it" was. See? Imagine "that", but having "that" done "several" times a paragraph, "sometimes" even more than once per sentence. "Annoyed" yet?

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I would appreciate a follow, IF you think my blog covering books and other ideas for Babies to Young Adults will appeal to you and/or help you in some way. I DO NOT want you to follow me just because you feel like you have to because I'm participating in the Hop, as I cannot promise the same to you. For instance, if your blogging specialty is erotic novels or adult books, I have nothing against you or your site, it's just not my cup of tea.

Have a great weekend!