Belle is a mule that is munching on collards from a garden. A kid notices this, and a grandma offers to tell the story of the animal. Belle had participated in the civil rights movement. The animal carried people to register to vote when the ferry was closed. The animal later pulled MLK's coffin after he had been killed. The book has a nice civil rights message, but is a bit wordy.
This is a Seuss book for adults. It feels more somber and less funny than the typical Seuss book. It deals primarily with the challenges of an old man visiting the doctor. The pictures can be funny, but the story feels like it is trying too hard to be cynical about medical visits.
The Berenstain Bears go to a kite flying contest. The bears have a homemade kite, while others have fancy store-bought kites. At first, the bears feel bad that their kite is not as fancy. However, when the wind starts gusting, the other kites fail and "big red" is the only one to remain. This is told in a nice rhyming style, making it a better Berenstain Bear book.
The triplets have moved out to the country. They want bicycles to get around. Their dad encourages them to grow some vegetables for the market. They go through the work of doing that and get some vegetables. Their neighbor offers to let them borrow the horse and cart to bring vegetables to the market and gives them some of his flowers to sell there. (He did look a bit creepy when he first appeared - however this is Sweden, not the US!) The first time, they don't tie up the horse, and he goes home on their own. They do a better job the next time. After the season, they have earned enough money to buy their bicycles.
A kid gets chicken pox and suffers and works through remedies before finally getting better. The sing-song meter and rhyme make this a joy to read. It also leads to conversations with kids that have no idea what chicken pox is.
A farm family is busy with their nighttime activities: bathing, reading in bed, getting up to use the bathroom or nurse the baby. They don't see some of the outdoor activities that the cat sees. However, the cat goes to sleep in the morning, so only the girl sees the morning scenery. The pictures are pretty.
A boy takes a bath and gets out and runs around the house naked. He grabs a cookie and imagines all the fun he can have running around naked. He sees a cape and starts to have more fun, much to his parent's chagrin. Finally, he realizes he is cold and is willing to put on clothes and go to bed. It feels like every little kid has gone through this at one time or another.
Pete the Cat: 5-Minute Bedtime Stories: Includes 12 Cozy Stories! by James Dean (Author, Illustrator), Kimberly Dean (Author)
This book has a dozen Pete the Cat stories. The stories are tedious. There are two many words. Every now and then there is an interesting part of story, but in general this has a lot to be desired. It is tough to get all the way through.
Sophie is a Norwegian girl who gets mysterious messages from somebody providing information about philosophy. She loves the opportunity to learn and explore, starting from the big questions of what existence is. There is another girl and a father working as a UN observer in the middle east. At times it goes to the supernatural with them doing things such as going back to view the ancient philosophers. It is an interesting exploration of philosophy and some of the rational and scientific-based influences. It felt that it went on for a little too long as the story got a bit "weird".
Huck Finn is a buddy of Tom Sawyer. His dad is an absent drunkard, and Huck spends most of his life hopping around. He decides to run away and ends up rafting down the river with Jim, a runaway slave. Their adventures are a commentary of the issues and idiosyncrasies of southern life. Huck is torn between different societal values with Jim. He is "property" so he should be returned. He is also a "person" so should have his freedom. He also observes some seemingly well-to-do southerners that are involved in a huge feud that leads to them all dying. Later they run into grifters that declare themselves royalty. Huck plays along because it is not a big deal, even though he does not believe them. They have some more adventures. Later he ends up meeting with Tom and they work to free Jim, only for Huck later learn that Jim had already been freed. The end faded a bit from the quality of the main part, but it was pretty good. It is an interesting view of change of vocabulary offensiveness that the use of the n-word has lead to a lot of banning of this book, even though it was considered common use for a children's book during the day.
There is not a whole lot to this book. There are animals. There are very few words. The pictures are bright and it is a quick read, but there is not a lot to it.
Three is a three legged stray dog that wanders around exploring the world and viewing animals with different numbers of leg. He eventually finds his way to the country where there are many different legs he hasn't seen before. He gets adopted by that family and lives happily ever after. He is a cute little dog, but the story is lackng.
Amelia Bedelia (1963)
Thank You, Amelia Bedelia (1964)
Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower (1966)
These are the first Amelia Bedelia book. She takes everything literally and gets in all sorts of trouble because of it. However, she is also a great cook, and the delicious food always manages to save her. The third book is a bit different. Here, it is the literal understanding of "shower" and the spray with water that helps cure a headache. The food is incidental. These originals are better than the derivatives.
After the Gingerbread man ran away, the old man and woman decide to cook a gingerbread girl with lots of candy. Alas, she runs away. She has a different rhyme as she goes. Eventually she gets to the fox. However, rather than get eaten, she uses her licorice hair to bridle the fox and now rides him around. Everyone goes to the old man and woman to keep them company. and eat treats. It is a bit interesting, but the message is quite confusing.
The Guinea Voyage by James Field Stanfield
The bulk of the Guinea Voyage is told in verse, with some prose at the end. The theme is that slave voyages were inhumane. The crew were treated horribly. The conditions were deplorable and they essentially had to sign their lives away before going on these slave voyages. And the condition of the crew was better than the conditions of the slaves. They were treated as less than human - possibly even less than animals would be treated. The author deplored slavery and saw the conditions of the slave trade as something awful.
This Isn't What It Looks Like: Secret Series, Book 4 by Pseudonymous Bosch
Cass is in a coma. She tried to consume chocolate to travel back in time to find the secret. Max-Ernest's parents are now in love again, so much so that they ignore him and are expecting a second child. Max-Ernest is trying to figure out a way to get to her mind as well as deal with other challenges in the world. There is a renaissance fair (both "real" and modern.) There are also Junior High kids being junior high kids. People look in the minds and in the past. It is time travel, but is it? The book also has random commercial interjections, including an "if you liked this, you would also like" section. There was double monocle that gave each bearer special powers. (It may include mind reading or x-ray.) Owen appears in a weird disguise - again. At times I got lost figuring out what the goal of the characters was, but the way it was carried out made it fun.
Great Britain and the American Civil War by Ephraim Douglass Adams
As the title indicates, this is analysis of the American Civil War from a British perspective. Britain abhorred slavery, but it also feared slave rebellions. Britain also required cotton for many British factories and had experience supporting people's self-determination, especially when it would benefit Britain economically. Britain had expected the south to retain independence. The north had not come out firmly against slavery. (There was a difficult balancing act that American politicians were trying to perform. They wanted to keep border states in the fold but not stripping them of their slaves, yet they also wanted to show their anti-slavery chops.) There are also various challenges in how America treated the south. Depending on the international treaty they were looking out, they may be internal rebels or an enemy force. There were concerns with blockades and other economic impacts. The British tried to be neutral towards the American belligerents. There were also concerns about having a united European front. Britain did not want to get involved in the conflict. Eventually slavery became the important part. The north emancipated slaves. The south had even tried a last-ditch effort to get Europe to their side by potentially eliminated slavery. The book is quite long with copious footnotes. I wonder how the world would be different if the south retained independence? Was Lincoln's goal of keeping union together worth it? Would the US have been such a great power? How would the world wars been impacted?
Kids are having a big party for friends and their dogs. They make cupcakes. However, they forget to add baking powder, and the cupcakes turn out hard and flat. They had half the dough left, so they add half the amount of baking powder the recipe calls for. Cupcakes end up nice and fluffy and the party is a success. My kids response was "why is this science"? They do learn that baking powder is needed for cupcakes to rise, but they don't go into much discussion. It is fairly short and easy to read.
Jorge el Curioso by H.A. Ray
This is Curious George in Spanish. It doesn't go easy with the words. Some I didn't recognize. (But perhaps I didn't know the dialect.) The pictures are all the same. It is fun to read out loud to practice Spanish reading. "Monocito" just has a nice ring to it.
The Name of this Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
The characters in this first book of the Secret series are just barely normal enough to be believable. One more step and they would be in the realm of fantasy. They are weird, but believable. Max Ernest and Cass are friends, except when they are not. They try to solve riddles and problems. There is something to do with people with synesthesia. Smells, colors and words all get associated. They uncover some bad guys and their alchemy that lets them live to extremely old age. However, there is some human sacrifice involved. They meet Owen who is stuttering attendant. Or maybe he's spy with an Irish accent. Or maybe just somebody that is good with accents that can help at times. Max Ernst has two names because his parents could not agree on the proper name. All his hairs are the same length. He is great at solving puzzles. He has some condition, but nobody knows what it is. Cass is a survivalist. She has a mom and "two grandpas". She does not know about her dad. The audiobook narration is great, with various effects and accents to go with the story.
A poor drunk auctions off his wife and daughter. To the surprise of everyone, somebody buys them and takes them off. He decides that he will make his life better. He stops drinking and achieves success in life. Then they come back. However, the girl with them is not his actual daughter, but the daughter of the man he sold them two. He has some ups and downs in his life. He still seems to internally waffle between the moral and personal gain. There is a lot of stuff that happens. I had trouble staying interested and following all the details.
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The "Good Parts" Version) by William Goldman
This is the "good parts" abridged version of the Princess Bride. It is narrated by the director of the movie. He had loved having his father read it to him when he was young. Only later, did he find his dad had focussed on the interesting action parts.
This version is similar to the movies and has many of the quotable parts. A girl loves a boy. The boy goes off to sea to be worthy of her. However, he is said to have been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. She is later betrothed to royalty. The son of a swordmaker has vowed to avenge the death of his father (who was killed by a 6 fingered man.) He teams with a giant and a Sicilian as part of a criminal gang. They try to kidnap the princess. However, the man in black appears. He is actually he Dread Pirate Roberts - and the original boy. (Turns out the "pirate" is a title that goes from person to person.) He defeats the Sicilian in the battle of wits, and swordmaker son in sword battle. The swordmaker and giant become friends with him and they all go to rescue the princess from the evil royal dude. There are sword fights, comedy and action.
This is one of those DK books. It has very nice pictures and some words that go along. It was written by committee and felt familiar. There is not much originality, but if you are into penguins, it is for you.
