Ava and Taco Cat (Ava and Pip Book 2)

Ava and Taco Cat (Ava and Pip Book 2) by Carol Weston

Ava is an 11-year old aspiring writer struggling through life as a tween. She names the cat they get from the animal shelter "taco cat" - a palindrome to go along with the palindrome names she and her sister Pip have. Her family regularly explores palindromes and word play. 

The cat takes a while to warm to her and the family. She uses her experience with the cat to write a story in school. This is picked up by the newspaper along with a picture of the cat. This leads the original owner to come and ask for the cat back. Despite others being reluctant to give up the cat Ava gives it up. Later the original owner returns and offers it back, giving the story a happy ending. The book even concludes with a long list of palindromes. There is plenty of fund word play worked in without being overbearing.

Lost on the Amazon (Choose Your Own Adventure #9)

Lost on the Amazon (Choose Your Own Adventure #9) by R. A. Montgomery

This 1980s book has been updated to include mention of cell phones, but much of the story remains the same. You are a doctor going to the Amazon to help people and rescue some friends. You battle with the situation as well as run into real "Amazons". I like to read these to find all the endings. Now I remember how annoying it was. I have various bookmarks to try to go back. The various endings are also not in the same universe. The multiple endings are not different outcomes from the same base scenario, but instead rely on different premises. 

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture by Henry J. Amen Iv and Kyubyong Park, illustrated by Aya Padrón

This is an "ABC" book of Korean words. The only catch is that the romanization of Korean does not include all the letters. Thus some of the words are English with a Korean translation, such as "F is for flying - nalda". Other words use less popular romanization "G is for gimchi", though most of us would think of it as kimchi. They do have downloads of the words. However, the bulk download did not work properly and the individual words were each in a single file. It did work, but it could be a bit painful. The book was not bad, but kids did not seem too interested.

Punch with Judy

Punch with Judy by Avi

A boy is orphaned and ends up with a traveling troop. This includes a girl, Judy. They find themselves in trouble with the law. They try to reach the New York state line, but don't quite make it before the law catches up with them. However, by the time they are reached must of the crimes are irrelevant. (Judy got married and now has a different last name.) Only Punch, being an underage orphan is in trouble with the law. However, they hatch an agreement that he will be free if they make the authority laugh. They put on a show that will use a "slapstick" as part of the comedy. The stick will make a loud sound by not hurt. However, in the middle of the show, the "block" that makes it work comes out, and Judy ends up slapping Punch for real. All is good because the cops have cracked up and they are now free. They were a "real life" Punch and Judy show. The historical setting made it a bit hard to get into.

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim, illustrated by Cindy Kang

From boyhood, King Sejong loved to read. He wanted his subjects to be able to read and write also. However, it was difficult because they had to use Chinese characters. He invented an alphabet that represented how sounds were made that would be easy for everyone to learn. After many centuries this caught on and became the official alphabet of Korea. The book tells the simple tale and then has a brief historical explanation at the end. There is also a small explanation of the alphabet (though I wish there would have been more.)

Victor, the Wolf with Worries

Victor, the Wolf with Worries by Catherine Rayner

A wolf worries about a lot of things. He just can't do a lot of wolf things well. Then a friend helps him see that all wolves have worries. Then he goes on to be a good wolf. It is a fairly generic story.

There's No Such Thing as...Unicorns / No hay tal cosa como los... unicornios

There's No Such Thing as...Unicorns / No hay tal cosa como los... unicornios by Lucy Rowland, illustrated by Katy Halford

A girl hears from everyone that there is no such thing as unicorns. In the zoo, school and elsewhere the message is repeated. Finally, she looks in the sky and sees a unicorn. The book has a nice rhyming style in English, but the accompanying Spanish is just a literal translation that misses out on the structure.

Stacey the Soccer Fairy

Stacey the Soccer Fairy by Daisy Meadows\

This was originally "Francesca the Football Fairy" in the UK. The girls attend a soccer game with their parents. It is very clearly European Football - it is very popular and relegation is a thing. A goblin has stolen the special soccer ball that helps people to play well. The goblin team hopes to win a tournament. However, like in other fairy books, if the wrong people have this object, things mess up. The girls and stacey need to hunt down the goblin to get the soccer ball. This includes a bus chase in the parking lot - something that seems a little more intense than the typical fairy book. However, they are able to clean up the mess and the girls go back to the game, where one of their dad's is fully decked out in gear, wig and face paint.

Abigail the Breeze Fairy

Abigail the Breeze Fairy by Daisy Meadows

There is a fair going on, but the wind is blowing everything down. A goblin has the breeze feather and is causing the problem. He eats a puppy's dog food and then tries to escape in a hot air balloon. The girls and Abigail use some trickery to get the feather back - and then set the goblin off. Meanwhile, grandma made a great cake that she hoped would win over the other lady that always wins. However, the wind caused her to trip and the cake landed right on face face of the judge, seemingly dooming her chances. Luckily, he tasted what was on his face and awarded her first place. This is a typical fairy book, though it had the nice "grandma" battle to lighten things up.

Stephanie the Soccer Fairy

Stephanie the Starfish Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls and the fairy are trying to find the missing piece of the conch shell that is being guarded by a starfish. However, goblins are also looking for it. Early on, the goblins catch Stephanie in a net. She ends up out of commission for most of the book. However, she is able to use some fairy magic to lead the goblins on the wrong track. Meanwhile, the girls find the starfish. They can communicate only by signs, but they work together with some puffins to help rescue Stephanie and return the shell piece. This books is a rare one with the fairy out of commission for most of the book.

Three Times Lucky

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

A girl does not know who her parents are. She currently lives with "The Colonel". He found her in a river one stormy day. He does not know how he got there and has no memory of his life prior. They live in a rural area of North Carolina, somewhere near Winston-Salem. Things get interesting when a detective comes into town investigating a murder. Later, somebody is killed also. The girl and her friends decide they will help in the investigation. (In part out of guilt because her friend was returning a boat to the man shortly before he died.) The investigations end up merging, and it is discovered that the Colonel was once a lawyer and worked on the case of the murders (who were also robbers.) His former fiancé was the lady in town, who had hoped he would regain some memory. It is an interesting look at small town life and a good detective story in one.

Holly the Christmas Fairy

Holly the Christmas Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Jack Frost wants to get some special Christmas presents. The girls and the fairy want to keep him from getting them. Somehow, they can see exactly which presents are the special ones, but Jack Frost needs to open everyone to find out. Jack Frost hides in an exhibit in the mall and pretends to be Santa. Nobody seems to notice a bunch of Goblins and a mean Santa. They think it is cool when the reindeer fly away. The girls eventually get the presents, and then trick Jack Frost into wearing the crown that gets him banished. Then they get Santa working again to deliver presents. This has even more plot holes than the typical fairy book.

Victoria the Violin Fairy

Victoria the Violin Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls see a performance by a band with weird instrumentation that sounds really good. Turns out they are goblins with the magic violin. Victoria the violin fairy comes and helps them rescue the special violin. First they ring the other guy in the audience's cell phone to get him to leave. Then they shine spotlights on the violin goblin and drop a stage scene and curtains to try to separate him. Then they try to have him go back while swapping out the old violin with one they find sitting around. They cut the lights and then swap out hte violin. Now the goblin band sounds awful. Why do they need to do certain things when fairy magic can handle it also? I guess you just need to suspend beliefs. And don't goblins like bad sounding music? It was interesting that it started out with the girls searching online for music to purchase and download. This sets it in a very narrow range of time. 

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

As I kid walks his regular, boring route home, he imagines that he sees something more interesting. This imagination keeps crowing and extending until it gets to the point of an elaborate parade of different people, animals and vehicles. Though when he finally does get home, he just mentions that there was nothing special. 

This was one of the first Seuss books and has since been withdrawn from publication because of a Chinese Man eating with sticks. It seems just weird that heirs end up with control like this. I guess that's what you get with copyright extensions. At least this will be in public domain in a decade (unless there is another extension...)

Abe Lincoln (Landmark Books)

Abe Lincoln (Landmark Books) by Sterling North

This biography of Lincoln covers a lot of his law career and his early political career. It pretty much wraps up with him getting the presidential nomination. It is interesting to have insights into his law practice and family life. The presidency is well covered in many other books, so this one makes a nice addition to Lincoln stories.

Gabby the Bubble Gum Fairy

Gabby the Bubble Gum Fairy: The Candy Land Fairies Book 2

Some goblins are chewing bubble gum and being mean at a park. Other people find gum too hard. There is one girl at the park that is a "park buddy" that plays with others that are feeling lonely. She is about to get a gum award from the factory, but the gum is all bad. Rachel and Kirsty go to the candy factory and help rescue the important fairy item from the goblins and get the candy back to normal.

Phoebe the Fashion Fairy

Phoebe the Fashion Fairy (Rainbow Magic: The Party Fairies, No. 6) by Daisy Meadows

A girl's party dress is ruined with green paint. It must be goblins. They hunt down the goblin with Phoebe that Fashion Fairy, but then the goblin swipes the special party favor and hides in a playhouse. They get him out by filling the house with water. Phoebe then makes everything good and the party is great. For a fashion fairy, Phoebe did not look very fashionable.

Crystal the Snow Fairy

Crystal the Snow Fairy by Daisy Meadows

After they saved the rainbow fairies, the girls are called to rescue the missing feathers from the rooster doodle. The weather fairies help them out. The first feather is from the snow fairy. The goblin doesn't know how to use it and is making it snow in the middle of the summer. Alas, he doesn't like having his feet cold, so the girls are able to get it back by smuggling fairies in a box with slippers. The goblin naps after putting on the slippers and the girls steal the feather. The goblin chases them, but ends up tripping with the slippers and turns into a big snowball. This book has some interesting tricks and variety in the typical fairy story.

Cara the Camp Fairy

Cara the Camp Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls are going to summer camp and things start going bad. Jack Frost has stolen three tokens that help summer camps. One allows kids to have fun, one keeps them cool and one helps them find their way. Jack Frost has the goblins in a summer camp nearby. The girls and the fairy go to get the missing objects from the goblins. This includes a raid by the whole camp (who think the goblins are just boys.) This is one of the better fairy books.

Katie, the Kitten Fairy

Katie, the Kitten Fairy by Daisy Meadows

The girls see a kitten running around. It looks like a regular kitten until it starts to show pits of fairy magic. It can transform to a giant being or do other magic. It had been running away from goblins that were trying to hold it. The kids help a boy to rescue and later adopt the cat. They also get the goblin away from goblins, making the world happier.