Chuck and Woodchuck

Chuck and Woodchuck
Cece Bell

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-0763675240
Publisher: Candlewick
Date of publication: March 8, 2016
Age: 4 - 8 years

Themes: friendship, shyness, woodchucks, school, show & tell

When Caroline's classmate Chuck brings Woodchuck to show-and-tell, Woodchuck is so funny that their teacher says he can come to school every day! Woodchuck is friendly to everyone, but he's especially sweet to Caroline. He gives her Chuck’s hat when her ears get cold and Chuck's cupcake when she drops hers. But when Caroline forgets her lines during the class play, it's not Woodchuck who comes to the rescue.

This is just plain old adorable. A bit in the vein of Bell's book El Deafo, this book reads from first person, relaying simply and sweetly the tale of some shy friends. While it may be simply told, there's still some character/story development to appreciate, mainly Chuck's ability to talk to Caroline. Also, the illustrations, in classic Bell style, are perfect for the book. I especially appreciated how there were things to notice in the background--like how Chuck would always notice how to help out Caroline. You'll just have to see the book to really appreciate it.

And while this is a cute book and would, indeed, make a fine readaloud (especially to start off a school year), it's not quite a five-star, simply because of its simplicity. It's just plain adorable, like I said before. Still, definitely give a try, especially for the shy guys and Cece Bell fans in your life.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

Little Robot

Little Robot
Ben Hatke

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-1626720800
Publisher: First Second
Date of publication: September 1, 2015
Age: Grades 1 - 4
Genre: Graphic Novel, Science Fiction

Themes: friendship, robots, STEM

When a little girl finds an adorable robot in the woods, she presses a button and accidentally activates him for the first time. Now, she finally has a friend. But the big, bad robots are coming to collect the little guy, and it's all up to a five-year-old armed only with a wrench and a fierce loyalty to her mechanical friend to save the day!

This is just an all around good book. There's so many small details to appreciate, as well as the story as a whole. For instance, the text is sparse, with the art acting as the main story-teller. The girl is the only character that actually talks (the robots all make nice-for-reading-aloud robot noises). And then there's details like this:

This emphasizes the simple art-filled, minimal-text feel of the book. I love it. So, on the whole, it makes a great book for kids of all ages—reader and non-reader, alike.

As for the actual story, I really appreciated the lesson it has in friendship. The little girl is obviously pretty lonely, and with this new robot friend, is trying to navigate the difficulties of balancing what she wants with the needs/wants of the robot. Plus, don't forget, there's evil robots to contend with, adding a classic good vs. evil subplot to the book.

The lack of fifth star was due to little bits and pieces that I didn't understand/appreciate. But really, I'd still recommend it. I think it'd even be an awesome classroom study, because there's so much to infer in the story and lessons to learn about friendship. A great graphic novel for the younger crowd. Try it out.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

The Bear and the Piano

The Bear and the Piano
Written and illustrated by David Litchfield

My rating: ★★★½

ISBN: 978-0544674547
Publisher: Clarion
Date of publication: April 5, 2016
Age: 4 - 7 years

Themes: bears, music, friendship, change

One day, a bear cub finds something strange and wonderful in the forest. When he touches it, it makes a horrible noise. Yet he is drawn back again and again. Eventually, he learns to play beautiful sounds, delighting his woodland friends.Then the bear is invited to share his sounds with new friends in the city. He longs to explore the world beyond his home, and to play bigger and better than before. But he knows that if he leaves, the other bears will be very sad. Will he ever see them again?

It's beautiful, heartwarming, and endearing. And the illustrations are soft, cozy, and well done. An all-around, feel-good book. But I (sadly) did not love it, like I wanted to. It's a very predictable (overused) storyline that stars (yet again) a bear. Perhaps I'm just bear-ed out (so. many. bear. books.). I don't feel that it had any elements to make it stand out from all the rest. It's perfectly enjoyable so, of course, I recommend it. It's just so standard that I feel like I don't have as much to say.

Readalikes include all the (hundreds of—no, thousands!) bear picture books of recent publication. Try The Bear Ate Your Sandwich or Winnie in particular.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

Author Interview: Kristina Springer

Another awesome author interview today! Kristina Springer has just published a wonderful middle-grade novel based on Cyrano de Bergerac called CiCi Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker. As part of the blog tour for the book, I was sure excited to get some behind-the-scenes info on the book...

E: Hi Kristina! Thanks for doing this interview. I'll start off with my very first thought when I saw your book: Cyrano de Bergerac?? How did you decide on Cyrano in a middle school setting? And get it to work so well!

K: Often times I’ll be reflecting on something that happened when I was the age of my characters and then spin it into a fun tale. When I was in 7th grade I took my own stab at middle school matchmaking. Back then, one of my close friends was majorly crushing on a boy from my brother’s soccer team. She said she really wanted to go on a date with him but was too shy to approach him herself. Well, we didn’t have cell phones or the Internet back then so there was no sending him a tweet or an e-mail. Instead we came up with a plan where I telephoned him, pretending to be her, and convinced him to meet me (really her) for a movie. Their date, unfortunately, was a disaster. But it gave me the idea to try updating the Cyrano tale with some fun twists and setting it in the 7th grade.

Now that sounds like fun. So then I have to ask: did you ever see Roxanne with Steve Martin? Ha, how many people have asked you that since you wrote this book?

I did!! Steve Martin is great! I remember watching it when I was a kid—so fun! And surprisingly no one has asked me this question yet! ☺