Review: Meet Rose

Meet Rose by Sherryl Clark
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyable.

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Review: Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like this one. I like how it deals matter-of-factly with differences.

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Review: The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Clever ending.

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Review: Ada Twist, Scientist

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Just because you have a lot of questions doesn't mean you want to be a scientist. Sigh.

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Review: Iggy Peck, Architect

Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think kids will enjoy this book more than I did - building a tower out of dirty diapers seems more in line with kid humor. Not exactly my cup of tea.

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Review: Quirky Rectangles Of Mirth

Quirky Rectangles Of Mirth by Dave Blazek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this selection of cartoons. Some of them were really weird and some of them were just marginally strange, but they fit my sense of humor, for the most part. Enjoyable.

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Review: Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq

Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq by Sarah Glidden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The reading of this book has been a long time in the making for me. I started it several months (years?) ago and just now finished. Perhaps because of this or perhaps because of the content itself, the book was at times confusing, and at times frustrating. But, in a strange way it was also completely compelling. Why did we go to Iraq? What did we hope to accomplish? How can we rectify all of the damage that has been done? How would an American soldier feel about seeing the results of what the US did there? And, as always, is there ever to be any solution to the problems of the Middle East?

The art work is interesting and appropriate. I would not have recognized Jimmy Carter from her drawings, but that is OK. The muted colors work.

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Review: Me I Am!

Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I love the idea and the illustrations, I must admit that this is my least favorite of the 4 Prelutsky books I have read lately. It was too static. Each two page spread was great by itself, but the book as a whole didn't have enough forward progress for me. I suppose if you considered each double page spread as a completely different poem, like Ride a Purple Pelican, each one is good, but it didn't hang together for me. [Caveat, again: I read this one in a bit of a hurry. I should have taken more time.]

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Review: The Most Magnificent Thing

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had to read this in a bit of a hurry, as I was on my way to the library and I needed to return the book, so I didn't really have a chance to savor it. I enjoyed the realistic depiction of frustration and persistence, but I was especially glad that, in the end, the Most Magnificent Thing, while satisfactory, still wasn't perfect. Good enough really is good enough sometimes.

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Review: The Dragons are Singing Tonight

The Dragons are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I love Ride a Purple Pelican, I don't love this one as much. I can't really put my finger on why, but I think it is because the dragons are just a tiny bit TOO much for me. A little bit too scary, too mean, too dangerous. And I am a very nervous reader. In contrast to many kids and adult readers, I do not enjoy being scared or fighting back against bad characters. I will stick to Prelutsky's more tame books, which are, in general, fabulous.

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Review: Ride a Purple Pelican

Ride a Purple Pelican by Jack Prelutsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is funny (to me) how some books stick with you over the years and some just fade away. I read this book the first few times many years ago when my children were small. And now, I wanted to read it to my granddaughter, only I couldn't find my copy. I gave away a couple thousand of my kids' books years ago, when I stopped teaching and this was probably one of them. I have read it again just this week and it is still great for me. Engaging, silly, but not ludicrously so. She is only 2 1/2, so I may wait a while to read it to her. But soon...

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Review: A Different Pond

A Different Pond by Bao Phi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the muted colors and tone of this book. It is a sweet and simple story of an immigrant's life. I hope many people will use this to understand their experiences.

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Review: Enemy of the People: A Cartoonist's Journey

Enemy of the People: A Cartoonist's Journey by Rob Rogers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is as political a post as I will usually write. I am against the firing of a political cartoonist, because his politics disagreed with the new management of his newspaper. Being critical of the president is his job - even if it is a President I like. Of course, it is a bit easier to come to his defense with the current president. Criticizing this insanity is NECESSARY.

That said, his cartoons don't always strike the mark for me. Some of them are close; some are brilliant; some fall short. But that is always the case for any given political cartoonist - at least for me. I have collected political cartoons for many years and enjoy the craft of them.

He has a Patreon account. I may support him there.

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