Letters From a Desperate Dog by Eileen Christelow

Summary:
Emma, a puppy, lives with her owner George who is a painter. They get along fine most of the time but sometimes Emma cannot seem to get anything right in George's eyes. Everything she does seems to set her human owner off: lying down on the new couch, talking to her neighbor canine friends fishing in the trash etc. All she hears all day from George is "BAD ! BAD ! BAD !". Emma is desperate to fix this friendship. During one of her visits to the library she discovers a canine advice columnist, Queenie, who offers advice to dogs. Emma emails Queenie for advice. Queenie advises Emma to get off the couch and try to be more useful to her owner.

My view: The cartoon like drawings led an appeal to the story. Most kids will understand Emma’s dilemma of being misunderstood by her owner. The multiple panel inserts accompanying each story line on a page are a nice touch. Emma’s dilemma is made more real by the accompanying emails she writes and receives from Queenie. Her visits to the library add authenticity to the story. However, Emma’s going off to an acting job throws off the story line and is a bit confusing.
The book will be a suitable read for older kids from 7-10 years old.

The Tequila Worm

Bibliography: Canales, V.(2005). The Tequila Worm. New York: Wendy Lamb Books Book Summary It is about a young girl, Sofia, growing up in a Mexican- American family. The story centered on family life and traditions. It starts with a young Sofia as she goes through the process of growing up from childhood to adulthood. The various stages of her life are marked by timeless traditions that keep her grounded throughout her life and teach her the value of family in her life. Sofia encounters conflict at school from other kids because she is different. Her resolve to succeed gives her the guts to rise above any petty conflict she encounters from other children. Sofia’s ambition to go to college and the effort that she puts in school finally earns her a scholarship, something that most kids would identify with. My Impression The story is rich with Mexican American culture. Unique Hispani...

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Bibliography: Park, B.(1992). Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. New York: Random House. Book Summary This is the first book in the Junie B. Jones series. It’s the first day of kindergarten for Junie. Junie is scared to ride the school bus. After she learns that she is going to ride the bus on her first day of school Junie B. ”stayed scared about the bus for a whole week”. She doesn’t like anything on the bus; there are no cloth covers on the seat and the bus is smelly. She doesn’t like the other kids either. After school Junie is more scared to ride the bus after her new friend Lucille tells her that bad things could happen on the bus such as milk being poured on you. She hides in the class and misses the bus. Junie B. wanders around the school and is eventually found by the janitor .Junie B. explains to her mother what happened and her mother cautions her about ...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Interesting. Not a fast read

Reading is Fun

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