MORE 'REVIEW' POSTS

Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Travis Jonker, June 7, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews



Wonderstruck By Brian Selznick Scholastic Press ISBN: 9780545027892 $29.99 Grades 4-7 In Stores Sept. 13, 2011 *Best New Book*   When The Invention of Hugo Cabret came out in 2007, it felt like more than a simple blurring of genres, it felt like an innovation. Beautifully crafted and well-received, its deserved victory lap was impressive […]

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Review: Three by the Sea by Mini Grey

Travis Jonker, May 25, 2011 | Reviews



Three by the Sea By Mini Grey Knopf (Random House) ISBN: 9780224083621 $17.99 Grades K-2 In Stores The meddler. We all know one. Leave it to Mini Grey (Traction Man is Here!) and her formidable talents to pull off a picture book that explores this subject with unexpected nuance. Sure the meddler can be bad, […]

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Toon Review: The Secret Box by Barbara Lehman

Travis Jonker, May 13, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews, Toon Reviews



The Secret Box By Barbara Lehman Houghton Mifflin ISBN: 9780547238685 $15.99 Grades K-3 In Stores *Best New Book* (Click images to enlarge) Review copy from library Also reviewed by Charlotte’s Library, Waking Brain Cells. Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

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Review: Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson

Travis Jonker, May 8, 2011 | Reviews



Leap Back Home to Me By Lauren Thompson Illustrated by Matthew Cordell McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster) ISBN: 9781416906643 $15.99 Grades PreK-1 In Stores Look, I love subversive. I’m a fan of unorthodox. I dig meta. This century’s picture books have been kind to my tastes, with craziness around every corner. But it seems that […]

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Review: Sidekicks by Dan Santat

Travis Jonker, May 5, 2011 | Reviews



Sidekicks By Dan Santat Arthur A. Levine Books ISBN: 9780439298117 $24.99 hardcover; $12.99 paperback Grades 3-6 In Stores July 1, 2011 Let us be honest, folks – at this point, you could slap a cape on a coat rack, toss in a few one-liners and our current superhero-crazed culture would eat it up. Give Dan […]

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Review: Lemonade by Bob Raczka

Travis Jonker, April 22, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews



Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word By Bob Raczka Illustrated by Nancy Doniger Roaring Brook Press ISBN: 9781596435414 $16.99 Grades 1-6 In Stores *Best New Books* Give me one month and every word in the English language and I can write you a bad poem. One year? You’ll likely get about the […]

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Review: Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea

Travis Jonker, April 21, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews



Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? By Susan A. Shea Illustrated by Tom Slaughter Blue Apple ISBN: 978160950627 $16.99 Grades PreK-1 In Stores *Best New Books* Often times, lift the flap books bring little more to the table than flaps. I’ve read scores of them where the primary focus amounts to something like “Hey, […]

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Review: A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid

Travis Jonker, April 18, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews



A Pet for Petunia By Paul Schmid Harper (HarperCollins) ISBN: 9780061963315 $12.99 Grades K-2 In Stores *Best New Books* Playing opposites is a common occurrence in children’s literature. Little Pea, Bedtime for Mommy, and Children Make Terrible Pets are but a few recent examples of a concept with a long history. The act of reversing […]

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Review: Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj

Travis Jonker, March 1, 2011 | Reviews



Cat Secrets By Jef Czekaj Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins) ISBN: 9780061920882 $16.99 Grades K-2 In Stores On a purely technical level every book engages the reader, right? The act of reading or listening demands at least a small amount of participation. Then you run into a book like Cat Secrets, which shows the heights to […]

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Review: Look! A Book! by Bob Staake

Travis Jonker, February 15, 2011 | *Best New Books*, Reviews



Look! A Book! By Bob Staake Little, Brown ISBN: 9780316118620 $16.99 Grades K-2 In Stores *Best New Book* If you throw an I Spy, a Where’s Waldo, and a fiction picture book into your children’s lit blend-o-matic and hit puree, what you get is Look! A Book! – pure entertainment in printed form. I can’t […]

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