Jenn's Bookshelves

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (March 1, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 156145527X
• Source: Publisher

In Chatterton’s second book featuring Theophilus Nero Hercule Sherlock Wimsey Father Brown Marlowe Spade Christie Edgar Allen Brain (aka The Brain) and his sidekick Sheldon McGlone, the two young detectives begin an investigation to find out the cause of the missing holes in their swiss cheese.  In the midst of their investigation, they meet an alluring young blonde whose father is missing, as well as a host of interesting other characters including a two-headed butler from another dimension. In this book, The Brain and Sheldon are now step-brothers living in Switzerland. 

Just like his previous book, The Brain Finds a Leg, Chatterton portrays a hilarious cast of characters in a crazy and humorous storyline.  The wit and humor his main characters exude will leave the reader crying with laughter. The Sherlock Holmes-like investigation will keep young readers engaged and interested.  My boys loved to read the names of the characters, the wacky names they have made reading the story aloud hilarious. We highly recommend this one! We can’t wait to read more from this zany & talented author!

Check back later for a giveaway of both of Chatterton’s books, The Brain Finds a Leg and The Brain Full of Holes!

Today John and I are reviewing Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures, written by J. Torres, illustrated by J. Bone. Alison Dare is a twelve-year-old girl, daughter of the famous archaeologist Dr. Alice Dare and the superhero the Blue Scarab.  Alison feels that action and intrigue are in her blood and it’s her duty to create her own adventures!  In Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures, we learn about how Alison’s parents met and fell in love, how her father became the Blue Scarab, and Alison learns her lesson after rooting through some Egyptian relics!

Following are John’s comment’s about the book:

“It had great action, surprising tales and a lot of humor!  I have to say whoever wrote this book is a completely good writer!”

I asked John if he had a problem reading a book with a female main character, and female secondary characters. “I liked the story; it didn’t matter that the book was full of girls! Alison reminded me a lot of a female Indiana Jones, and her dad, the Blue Scarab, looked a lot like Superman!”

John continues:

“The illustrations were fascinating.  Although they were in color, they were still full of great super heroes, archeology and other fun and exciting things.”

John didn’t seem interested at the start of the book, his attention peaked at the mention of scarabs and Egypt and curses.  Some of the language and terminology used reminded me a lot of some of the “superhero” shows and movies that he loves.  So within a few pages, John’s attention peaked and he literally hung on to every word. There were bits of adult humor embedded in the story, so it definitely had me laughing as well.

Bottom line, John and I both really enjoyed reading Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures!

Please be sure to check out the author’s web site as well as the illustrator’s!

Thanks to Tundra books for providing John with copies of the Alison Dare books to review! Tundra is also hosting a fun and exciting giveaway!  Here are the details:

Alison Dare is not your typical 12-year-old girl. She’s the daughter of world-renowned archaeologist Dr. Alice Dare and the masked superhero the Blue Scarab, not to mention the niece of international spy and master of disguise Johnny Dare. Action and awesomeness are in her blood, so she is eager for an adventure around the world!

Here’s what you can do:

1. Follow this link to print out the two poses of Alison Dare.
2. There are two different poses for Alison Dare, but you only need to choose one (although if you wanted to do both, go for it!).
3. Please cut out the Alison Dare figure you have chosen. Feel free to colour and decorate.
4. Put Alison Dare in front of a famous landmark, in an exotic location, or in the face of danger. You can also be creative with common everyday objects.
5. Take a photo (or photos) of Alison Dare! There is no limit.
6. Send your photo of Alison Dare and witty caption to tundra@mcclelland.com before June 30, 2010.

Need an example? Here’s what John and I did:

Alison Dare Comes to Washington!

Fun, and super easy!  Be sure to enter!

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky; Pap/Com edition (April 1, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 1402238339
• Source: Publisher

Summary: a collection of over dozens of humorous and outrageous poems about animals!

The portion of this review listed in italics was written by my oldest son, John, as part of his “Tales of a Formerly Reluctant Reader” feature.  All the ideas and comments are his own. My review follows his.

John’s Review: When my mom told me that we were going to read a book of poems before I went to bed, I wasn’t very excited.  Poems are about love and stuff like that, things I totally don’t want to read about!  But then my mom told me they were different kinds of poems.  I didn’t believe her until I saw the cover of the book.  A spider…in underwear?!  I had to read this!

The Tighty Whitey Spider: And More Wacky Animal Poems I Totally Made Up is the funniest book of poems I have EVER read.  Kenn Nesbitt, the author, is so crazy!  The poems aren’t dull and boring, they are full of action and fun.  A few of my favorites include I Bought a New Tank for My Goldfish and My Hamster Has a Skateboard.   If all poetry was this exciting, I’d definitely read more!

My review: What can I say? Anything that gets my son excited about reading poetry has to be good!  John was very skeptical when I told him about the book but instantly opened up after seeing the cover and reading the first two poems.  They are full of wit and fun, I was honestly laughing a bit myself.  There are several poems that should be read to the tune of popular children’s songs  nursery rhymes.  Those were a real hit! Let’s face it, little boys like it when they think they’re making fun of another song or rhyme!

The only thing I should mention is that some of the poems are a little on the crude side and do discuss bodily functions.  Nothing totally off the wall or completely repulsive. Just something I thought worth mentioning. Still this book is still worth checking out!  Exclusive audio is available online, including Kenn singing and reading many of these hilarious poems!

I’m excited to announce a special feature to celebrate National Poetry Month: Followers of Jenn’s Bookshelves can download/view online Kenn’s previous book, My Hippo Has the Hiccups for free at www.zinio.com/KennNesbitt until April 30th!

Following  is a list of other blogs participating in the National Poetry Month 2010 Blog Tour for the next few weeks.  The tour runs all month and covers a wide range of poetry subjects, be sure to check them out! For a complete listing of blogs participating in the tour, please check out Savvy Verse & Wit.

April 1:  Savvy Verse & Wit Welcome Post, Maw Books showcases her old poetry, Semicolon‘s Favorite Classic Poems Survey

April 2:  Diary of an Eccentric on Emily Dickinson, 32 Poems Interview with Geoffrey Brock

April 3:  Regular Rumination on poet Claudia Emerson

April 4:  Indextrous Reader interviews poetry publisher Brick Books

April 5:   West of Mars introduces the Roadie Poet

April 6:  Janel’s Jumble showcases Estrella Azul, The Betty and Boo Chronicles showcases Poems from the Women’s Movement

April 7:  Reading Frenzy features Edgar Allan Poe

April 8:  Books and Movies features Billy Collins

April 9:  Rhapsody in Books features W.B. Yeats

April 10:  Booking Mama will review Poetry Speaks Who I Am, Write Meg! features Kim Addonzinio

April 11:  Tea Leaves will review “Song of two worlds” by Alan Lightman

April 12:  Monniblog will highlight British Columbia, Canada, poets/poetry

April 13:  Life Is a Patchwork Quilt features poetry for the deaf

April 14:  SMS Book Reviews will surprise us with a poetry book review, Author Ru Freeman will talk about poetry’s cross-cultural presence, such as Palestinian poet Dharwish

April 15:  KCBooks will discuss Robert Frost’s The Outsider and how it impacted her.

April 16:  the life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object will review Poetry Speaks Who I Am and host a giveaway for 2 books

April 17:  She Is Too Fond of Books will review Tighty Whitey Spider, A Circle of Books will review a small illustrated Poetry anthology, Wordsworth The Eternal Romantic.

As with the other Horrid Henry books, Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse is made up of four hilarious stories about Horrid Henry’s antics.

My ten-year old, John, and I decided to do a joint review of the title story The Mummy’s Curse.

In Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse, Henry is doing what he does best-being horrid and getting into trouble.  Since he is unable to share his toys with his younger brother, Perfect Peter, Henry has been banned from playing with Peter’s toys. Typically, that’s not a problem for Henry.  Who wants to play with Peter’s childish, baby toys?  Well, that changed when Peter won a “Curse of the Mummy” kit from the museum.  It came with a plastic body to mummify, mummy wrapping gauze,  a curse book, amulets, and removable mummy organs!  What little boy wouldn’t love this !?

Perfect Peter soon finds Horrid Henry in his room and threatens to tell on him. But Henry convinces Peter that he’s not stealing his toy, but trying to protect him from the Mummy’s Curse, the curse that turns people into a mummy.  At first Peter doesn’t believe Henry, but he is convinced after a hilarious exchange with his Mom:

“Mom, ” said Peter, “Henry says you are a mummy.”

Mom looked puzzled.  “Of course I’m a mummy,” she said.

“What?” said Peter

“I’m your mummy,” said Mom,  with a smile.

Peter too a step back.

“I don’t want you to be a mummy,” said Peter

“But I am one,” said Mom.  “Now come and give me a hug.”

“No!” said Peter

“Let me wrap my arms around you,” said Mom

Peter is certain his Mom has been mummified. He asks Henry to help him remove the curse.  Henry insists they must wrap Fluffy, the cat, in the sacred bandages (toilet paper) so he can be a messanger between this world and the next.   Peter, too, must be wrapped and remain silent for thirty minutes. Henry begins chanting the “sacred spell”

“By the powers of Horus, Morus, Borus and Stegosaurus!”

But before the spell can be completed, Henry is discovered by his Mummy, I mean, Mom.  He is grounded from the TV for a month, but since Peter no longer wanted anything to do with his mummy kit, Peter had free reign!

My Review:

Francesca Simon, author of the Horrid Henry series, does another outstanding job with this one! Each of the four stories are long enough to tell a good story, but short enough to keep the attention of my two boys.  They love to hear about what sort of trouble is getting into next.  My oldest, John, is still convinced he’s Perfect Peter and his younger brother, Justin, is Horrid Henry.  Justin doesn’t seem to mind!

As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Horrid Henry books are perfect for any child, boy or girl, in the 7-10 age range. But they are particularly great for reluctant readers. The stories and characters engage them and the text isn’t challenging.

So, like in the past, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this, or any of the Horrid Henry series!

John’s Review:

I think Henry is a little crazy for telling Peter that their Mom was a Mummy!  He acts like Justin (John’s younger brother), telling you things that are not true.   Horrid Henry was so good at convincing Peter that he was telling the truth. When his Mom said that she was a mummy, she really meant a “Mommy” so that was a little confusing.  Henry was so rude to wrap up Peter and Fluffy!

I liked this story because I think mummies are interesting.  But I don’t think Henry’s punishment was good. It was a good punishment for Henry to lose his TV privileges, but it wasn’t fair that he still got to play with the mummy kit!  If I had done something like this to Justin (I wouldn’t Mom, I promise) I would definitely get in a lot more trouble! I’d like lose my privileges for a MONTH!

Stay tuned for more reviews from John!  He’s starting to receive his own review requests, so he’s pretty excited!