• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Balzer & Bray; 1 edition (June 22, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 006176275X
• Source: Personal copy

Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten is an charming and adorable book about preparing your child (or buffalo!) for kindergarten!  It discusses things your kindergartner might be worIried about, including being shy & sharing.  It assures children that they don’t need to know how to do all of these these before starting school.  What I loved most about it was the underlying theme of “everyone is special in his/her own way.”

My youngest son, Justin, is starting kindergarten in just a few weeks.  We purchased this book as soon as it released and we’ve read it several times since then, so I wanted to make sure to include his thoughts.  To keep it simple, I asked what he liked about this book:

“I think the book is very silly.  I thought it was funny when the buffalo tried to put on a suit and it was too small.  The funniest funniest funniest part was when he was trying to balance on the tight rope! The tower of blocks they built was very cool! And when the buffalo got his bum stuck on the swing? That was very funny!   Oh, and I liked the part  when the buffalo got grumpy (I added: You know you can’t be grumpy at kindergarten?)  Of course, Mom, but I can still like it!”

Justin picked up on the illustrations of Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten right away.  The illustrator is Daniel Jennewein, and his drawings are the perfect complement to this story.  They are quite humorous!  Justin spent hours pouring over this book, talking about each of the illustrations.

Justin was very excited to hear that Audrey & Daniel will be in town in September for a signing.  He’s looking forward to getting his first “autoscratch” (autograph).

I highly highly recommend this book to any child preparing to enter kindergarten. I think it will alleviate any fears they may have starting school.

Buy this book now from:

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Review: Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? by Audrey Vernick is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Related posts

• Review: How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (13)

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0375858997
• Source: Library

Rocket is an adorable little puppy who loves to do little puppy things, like chase leaves and chew sticks.  At the end of a day, he would plop down in his favorite spot under his favorite tree. One day, he happens upon a little yellow bird.  This little bird is a teacher, so Rocket must be his student!

When the little bird discovers that Rocket can’t read, teaching him to read becomes the little bird’s mission.  Rocket is very reluctant to read; he’d much rather take a nap. This doesn’t dissuade the little bird.  She picks up a book and begins to read anyway.

At first Rocket was annoyed by the book. But in no time at all he become absorbed in the story.  He pictures it in his head.  The anticipation builds up and he must know the end of the story.

Every day Rocket returned to the little bird’s classroom.  She teaches him the alphabet, how to sound out each letter, and soon they were spelling entire words!

But soon the spring turned to fall and the bird flew away, promising to return in the winter. Despite the cold winter, Rocket couldn’t stop thinking about reading!  He continued to practice his letters and sound out words, and before long it was spring again!

This time, Rocket and the little bird began to read together

I read How Rocket Learned to Read to my youngest son, who will be starting kindergarten this fall.  Since his brother has reviewed for me, as well as his father, he wanted a turn at reviewing.  So, here are Justin’s brief comments:

Why did you like this book?

I liked Rocket.  I like dogs!

Other than Rocket, was there anything else you liked about this book?

YES MOM!  Rocket was learning to read.  I am learning to read! Rocket spelled out letters in the snow! Mom, can I do that when it snows!?

Yes, Justin.  It’s 90 degrees out now so we might be waiting a little while.  Was there anything you didn’t like about this book?

Yes! It was over!! Oh, and when the teacher bird left in the winter, I was sad.

So there you have it…Justin’s reviewing debut!

Personally, I loved How Rocket Learned to Read because it describes the steps to learning how to read in a fun and exciting way.  The illustrations are vivid and interesting.  It grabs the reader’s attention, just as all books should. As I explained to Justin as we read, if he follows the steps that Rocket took, with time and practice he, too, would be reading before he knew it.

How Rocket Learned to Read is the perfect book for a preschooler or a child just about to enter kindergarten.

Since we’re about to start kindergarten here, Justin & I have been reading a lot of books about school and kindergarten. Check back each week as we feature our favorite back to school/kindergarten books!

Is there a book about going back to school or starting kindergarten that you’d like to recommend?

Buy this book now from:

These are affiliate links. If you purchase an item from either of these links I will earn a small commission, which goes toward the hosting of this blog & other routine costs associated with running this blog.

Review: How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Related posts

• Tales of a (Formerly) Reluctant Reader: Visit by Eric Wight, Author of the Frankie Pickle Books (23)
• Review: Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? by Audrey Vernick (6)
• Adventures in Parenting: Relunctant Readers (12)

• 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!

Mini Review: The Brain Full of Holes by Martin Chatterton is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

• 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.

Tales of a (Formerly) Reluctant Reader: The Tighty Whitey Spider by Kenn Nesbitt is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Hubie hates snow.  He hates winter. He only wants it to snow once, right around Christmas.  He hates it because it’s so cold, and because of all the clothes you have to wear to go out in it.  By the time you are all bundled up, you have to go to the bathroom!When Hubie sees on the news that they are getting a horrible snow storm, he starts to freak out!

When he wakes up, the entire town is covered in snow.  His mom makes him get all bundled up to go out and play in the snow.  His friend Eric comes over and they go sledding and have a snowball fight.  Hubie begins to see that snow isn’t as bad as he thought.  Once the snowball fight is over, Hubie and his friends go inside his house. It begins to snow again so they have to stay inside. They play board games and roast marshmallows in the fireplace. They tell spooky ghost stories to one another, including the tale of Sammy the Ghost who couldn’t scare anyone.

The next morning, the snow has been cleared and school is open again. Hubie’s teacher, Mrs. Green, asks the kids to write about what they did on their snow day.  This book is Hubie’s report.

What I liked about this book:

There are a LOT of illustrations in this book.   This really breaks up the book and almost seems like you are reading a comic book instead of a chapter book. Here are a few of them:

Second, the book is made up of more than just a story!  It has funny knock-knock jokes and drawing. Here’s an example:

Finally, the words are large and easy to read.  This helps out a lot when I’m reading in bed at night!  And I liked that I didn’t need to use a dictionary or ask my mom to help out with some of the words.  They were perfect for a kid my age.

The only problem is that most of these Black Lagoon Adventures books are hard to find in bookstores, which is sad because I really love them!  My mom says they are out of print.  She was able to find a few of them in the local bookstore but had to place a special order for the rest.

*Edit: After a little of research, I found a site where you can purchase The Black Lagoon Adventures books.  Some of the series can also be purchased directly from Scholastic.

I hope you have enjoyed the first review in my new feature! Check back in a few weeks for another episode of TALES OF A (FORMERLY) RELUCTANT READER!!!

All Tales of A (Formerly) Reluctant Reader episodes are written by my ten-year old son, John. FTC: These books were all purchased out of my son’s allowance!

Tales of a (Formerly) Reluctant Reader: Episode One is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs.  She walks around with a veil over her face to protect her from any bugs that might fall into her face or hair.  She carries a can a bug spray at all times and areas must be fumigated before she will enter. Theodore Bartholomew is afraid of death.  He contacts his family members several times throughout the day to make sure no harm has come to them. Lulu Punchalower is claustrophobic.  She’ll make up any excuse possible to avoid elevators or any other confined space.  And finally, Garrison Feldman.  Garrison is the jock of the group. However, he is afraid of water.  The thought of entering a pool or, God-forbid, the ocean, terrifies him.

The parents of these four children are desperate for them to be cured of their phobias, so they turn them each over to Mrs. Wellington and her highly elusive School of Fear.  However, when the children arrive, the school isn’t quite what they are expecting.  The exterior looks nothing like pristine campus pictured in the brochures.   And Mrs Wellington, former beauty queen extraordinare, has the most unusual teaching methods.

School of Fear is an absolutely delightful read. I read it in a little over an hour during our trip to Williamsburg. There is no noticable violence or foul language, so I would easily recommend this to anyone in the 9-12 age range. I think children will enjoy the hilarious phobias definied at the beginning of each chapter (did you know there’s a valid phobia for those afraid of peanut butter!?).   The author very vividly describes each of the main characters and their particular obsessions/fears.   I’ll definitely be passing this on to my ten-year old. I’m sure he’ll get an absolute kick out of it!

Review: School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Eight years later, Hambric is living with the Wilomas family. The Finder’s Keepers Law required that, since Sewey Wilomas found Bran, he is theirs “forever or until the End of Time, whichever comes later.” Bran lives in the attic of the Wilomas home. He and Rosie (Mabel Wilomas’ distant cousin) are essentially the Wilomas’ servants.

The Wilomas’ live in the City of Dunce, a town where magic and magical creatures have been outlawed. The slight mention of magic or mages (those that practice magic) can result in imprisonment.

One night Bran and Sewey are attacked by a creature who refers to himself as Shambles. During his attempt to take Bran, he mentions the name Emry Hambric, Bran’s mother. This is the first Bran has heard anything about his past.

For the first time, Bran begins to question his origin. It doesn’t take him long to discover he is not a normal boy. His mother, Emry Hambric, was a mage who risked her life to save Bran’s. Emry helped create the Farfield Curse, a curse known to be powerful but hasn’t been spoken of for the past eight years. The mages who helped create the Curse are now after Bran, for he is the only one that can awaken the horrible power that can unleash this curse. Bran must stop at nothing to prevent this Curse from occurring.

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse was a very thrilling tale. The suspense builds and builds and comes to a powerful climax near the end. I literally read this is one night, nothing was able to pull my attention away.  While technically considered a YA novel it is one that can be enjoyed by adults as well. Now, I would be remiss not to mention the similarities to the Harry Potter books. They do exist, but Kaleb is able to hold is own on this one.

The most impressive thing about this book is the author, Kaleb Nation. Kaleb was only fourteen years old when he started writing Bran Hambric, and it took most of his teenage years to complete it. This is a truly impressive feat.  The dedication and focus Nation gave to his writing is clearly evident in this book.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing a review copy of this book.

Check out the other blogs participating in this blog tour:

Monday, August 31^st

StevenTill.com
Dolce Bellezza
Bobbi’s Book Nook

Tuesday, September 1^st

The Looking Glass Review
Edward-Cullen.net
Beth Fish Reads
SMS Book Reviews
James Holder’s YouTube Channel

Wednesday, September 2^nd

Bookalicio.us
Reading Rumpus
Katie’s Literature Lounge
Ultimate Bookhound

Thursday, September 3^rd

Brimful Curiosities
Charlotte’s Library

Friday, September 4^th

BriMeetsBooks.com
Bran Hambric by Kaleb Nation
 
Saturday, September 5^th

Library Lounge Lizard
Sarah’s Random Musings
Saulchichas
GreenFyr.com

Sunday, September 6^th

Cindy’s Love of Books

Monday, September 7^th

Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
Grasping for the Wind
Life After Twilight vlog channel

Tuesday, September 8^th

Shooting Stars Magazine
Mrs. Magoo Reads
Lori Calabrese Writes

 
Wednesday, September 9^th

The Brain Lair
Dulemba.com
The Children’s Book Review
TV Watch Online

Thursday, September 10^th

The Friendly Book Nook
Book Journey
Stephanie’s Written Word
Home School Buzz
Spidurmunkey.com

Friday, September 11^th

The Inside Scoop With Chandelle
Booking Mama

Saturday, September 12^th

Zoe’s Book Reviews
Lit for Kids

Sunday, September 13^th

Never Jam Today
A Bibliophile’s Reverie

Monday, September 14^th

Café of Dreams
Marta’s Meanderings
Galleysmith.com
A Book Blogger’s Diary
The Reader’s Quill

Tuesday, September 15^th

a book in hand
MistiSchindele.com
Not Just for Kids

Wednesday, September 16^th

Write for a Reader
CumpulsiveReader.com

Thursday, September 17^th

Howling Good Books
The Written World

Friday, September 18^th

Always Riddikulus
YA Books Central

Saturday, September 19^th

Ms. Bookish
Into the Wardrobe

Blog Tour & Review: Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.