Reviews
Kirkus Review - Bully
A self-centered and egotistical bullfrog refuses to share the beauty of the pond ecosystem, ultimately leaving him in a muddy mess…
Sitting amid the tasty, beautifully scented lilies, Bully chases away the snail, the dragonfly, the bee, and “even the smallest fly,” declaring, “Those delicio View »
Publishers Weekly - Bully
Bully is a bullfrog, but in Sattler’s (Pig Kahuna) watercolor-and-pencil drawings, he resembles a slightly less ugly version of Jabba the Hutt. Huge, squat, sickly green, and scowling, he chases away all the small, appropriately bug-eyed critters, all of whom should be able to enjoy the… View »
Booklist - Write On, Irving Berlin!
Irving Berlin gets the full picture-book treatment in this appealing introduction to the songwriter. Berlin’s story begins as the five-year-old arrives in the United States in 1893 along with his family, fleeing the Russian pogroms. Left fatherless at 13, he makes money by singing and… View »
School Library Connection - My Red Velvet Cape
Mateo is having a superhero themed birthday party. Grandma calls to wish him well and tell him she has made “a red velvet…” but before she can finish, Mateo becomes excited, certain that Grandma is bringing him a red velvet cape. He has many plans for how to use the cape, like walking the… View »
School Library Journal - Write on Irving Berlin
Gr 2-4–A feel-good biographical look at a great songwriter. Israel Baline arrived on Ellis Island as a small boy fleeing the violence of Russian pogroms. But in the freedom of New York’s Lower East Side, he blossomed into Irving Berlin. From his first song (sold for 37 cents) to iconic hits… View »
Publisher's Weekly - Write On, Irving Berlin!
Kimmelman portrays the life of Irving Berlin, born Israel Isidore Baline to a Jewish family in Russia in 1888—“a bad time and place to be Jewish,” the author writes. The story begins as the family arrives at New York’s Ellis Island. Gardner’s spreads alternate between bright and crisp… View »
Kirkus Review - Write on Irving Berlin
A Jewish immigrant’s passage from pogroms in Russia to “God Bless America”—written 100 years ago to celebrate his beloved adopted home. Irving Berlin, born in 1888, was just a child when his family and so many others fled terror directed at Jews in czarist Russia for New York City’s Lower… View »
Booklist - Hardscrabble
Belle is a young eastern Colorado pioneer enthralled by her new home. Her older sister Carrie is not quite as happy—she loved their old home in green, heavily-settled Iowa. The life of dry earth farmers in the early 1900s was exceedingly tough, and the family of nine struggles. When illness… View »
Booklist - The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat
Stories about princesses abound, but one such as this, which understands a child’s need to be helpful, is fresh, and will appeal to children and their parents alike. Markarian creates a princess heroine whose interests extend beyond ceremony and fancy clothes. While looking for something… View »
Booklist - A Horse Named Jack
Jack, a bored horse living on a farm, has learned how to open the gate to his stall. Looking for entertainment, he sets himself free, kicking off a counting adventure. From 1 soft click of the lock, nature and farm elements such as 3 roosters, 5 kittens, 7 spiders, and 9 apples shape Jack’s… View »