C. Drew LammCritiques

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Leaving her babies sheltered in a warm blanket of leaves, hungry Cottontail ventures into the backyard to nibble on clover. While feeding, she encounters another rabbit and the two leap and play together. Reviewed by the Smithsonian Institution for accuracy, Cottontail at Clover Crescent is a fun and informative story with beautifully detailed illustrations.

The Prog Frince is an interesting take on the Frog Prince in which the Frog Prince must tell his tale to our main character Jane in order to turn back into a prince. As it is eventually revealed, Jane is actually Jaylee, the girl the Prince loved. The Prince's father aquires a potion that made Jaylee forget everything and turned the prince into a frog. I enjoyed this telling of the story. The Prince wants to marry Jaylee, but his father finds that to be unsuitable because Jaylee works in their stables. He would have married her anyway, and I think that is just a sweet message about love being more important than titles and status. I also enjoyed Jane AKA Jaylee, because she initally hates make believe and fairytales, and ends up already being part of one. The illustrations are colorful and detailed, nicely showing the story's details. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and think that young readers would too.

I loved the idea of following a well-made gift through many lives, but I found myself wanting more of a story to follow. I enjoyed the images and descriptions of far-off places and unfamiliar words. There was a wonderful dreamlike quality to the unfolding descriptions that fit with the idea of the gaucho carving as he sings, but ultimately it left me wanted more as I turned the pages. This would be a wonderful book to have in a classroom for students to invent their own stories or share an illustration read.

This was a strong piece of nonfiction cleverly woven together with a narrative thread. It would be a good selection for anyone interested in instructing on screech owl life cycles or narrative nonfiction. Though it is largely focused on one period of a screech owl's life it effectively interweaves fact with story throughout.

This is the story of a necklace that is passed through generations and finally makes its way back to its place of origin. It is an Argentinian folktale, and the story includes many Spanish words throughout.

Ellery, an older sister, has brought a library book home for her brother Max. It's about pirates. He's not too pleased as it looks rather scary. But Ellery insists on reading it together that night when they're alone in the dark. She begins to read -- and the book text is given in italics. Max keeps suggesting they choose another book, but Ellery persists. Good examples given of how Max predicts how a sentence will end -- e.g., "HE BURIES HIS TREASURES IN..." "Treasure chests," guessed Max. "Coffins," said Ellery. "... IN CHESTS FULL OF...". The two discuss the book as they read it. Ellery tries to spook Max, but in the end even she is spooked as the book comes to life and pirates invade the room. "I think I read too far," she says. Finally a pirate voice tells her to close the book -- and she does. (Max has saved her...)

Copyright by Studio Mouse and the Smithsonian Institution. “Cottontail carefully hides her five tiny babies and leaves her nest to find food. She will return in the evening to feed her little family, then leap and dance in the moonlight.â€? Lists at $2.95 [kbb/06@Bkwarehouse Casa Grand]