Pippi Longstocking Month!!!

I am Pippi Longstocking,
If you say it fast it's funny!
Pippi, Pippi Longstocking,
How I love my happy name.....

Kids Book Korner is declaring September....

Pippi Longstocking Month!

Spend the month going on one adventure after another with a character who has her own way of doing things.

Week 1: Pippi Longstocking

Week 2: Pippi Goes On Board

Week 3: Pippi In The South Seas

We invite you to join us as we spend the month with a beloved girl! Get ready, because you never know what will happen when Pippi Longstocking is around...

Favorite Character Book Release!

Library Mouse A World to Explore

By: Daniel Kirk

Ages 6-8

One night in the library, Sam meets fellow mouse Sarah. Sam learns that Sarah is quite the explorer. She loves to scurry to the tops of shelves and explore the darkest corners of the building. Sam never climbs far up—he’s too afraid! He prefers to research subjects—such as exploration—and write about them. Sarah doesn’t know much about writing or research, but could reading and research help her learn more about the places she wishes to visit? Together this duo shows that, with teamwork, anything is possible.

According to bn.com, the book's release date is in September. However, it was on my local Barnes & Noble's bookshelves last night. My oldest daughter LOVED the other 2 Library Mouse books, so I'm sure we'll be buying this one very soon. Enjoy!!

Ages 11+

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow

Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are best friends with one goal: to crack the code of popularity. Through careful observation of the fifth-grade class and brave experiments throughout the year, they plan to start junior high at the top of the social order. But somehow Lydia and Julie's bold tests don't translate into instant popularity. And even worse, as the school year passes they seem to be drifting farther and farther from their goal....and each other.

Amy Ignatow's hilarious debut novel introduces the intrepid fifth-graders Julie and Lydia, whose quest to understand popularity may not succeed in the ways they want but will succeed in keeping readers in stitches.

I really enjoyed this book. It is done in a diary style, handwritten with lots of pictures. This format is really popular right now, mainly because of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (Which I absolutely loved). This will appeal to all those middle grade girls, who like Wimpy Kid but also want a story more girl oriented. I thought this book explored a lot of topics that I can remember were really important to me right before entering middle school. I remember I wanted to make more friends and "be cool", whatever that is. For me, more friends ended up translating into more drama, which is exactly what happens to the two main characters in this book. So yes, although I am now 27 years old, I found a lot to relate to in this story.

One thing I really liked about this book was that as the quest to become popular begins to tear apart their friendship, they learn that popularity isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I thought that this book had a really sweet ending. Another thing that I loved about this book was that neither of the characters have a traditional nuclear family structure at home, but they both still have a really good home life. I don't think you see that as often in young readers books as you see the kid having trouble with a step-parent or their parents' divorce. I think there is a need for both kinds of books.

The only thing that I thought maybe wasn't well planned about this book was that the author chose to have the girls be in fifth grade. As I was reading the book, I really felt what the story was about and what the characters cared about were more sixth grade level. Maybe I'm just thinking back to my own experience of those ages, because I never cared about popularity or social things until at least sixth grade, and it was the end of sixth grade. Well, I guess the kids grow up faster these days.

My overall verdict on this book is it's perfect for a girl who is starting middle school.

Rating: Check it out from the library or buy it.

Ages 6+

Tumtum & Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall

Stories by Emily Bearn

Pictures by Nick Price

Deep inside the broom cupboard of Rose Cottage, two mice live in great style.

Tumtum and Nutmeg lead cozy and quiet lives, secretly looking after Arthur and Lucy, the disheveled human children of the cottage, never dreaming that so many exciting adventures will soon find them. But when evil Aunt Ivy, a squeamish schoolteacher named Miss Short, and pirating pond rats threaten the safety of those they hold dear, the courageous pair will stop at nothing to save the day.

In three thrilling tales with charming illustrations in every chapter, Tumtum and Nutmeg--along with the valiant efforts of veteran hero General Marchmouse, Ms. Tiptoe's bouncing ballerina army, and a team of caged gerbils--prove that small-size mice can have world-size hearts.

I loved this book. I mean, really really loved this book. It made me want to be a little kid again so my mom could read it out loud to me. There are several books she read to us that will always stick with me. Among these are Mother West Wind by Thornton W. Burgess and The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban. I would say as far as qualities of a great read-aloud go, Tumtum and Nutmeg is right up there with these two. The stories have so much charm and low-key humor to them. They're not knee-slapping, laugh out loud funny so much as very quirky. I really liked the fact that the good and bad characters have very well-defined roles, and they stick to them. Aunt Ivy, Miss Short, and the pond pirates got what was coming to them in the end- nothing grisly of course, but enough for the reader to feel the satisfaction that justice has been served. And I, for one, love happy endings!

This would be a really great read-aloud for any parent to read their child from age 5 up. (Depending on the particular child's attention span, of course). It may just be too wordy for some of the younger kids. I think a child up to age 10 or 11 would enjoy this book, so if you have kids between ages 5 and 11, this is the family read-aloud for you. But let me warn you right now, watch out for General Marchmouse. He is always getting into trouble! He's also one of the characters that made me laugh the most.

Rating: Buy it!

Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia**

By: Peggy Parish

64 Pages

Ages 6-8

**this is a Step 2 reader book**

Summary:

Amelia Bedelia is hired by Mr. & Mrs. Rogers. They leave a list of things they would like her to do that day. What they didn't know was that Amelia has her own way of doing things. Be careful how you say things when Amelia Bedelia is around...

I LOVED Amelia Bedelia when I was a kid and I love her even more now that I'm an adult! She was such a wonderful character and I loved getting to revisit her. She is the house cleaner with the heart of gold who's heart is always in the right place, but doesn't exactly do things the normal way.

Take her version of dusting the furniture, for example. Instead of removing the dust from it, she dusts the furniture with dusting powder she finds-- though it smells nice!! Or when she's asked to draw the drapes. The Rogers' are trying to keep the sun out of a room, but Amelia thinks they want a picture of their drapes drawn, so she draws them one! What saves her from being fired, you ask? Her yummy lemon-meringue pie!

Children will love reading how she interprets things and goes about doing them. You can't help but chuckle and laugh! Amelia Bedelia is a childhood treasure and I can't wait to read her to my girls! I hope they love her as much as I did growing up!!

Ages 9+

The Night of the Solstice by L. J. Smith

When Claudia Hodges-Bradley meets a fox, she knows it will be an extraordinary day. Not just any fox, this vixen is the magical familiar of the sorceress Morgana Shee. For years Morgana has guarded the solitary gate between Earth and the Wildworld, a shimmering parallel universe where legends still live. She alone holds the secret of the mirrors that serve as the last passage to enchantment. But Morgana has been betrayed and imprisoned in the Wildworld, and the fox is determined to recruit the Hodges-Bradley kids for the rescue mission.

Armed only with courage and determination, Alys, Charles, Janie, and Claudia must save Morgana before the winter solstice, when the evil sorcerer Cadal Forge plans to escape Wildworld and conquer Earth. And with December 21 only 2 weeks away, there is no time to lose...........

There is quite a story behind this book for me. I've been looking for it for years, because I read it when I was 10 years old from the library, then could never find it again. I remembered it was called Night of the Solstice, and I remembered it had something to do with the winter solstice and there was a grotto in it. That was all I could remember, and of course I had no clue who the author was. I had searched for it in the computers at work before, and figured it was probably out of print. So when we got this book in about 2 months ago, I immediately bought it. The summary didn't sound much like what I remembered, but the winter solstice was in there and it sounded good, so I figured it was worth the risk.

Now that I've read it, I am positive it's the same book I read as a kid. I remembered virtually nothing from the story, and the things that I did remember were really minor parts, but there were a couple of things that jogged my memory. It's hard to measure something you read as a kid against an adult interpretation. I think that usually some of the magic of the story gets lost. That being said, this was still a really good book. Definitely a great one for kids that like fantasy and adventure. My favorite characters were Alys, the winged serpent, and the vixen. I think most kids could find something to relate to in this book, because the 4 main characters-the Hodges-Bradley kids- range in age from 7 years old to 16 years old. There is a sequel that I haven't read yet, and didn't know about as a kid. I will definitely be reading that!

Rating: Buy it!

Ages 3-7

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

Bear is quite sure he doesn't like visitors. He even has a sign. So when a mouse taps on his door one day, Bear tells him to leave. But when Bear goes to the cupboard to get a bowl, there is the mouse- small and gray and bright-eyed. In this slapstick tale that begs to be read aloud, all Bear wants is to eat his breakfast in peace, but the mouse-who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places- just won't go away!

-from barnesandnoble.com

This book is awesome! Ruth and I read it for storytime a couple of weeks ago, and the kids really liked it. It was the last of 4 stories, and they paid attention through to the very end. (Usually by the fourth story you've lost half of the audience). My favorite character is the mouse, and lucky for me (probably because I insisted), I got to be the voice of the mouse at storytime! This story is destined to become a classic.

Rating: Buy it! This would make a great birthday or baby shower gift.