Book Review: Growing Home (children's, unusual friendships)

Growing Home, by Beth Ferry (Simon & Schuster, 2025, $17.99, 272pp HB, ages 7-9, grades 1-4), a Barnes and Noble Children's Book of the Year for 2025 and co-illustrated by brothers Terry and Eric Fan

Even today, in October 2026, when you wander through a Barnes and Noble store,  you will be inundated with the front cover of Growing Home and rightly so. We finally were able to review a copy and were we ever glad we did!

For middle-schoolers, it can be a long book of 71 chapters! But the chapters are short so a young girl or boy can take these animal and plant friends along and sneak in a chapter or two on the sly. Parents will get the characters a bit mixed up what with the human names for them, with the exception of the ivy plant named Ivy. We have a  grumpy goldfish Toasty, a traveling spider Arthur, Ollie the violet (misnamed however, it is obvious) and some nefarious humans, along with an 8-sided fish tank, a marvelous bird cage and a break-in.

The story will remind you of Mary Poppins with the adventures in the possible setting of London. Each character has a slight superpower but has to discover it and they don't start out as friends but learn along the way to use their powers for the 'good of the order.'

Book Review: Cat Heaven (OT) (children's book)

 Cat Heaven, by Cynthia Rylant (Blue Sky Press, 1997, 40pp HB, preschool - 3, ages 3+, $12.39)

Cat Heaven is almost a companion book to Dog Heaven,

which came first. Both are now classics by Newbery medalist author, illustrator and librarian Cynthia Rylant because many families with dogs also have cats.

Often, over ten years or so, the child outlives the dog, a sad situation that requires time and empathy to recover from. Cat Heaven is a lovely book to be read over and over again as it comforts your child. Child-sized (big) and crayon colorful, imagining Cat Heaven will spark old memories all over again and begin conversations.

When cats go to heaven, an angel cat welcomes them at the yellow front door with a kiss and a bowl of milk. And tuna and salmon and sardines and little pink fish, with a soft angel cat lap just right for napping.

Rhyming all over the page and sometimes in circles brings smiles to little faces as they are tucked in for the night, to dream of their favorite pet enjoying his new life. And seeing him again sometime.

And God ". . . walks in His garden with a good black book and a kitty asleep on his head."

Book Review: Dog Heaven (children's book)

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant (Blue Sky Press, 1995, ages 3+, $16.99, 40pp HB, preschool - grade 2) 

A Classic for Children (and you, too!)

Most children have a pet at one time or other and many of those pets are dogs. Often, over ten years or so, the child outlives the dog - a sad situation that requires time and empathy to recover from. Dog Heaven can help your child. It is a lovely book to be read over and over.

Child-sized (big) and crayon colorful, Dog Heaven is written in rhyme that may not be apparent at first glance, and in words and pictures that children can relate to so easily: pictures of a different-looking God, angel children, cloud beds, angel dogs, and a dog bowl for every dog with his name on it.

The pictures appear with words superimposed and the illustrations are as if a child drew them so your child will identify closely with them and designate their favorite pages - perhaps the page with dog treats in different shapes (cat biscuits and squirrel biscuits) or the pages with plentiful fields to run in or geese to tease.

Author Cynthia Rylant is also the illustrator, a librarian, and the author of more books for children, including the Henry and Mudge books!

In Dog Heaven, every dog is always a Good Dog.

Book Review: The Women (military nurses in the Vietnam Conflict)

The Women, by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's  Press, 2024, 480pp HB, $30), a Goodreads Choice Award winner; Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times and USA Today number one bestseller; and recognized by Barnes and Noble, Amazon, NPR, and Audible

A saga usually spans generations of an influential family during turbulent times but author Kristin Hannah manages to create sagas that cover only a decade or so in her books (Firefly Lane,

Magic Hour 

and 18 others) yet leaves the reader exhausted emotionally nevertheless. She creates depth as well as breadth in her novels that are breathtaking in their realism and optimism and inspiration yet are so much more than 'chick-flicks' in word form.

With a front cover reminiscent of the Broadway play "Miss Saigon," 

The Women encompasses a truly believable story amidst the turmoil of the 60s and ventures into the 70s and beyond. If you were alive and kicking during that time, you will remember the protest songs and folk songs mentioned and the political  headlines that not only brought the country together but also divided us politically.

The Script: "Women are Heroes, too."

Frankie (Frances to her mother) was raised to believe military service was an honor and a duty, but only for men. Her brother was a Navy pilot, so Frankie, a nurse, joined the Army almost on a whim. The men she met in Vietnam and the nurses she bonded with (for life) and the homecoming that so many vets experienced serve as the background for this long but fast-reading novel (short paragraphs help as well).

The Best?

Touted as one of the best of the Hannah novels, The Women has won several literary awards and will serve as a book club selection for many years to come. Now, this reviewer is on to read The Nightingale, a Book of the Month selection!

Book Review: Wildlife Anatomy (OT)

Wildlife Anatomy: The Curious Lives & Features of Wild Animals Around the World, by Julia Rothman (Storey, $18.99, 2023, 208pp PB)

What a wonderful incredible book - to keep and refer to, often! But you can't read it in one sitting because there is too much to digest: more than 200 pages of delightful drawings and scientific information* so the built-in bookmarks come in handy.

With six chapters including "Have you Herd?" and "Social Networks" as well as "Built From the Ground Up." Most are self-explanatory but "Built From the Ground Up" may not be: it is about dens, underground tunnels, nests, and of course dams built by nature's engineer, the beaver. Some nests are rebuilt every day! Mud is a common component as well.

Colorful illustrations crowd every page as the reader follows up the phylogenetic tree with digressions along the way and a bit too many unusual animals for me - we would never run into them and with only a sentence or two about each one, the author doesn't nearly do them justice.

Having said that, Wildlife is a good review for a former zoology major or for a high-school student who can't get enough of animals: perhaps he or she is trying to decide their favorite one. If so, Rothman's book will help. And now I am going to look up the author's work on oceans and maybe a sticker book or activity book or. . . . 

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*life span, courtship rituals, size of 'litters,' and yes, anatomy (anatomy of the hoof on p. 94 and of a giraffe, flamingo, armadillo, camel, owl, tarantula, . . . .oh, how I wish the author had included an index!

Book Review: A Farewell to Arfs (a Chet and Bernie dog mystery)

A Farewell to Arfs, by Spencer Quinn (Tor Publishing Group, 2024, 278pp HB, $27.99) Reviews of other Chet and Bernie books here and here and here. . . . 

I came across A Farewell to Arfs quite by mistake but it reminded me that it has been a long time since I last read a Chet and Berrnie dog mystery and I missed those guys! It was good to be back. This is number 15 in the series. So far.

Author Spencer Quinn is at the top of his field as usual, with the help of Chet The Dog (Bernie is Chet's human and a PI). Or maybe it's because of Chet The Dog. I had mistakenly remembered that chapters alternated between the two as narrators but soon recalled that Chet The Dog is the "narrator extraordinaire" and the reason for the book series - and its successes.

Chet is the lovable, fast-talking but slow-remembering sidekick in danger but we love him. He gets sidetracked so easily that even we can't always follow him.

The Plot

We love how the exciting climax comes not at the end but several chapters earlier with the explanation at the end. Set in probably Arizona or New Mexico, like many Chet and Bernie stories, this one tackles AI and computers and hacking and . . . . basically, an old man's life savings are stolen by his son when the man's passwords are handed over. But was it really to his son on the phone? Does a parent ever get his child mixed up over the phone? 

We love the return of the Hawaiian shirts and 'big guy' and how Chet thinks Bernie is the smartest one in the room (always) and we love the love Chet has for Bernie.

And,  About the Cover

Starting with Heart of Barkness (number 8 in the series), the book covers feature a pawprint* and a photo of our hero, Chet, rather than just his silhouette (which left it all to your imagination). I preferred to imagine Chet rather than see him as a dog different than what I had imagined.

You can read the Chet and Bernie books in any order but they are a bit better when read consecutively. For example, I read Farewell after skipping a few, only to find that Bernie's love interest had changed. Now he is engaged to a female police officer who doesn't need his protection (given) which results in the ceremony being put off.

And, About the Title

As a book reviewer, I find myself starting in the back. Is there an index? Does the book need one? I read the acknowledgements, intro, preface, ToC (table of contents), all the boring things you, the reader, skips over. I look at the front and back cover, and, of course, the title. I couldn't figure out this title though it did refer to A Farewell to Arms. . . . 

Recommendation

If you don't mind talking dogs, you will love these books!

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*However, fortunately, the Chet and Bernie books are referred to as the Chet and Bernie books with the right order of protagonists: Chet, first!

Book Review: Firefly Lane

Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah (St Martin's Griffin, 479pp PB, $19, 2008)

I am drained after finishing this 479-page book in four days. And I was late to the table discovering author Kristin Hannah. But I will read more of her 15-plus* books.

The Magic Hour 

was incredible but Firefly Lane topped it. Both were set in the Pacific NorthWest (PNW) where I grew up and Firefly's two women graduated from my university, the University of Washington, so I recognized most of the place names and the popular songs that were sprinkled throughout - and remember the clothing - after all this was in the Hippie Times, and the following 30 years..

Firefly is a long book that is a fast read because I loved both women and wanted to be both but never even knew girls like that growing up. Kate and Tully could not be more different but starting at age 14 (in 1974), they became and remained best friends and yes, they fought and were jealous of each other but they were also there for each other.

Kate and Tully had that rare friendship that is also found among veterans in that you can ask them for anything. 

Although the end was rather long and the chapters did not have titles, just about everything else was pretty near perfect.

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* 24 so far, as of September 2026