Book Review: What is the Shape of My Egg? (children's, learning shapes)(OT)

What is the Shape of My Egg? Book 1 of 3, by Lisa Weckbacher (Little Whoo Books, 2023, $10.95, 32 pp, ages 4-8 years) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

Silkie has just laid her first egg and it is perfect! 

A perfect circle! 

But is it really?

The three other chickens try to explain to Silkie what a circle is, with no corners, no straight lines, and no sharp edges, and they find many more circles in their lives than they do ovals, which is what an egg is, precisely. They see circles in the shape of their water dish, their food bowl, but not Silkie's egg. Instead they find her egg looks like a watermelon, squashed and squeezed. And perfect.

Geometry Rules!

In the pages at the back you will find directions for a shape hunt, a whole page on Silkie chickens, and advice to ask your child questions like "What's on top of the table?" and "Find something to the left of the chair." You can count with your child, the appearances of Willie the Worm, who, though not playing a major part in the story, appears on several pages (or part of him does). Silkies have two extra toes and bright blue earlobes. Here is a page you can color of Silkie!

If you liked reading and learning with Silkie, you will want to buy the next books in the series:

Book 2: What is the Shape of  my Ears? (2023)(triangles)

Book 3: What is the Shape of my House? (2024)(squares and rectangles)

Book Review: The Sheep of Celtic Herd: What are Ewe Thinking? (photos and poetry, sheep)(OT)

The Sheep of Celtic Herd: What are Ewe Thinking? by Roxanne Dean (Roxanne Dean, 2014, 81 pp, $9.00)

Written by a former teacher, The Sheep of Celtic Herd appeals to young students as it educates all ages about sheep behavior.

"Trinity, the Shetland Ewe," can be found mid-book - a few pages of surprising prose detailing how sheep like to eat snow and how most rain doesn't bother them and how their favorite past time is eating. Even, how they follow a leader and often follow in single file.

We especially loved "Back to Back" on page 52, about, in today's terms (or military lingo), "I got your back," which seems to fit a flock of sheep to a T: sheep tend to flock together for protection and perhaps because they don't like making decisions so if one sheep turns left, they all eventually follow, sometimes in a straight line. And if one sheep is busy eating grass and doesn't notice the change right away, when he does, he runs to catch up to the flock.

"Time to Move On" was another of our favorites, comparing sheep behavior to people behavior on page 36.

With photos galore, author and photographer Roxanne Dean shows she really knows sheep and their quirky behaviors, how different breeds look different, and how sheep prefer crowds to being alone.

Book Review: Woven of the World (weaving, feeling, storytelling)(OT)

Woven of the World, by Katey Howes (Chronicle Books, $17.99, 2023, ages 5-8, 44 pages, grades K-3)

Blue is. . . .

A unique book in mostly black, about the little known art (and science) of weaving down through the ages, Woven of the World can be read and appreciated on many levels. For the littlest readers, you might ask them to find the blue animal (a cat) on each page and to wonder along with you, why the woman's and girl's hair is blue. 

. . . History and Geography

Starting in China and Egypt and through Africa to pioneer America, we travel through time and place (even with the Salish Indians of the Pacific Northwest)

along with a little girl who  may be listening to history (or stories) from her mother or her grandmother, as she learns to weave from the best.

I love the back and front book covers, a patchwork of designs, and on the back paper cover, nothing! Nothing but black, inviting the young reader to use a piece of chalk and create a picture - of the future perhaps?

The more you read Woven of the World, the more you see in it, in both the whimsical detailed pictures and the rhythmic words.

On another level is the history of the world, in chronological order, and a tour of weaving terms which can also be found on the inside covers for little hands to point to and identify.

Weaving produces both something utilitarian and beautiful yet the beauty reflects diverse cultures as a result of evolving looms and other equipment as well as the thread material and designs.

For the adult reader, author Katey Howes has included a history of the cultures depicted in the book. These pages inform the adult reader and connect the different parts of the storyline.

Could weaving be the thread that unites the world, its people and the stories passed down from generation to generation? We should ask our children! 

Book Review: On Skein of Death (murder mystery, knitting)

On Skein of Death, a Riverbank Knitting Mystery Book*, by Allie Pleiter (Berkley Prime Crime, 2021, 295 pp, $7.99 pb) Reviewed by Skye Anderson. 

Just in time for the 50th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival,** the first three books in the Riverbank Knitting Mystery Book series - set in Maryland - arrived in the mail and I couldn't wait to wade through them once I saw the dog, Hank, on the cover of the first one, On Skein of Death. And on the second one. And on the third one!

Although written by a Chicagoan, the book gets Maryland right (though there is not much to get right, being a small town) and knitting right, too, though the latter part (knitting) is more than I know!

In the quaint little old Maryland town of Collinstown (imaginary) on the also-imaginary Chester River, our heroine Libby opens a yarn store, Y.A.R.N., when she returns to her hometown as a 38-year old divorcee. She invites customers to write sayings on her blackboard that explain the name (acronym) of the store: You're Absolutely Ready Now, You'll Always Remember Nice, Your Anger Rewards No one, etc.

Like all yarn stores, Y.A.R.N. is comfortable, cozy and colorful - as are the characters, prime among them being Mayor Gavin, Libby's highschool sweetheart and now the divorced father of a 13-year-old girl.

But I Digress - Back to Murder.

With the featured guest speaker of a yarn festival weekend, knit designer Perle Lonager arriving for the workshops and quickly disappearing only to submerge dead, strangled by red yarn, our heroine must salvage her weekend business losses and solve the who-dun-it. Of course this is little town life, where the police let civilians help with the solution.

And, with three prime suspects, the suspense mounts.

Added Bonus (or should I say, Bone-us?!)

Author Allie Pleiter (speaker, author, coach) includes the instructions for a dog sweater with a Nordic design! (Wish she had included a photo) I'd also like to see more of Hank the dog.

In addition, there is plenty of yarn-bombing!

We hope the Riverbank in The Riverbank Knitting Murder series comes into play more in future books and it just might since Collinstown is on the Chester River.

*First in the series. Book 2 is Knit or Dye Trying,

Book 3 is It Came Upon a Midnight Shear.

A signed copy of each will be given away at the 50th Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on 6-7 May 2023 and the author will be signing more books  in 2024.

**Three autographed Allie Pleiter books to be given away at the 50th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, 6-7 May 2023 at the Howard County Fairgrounds.

Book Review: The S.O.U.R.C.E. (OT) (children, ocean pollution, exciting story)

The S.O.U.R.C.E., by Suzanna Royse (Fulton Books, 2021, 209 pp, 2nd edition, $18.95, ages 8-12)

The Plot

Two skateboard kid champions who live next to the ocean get too close and are dragged down by a riptide.

Flash forward to Ocean World, a humungous "ocean aquarium" and tourist spot that also heals injured ocean animals with the goal of returning them to their oceanic habitat. However, here we also have the mad scientists who use technology for their own purposes.

Whales and Sea Otters

Some of the ocean mammals at Ocean World long for the families they were taken from, in order to wow the visiting humans, so they hatch a plan of escape and carry it out but they run into danger along the way and also run into the kids. 

Can the kids save the escaped animals? Can the kids themselves be saved? What is the danger that faces the ocean mammals? Is it true that the future of the world is in the hands of today's children and that they can change the world for the better, even now, as young as they are? How does one know whom to trust? And can animals really talk? Does the mother of all sea creatures really exist? And what is the significance of S.O.U.R.C.E.?

Bonus: Just enough illustrations so the reader can race through this book. An illustrated glossary in the back.

Book Review: I am Andi (three adopted kids in a normal 'fighting' family)(children's book)

 I am Andi, by JR Balthazar (Ruby Red, 2022, 210 pp, $21.99, children's book)

More Andi books, please!

Boys and girls alike will want to read this book in one sitting! Author JR Balthazar remembers what it's like to be adopted and 11 and fight with your also-adopted brothers (but defend them again others), and be embarrassed by them and suffer the consequences of bullying and go to sleep-over camp and have two BFFs.

And the Puppy!

Your brother wants a border collie but gets a lab puppy for his birthday so he gives it to you but the birthday party is crashed by the new bratty kids down the street who attach balloons to the puppy and . . . . 

Balthazar writes almost in one long sentence. Nothing unusual happens in this family but you read it faster and faster because you can identify with Andi whether you are a girl in the middle or a boy. Her older brother keeps getting kicked out of schools (ADHD) and her younger brother is on the spectrum. Her dad is in the military and that makes just your ordinary average American family. 

I am Andi reads like a letter from your mom when you are away - full of ordinary everyday occurrences that read like home because they take you home again, even if the situations are different.

Glossaries Help

At the end of the book is a page of shortcuts for those who don't text much (LOL, WTH, TBC, etc.) to translate the last word of each chapter and one or two inside each as well (not too many). Next to that glossary is a page of simple diagrams (Andrika symbols) which also start each chapter instead of a chapter title (though it took this reviewer five chapters to make the connection) which foretells that chapter's situation.

We need more Andi books!

Book Review: What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? (OT)(hysterical historical non-fiction)

What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?  by Jean Fritz (Newbery Honor Award winning author) (Puffin Books, 48 pp, ages 7-9, grades 2-4, 1996, $6.99) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

Did you know Ben Franklin was one of 10 boys and 5 girls? You do, now, and you will remember it and more fun facts about Ben, mostly before he became famous.

Making History Fun and Funny

What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? may just be the most fun you have ever had learning history or anything else. You will learn that, "back in the day," the first-born son in the Franklin family always became a blacksmith while the next was trained in the occupation of his father, that apprenticeships last nine years even if you learn faster than that. Ben was apprenticed to a brother who was a printer and started writing poetry of all things but was told he'd best stick to prose (as in the Constitution). He then ran away to sea and ended up in Philadelphia to start his own printing business. And so it begins.

Franklin was curious. So curious that he invented things, one of which locked his door when he was in bed so he didn't have to get up to do that chore. We all know he played with electricity, had numerous children of his own, helped found the Union, and went abroad to England and then France as ambassador.

But the story of it all may just keep you in stitches. You will want to read the other history books author Jean Fritz has written, too, just as fast as you can - the titles are worth it!*

Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?

Shh, We're Writing the Constitution

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?

Where do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?

Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?

Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?