Entries Categorized as 'All Ages'

The Sign of the Seahorse

Our rating: *****

A tale of greed and high adventure in two acts. In which our heroine Pearl Trout, along with her brother and the brave Corporal Bert, must thwart the villainous Gropmund Grouper and his devious scheme to not only cheat the inhabitants of Reeftown out of their money, but to destroy the very town itself!

Graeme Base’s combination of beautifully-done, full-color pages of illustrations with perfectly (and often comical) rhyming prose makes for such an enjoyable experience. It’s a terrific read-aloud, but everyone will surely want to go through and study each picture by their self, too. As with most of Base’s books, there are hidden things to be found—in this case, the sign of the seahorse is tucked somewhere on every page, and close examination will also reveal the continual appearance of “two largely unnoticed shrimps,” to quote the list of the Cast. All in all, great fun for any age.

With You All The Way

Our rating: ****½

Three knights are chosen to journey through the dreaded Hemlock Forest, home of the sly Hopenots. Each knight may pick a companion to accompany them, but which knight will emerge alive from the forest? Carlisle, the strongest? Alon, the quickest? Or Cassidon, the wisest?

A great book with beautiful illustrations. The story is short, but powerful.

Freddy and the Flying Saucer Plans

Our rating: ***½

Freddy the pig and Jinx the cat (along with their steeds, Bill the goat and Cy the pony) are all ready to go on a trip, when a call for help arrives from Uncle Ben. He has plans for a flying saucer, given to him by the Martians, but can’t begin work on a saucer because tons of spies are following him everywhere, trying to obtain the prized plans. It’s time for Freddy to step in and lend a hand, er, trotter.

Freddy is back! There is a fun plot twist, and tons of spies all fighting each other for the plans. An enjoyable new character, Samuel the mole, is introduced. I especially like the part with him at the end.

Blue Hat, Green Hat

Our rating: *****

An elephant, a moose, a bear, and a turkey are all trying on outfits, but the turkey is having a hard time figuring out just how to put things on properly.

This is my favorite board book! A funny book with cute illustrations, and the ending is great!

Follow My Leader

Our rating: ****

Young Jimmy Carter (not the president) is blinded in an accident involving a firework. He finds it hard to accept what has happened and doesn’t think he can do anything on his own again. Then he is admitted to a guide dog school and finds his confidence coming back under the influence of his teachers and the other students. Back home, Jimmy even runs his own newspaper stand. There is only one thing Jimmy finds extremely difficult: Forgiving Mike, the boy who caused the accident.

One of the things I like about Follow My Leader is that Jimmy is urged to give up his hatred for Mike by many people. He also has to convince his friends to do the same. The parts of the story at the guide dog school are interesting and provide a good look at how people are paired with a guide dog. I also like how Jimmy and his family have to give up the “Jimmy’s helpless because he’s blind” attitude for Jimmy to succeed.