Entries Categorized as 'Review'

Little-or-Nothing from Nottingham

Our rating: ***½

This book is adorable. It’s the story of a dog who is adopted by the Ticket Master of a circus. Due to the dog’s being able to stand its front legs and balance, the Ticket Master puts him in the circus. Nearly every day the Ticket Master gives Little-or-Nothing a bone, which he promptly hides under the Ticket Master’s wagon. But the next morning, the bone is gone!

This phenomenon has a very simple explanation, but it takes Little-or-Nothing awhile to catch on. It’s very cute, and I enjoyed it as a quick “Sit-right-down-by-the-bookshelf-and-read-it-now” book. It’s out of print, but I hope you will be able to find it without much trouble!

No More Water in the Tub!

Our rating: *****

William is taking a bath, and his mother tells him not to run the faucet more than a minute longer. But when his brother Walter tries to make the water come out faster and the handle breaks off, William is in for a wild ride down the whole apartment building!

This one is absolutely hilarious. As William and the bathtub go from floor to floor, the downstairs neighbors are swept into the current and join the fun. The neighbors’ names and their “boats” all rhyme. For instance, “Patty Fuzzle steered her puzzle.” I still read this one!

Double Challenge

Our rating: *****

In the Mahela forest, Ted Harkness lives with his father Al in a cabin. Everybody is after Damon and Pythias, supposedly the biggest bucks anywhere. To promote his hunting lodge, Ted’s employer Carl Thornton, asks Ted to get one of the two deer for him to hang on his wall. There’s only one catch: Carl wants Ted to hunt out of season. Ted refuses and Carl fires him. When Al finds out, he and Ted open a hunting camp for deer season. However, Ted’s on his own when Al is falsely accused of shooting a man and has to go on the run.

There’s a lot going on here. I love it when you have to follow multiple plots, and this is one of Jim Kjelgaard’s best multi-plot stories. Double Challenge has a lot of interesting parts. The characters are all very real and vivid. Well worth reading. Oh, as is usual with good books, Double Challenge is out of print. See our Book Tips Page for help finding out of print books.

Concord Cunningham, the Scripture Sleuth

Our rating: *****

After Concord Cunningham solves a mystery with the help of his Bible, Chief Riggins of the police nicknames him “The Concordance.” Look up Scripture references and try to crack cases with the help of Concord.

I really enjoyed this book. You can probably go through this book fairly fast. However, this is still a great book.

Cinnabar, the One O’Clock Fox

Our rating: ***

Cinnabar is a fox who dearly enjoys to participate in fox hunts. So much so, that he is known as the One O’Clock Fox who always shows up at One O’Clock and will run until night-fall. The historic chase that takes place in this book is between Cinnabar (affectionately called “Cinny”) and a party of men including George Washington.

This book is great! It’s so amusing to read about Cinny and his wife, Vicky, and their four children, Rascal, Pascal, Merry, and Mischief. The copy I read had great illustrations in it, but I don’t know what you’ll be able to find, as this book is out of print. It’s perfect for a chuckle or two.