Scarlatti's Cat by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

Scarlatti's Cat by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scarlatti's Cat is a cute children's story about an Italian music composer, Scarlatti, and his beautiful and smart cat, Pulcinella, and how his cat composed a sonata. Man, I wish my Wedgie was talented like that - does this mean his scratching on my furniture is really a display of artistry?

This book is beautifully drawn, and I especially love the drawings of Pulcinella, who reminds me a lot of my beloved Zorro. There's a great drawing of Scarlatti holding Pulcinella, with Handel's dog nearby.

The book also teaches young readers to follow their hearts, their passions and their dreams. Though being a proud and crazy cat lady, I was very sad to read the ending.





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The Enchanting World of Garden Irene McGeeny by Concetta Kennedy

The Enchanting World of Garden Irene McGeeny by Concetta Kennedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Enchanting World of Garden Irene McGeeny is a cute children's book about a girl named Garden Irene, who tells her classmates one day in social studies that she lives in an underground castle. I remember being amazed at castles when I first read about them, so I can just imagine that a statement like that would bring about such excitement in a classroom!

Naturally everyone doesn't believe poor Garden Irene - the author states that she came up with an unusual name so that people will remember her story. She goes home and tells her parents what she did, and her parents - especially her father - are very disappointed with her. And the rest of the story goes on from there.

I think this is a great, cute story for tweens. My only real negative is the drawings were all in black and white and it would have been nice to have seen at least a few color drawings.

(netgalley)

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Prairie Anna

Prairie Anna by Peggy House
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a children's book, similar to Little House on the Prairie, about a girl named Anna, who has to indure hardship kids today have no clue about. The story is very cute and is based upon a true story, and I think most kids would enjoy it. The illustrations are also very nice and go well with the story.

I had just a couple of little issues - both cars and telephones are mentioned here. I really struggle to believe that a family as poor as Anna's, who had to burn cow dung in order to keep their home warm, would be rich enough to own a phone and a car, a true luxury by any standards at that period in time. The phone quite easily could have been cut out of the story all together, and have a horse replace the car, and the story would have flowed so much better, but the vast majority of kids won't pick up on those facts, I'm sure.

My other interesting tidbit was the colony Anna's family ended up living with - I would have really enjoyed hearing more about it - I felt that whole section was a tease, but that's probably just my viewpoint as an adult.

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Secret of the Sea Creature

The Secret of the Sea Creature by Laurie S Sutton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First of all, I am a HUGE Scooby Doo fan! When I first saw this book, I was so excited because it's also a choose your own adventure book! I LOVED those books as a kid and was thrilled to see another one come out!

This book is for ages 7-12. The pages are beautifully drawn and look like the characters in all the shows (yes, I still watch Scooby Doo as an adult). The story line is simple but very age appropriate - the gang goes to a beach, you get to pick who to hang out with (all the major characters are here) and depending on who you pick, will determine what will happen next!

I wish that there were a few more choices, but as I aaid, this is for younger kids & I think they will absolutely love it and I know I'm buying this for my niece when this comes out (she'll be 7).


I received a review copy for free from netgalley and was not paid for this review.

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