Laurie B. FriedmanReseñas

Valentine's

Presents the life of a Holocaust survivor, who was kept from starvation through the efforts of a young girl from a farming family who secretly threw an apple to him every day through the fence surrounding the concentration camp.

I love the quirky illustrations -- it looks like a fun school day! But the text, oh the text. Page after page of no, no and no. The rules are negative - don't do this, don't do that. Instead of being endearing or silly, it feels heavy and sad. Not the feeling I want to share with students at the start of school!

Ruby Valentine and the Sweet Surprise teaches a valuable lesson about the capacity for love, particularly the ability to love multiple people (and pets) and to love them equally.

The illustrations are great (although very, very pink), but the rhyming style of the text feels a bit forced. I would have preferred the story if it had been prose instead.

While this book can stand on its own, I think one's enjoyment of it suffers a bit if you have not read the other Ruby Valentine books. The story begins a somewhat abruptly, and I was left with some questions that may have already been answered in the other books (like why does her bird wear a sweater?).

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.

I read this book with my 4 year old grandson. He is autistic so he has been attending school for about 2 years. As returning to school is coming up I thought this would be an awesome pick to get ready. I was not disappointed. We loved the book. Percy is off to school and has some rules to share. There are 10 simple rules of what Not to do. Yes they are told from a negative point which may put some people off. I myself prefer to give positive rules of behavior. Not everyone does though. So we all have to deal with both types of rules in daily life. The text was told in rhyme and the rules, though negative, were fun. The illustrations were delightful. My 4 year old understood every one of them. He was not put off by the No's and Don'ts. They were all rules he knew and he was comfortable with them. Rules were presented in a fun way and were understood; which is exactly what I think the author set out to do.
My grandson's review: "I like the pictures. My favorite were the kids hanging from the ceiling and flying through the air. The rules are important. But they forgot one. The most important one. You don't hit the teacher. No smacking her butt or kicking. They really don't like that. I know all about that. I really like this book. I need to read it every night so I am ready for school.I think teacher's should read it on the first day."

This book is a great to teach children how to earn and spend money. It also shows though out the book how Mallory can't just think of herself or it will hurt others feelings in the process which will hurt hers in the end. She also learns how just because someone else is happy with their item they got will not always make her happy too.

Ruby Valentine loves Valentine's Day. She spends days preparing valentines for her loved ones, only to sleep through Valentine's Day. She decides to deliver them anyway and realizes it's okay to tell people you love them any day of the year!

The Christmas family does Christmas in a big way. They have the biggest tree, the largest light display and buy the most presents, but his is not the true meaning of Christmas. Mary does not enjoy Christmas like the rest of her family, she knows something is not right. When she comes up with a way to have the best Christmas ever, the town and everyone in it benefits. A great family story to share about the true meaning of it is better to give than to receive. Fun illustrations finish off this book. I want a hard copy for my family library. This is a book with a great message, yet fun to read together with children. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

This was a quick and fun read. I can understand all that April was feeling and dealt with. At that age everything is embarrassing. The different formatting of journal writing was nice. I'm surprised that things didn't end up differently for her and her love life. Could have had some more drama there to add more to the story.

"Thanksgiving Rules" is a humorous story about the chaotic holiday. The main character, Percy Isaac Gifford, lists the rules of Thanksgiving to make it the best Thanksgiving. With the most important part, the food, Percy goes through the rules of actions what have to happen before eating and after eating. With getting dressed in Mother's best, helping Dad with the cleaning, greeting friends and family with a short and sweet "hi", and ending the feast with a kiss on the cheek to all of the guests. Percy's rules are entertaining and demonstrate the craziness of Thanksgiving. This book is entertaining to people of all ages and relevant to the celebration of Thanksgiving traditions. I recommend this book for entertainment during the holiday season.

I liked this book because I thought it was a fun read. I think that the writing flowed from one thought to the next simply because the rules progressed sequentially. I feel like the story also flowed because this was a rhyming book. The author did a great job of using language to describe the mood. For example she used words like “cheer, smile, happiness, etc.”. I also believe that the illustrations do a good job of complementing the words/ rules on the page. The illustrations are light, colorful and playful. The big picture of this book is that birthdays are fun and exciting, but the reader should realize that a new year means that they can be a new them.

A sweet book about friendship, love, and two unlikely friends.

A worthy sequel.

This was a cute, humorous read in diary format. Being an adult reader I found April to be a bit of a brat at times, but I think 12 and 13 year-old girls will really relate to her.

When Mallory's parents tell her that they are moving three hours away, Mallory is not happy - it means leaving behind her house, her room, and her very best friend. She pinkie swears that she will not be friends with any boys in her new house, but when they arrive the only kid around is the boy next door. Surprisingly, he's a lot of fun and they become friends. Mallory gets into a bit of a jam when her best friend comes to visit and the three of them try to play together.

Mallory is a little less sassy than Junie B. or Piper Reed - so it would be a good book for those girls that are looking for someone more "real." Good messages about making new friends and adjusting to new situations - the weight of the message matches with the reading level of the book.½

Percy is the birthday boy who has a set of ten rules for making the most of your birthday. The book is told in rhyme and all of Percy's rules are sure to add more pleasure to a little one's special day. . From looking your best, to adding friends and family to eating the cake, the excellent illustrations enable the reader to see how much fun Percy and his very lively and funny dog are having. The perfect book to share with a class over and over during the year on each child's birthday..
Read from NetGalley.

Ruby Valentine returns from a trip to the city with a new pet cat, and her bird Lovebird is so jealous! As Valentine's Day approaches and the feline Sweetie Pie one-ups every one of Lovebird's efforts to make it a memorable day for Ruby, things go a bit awry. As is to be expected, all turns out well in the end. The anthropomorphic characters are likable and inviting, and the illustrations are rich with movement. Review copy received via NetGalley.com. (128)½

Good for first day of class to introduce rules and what the class rules should be.½

Such Fun, Full of Relatable Feelings

No one wants to be a third wheel, and Mallory is no different from others. Every little girl can relate to the feelings Mallory has when an exciting new girl moves into the neighborhood. Girls will relate to Mallory’s feelings of fear of sharing her best friend, and change. Mallory makes some bad choices, and then has to make up for them. These books are tremendous for girls learning to deal with emotions, situations, and life.

I think that this is an excellent series for young girls. High second grade readers will be able to read this, but the reading level targets 3rd grade, though many older pre-teens will enjoy it as well. In my opinion, this is a much better choice than Junie B. Jones, and my higher second grade girls love them.

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

I loved this book. My favorite part of the book hands down has to be the illustrations. They are cute and scary at the same time. For instance, at one point Simon is sitting at the table eating “blood and brains”. This is a little scary but the illustrations make it seem silly and gross.

I also enjoyed the text of the book. The rhyming text made the book an easy fun book, that I enjoyed hearing read aloud. I also enjoy the repeated text, “I'm Simon Lester Henry Strauss, and I'm not afraid of this haunted house".

The overall message of this book is of a little boy trying to prove to his friends that he is brave. But, in the end, no matter how brave Simon is (or anyone for that matter), there’s something we’re all afraid of…even if it is just a mouse.

The big idea of this book is a little boy trying to show his friends how brave and different he is. I like this book for two reasons. One, I like the illustrations. They are rough around the edges with dark colors that enhance what the text is saying and the feeling of the book. Second, I like the style of the text. The words appear bigger when the boy is talking loudly, and take on different shapes than a normal line of text would. This adds depth to the story and is more fun to look at.

I think this is a fun creative book. I think the theme of the book is courage. Courage is something we all have in different amounts.

I liked the text of the book. For example the whole book rhymed, which creates a fun flow to the book. Despite the whole book rhyming, the story does not have the typical dry poem feel. Haunted houses are typically something kids want to go into, so I think it's a fun concept. The gross things the boy eats and does is something young boys can relate to. It also adds a fun sense of humor to the book.

I like the illustrations. For example, the children in the book are different geometric shapes. Square heads, triangular bodies. It is a different type of person, which gives the story a more eerie appearance. Overall, an enjoyable book.

I love the book, "I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House!" I loved how the whole book rhymed, I feel that this made the book easier to read and flow more smoothly. I also liked how the phrase, "I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House," was repeated throughout the book. By repeating this phrase I think that the author helped support the central message. The central message was that it is great to be courageous, but there may be times where things catch us off guard and where our courage will be tested. This central message is supported by the repetition of the phrase, "I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House" because the main character is portrayed as courageous related to the haunted house, but as soon as the main character sees a mouse at the end of the book he becomes terrified and runs away from the haunted house.

This was such a fun book, I really liked it! I liked it because of the simple rhyme scheme that is easy to follow. Because of this simple and fun rhyme, this is a great book for emergent readers, because it uses a lot of repetitive language, such as the child's name, Simon Lester Henry Strauss, which appears on nearly every page. I also like this book because of the illustrations. By using dark colors and gory details, it adds to the spooky story and ultimately adds to the punchline in the end, because you expect Simon to not be afraid of anything if he isn't afraid of such disgusting things. The main idea of this poem is that everyone is afraid of different things; what may be scary to one person may not be scary to another.

I really liked this poetry book. I found it very enjoyable and fun to read. A lot of times, I find poetry books to be a little intimidating or uninteresting but I liked this one. I liked the general plot of it. I found myself wanting to keep turning the page and find out what else this kid was not scared of. I liked everything about this book including the plot, illustrations, characters and writing. I would say that the big idea of this book is that even the most brave people are afraid of something. Everyone has faults and everyone is afraid of something.