This new series will be a hit with those readers starting to read chapter books. Channing O'Banning is a fourth grade students with two friends she has had since pre-school, Maddy, her BFF and Cooper, the brain. Channing does not like school very much, especially Science with boring Mr. Doring, but she loves art. She always has her sketchbook handy and a pencil in her ponytail. When Marco, the new kid from Costa Rico shows up, Maddy has a crush on him and it looks like her BFF is abandoning her. She does not like Marco and he thinks she is a know-it-all. When Channing finds out that her family is going on vacation to Costa Rico, but will be staying with Marco and his family for their summer vacation, she is not impressed. As she travels in Costa Rico and Marco shows her his country, she realizes that he is a nice guy after all. There is a lot to learn in this book and at the end there are suggestions of what you can do to find out more about the rainforest as well as to help save the rainforests. A great book for a school or class library as well as to use when studying the rainforest with younger students.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Angela Spady has written a wonderful book for young readers. Channing O’Banning and the Rainforest Rescue is clean and has a positive moral. I know that my 9-year-old will enjoy reading it and I am happy for him to do so.

Fourth-grader Channing is one fast, run-on sentence. I love it. She is a little whirling dervish; quirky, zany, but a wee bit jealous and she has a bit of an issue with misplaced blame as most fourth graders tend to do. There are parts of this book that I found hilarious, such as connect the dots on your freckles and others endearing, such as Channing’s love of colored pencils and the fun names that she gives them. The story is filled with cute characters, my favorite of which is Teeny whom I believe i to be the best behaved pig on the planet.

Tammie Lyon is a talented illustrator. The drawings are funk and fun; the pages are brightly colored and engaging. I looked at her website and she is, in my opinion, gifted with an incredible talent for illustration geared towards children.

The moral of the story… Your child will learn that being a little know it all can often hurt you; you may miss out on the wonderful things that people who have different experiences and perspectives can show you. Channing also discovers that If you work together you might even be able to teach others something in return.

"I guess I needed to stop and really think before making judgments about people—especially when I didn’t know the whole story."

As you can likely discern from the title of the story Spady also encourages a green lifestyle. She advocates being thoughtful of your environment and taking small steps towards caring for it. There is a section at the end of the book which gives kids, and their parents, some practical ways to save the Rainforests.

I have no reservations allowing my child to read and enjoy Channing O’Banning and the Rainforest Rescue.

I received a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

For all of my reviews visit my blog at https://blessedandbewildered.wordpress.com ( )

5 STARS

Channing O'Banning is a charming 4th grader. She is a artist who always has a colored pencil in her ponytail. She has favorite subjects in school. Ones she does not like. She finds cool things to draw when she on vacation to Costa Rico. She learns about the Rainforest and cloudforest.

This book is good fun and educational too. Channing learns some quick reasons why it is important to save the rainforests. That some plants are medicine and some animals and birds that live there.

Channing also learns that other kids can know more stuff than she does. You can always use more friends. That when she does not study her tests show that too.

I would love to visit the places that the O'Bannings got to visit on their vacation. Would love to see the pictures they took in the book. The book describes the things they saw so well and believable.

I was given this book to review no money took part of it and the review is my own opinion.

Age Range: 7 - 9 years

Grade Level: 2 - 4

Series: The Channing O'Banning Series

Paperback: 119 pages
Publisher: Santa Cruz Press (May 31, 2013) ( )