Skip to main content

Squirrels on Skis

Squirrels on Skis
Written by J. Hamilton Ray
Illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre
Random House, 2013. Unpaged easy reader.

It began with one skiing squirrel.. then, there were two...then, eighty-five! The people of the snowy town are soon fed up with the squirrels everywhere, skiing down the hall roof, and down the church steeple. The townspeople are desperate for a solution. Sally Sue Breeze, a child reporter, says she will solve the problem of the skiing squirrel infestation. Sally finds the culprit- a rabbit who has cleverly been selling popsicle stick skis and toothpick poles to the squirrels in exchange for acorns. Sally convinces the rabbit to turn his shop into a resort, and the squirrels all flock to it! The ski runs are on the back hill, away from the town. Happiness all around! Ray's story is full of fun rhymes and Seussian spirit. Lemaitre's illustrations are delightful and full of energy. He might be a a contender against himself for a Geisel honor- his other illustrated easy reader (A Pet Named Sneaker) is equally fun!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...