From Story Time: The Letter "M"

READ IN TODDLER TIME

Written by Don Wood

Illustrated by Audrey Wood

Blue Sky Press, 2002. Picture Book.

Little Mouse is snug in his cozy house getting ready for Christmas. But the Big Hungry Bear is all alone in his snowy cave at the top of the hill. He's lonely and sad that no one ever gives him a gift for Christmas. Little Mouse can't let that happen, so the mouse decides to be brave and pack up some presents to take to the bear. But the Big Hungry Bear wakes up! What will happen? Little Mouse is in for a BIG Christmas surprise! This is a lovely reminder to think of others during the holiday season.

READ IN PRESCHOOL TIME

Monsters Love Colors

By Mike Austin

Harper, 2013. Picture Book.

Three very bright red, yellow, and blue monsters help four little monsters color their gray fur as they "scribble, scribble, mix, dance, and wiggle!" The colors mix and mix until they have created purple, orange, green, and a super rainbow mashup. This is a great story to not only get kids up and moving, but to learn the concept of primary and secondary colors too!

READ IN PRESCHOOL TIME

If You Give a Mouse a Muffin

Written by Laura Numeroff

Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Harper Collins, 1991. Picture Book.

This is another fantastic read aloud from the Numeroff/Bond dream team. A young boy and a massive moose spend an adventurous afternoon together in a story that will inspire lots of giggles. There's just something about this huge bipedal creature in a red cardigan and daisy dreaming of blackberry jam! The circular story gives little ones the opportunity to sharpen their prediction skills. A delight!

READ IN CUENTOS

Veo el Invierno

Written by Charles Ghigna

Illustrated by Ag Jatkowska
Picture Window Books, 2013. Picture Book.

Children take in all the sights of winter, from snowflakes to sleds and skates to cookies and hot cocoa. Full of toddlers' familiar winter favorites, this simple rhyming read aloud offers all text in both Spanish and English.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

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...

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