No Biting, Louise is the latest from Margie Palatini, the author of several funny children's books. Louise is an alligator (it never states that specifically, she could be a crocodile, I suppose) who is in a "biting, gnawing, chomping" stage. Parents of "biters" are all too familiar with this stage in childhood development. Louise cannot resist biting other animals' hindsides and/or limbs when they come close. Even Grandmama Sadie gets her finger caught in Louise's sharp chompers. The turning point in the story, when Louise learns to stop biting, comes and goes. Just like that, she stops biting. I felt let down with this lack of resolve in the storyline. The author missed a golden opportunity to have Louise learn her lesson when, earlier at the beach, Louise grabs hold of one particular animal who gives Louise some little souvenirs as reminders to not bite him again. The best part of this book is the illustrations. Reinhart does a wonderful job bringing Louise and her family to life. Bright, bold, sharp figures and colors on every page will hold any child's attention.
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
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