Skip to main content

Big Birthday

Big Birthday
by Kate Hosford
ill. by Holly Clifton-Brown
unpaged picture book
Minneapolis : Carolrhoda Books, c2012.

Annabelle has grown tired of having her birthdays at the zoo, every year the same thing. Now she is ready for something new and different. She has it all planned. The only thing left to do is convince her parents that a birthday on the moon is the perfect way to go. Yet she runs into trouble when her rocket ship won't start. Her parents finally give in and rent a space shuttle for them and all Annabelle's friends. When they arrive on the moon everything is fun at first and Annabelle knows she has made the right choice. Sadly, the party goes downhill from there. The candles won't light, no one can even eat cake and ice cream because they have to wear their astronaut helmets and her beautiful new party dress gets ripped when she tries it on. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all...there's always next year to try something new. The rhyming text is well done and makes this a fun story to read-aloud. The illustrations are colorful and unique, a nice compliment to the story. If you haven't read Annabelle's first try at being a unique individual, be sure to read Big Bouffant!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...