Woohoo!!!  The Bookscoop's sisters managed to pull off two Doublescoops in one month. Our review of The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand- New Colors by Chris Barton and illustrated by Tony Persiani is part of our Purple Day challenge to raise public awareness about epilepsy and seizures. One in ten people will have a seizure in their life-time and...

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, we bring to you a new Double Scoop! A wonderful book written by an Irish author about an Irish kid in, you guessed it, Ireland! Half Moon Investigations by Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer, is a kid-detective book that we are sure we would have loved when we were young. Actually, we love it now too, so hopefully that means we're still young! Just in case the...

Crispin: The Cross of Lead I read and enjoyed this book many years ago, I re-read it just before reading the sequel, Crispin at the Edge of the World. A fascinating tale of murder and deception, the Cross of Lead traces the journey of a young boy struggling to discover who he is and why he has been proclaimed a "wolf's head", which means he can be killed on sight, no questions asked. Afraid to...

My review of Little Black Ant on Park Street by Janet Halfmann has been in the works. . .um. . . since July 2010. I read the book with oldest daughter, in July and at that time I was pregnant with number 3. With his  arrival, taking care of a very active 2 year old and my oldest starting first grade, I had to drop something in my life. Rather than my children taking the brunt my blogging slowed...

Thank you to all who participated in our giveaway. We had a great turnout and lots of visitors who sat silently in the background without commenting. The winner of our generously donated (by Harper Collins) hard bound copy of A True Princess, is Z-Dad! Congratulations! I will be in touch shortly through email to get your contact information!

Interview with Diane Zahler Can you tell us a little about your new novel, A True Princess? A True Princess is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Princess and the Pea,” and its dangerous elves were inspired by Goethe’s poem “The Erl-King.”  It’s the story of Lilia, a girl brought up by a shepherd and his family. She leaves the farm to travel north to find her family, and her...

My 2nd grader just struggled through the door calling my name. He's unbelievably excited to share with me the jack pot he brought home from school. His Scholastic book order came today, and he was super happy to find out that Mom did not stop at ordering the Flat Stanley and Pokemon books he wanted. Can I just say I love Scholastic's new online order system? I'm not so sure my pocket-book is...

It's been a busy new year, and before January is officially over, I wanted to mention how much we loved the books we got for Christmas! My family and I love books. We love to give them and get them. Well, except for my husband, who mostly loves to give them to me. After the wrapping paper was stuffed into bulging garbage bags, and we had a moment to breathe, I took an inventory: 31 Books! We had...

This book is funny the same way that Napolean Dynamite is funny. All the jokes are dead-pan come-again type. The kind that kids love. We read this book over and over and over. A fun companion to those cowboy boots your little one is asking for and a little leg up on telling jokes, although the authors don’t seem to ever have gone much past the 4-5 year old joke stage.

I recently enjoyed this poignant coming of age story about Lucia who grows up during the 1961 Communist Revolution in Cuba. Lucia's innocent naivete is shredded bit by bit when soldiers come to her small town. Lucia and Frankie believe  their parents are being unreasonable in their demands that their two children stay home where they can be safe from the insanity that seems to have overtaken...

For Christmas this year, we thought we would revisit our post from last year's virtual advent tour. It's kind of like getting your decorations out year after year, dusting them off and using them again. These books are treasures that bring joy and happiness to us each Christmas season, we hope you will enjoy them as well!   We are thrilled to participate in the Virtual Advent Tour hosted by Marg...

For Christmas this year, we thought we would revisit our post from last year's virtual advent tour. It's kind of like getting your decorations out year after year, dusting them off and using them again. These books are treasures that bring joy and happiness to us each Christmas season, we hope you will enjoy them as well!   We are thrilled to participate in the Virtual Advent Tour hosted by Marg...

I have not heard from Amy, our Otto Grows Down Winner. So, last call Amy- email me back by Friday 10-22-2010 or I will pick a new winner!

I wasn't sure what to expect in this story about where dreams come from. I liked what I found. A quick, easy read but with two stories intertwined. One about the dream makers who gather bits and pieces of memories from the objects in our home and then bestow them upon us to give us the dreams we have. Littlest one is one of the dream makers in training and her touch is like gossamer. She defies...