Set in Venice in the early eighteen hundreds, this book is a piece of history reincarnated. I had no idea that Venice's musical past had anything to do with orphaned and abandoned girls. Enter Mama and Papa Dolci, a gifted musical couple who barely had enough food, but sang from morning to night. Their young son, Antonio was also very talented, but Mama and Papa could not afford to send him for...

I absolutely love this book! Imagine, a secret weapon so new and dangerous that many of the first several people who tried to use it died. Knowing this would you be willing to risk your life for such a weapon? This is what George Dixon did when he led a crew on the Civil War submarine, the H.L. Hunley a submarine of the Confederate States of America to sink a United States ship. Tragically, they...

I finally read the second book of Beverly Cleary's autobiography, which covers her life after High School. The first book, A Girl from Yamhill covers the years from birth to High School Graduation. Beverly Cleary is one of my favorite authors and I was excited to read more about her life after she left home. Beverly's life was filled with grueling realities during the depression. Scraping the...

So tomorrow Holly and I will be hosting Nonfiction Monday, a weekly event in the kidlitosphere aimed at increading awareness and reading of nonfiction books. It's simple all you need to do is drop by and leave a link to your review of a nonfiction book in the comments or Mr. Linky if one of us can figure it out and get it running for tomorrow.

April was a busy month for us both. Cari found and applied for a literacy specialist 'dream' job.  Read the May review next month to find out how it turned out.  I (Holly here) left the country for the first time ever in my life to travel to the Dominican Republic with my great husband for our 10 year anniversary. We had a great time and came back appreciating clean drinking water and missing...

My sides hurt from laughing. This book has been in our home for a couple of weeks now, due to the incessant demands of my 2 year old. On only our second trip to our new library, he demanded that we get a dinosaur book. Since they are kept on a shelf too high for him to reach, even on a stool, I had to one by one take them down for him to conduct an inspection. "No. No. No. Not dat one, a T-Rex...

My sides hurt from laughing. This book has been in our home for a couple of weeks now, due to the incessant demands of my 2 year old. On only our second trip to our new library, he demanded that we get a dinosaur book. Since they are kept on a shelf too high for him to reach, even on a stool, I had to one by one take them down for him to conduct an inspection. "No. No. No. Not dat one, a T-Rex...

When Henry's parents have trouble getting along, they send him to spend the summer in Greenville with his Grandma. The only hitch is that Henry's Grandpa died in the last year, and he can't imagine being there all summer with his Grandma, who is all alone. Grandma Martha can't seem to let Henry be by himself, which appears to be an overreaction to his grandpa's death- or maybe she's always been...

Newberry-winning author of A Year Down Yonder We went on a road trip to beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho last week as a family. We had a wonderful time, and part of that wonderful time is attributable to this great book, by one of my favorite authors. My husband and I both really enjoyed it, and my boys thought it was good- although we had to skip the scary porch story telling in order to make sure...

I figured out what I want to do when I am retired - I want to get a dog and participate in the Read Education Assistance Program or R.E.A.D. What is R.E.A.D. well a few months ago I noticed a sign-up at our library - R.E.A.D to Rusty (a Golden Retriever) or Elliot (an Australian Labradoodle) with a lovely pictures of the dogs. Apparently any child who wants to can come and read to either Elliot...

April is National Poetry Month and Holocaust Month, but did you know it is also National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which includes child sexual abuse? One in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18*. So to raise awareness of some children books to help prevent abuse, I decided to review A Very Touching Book written by Jan Hindman. This book is one of my...

April is National Poetry Month and Holocaust Month, but did you know it is also National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which includes child sexual abuse? One in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18*. So to raise awareness of some children books to help prevent abuse, I decided to review A Very Touching Book written by Jan Hindman. This book is one of my...

I love the fast-paced adventurous writing of Carol Matas. This book is no disappointment, opening with a Jew hunt by Germans with dogs. It gave me shivers down my spine. How she rescues the two unfortunate girls is hilarious and gives the needed comic relief to a book with so much seriousness. Anna Hirsch and her family have been deported by the Nazis to a refugee camp in the South of France....

I love the fast-paced adventurous writing of Carol Matas. This book is no disappointment, opening with a Jew hunt by Germans with dogs. It gave me shivers down my spine. How she rescues the two unfortunate girls is hilarious and gives the needed comic relief to a book with so much seriousness. Anna Hirsch and her family have been deported by the Nazis to a refugee camp in the South of France....

I almost quit reading Fablehaven because I couldn't stand it. I hated... I mean hated the character Seth. Really I have never been so mad at a character in my life, not even Voldemort could rile me that much. I wanted to reach in the book, grab him and ground him for the rest of his life!!!! And that my friends is why I kept reading, because I was intrigued that Brandon Mull could get me so...

I almost quit reading Fablehaven because I couldn't stand it. I hated... I mean hated the character Seth. Really I have never been so mad at a character in my life, not even Voldemort could rile me that much. I wanted to reach in the book, grab him and ground him for the rest of his life!!!! And that my friends is why I kept reading, because I was intrigued that Brandon Mull could get me so...

I first heard of Matthew Henson before at the Utah State History Fair (similar to Science fair, but with history) several years ago. A boy had created a documentary on Matthew Henson. Incredibly well-done documentary and a fascinating story of bravery in the face of danger and racial discrimination. So when I saw this book at the library I had to check it out. Matthew Henson is one of America's...

I first heard of Matthew Henson before at the Utah State History Fair (similar to Science fair, but with history) several years ago. A boy had created a documentary on Matthew Henson. Incredibly well-done documentary and a fascinating story of bravery in the face of danger and racial discrimination. So when I saw this book at the library I had to check it out. Matthew Henson is one of America's...