Book Review - Your Mommy Was Just Like You

Author:  Kelly Bennett
Illustrator: David Walker
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (March 17, 2011)
Audience: Ages 3 to 6 years old
Source:  Copy for Review

Description from Press Kit:
Once upon a time - according to Grandma - Mommy loved getting messy, wearing kooky costumes and collecting dandelion fluff.  Sometimes she was a terror, but most of the time she was a sweet potato-doll face-poopsie.  Just like her own little girl today! 

Kelly Bennett's Your Mommy Was Just Like You is a companion book to Your Daddy Was Just Like You.  This time Grandma is talking with her young granddaughter as they flip through a photo album.  She shares with her granddaughter how even from birth she looked like her mother and how they behaved in similar ways and had similar likes.  When I arrived at nearly the last page, I read - "Your mommy is my baby. And no matter how big she gets, or how old she gets, she will always be my baby." - I had to laugh.  I had just heard a mother say something similar to her daughter the other day.  There are many lines in this book that ring true.  Bennett certainly captures the familiar conversations that likely every grandparent has had with their grandchild. 

Children are always curious about things about themselves like the day they were born or other special events.  They will often ask a parent to tell about it over and over again.  And since they often don't have a real sense that their parents were ever children, to learn about the similarities - how they fit into their family line is important to them.

This book can be included in a collection of books centered around families or as a gift from a grandparent to her grandchild.  I can picture the book sparking further conversation about real-life similarities and shared giggles. 

David Walker's illustrations nicely compliment Bennett's text.  I enjoyed the expressions on the characters faces and chuckled at some of the ways the images were presented.  The soft pastel colors bring a gentleness to the book. 

For more information about Kelly Bennett and her books, check out her website www.kellybennett.com. 

Valentine's Week Guest Post: Bad Boys With A Good Heart

When it comes to book crushes, I’m definitely more of a hero girl. I mean, come on! How can any self-respecting girl not love Peeta? Or Po? Or Jem? Or Sam? Yeah… *wistful sighs* I love them…
But every once in a while, a bad boy will come around and sweep me right off my feet.

Not just any bad boy, though. He has to have a good heart. One that is not buried too deep… *cough* Will *cough* (Although, I totally trust that his good heart will eventually show. Eventually.)

I started thinking about bad boys that I love, though, and came up with a very short list, so I turned to my friends on Twitter for help…

The most common bad boy (with three votes) was Patch from Hush, Hush. I’ve yet to read this one, so I’m going off what I’ve heard. Bad boy? Yes. Good heart? Not so sure…

Some of the other ones were Gerard Tarrant from the Coldfire Trilogy (Had to google him, but I am so reading this!), Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights (old school, but yes!), and the “bad faerie dude from Paranormalcy” (I suppose I could look up his name for you, but I like what Wendy said).

My friend Kristina  replied that her favorite bad boys are her two sons. She’s joking. Really. She is. Well, I think she is… At least they’re cute bad boys with good hearts!

This leads me to my two favorite bad boys:

Cole from Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

When I first opened Linger and saw Cole’s name in the chapter heading, I closed the book. Seriously. I wanted Grace and Sam. I mean, really, Sam is just amazing! Why doesn’t he just have his own book! So when I saw Cole’s name, I refused the read the book. I couldn’t bear to open it again. Cole already had one strike against him simply by being in the book. I didn’t want the intrusion. I was right. When I finally decided to give it a try, I hated Cole. With a passion. He was a bad boy, and try as I might, I could not see a good heart.

This is one of the things I adore about Maggie’s writing, however: her characters are so rich and complex. By the end of the book, Cole had me eating out of his hands. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he did, in fact, finally show his good heart. There is a certain scene in the end of Linger that made me cry and solidified the fact that Cole does indeed have good heart (making me love him just as much as Sam). Now, I can’t wait to read Forever to find out where the bad boy thing came from. I mean, we have some clues, but… ;o)


And my all-time favorite Bad Boy with a Good Heart…

Jace from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments

*sighs* Jace.

From the first time I saw the snarky golden boy take out a demon in Pandemonium, I was hooked. I mean sure, he wasn’t always the nicest person to Clary, but what do you expect from a boy who was taught at an extremely young age that “To love is to destroy” *heart breaks a little*? And he loved Clary. And he didn’t want to destroy her. And… And… Oh, there is so much more!

His childhood, his relationship with his father, was so complex. How could his character not be? But through it all, his love for Clary is right there.

And the boy really does have a good heart. You can see it seep out whenever his family and friends need him. You can see it in his fierce protectiveness over them.

You can see it in City of Ashes in a certain scene on a certain boat with a certain character who also loves Clary. If there was ever any doubt as to his good heart, what he did in that room, what he said to that character, is more than enough proof.

Yes. Jace is a bad boy… But at least he has a good heart! :o)

(I want to give a shout out to by #FoobaConJace girls… Fellow Jace (and bacon) lovers Di [www.twitter.com/dianapaz_], Tina [www.twitter.com/tinalynn_], and Erica [www.twitter.com/ericamchapman]. Yes. We share Jace. And bacon.)


So who are your favorite bad boys? Do they have good hearts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Janelle Alexander loves to read and write, especially YA. And she loves to crush on fictional characters. And she is as jealous of all of you in your fabulously cold snow as you are of her in her stupid, hot sun. You can find her on Twitter (@janellealexandr), her personal blog (janellealexander.blogspot.com), or her group blog (DNAwriters.blogspot.com).

Book Review - Ribbit Rabbit

Author:  Candace Ryan
Illustrator: Mike Lowery
Publisher: Walker & Company (February 1, 2011)
Audience: 3 to 6 year olds
Source: Review Copy

Description from GoodReads:
Frog and Bunny are best friends. RIBBIT, RABBIT! They do everything together, like fight monsters (ZIP IT, ZAP IT!). And even though they get in fights sometimes-YIP IT, YAP IT!-they always make up in the end.

Ribbit, Rabbit features an effortlessly clever text that, in less than 150 words, captures the ups and downs of young friendships. Combined with adorably hip and fresh illustrations and an irresistible package, Ribbit, Rabbit is the perfect choice for the youngest of readers.

 I first encountered Candace Ryan at a book signing for Oliver Jeffers.  At that time, I learned about her upcoming book Animal House.  When it was finally released, I had a chance to check it out.  It was fun and made me giggle.  (To read my review of Animal House, click here. )  And it has been a big hit among the students at my school.  Of course, I was interested in checking out her next book.  Ribbit, Rabbit was recently released by Walker & Company and it was fun to actually see the finished product on a shelf at my local indie bookstore.  

This is a story of friendship including both the ups and downs.  Frog and Bunny are friends, best friends.  They do everything together but sometimes they don't see eye to eye and they fight - over the little things and the big things.  Over the course of their disagreement, they learn an important lesson.  

Ryan operates on a level of creative thoughts that when paired with the right illustrator produces a wonderful book.  Ribbit, Rabbit is very different from Animal House.  It is nice to see such different books from the same author.  Ryan's ability with word play and concepts is delightful.  This will be a fun book to share with young children.  They will enjoy the silly rhyming words and the way the two play and even fight.  The little robot that travels through the pages of the book brings the story together and when one friend ends up with the body of the robot and the other the key, it takes a little alone time to finally discover what is most important.  
  
Lowery's simple illustrations in muted tones compliment Ryan's text and will entertain young children.  

If you are looking for a read aloud for toddlers and preschoolers, you might want to check out Ribbit, Rabbit by Candace Ryan. 

For more information about Candace Ryan and her books, check out her blog here.  


You can follow Candace on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CandaceRyan and she is on Facebook here.

Happy Book Birthday to Secrets & Shadows (Book 2 Thirteen to Life)

Just wishing Shannon Delany a Happy Book Birthday.  Secrets & Shadows, the second book in The Thirteen to Life Series is out today.

Below is the official book trailer for Secrets & Shadows.   Also, if you are interested in winning a signed copy of 13 to Life or signed posters of the two books, you still have a few more hours to enter my MAX-imum Exposure Giveaway.  Details here.

To check out an interview I did with Pietr and Max, and for more information about Shannon, click here.

Valentine's Week Guest Post: Hot Boys With Accents

‘Ello, Sexy.

The first time I fell in love I was in Orlando, Florida. He had dropped something while walking out of a restaurant, and being the good Southern girl that I am, I picked it up and handed it back to him. He gave me a brilliant smile and replied, “Cheers, Love.”

That was it. I was smitten. Sure, he was an over-weight, bald man old enough to be my father, but that accent. Being from the backwoods of Kentucky, it was my first real life exposure to a British accent, and it was the most beautiful sound in the whole world to my ears.

To this day, I’m still entranced by a good accent. A guy can go from fairly average to steaming hot in two seconds flat with the addition of an Irish brogue. Even in books, I’m drawn to characters with accents I can only hear in my head. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve put together a list of my five favorite boys with accents in YA literature.

Carlos Fuentes from Simone Elkeles’ Rules of Attraction. I liked Alex, really I did, but it was his brother Carlos who stole my heart. There was no way Kira could have resisted when the Mexican bad boy said, “I dare you.”

Étienne St. Claire from Stephanie Perkins’ Anna and the French Kiss. What could be more perfect than a boy with a French name and British accent? After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I’m pretty sure the answer to that question is “not a single thing.”

George Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Yes, there are tons of guys with accents to choose from in the Harry Potter series (like Professor Snape who can read the phone book to me any day of the week), but the Weasley twins win my affection. How can you not love the fun-loving gingers? Well, I suppose I mean the fun-loving ginger… We miss you, Fred.

Jem Carstairs from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I like Jem. He’s smart and sensitive and plays the violin. How cool is that? Okay, so the whole Bleached Boy thing creeps me out a little. (I know a woman who is silver because of her “medicine”. Trust me on this, it’s not pretty.) But looks aren’t everything, right? Especially when you’re a half-British, half-Chinese Shadowhunter who grew up in Shanghai and now lives in England. What I wouldn’t give to hear him speak.

Image from Just One More Freak Deviant Art

Will Herondale from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. You thought I was going full-on Team Jem there didn’t you? Don’t be so naïve. I couldn’t choose just one Shadowhunter even if I was being held at claw-point by a demon. Will isn’t just beautiful and British, but also tortured. And if there is anything I love more than a boy with an accent, it’s a boy with angst.

How about you? What are your favorite fictional boys with accents? And what accents are certain to make a guy’s hotness level raise a few points in your book?

Miss Tammy is the Young Adult Services Coordinator for a public library system in Kentucky. When she's not reading, writing, or cataloging books, she's sleeping. Being from Kentucky she has no accent whatsoever.