May 2006 Children's Books Reviews

Pop Bead People
by Editors of Klutz, Bob Staake

Klutz
Book
ISBN# 1-59174-098-3
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95 or as low as $9.97 from Amazon.com!

Are you between the ages of four and maybe nine? And we need you to promise that you won't put these great looking beads in your mouth? OK! Have I got a book for you? Everyone knows what snap beads are, don’t they? They are big beads that snap together and make hanging things. This collection makes snap, folks. It’s a kit full of arms and legs and beads, noses and eyes. The kit also contains four snap bodies to build and they have names. There is Missy and Scooter. Don’t miss Orbison or Sunny. All of this comes in a reusable container and attached to a small book made of heavy pages and spiral bound. The book will give you ideas of how to build your people and even dress them in beads.

This is a "keep bizzy" project that youngster will like a lot.

Knitting Nell
by Julie Jersild Roth

Houghton Mifflin
Book
Suggested Retail Price: $16.00 or as low as $10.40 from Amazon.com!

Nell doesn’t talk. She just quietly knits all the time. She makes small blankets for new babies and mittens for friends. She makes scarves and socks. She doesn’t tell. One day she decides to enter something she's made in the Country Fair. When they give her an prize ribbon, she is so pleased. They present her with a special medal from the Major for all of her kindness in giving her knitted presents away. Nell still knits a lot, and now she will talk and you can find out about Nell in this book. The lightly colored pictures show us a smiling figure of Nell and her knitting and all of her friends at the fair.

How to Be a Good Dog
by Gail Page

Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Book
Suggested Retail Price: $15.95 or as low as $10.37 from Amazon.com!

Here is a big picture book that makes for a good night’s read for a snail one. Most kids can r4elate to owning a dog. Bad Dogs might raid the fridge or track mud in the house. A good dog will lend you a paw and try real hard to be good.

After misbehaving, the nearly all-white dog’s owner, Mrs. Birdhead, puts the dog outside in a doghouse. The dog’s name is Bobo, and now he misses his owner. He even misses the house cat.

The ways to get back in the good graces of Mrs. Birdhead and back into the house are skills that the dog is taught to display by of all things, the cat. The cat also teaches Bobo all kinds of tricks so that he can show off as soon as Mrs. Birdhead returns home. Bobo forgets all the lessons when he see the groceries, but he redeems himself and in the end, he is taken back in.

Mary Poppins
by P. L. Travers

Harcourt Young Classics
Book
ISBN# 0152525955
Suggested Retail Price: $18.00 or as low as $2.99 from Amazon.com!

I am not going to spend a lot of time on this book or the following stories from the collection. Most of us have seen the great movie that was made by Walt Disney. It was terrific and I loved it but have you read the originals? They were written for eight-year-old children and a little older. For me they are still great to reread again and even better to read them out loud.

This one is the first in this series and it tells about Mary Poppins arriving at number seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. She flies in holding her umbrella in the air. Now the fun begins.

Mary Poppins Comes Back
by P. L. Travers, P.L. Travers

Odyssey Classics
Book
ISBN# 0152017194
Suggested Retail Price: $5.95 or as low as $5.95 from Amazon.com!

This time, the Banks children are taken to the park by Mary Poppins. There they meet the Goosegirl and the Swineherd who are having an argument with talking cats... the cats are on a distant planet. There are many more delights in this volume, to be sure. In fact, there are six tales to enjoy and none of these were in the film.

Mary Poppins Opens the Door
by P. L. Travers, Mary Shepard, Agnes Sims

Harcourt Young Classics

ISBN# 0-1520-1720-8
Suggested Retail Price: $18.00 or as low as $3.94 from Amazon.com!

Mary Poppins returns for more adventures that she takes the Banks children on. They hear about the cat who looked at a king and a marble boy. There are eight great stories about this nanny who was every child’s dream. The illustrations show us a Poppins who has no resemblance to the beautiful movie star (although she did a great job) in the Disney film from 1963. The original illustrations show us Traver's no-nonsense Mary Poppins that these tales taught us to love.

Mary Poppins Comes Back
by P. L. Travers, P.L. Travers

Harcourt Young Classics
Book
ISBN# 0152017186
Suggested Retail Price: $18.00 or as low as $3.49 from Amazon.com!

This is the final visit of the magical nanny. There are twelve lasting and lovable tales of the trips that the Banks children get to enjoy. This time you will recognize one of the best sequences from the film right away. Topsy turvy tales that will have you laughing and floating to the ceiling.

These original illustrations are the best memories that gave all the reading children their view of Mary Poppins' world and the stodgy family for whom she works. The lessons that Mary teaches us and the Banks family are valuable and still worth learning today.

This collection is a delight to own or to give as a gift to a new generation of Poppins fans.

Super Scissors Book
by Editors of Klutz

Chicken Socks
book
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95 or as low as $10.36 from Amazon.com!

This is one of this publisher’s typical excellent playtime books for kids. There is a packet of supplies in a plastic case attached to the front of the spiral bound book that includes 44-pages that will beguile any kid into snipping away. You get the scissors tucked into the case. Some are straight cutting scissors, but there is also a sniggle toothed set that is different. The scissors are supposed to have been kid tested and parent approved. Kids ages 4 and up will be able to use them with paper or fabric. You could even cut hair. The very first page is filled with bright strips that you cut out and make interlocking rigs using the strips. That is just a start. All of the pages are bright and filled with ideas that could enhance a summer vacation.

Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered
by Quentin Blake, John Cassidy

Klutz Press
Book
ISBN# 1570543208
Suggested Retail Price: $19.95 or as low as $12.97 from Amazon.com!

Those creative geniuses at Klutz have outdone themselves with this nifty spiral bound book. It is filled with drawing instruction and inspirations. Do you think you can’t draw anything? Try this out. You begin by sketching with the helpful guidance of the authors. There is so much help and instruction in the book that you may be surprised to find you can draw. The little outside package that comes on the book is filled with two tools. A water color pencils and also one sketch pen.

Quentin Blake is an illustrator of renown and has drawn pictures for the works of Roald Dahl. They say he is better at drawing than he is at shaving.

Children will enjoy this book and even adults will want to try it, too.