Loose at the Zoo

Smithsonian Networks & Infinity Entertainment

Smithsonian Kids really delivers the goods with this disc! Is there anyone not rendered powerless to adorable animal babies? Cute, cuddly and mischievous all rolled into one. These aren't your typical animal babies, but rather Goldon Lion Tamarins, Kori bustard chicks, sloth bears and Sumantran tiger cubs. Yowza! And fine, I will admit I had never heard of a Kori bustard. Don't get too attached to that fuzzy chick though, because the adults are not nearly as attractive.

There are three separate episodes (Baby New at the Zoo, Loose at the Zoo: Golden Lion Tamarins, and Tiger Tales) on the disc, each featuring baby animals from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. These videos really do a great job by not just providing fun footage, but also important facts about how the animals are in danger of losing their natural habitats.

Baby New at the Zoo gives us a look at how a cross-section of babies grow up in the very public environment. As each baby is shown, the narrator relates plenty of facts about that specific animal family. The zoo is celebrating their baby elephant's fifth birthday. He has presents to open (boxes to kick around) and plenty of visitors. Did you know that baby elephants are carried inside their mother for two years?

We see the baby sloth bear playfully wrestling with his mama. Their snouts work like a vacuum cleaner, snorting up ants & termites by opening and closing their nose flaps. The long claws of this bear make them very good climbers. On the other side of the zoo, a baby Kori bustard has just been born. She is so small that she must be kept away from the adults and hand fed every two hours (only the soft parts of crickets - yuck). These chicks are so small that they have an 80% mortality rate in the wild. Kori bustards are some of the world's heaviest flying birds, with adult males growing up to six feet tall.

Tiger Tales offers a once in a lifetime peek behind the scenes at three baby tigers being raised in captivity. The zoo's hidden tiger cam catches the birth of the tiger cubs, and we then get to watch them grow in fierce adults! In addition to watching the fun stuff, the video is also careful to let viewers know how important the zoo program is. Wild tigers are in danger of losing their land, with only 4,000 wild tigers in the world today. The danger of extinction is why tiger breeding programs like these of the zoo are so important.

As always, Smithsonian Networks has posted video snippets that you can watch to get a taste of what the disc will be like: Baby New at the Zoo, Loose at the Zoo: Golden Lion Tamarins, Tiger Tales. You won't be disappointed!

Now Hiring: White House Dog

Walker & Company
Gina Bazer and Renanah Lehner; Illustrations by Andrew Day

Obviously, this is a book that was written about a prominent real life family. It has been widely reported by the media that America's first family is in the market for a White House dog. What better way to get kids familiar with current events than a concept they can easily identify with?

Despite promises of a dog from Mom and Dad, no action has been taken to actually acquire one. Tired of waiting, the girls decide to create a sign for their front lawn, detailing the fact that there is a vacancy in their family for a new best friend. Their advertising proves to be effective, with dogs arriving immediately to apply for the position! One, then two, then four more, until the lawn is filled with furry bodies! Each time a new dog arrives, the girls are treated to a clever little introductory poem.

The girls scurry to conceal their rhyming applicants until after the family's big party is over. Just as the last guests take their leave, the house is filled with barking. The dogs have infiltrated the White House! As soon as the girls meet up with the dogs, the house is filled with sneezing instead. It seems one of the girls is allergic to the dogs. A small, black puppy breaks from the pack and explains that his fur is special and will not cause allergic reactions. The parents agree that this is the right choice for their family and they also find special homes for the rest of the dogs. Happy, wagging endings all the way around.

In real life, the Obama family has adopted a 6-month-old Portuguese Water Dog. This breed is known for high spirits and said to be a good fit for kids with allergies. The Obama girls, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, chose to dub their new puppy Bo, a name that has meaning to their family. This book is a fun way to introduce children to current events and to help them realize that selecting a family pet is a universal experience, no matter which house you live in.

Bea Rocks the Flock

Bloomsbury Children's
Victoria Jamieson

The Golden Rule of Sheepdom: Sheep Are Not Unique. Their homogeneity is pretty much what makes them sheep. The point of sheep is to be white and fluffy and nearly indistinguishable from one to the next. When Flossie knits a white scarf, they all knit white scarves. They all play flutophones and paint the same meadow scene. Not Bea. She marches to the beat of her own drum. Fed up with flock-induced conformity, Bea gathers up her belongings, straps on her baaakpak and hoofs it to the big city.

Just as Bea had imagined, there are no two sheep, er, people alike in the big city. She feels invigorated, energized and just plain un-sheeplike! After some sightseeing, Bea settles down to think. Done being a sheep, she needs to find a new profession. This is where Jamison's creativity really shines through. Bea turns up in some unlikely places, appropriately groomed to fit in. After a few mishaps, it dawns on Bea that she can be a sheep and be unique at the same time.

Back at the farm, Bea inspires the other sheep to find their true calling. Flossie starts an organic flower farm, Mossie opens a painting school and Jean reveals her desire to become a country western singer. These sheep are unique! They vote to change their golden rule and pursue their individual dreams instead of being a mindless flock of fluff.


What a great book to encourage children to choose their own path in life! Good story, bright and busy illustrations and plenty of clever details tucked about. One of my favorite pages is one that shows the interior of Bea's backpack - each item is buckled in separately and clearly labeled for the readers. Our kids were particularly drawn to the very last page, where the sheep are sheared in different styles, dyed brilliant colors and wearing funky clothing. We spent a looong time poring over the pages, analyzing how each sheep was different from the others.

Visit Victoria's blog to see the Bea illustrations and jacket sketches that didn't make the cut. I think it's fascinating to see part of that process. Plus she's funny.

Little Oink

Chronicle Books
Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace

Little Oink is a bit different than most other pigs his age. While he enjoys playing with his pig pals, he also manages to find a way to remain neat and virtually stain free. He loves digging for those sooey-t truffles, but prefers wielding a trowel to soiling his snout. Little Oink happily partakes from the community trough in the mess hall - he's the only piglet with utensils and a checkered napkin.

Little Oink's parents insist that he must learn to make a proper mess so that he can grow up to be a respectable pig. Each night he is forced to don grubby clothes and make a proper mess of his room. Little Oink mumbles and grumbles, but he dutifully unmakes his bed and unfolds his clothes. He reluctantly drags in fresh mud and tosses toys willy-nilly from his toybox. Only after a proper mess has been made will his parents allow him to run off to play his favorite game.


Definitely it is the obvious humorous twist that will have children laughing uproariously. The very idea that adults would make a kid dirty up his room put huge smiles on the face of every child in our reading group. Great concept, but it is the many clever details lurking in the background that make this book so terribly clever. Jen Corace takes such care with her illustrations, working to make each one just so.

Overall, extremely well done and a pleasure to read. As Little Pea has earned a place of honor on our bookshelf, so will Little Oink. I'm always thrilled to find picture books that I enjoy as much as my children. This is a series of books that I could read over and over again - and we certainly will.



Visit Chronicle Books for cool, new stuff like easy-to-follow patterns for making pea, owl, and pig masks, a pin-the-tail-on-the-pig game, coloring sheets, educational activities and more. Plus you can enter to win $2,500 in merchandise from (covet) Pottery Barn Kids. That would be sweet, since PBK at our house typically means Pottery Barn Knockoff.

The third book of a brilliant collaboration by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace. Also available:

Insects Biggest! Littlest!

Boyds Mills Press
Sandra Markle; Photographs by Dr. Simon Pollard

Now that the weather is warming up here in Michigan, we can get outside and inspect the wildlife. With young children, "wildlife" to us primarily means insects. The newest in the Sandra Markle Biggest! Littest! series is our new favorite insightful guide to aphids, butterflies, weevils, dragonflies, moths and more.

I have never been much of a non-fiction reader myself, but seeing my children soak up this information in an amazing fashion makes me a convert. It's amazing to me how intently they listen, their brains absorbing each tiny detail, tucking away the facts, only to regurgitate them at some later date. And oh, the details given here! Like the title implies, this book affords us a close look at some of the biggest and smallest insects on Earth.


Twenty different insects of all shapes and sizes are showcased. They range greatly in size from the Minute Pirate Bug at 2 millimeters, up to the Giant Stick Insect, which can grow to be 22 inches. Why the size variance? Simply put, some bugs need to be big and some fare better with smaller bodies. The Raja Brooke Birdwing Butterfly pictured below has a wing span of nearly a foot. Scientists believe the big wings help mates find each other. On the flip side, small stature works for the Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly, who at 1/2 inch wide are less likely to be seen by predators.


Readers learn about how smaller sized insects can team up to form a larger. more powerful group, such as Carpenter Ants and Honeybees. We get a detailed description of how insects grow larger via life stages, and a great explanation on molting. This is a wonderfully informative, fascinating book for any child interested in the business of insects. Dr. Simon Pollard does his part by providing amazing photos - a great show of color and tiny details.

Sandra Markle is no stranger to non-fiction animal books. Others in her Biggest! Littlest! series include:

The G Free Diet: A Gluten Free Survival Guide

Vera over at Luxury Reading is giving away FIVE hardcover copies of Elizabeth Hasselbeck's new book. I'm not Elizabeth's biggest fan, but I am one of Vera's! She posts lots of informative reviews, mostly on adult fiction. If you haven't checked out her blog, please head on over and see what you think. A bonus to her blog is that she holds plenty of giveaways! Which leads us to the subject at hand - winning yourself a survival guide.

Vera writes: I found The G-Free Diet easy to follow, very informative, and thorough without being overloaded with hard to understand doctor terms. There was plenty of information about the disease, symptoms, what you could and could not eat. Elisabeth walks you through how to recognize gluten on labels in the supermarket and how to be able to eat at restaurants and stay gluten free.

There have been claims of the diet helping to alleviate autism symptoms, but benefits are not limited to celiac disease and autism. Anyone that seeks increased energy, improved attention spans, quicker digestion and weight loss can potentially benefit from the diet. Another plus for the book was the ten page appendix stuffed with over a hundred helpful websites.

Scoot over and leave a comment (any comment at all!) to be entered in the drawing to win your very own copy. Maybe gluten-free, you will wind up looking like Elizabeth Hasselbeck ....

Thomas & Friends: High Speed Adventures

HIT Entertainment
$14.98

I think you just can't go wrong with Thomas & Friends. The programs always contain positive messages, they are wholesome in nature and yet still exciting enough for children to enjoy. There are always great lessons in that the characters make the same types of mistakes that everyone is prone to make. We see the consequences from being in a hurry or just plain fooling around, becoming jealous of others or lying to cover up mistakes.

These episodes feature the new CG animation, which means better facial expressions for the trains and townspeople. As always, the same great life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation are most certainly included.

In Thomas and the Billboard, Thomas becomes upset when he is inadvertently excluded from a photo taken of all the trains. Although it was a genuine mistake by the photographer, Thomas heatedly blames another train, which causes a whole new set of problems.

Steady Eddie refers to Edward, one of the older and most reliable trains. Because of his reputation, Steady Eddie is given the special job of delivering valuable cargo. He feels proud of his status and takes an alternate route where more people can admire him, instead of taking the directed path and gets himself into hot water.

Rosie’s Carnival Special: Rosie is specially requested by Sir Topham Hatt to be one of two trains to transport the Carnival Special. Rosie is greedy and wants to do it alone, which causes an accident. She realizes that working together as a team can be very rewarding.

These are three of the six episodes on the disc. Also included are Mountain Marvel, Henry Gets it Wrong and Don't Go Back. Each one has its own valuable lesson which kids will benefit from, and plenty of action in the train yard they will enjoy.

Run time: 46 minutes

Big and Small, Room for All

Tundra Books
Jo Ellen Bogart; Illustrated by Gillian Newland

This is a book that really puts our place in the world into perspective. Simple words and lovely realistic illustrations show us that there will always be something larger than each of us, but also something smaller.

Big sky, small sun. Big sun, small Earth. For every single thing in the world that you can think of, there is always something larger looming in the distance. The book starts off with the big sky and works its way gradually down the line until we reach those items that are smaller than a flea. And what is smaller than a flea? A world of things too small to see - but just because we can't see them with the naked eye, doesn't mean they don't exist.


For bedtime at our house, we try to select books that are soothing and not overly wordy - this fits the bill perfectly. A nice, slow story line and realistic illustrations make this a most excellent nightly story. The watercolor paintings of artist Gillian Newland are so beautifully done that even the mouse and flea are fascinating. The written word forms a repeating pattern that is a soothing welcome as a wind-down read at the end of the night.


Aside from the book's beauty, I love that it gets children thinking about their place in the world. Post read, we had a fun time thinking of our own chains of big and small. This is one of those books that really gets the minds of small readers spinning, and that's always a good thing!

Haiku Author Interview: Michael J. Rosen

Scoot over to Haiku by Two to read a great interview with Michael J. Rosen regarding his new book The Cuckoo's Haiku.

You'll discover the answers to the following:

What do birdwatching and haiku have in common?

Are all the haiku in this book about birds you commonly see in your own backyard?

Did you find that you were paying greater attention to birds while you were working on this book?

And my personal favorite, because I love the answer:

It seems that you’re also quite a dog lover. What’s next? A book of dog haiku?

Oh, all right, I'll spoil that one and say that we are now looking to forward to a similar style haiku book on dogs from Michael J. Rosen (but not until 2011). Even though the release date is pretty far away, I'm still pretty excited about that due to the excellent quality of The Cuckoo's Haiku.

How to Get Married, by Me the Bride

Random House
Sally Lloyd-Jones and Sue Heap

Isn't it always little girls who have the best ideas about marriage and weddings? They know exactly how their dress will look and which friends to invite. They have the whole ceremony planned out in their heads - from the perfect veil length right down to the rhinestone clips on their shoes. That's the downfall of the adult bride you know. Your real wedding will never live up to the fairy tale from your childhood. That is, unless your plans are as funny as these!

The first rule of getting married is to find someone you like. This can be anyone, including your dad or a cat. Step two, make your selected future husband like you! This can be achieved by being nice and not picking your nose (maybe do it behind their back) or pinching them. Easy peasy, right? Not so fast. There is a long list of behavior you must not engage in to be considered marriage material, such as refusing to bathe or leaving your hair in a big tangle. The market is slim pickings for a snarly-headed dirty girl.


This book offers hilarious insight into how children think of a wedding and marriage. It's almost as if the author sat down with a group of little ones and interviewed them, taking note of the funniest and most outlandish ideas. Illustrations by Sue Heap contain plenty of detail in bright pastels. The outcome is a book silly enough to appeal to a wide range of ages and yet surprisingly dead on with several points. "When the music starts everyone has to stop whatever they're doing and look at you." I adopted that very policy for my own wedding.

Although this book is cute and funny, the very best side effect is that it prompts your own little ones to offer their interpretation on what a wedding should be like. You never know what sort of crazy ideas are tucked away in their little heads, but this wedding guide will tease them out! A perfect choice for imaginative little girls or boys. Also a great talk-me-down (shower gift) for any big girls on the verge of becoming a bridezilla.

Sadly, this book was released long after my own wedding, or I most certainly would have stolen her invitation: Please come to our wedding because we kindly request the pleasure of your company. There will be candy. RSVP.



You may also enjoy the preceding guide to babies, by the same team.
How To Be A Baby by Me, The Big Sister

My Hippo Has the Hiccups

Sourcebooks
Kenn Nesbitt; Illustrations by Ethan Long

That fact that this book comes packaged with a CD means it comes pre-packaged with instant appeal. Never has a poetry book been so wildly popular at our house. We have listened to this well over a dozen times, and there is no sign of waning interest. Author Ken Nesbitt makes his incredibly funny poems that much more enjoyable by personally reciting them in funny voices.

Poetry4kids.com is the most visited children's poetry website in the world for good reason. Ken Nesbitt is the master of hilarious poetry that children and adults alike will fall in love with. I think the key to the success of this poetry is how intentionally appealing he makes it to children. No, it's not flowery or mystical. It's good old fashioned kid style humor about burping, stinky sisters, annoying parents and making stuff up. Even better, he writes poems on ridiculous subjects with titles like Meat Loaf, I Taught My Cat to Clean My Room, I Bought a Pet Banana and My Elephant Thinks I'm Wonderful.

The book of poems is wonderfully entertaining to read, but they truly come to life when Kenn lends his voice. Listeners will enjoy thirty-nine poems on the CD that accompanies the book., which is ideal for children who are not yet able to read. But Ken doesn't just read the poems - he talks directly to his audience, cracking jokes and explaining how the poems came about. He also offers advice on how anyone can take the steps to become a poet.

This is a great book of poetry that will have kids giggling and hopefully finding out that poetry can be a lot of fun. The goal is to show children that writing poetry isn't as daunting of a task as they might think. Kenn shows us that poetry can be about absolutely anything and encourages everyone to give it a try.

For a limited time, order directly from Poetry4kids and get free shipping!

A Wizard in Love

Tundra Books
Mireille Levert; Illustrations by Marie Lafrance

Hector is a retired wizard and a complete hermit. He seldom leaves his cocoon of a house, nor does he invite over any fellow wizard friends. Not that they would be falling over themselves to visit - Hector's house is filthy, as napping trumps cleaning on his list of priorities. All he really needs is his trusty cat, Poison, for company.

This recluse is contentedly living his grubby life, sleeping tucked in among the cookie crumbs, when he is awakened suddenly by a dreadful noise. A terrible, ear-splitting racket that sends him flying to the window. It seems as if the house across the street has been freshly painted and is emitting the offensive noises in question. Thanks to a bit of careful spying, Hector discovers the new owner is a piano-playing, cheerfully singing woman. Too cheery for him!

Being a wizard, Hector naturally turns to his (dusty) spellbook for the answer. And the answer happens to be a big poisonous cake. Cleverly, Hector presents this monstrosity of a cake to his new neighbor (along with some flesh-eating flowers) Isobel as a welcome gift. But he is unprepared for her beauty, nor is he prepared for her lilting voice and intoxicating aroma. Hector is completely captivated by her air of happiness - he quickly falls under her spell, deeply in love. Unnoticed by the doting couple, Poison and Isobel's cats together attack the cake, and are the only ones affected.

I like the storyline and the illustrations are equally enjoyable. A great non-traditional fairy tale with a traditional happy ending. A fun twisty sideline to watch for in the background are the actions of Poison and Isobel's cat. As a bonus, the underside of the book's dust jacket transforms into a free poster.

Also by the same team:

Alex and Lulu

Candlewick Press
Lorena Siminovich

Alex and Lulu are the very best of friends. They enjoy a myriad of activities together, from playing in the park to hosting sleepovers. Of course, this doesn't mean they are joined at the hip. While Alex is climbing every tree is sight at the park, Lulu is quietly studying a line of ants marching through the trees.

While enjoying separate interests, it dawns on Alex just how different they are. He likes to splash about in puddles while Lulu prefers to stay high and dry under her striped umbrella. When Alex is on the fast track to becoming the best soccer player in the world, Lulu would rather enjoy the serenity of nature. Lulu doesn't have even the slightest interest in accompanying Alex on his pretend boat of which he is the captain of the high seas. It occurs to him ... are they too different to remain the best of friends?

Alex voices his concerns to Lulu: does being opposites mean that can't be friends? Of course not, says Lulu. She knows that being different is perfectly fine. Wouldn't it be boring if everyone was exactly the same? Friends don't have to agree on every single activity as long as they enjoy spending time with each other. The most important part of this friendship is that Alex and Lulu have their very best times when they are together!

Obviously, there is a good lesson here: be who you want to be and let everyone else do the same. The illustrations are a perfect match for the message - straightforward in design and bold in color. The design is just simple enough to be attractive and yet contains enough detail to be stimulating. Young readers will enjoy pointing out all sorts of visual differences that aren't specifically mentioned in the storyline.