Tag: Greenwillow Books

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Not-so Happily Ever After? The Princess Protection Program is here for you

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Princess Protection Program, by Alex London, (Feb. 2024, Greenwillow Books), $18.99, ISBN: 9780063303874

Ages 8-12

Did you ever think about whether or not Sleeping Beauty really wanted to be kissed by some guy she never knew after being asleep for 100 years? Or if The Little Mermaid would have made a different choice if she’d know she was going to turn into foam at the end of her story? That’s the story at the heart of The Princess Protection Program; it’s a place where fairy tale princesses can escape to when they find their own stories too much. The story begins with Rosamund, who wakes up just as a prince is about to kiss her, as is their destiny – but she’s not having it. Running away, she discovers two other young women who lead her to the Orphans Home Educational Academy – or, as the students call it, Happily Ever After Academy. Verna, the fairy godmother headmistress, explains the school’s purpose to Rosamund, who meets other famous fairy tale princesses (and one prince!) who’ ve escaped their fates. At first, Rosamund is happy to be in school and making new friends, but begins noticing some strange happenings: why are the students perpetually learning the same lessons? And what happens to students who “graduate”? Something is going on at HEA, and Rosamund is determined to discover it. Starring a very familiar cast of princess characters, London also inserts some familiar names among the faculty, especially for fairy tale/fantasy readers. There are great laugh-out-loud moments mixed with conversations on consent and free will, all set in a magical world hidden deeply in our real one. A brilliant contemporary reimagining of the fairy tale universe and a guaranteed hit with middle graders and middle schoolers.

Posted in Non-Fiction, picture books, Preschool Reads

Funky Flamingos? But of course!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis
Flamingos are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide, by Abi Cushman, (June 2024, Greenwillow Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9780063234444

Ages 4-8

Abi Cushman has a companion book to Wombats are Pretty Weird (2023), and it’s all about flamingos. Friendly Joey the Snake is back as our guide through the world of flamingos, with more amusing commentary (we find out who he was named for this time). Cushman fills Flamingos with fun facts and entertaining dialogue from the birds themselves, especially the “Lesser Flamingo” who is not really thrilled with their name. You may have heard that flamingos get their pink pigmentation from their food, but did you know that during mating season, a gland near their tail provides an oil that they can use as DIY makeup? Or that their nests look like little volcanoes? You may also not want to wade out in water to catch a better look at a flamingo: they can withstand water that’s boiling hot or corrosive chemicals. Yikes! Side-bars and cartoon art, speech balloons and labeled pictures all facilitate learning, and informational backmatter, including glossary, make this a good addition to your animal collections. Visit Abi Cushman’s author webpage for some free downloadable resources!

Want a fun extension activity? This flamingo craft from Simple Mom Project is easy to print and assemble.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Wombats are Pretty Weird… and pretty awesome!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis
Wombats Are Pretty Weird : A (Not So) Serious Guide, by Abi Cushman, (May 2023, Greenwillow Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9780063234437

Ages 4-8

This fun book is all about the wombat; a cute marsupial primarily known for pooping cubes. Wombats are Pretty Weird gives kids the full scoop on these marsupials, with some laugh-out-loud moments, usually to do with the aforementioned cubic poop. Joey the Snake is a comic sidekick to the wombats in this story, acting as a self-insert character for readers. There are loads of interesting facts: a wombat’s teeth never stop growing, and they have backward-facing pouches, unlike a kangaroo. They also have very tough behinds, made of cartilage, to protect their hind quarters from predators!

Kid-friendly with fun sidebars, cartoon art, narration and speech balloons, this is a good addition to animal nonfiction collections and early nonfiction collections. Backmatter includes a glossary and more facts about the three types of wombats.

Visit Abi Cushman’s author webpage for some free downloadable resources, including a Wombats are Weird activity guide!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Tales from the TBR: Picture Books about Animals

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

It’s another installation of Tales from the TBR, and this time, I’ve got some fun books about animals for your collections! Enjoy.

Holey Moley, by Bethan Clarke/Illustrated by Anders Frang, (Aug. 2023, Kane Miller), $15.99, ISBN: 9781684645497

Ages 4-8

This hilarious story is full of wordplay, rhymes, and laughs. Gus the Goat meets Mavis the Mole and proceeds to start guessing where Mavis lives, adding his own rhyming flair: “A mole in a hole. A moley in a holey. A holey moley!” Mavis weathers Gus’s insistence on coming up with rhyming places where Mavis lives, to the reader’s delight. The back-and-forth dialogue is fast-paced, with illustrations that bring Gus’s imagination to life in the silliest of ways. A supporting cast of animal characters provide an audience for Gus. Originally published earlier this year in Great Britain, Holey Moley is a good addition to stories that engage readers with creative wordplay.

 

 

Just a Worm, by Marie Boyd, (March 2023, Greenwillow Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9780063212565

Ages 4-8

After being called “just a worm” in the most squeamish of reactions, Worm sets off through a garden to discover ways to prove people wrong. Some garden denizens are friendly, some are a little standoffish, but every0ne in the garden – including worm – has something important to contribute. An engaging narrative about recognizing one’s worth, Just a Worm is also a STEM story about how spiders, dragonflies, ladybugs,, bees, caterpillars and butterflies, and worms are the best neighbors a garden can have. Paper-quilling art adds an extra dimension of texture; back matter includes instructions on making a quilled paper butterfly that is sure to delight readers. Earthworm facts and a glossary complete this story that will find a home on fiction and STEM shelves.

 

 

Fish and Crab, by Marianna Coppo, (March 2023, Chronicle Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781797204437

Ages 4-8

Best friends Fish and Crab live together in an aquarium, where they share a bedroom. When it’s time to go to sleep, Fish has a lot of worries: what was that sound? What if aliens abduct them? What if it rains frogs? Crab brews a cup of herbal tea and hears Fish out, with some hilarious commentary. An adorable bedtime story with some chuckles in store, Coppo creates a sweet story about friendship and the importance of having a person you can turn to with all your worries and fears – no matter what time of day or night. The back-and-forth dialogue moves quickly, and the tempera and pastel illustrations move from bright colors to grey and black to denote nighttime conversations. Parents will get a kick out of this one, too; they’ll see themselves in this scenario. Endpapers add to the story, with black endpapers and a wide-open pair of eyes to denote who’s left awake in the beginning and end of the story. A storytime choice your readers will want to hear again and again.

 

 

The Fastest Tortoise in Town, by Howard Calvert/Illustrated by Karen Obuhanych, (Apr. 2023, Candlewick Press), $18.99, ISBN: 9781536228359

Ages 3-7

A charming story that acts as a prequel to a beloved fairy tale, The Fastest Tortoise in Town is the story of Barbara Hendricks, a “regular leopard tortoise” whose owner and best friend, a little girl named Lorraine, has entered her in a race. Barbara is nervous about her chances – she’s a tortoise, after all – but Lorraine encourages her and helps her build stamina by taking her for walks every day. When Barbara is frustrated at how slow she is compared to assorted toddlers, remote-controlled vehicles, and Lorraine’s grandfather, Lorraine is there to keep Barbara’s spirits high. Calvert spins an adorable story of friendship and perseverance, told in the first person from Barbara’s point of view, and touches on facing and overcoming fears. Obuhanych’s enjoyable, colorful mixed media illustrations show expressive animal and human characters; the panel-by-panel scenes from the actual race will have readers giggling as they enjoy the unlikely competitors. The story’s end leads into a well-known fairy tale; have some of the many versions available! A very cute addition to storytime collections.

 

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Marisol Rainey is back!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Surely Surely Marisol Rainey, by Erin Entrada Kelly, (Aug. 2022, Greenwillow Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780062970459

Ages 7-10

Marisol Rainey is a middle grader with a little bit of an anxiety issue, introduced in Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey earlier this year. Her dad works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and she lives at home in Louisiana with her mom, older brother, and cat. This time out, Marisol is nervous when she her gym teacher introduces a unit on kickball: Marisol does NOT like kickball! She works on being brave, but it’s so hard, especially when classmate Evie, who is “an expert at throwing invisible darts at Marisol’s feelings”, is excellent at kickball. Newbery Medalist Kelly creates approachable, likable characters in her stories; Marisol and her best friend, Jada, are characters with depth that readers will see themselves in. Illustrations on almost every page make this a great book to move up from early chapter books and easy readers. Marisol is biracial; her mother is Filipino. Jada is brown-skinned with curly hair.

Surely Surely Marisol Rainey has a starred review from Horn Book. Visit author Erin Entrada Kelly’s webpage for resources on her books.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Setting the tone for a new year: A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, by Mary Lee Donovan/Illustrated by Lian Cho (Oct. 2021, Greenwillow Books), $18.99, ISBN: 9780062877727

Ages 4-8

Welcome! Readers travel to homes all over the world to share food and friendship in A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, being greeted in with a hearty “Welcome!” in 14 different languages. Each welcome includes a phonetic pronunciation to allow for readers to learn and share greetings with one another and spread a message of empathy, unity, and hope for a better world. Families greet one another and invite them to sit at tables together; a note from the artist explains her inspiration: “Food is something that joins us across cultures”. Warm colors and rhythmic verse send a wonderful message to all as people come together to share food, their cultures, and their homes. Reading this book today gives me hope for the holiday season and for a new year. Back matter includes a pronunciation guide, notes form the author and artist, and information about the languages featured in the story. Publisher HarperCollins includes A Hundred Thousand Welcomes discussion prompts and extension activities in a home and community teaching guide.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Ivy Pocket’s back in Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

ivy pocketSomebody Stop Ivy Pocket, by Caleb Krisp, (May 2016, Greenwillow Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9780062364371

Recommended for ages 9-12

Ivy Pocket, the resourceful, sarcastic 12 year-old from Anyone But Ivy Pocket, is back for her second adventure. This time, she’s the adopted daughter of two economical coffin makers, and she’s still searching for the evil Miss Always, who’s still on the loose. She’s got the Clock Diamond, a gem with mysterious powers, and she’s trying to figure out how to use it to bring her dear friend Rebecca back from… wherever it is Rebecca’s gone. Plus, she’s found herself in the middle of a mystery, as an heiress wants Ivy to investigate her brother’s disappearance, which seems to be tied into her new family. Somehow. Ivy’s going to happily blunder into and out of the craziest circumstances… after all, she has all the instincts of a secret agent, a sedated cow, a writer of penny dreadfuls…

This was my first Ivy Pocket adventure, and while readers familiar with the first book will be more savvy when it comes to characters and previous events, new readers can enter the story here, with exposition providing important details throughout the book. Ivy is insanely funny, self-assured to the point of hilarity, and delightfully sarcastic to everyone around her. The Victorian London setting adds to the playfully macabre atmosphere, and Barbara Cantini’s black and white art throughout the book adds even more fun to the story.

This is the second in an Ivy Pocket trilogy. The publisher’s Ivy Pocket website sports a book trailer, interview with none other than Ivy Pocket herself, and web samplers of both Anyone But Ivy Pocket and Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket. Give these to your Lemony Snicket fans!