Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

April 23, 2018

Posted under

Book Review, Poetry

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17 Comments

A Book by the Brook — Meet My Family!

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

Meet my Family! has adorable baby animals comparing notes on families. A raccoon kit grows up with a single-mom but a titi monkey hangs out with his dad. Swans have both parents and sea turtles have none. Laysan albatross chicks have two moms and chinstrap penguin chicks have two dads. Any kind of family unit you can imagine is normal to someone. Laura Purdie Salas wrote each animal baby a poem, and Stephanie Fizer Coleman brought them to life with her art. Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

April 19, 2018

Posted under

Book Review, Poetry, Writing Tips

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36 Comments

A Book by the Brook — Don’t Ask a Dinosaur

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

This light romp from Deborah Bruss and Matt Forest Esenwine has loads of laughs as dinos try wrapping presents and baking cakes in Don’t Ask a Dinosaur. The text has loads of those tough dino names, all with dots to separate the syllables into pronounceable snack-sizes. And it scans smoothly and rhymes! I know, I couldn’t believe it either. Plus, Louie Chin did a wonderful job bringing the dinos to vivid but not-too-scary life. Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

April 10, 2018

Posted under

Book Review, Poetry

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11 Comments

A Book by the Brook — Read! Read! Read!

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

From its cover image of a book as a flying carpet to “stories/ that fly like birds”, Read! Read! Read! uplifts and envigorates. Poems by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater dance happily beside Ryan O’Rourke’s illustrations, and my favorite is the happy child disappearing into a magazine with actual magic! Really! Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

March 27, 2018

Posted under

Book Review

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10 Comments

A Book by the Brook — A Different Pond

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

If you’re related to or friends with someone who immigrated (moved to your country) or emigrated (left your country), you’ll love this powerful and resonate picture book about a Vietnamese immigrant. Despite working two jobs, he wakes his son long before dawn. They fish for the family’s food. The dark sky has “faint stars like freckles.” Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

March 12, 2018

Posted under

Book Review, Poetry

Comments

20 Comments

A Book by the Brook — Cinderella Around the World

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

For all my fairy tale lovers (and to beat the March doldrums), I’ve scooped together various flavors of International Cinderellas, an ice cream sundae of humor and romance, for kids of all ages:

In the style of radio’s heyday, there’s a wonderful theatrical version accompanied by Rossini opera music (produced by Minnesota Public Radio | American Public Media). Continue reading →

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

March 5, 2018

Posted under

Book Review

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14 Comments

A BOOK BY THE BROOK – Weird Witchy Words

Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— William Shakespeare

A Book by the Brook: Book Reviews at FriendlyFairyTales.com

If fantasy and magic are your cup of tea, you’ll enjoy the Shifter by Janice Hardy, the Apprentice Witch by James Nichol and the Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee by Erin Petti. The first has magical healers, the second has a girl who’s in over her head trying to help a community in peril and the third has spells that predate pagans. So if you want a break from the news, sit a spell and weave magic with great writers.

Continue reading →