A bear goes on a grand adventure when he stumbles into a hot air balloon. This leads to a meandering that gets him on TV, in a foot race, and eventually a concert. Everyone thinks he is a man in a suit, instead of a real bear. The story is long and winding. The idea is nice, but very improbable, but not in the funny slapstick way, more the depressing “poor bear” way.

This books are just so much fun. This early chapter book revolves around Louie and his brother Ralphie. There is a poetry contest happening at schools and the boys are determined to enter and win. But Louie gets distracted when his friend Chuck wants help wooing the cute bunny Fluffy. A great book for beginners, but still an enjoyable read for seasoned vets.

I like this story, but also think it’s very depressing. It’s not something I would have in my library. It’s Albert’s birthday, but it doesn’t get celebrated because his mom doesn’t like noise and his dad doesn’t like a mess. But he lucks out when his grandma comes to town and makes his day extraordinary. He has one great day. Just one. And says there will never be an ordinary day again. It doesn’t flow. It says one happy day can make all the unhappy ones go away. And that they will stay away forever. Nope, not liking it.

This is the first book in this series that I do not think is well done. I think this is too simple for the complex subject. This book only looks at 3 arguments, and I don’t think they are very well backed up. Some of the arguments use rational about AC in schools. I know this is supposed to be a 2nd grade general look, but I think even kids would be shocked to learn schools don’t have AC because theirs do. Or the argument about field trips and libraries. What school has the money for that? The ones around my home do not. Plus they use an argument that many teachers get second jobs in the summer and how would they replace that income. Ummm PAY THE TEACHERS WHAT THEY ARE WORTH! Nowhere in this book is funding an argument, and even at second grade I think that needs to be taken into account. They comment that US kids have 900-1000 hours of schooling a year while other countries have as few as 800 hours spread over more days. But it mentions nothing of class size or school funding. There is more to this question and I think this book is just too simple.

Book compliments of Netgalley

I am not a fan of this book. The illustrations look like something you would find on adult swim, and I think the story belongs there as well. Chatur wasn't to keep his business afloat and he wants his donkey to haul more and more. But the donkey doesn't want to do it. So he trades the donkey in on an elephant, and the elephant does everything mater wishes for, even if it ends up bad for the master. I did not like this story. It made me think of a slave, no longer wanting to be a slave. No thank you.

This was a perfect story for talk like pirate day. I won’t lie, it was a bit long, and sometimes the cadence stumbled, but the rhymes worked well with the story, and the story was interesting and entertaining. Captain LaPlank is a pirate that does not make mistakes, and he expects the same from his crew. But no one is perfect and as mistakes are made, they are made to walk the plank. What will happen in the end? Well… read it and find out.

Most pirates my not want to plunder this book. It’s an okay story of a boy whose bedroom is his pirate ship. All his friends are invited on board as long as they take his positions and his orders. But when people stop having fun, they abandon ship. Everyone wants a chance to be the Captain, and have say in the workings of the ship. This is a fine advanced easy reader, but nothing that has classic potential.

This book focuses on three questions in the debate if kids are too busy. It talks about the level of homework kids have nightly, afterschool sports, and random free/play time after school. It’s a nice look at this debate for the 1st -3rd grade level kids.

This is a fun book all about scary and funny. Bea A. Fraid is not your typical ghoul. She prefers to make people laugh, but to many, funny is scarry. It’s not normal at her school. It’s Scary. This book has a way with puns and word play that was refreshing and fun to read.

This is probably one of the better books in this series. I am very happy to see it talk about the “bandwagon” not being a strong argument for anything. This book takes a simple look at children and social media use through three questions: Is social media bad for kids, should there be an age limit to use, and should parents watch what their kids do online. It is up to the reader to form an opinion, the book just lays out the arguments.