Book Review: Reindeer Dust - Kate Dwyer and Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Reindeer Dust is a picture book for children written by Kate Dwyer and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff.  This Christmas story is about Santa's reindeer, who are tired from work one year.   A smart little boy named William comes up with a recipe for reindeer dust to attract and feed the reindeer.

The book includes a poem for children to read on Christmas Eve, and a recipe for reindeer dust.  (It contains brown sugar, oats, and bran.)

The story is told in rhyme, and it would make a fun read aloud for preschool age children.   The illustrations are charming with a retro inspired flare and an appealing color palette of seafoam green with pastels and red.

I think this book (and the reindeer dust activity!) would make a fun annual tradition.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Fiddler on the Roof (50th Anniversary Reissue)

Fiddler on the Roof was reissued in book format (Crown Publishers) in 2014 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Broadway play.  The play, based on Sholem Aleichem's stories, has a book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.

Fiddler on the Roof tells the story of Tevye and his family, living in Anatevka, Russia, in 1905.  Tevye delivers milk in the village.  He has a sharp-tongued wife, Golde, and five daughters.  The three oldest daughters are young women who are interested in romance and matrimony, although they have ambivalent feelings about matchmaking.  This is seen in the song "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."  The town matchmaker suggests that Tevye's oldest daughter, Tzeitel, should marry the village butcher, Lazar.  Tzeitel has other ideas about this match, since she is in love with a tailor that she has known since childhood, Motel.  

After Tzeitel finds her match, her sister Hodel falls in love with a young man who is political named Perchik, a tutor to the girls in the family.  Then sister Chava falls in love with Fyedka, a young man who is not Jewish.  Each romance takes the family further from the tradition they grew up with.

As the play moves on, there is more political unrest, and Jews are being forced to leave their homes and villages.  As Tevye's family prepares to move, a fiddler plays a song.  Life with family and love and traditions will go on, but it will be different.

I grew up in a family that loved musicals - both movies and plays.  I have heard the soundtrack to this play many times and enjoyed the 1971 movie starring Chaim Topol, but I had never read the play.  I really enjoyed reading the lyrics to the songs I grew up listening to and reading the story with its humor, warmth, and gravity.

I heartily recommend this play to anyone who loves theater.  I am sure that I will enjoy rereading it again in the future.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Aoléon The Martian Girl by Brent LeVasseur

 

Aoléon The Martian Girl: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Saga - Part 1: First Contact is a middle grade level children's book written and illustrated by Brent LeVasseur.  It is science fiction - fantasy genre.  From the cover of the book readers know they are in for a fun adventure.  The bold and colorful design hints at the fun that awaits readers!

The book is 94 pages with chapters entitled:  Dreams, First Contact, Flying Cows, Situation Room, Martian Megalopolis. 

The novel opens with a young boy named Gilbert Sullivan waking up from a bad dream.  He lives on a farm in Nebraska, and always dreams vividly before crop circles are found in his area.  When he wishes to travel far away, past the moon, he gets his wish in an unexpected way.

Gilbert is watching from a telescope in his bedroom with his cat Xena when he sees an unusual light.  He goes outside to explore and the adventure begins as he meets a Martian girl named Aoléon.  They are chased by Gilbert's neighbor, Farmer Johnson, and his basset hound, Tripod.  However, Gilbert and Aoléon escape and take off in a flying saucer above a field of levitating cows.  

Young readers will enjoy Gilbert and Aoléon's adventurous travels traveling above earth, chased by an officer from the U.S. Air Force.

They end up traveling to Aoléon's home planet of Mars.  The descriptions and pictures of Mars are fascinating.  Gilbert's experiences on the distant planet are sure to intrigue young readers and encourage them to read on.  There are five exciting books in this series!

The illustrations throughout this book are exceptional.  They are plentiful, and the design is bold and fresh, sure to draw a young reader into the story.

The storytelling is fast paced, with engaging characters that children will enjoy.  The book has a great blend of description and dialogue, ideal for a reluctant reader or any child who likes fast-paced science fiction.

Buy the Book:

Pre-order your copy today!

Buy The Martian Girl Song!

Another World - Single
Featuring Élan Noelle
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About​ the Author:

Mr. LeVasseur enjoys crafting good stories based on lovable characters designed to translate well to multiple media formats such as books, games, movies, and toys. He lives in New York when he is not commuting between Southern California and Olympus Mons, Mars. His hobbies include writing, 3D animation, musical composition, and intergalactic space travel. He also enjoys various sports such as skiing, running, and exospheric skydiving.

Connect with Brent: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Aoléon: The Martian Girl 

​I received this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review and Giveaway: Liesl's Ocean Rescue

Liesl's Ocean Rescue is a picture book by Barbara Krasner, illustrated by Avi Katz.  This moving story for children is based on a real life person, Liesl Joseph Loeb.  Liesl was 10 years old when she left Germany with her parents in 1939. They traveled with 900 other Jewish refugees on the MS St. Louis to Havana, Cuba.

Incredibly, the boat was turned away in Cuba and also could not find harbor in the United States.  Liesl's father negotiated with the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's Paris Office and found refuge for the boat's passengers.

This book has a powerful message for elementary school level children about Jewish history and the power of heroic people to overcome.  There is a historical note by the author at the end of the book, as well as a list of books and DVDs for further study.  

Liesl's Ocean Rescue is movingly told, with a narrative that begins in Germany in 1938 and ends with safety for the MS St. Louis passengers in 1939.  Liesl is a brave and inspiring girl, and she will capture the hearts of young readers.  The illustrations by Avi Katz are beautifully done.

I highly recommend this book for young readers, for classroom study, and for home libraries.   

About the Author and Illustrator:

Barbara Krasner is a historian and professor of creative writing. She publishes the popular blog, The Whole Megillah: The Writer’s Resource for Jewish-Themed Story. She runs workshops and conferences for Jewish writers at the Highlights Foundation and in conjunction with the Association of Jewish Libraries. Barbara has a B.A. in German from Douglass College, an M.B.A. in Marketing from the Rutgers Business School and an M.F.A. in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a candidate for the M.A. in Applied Historical Studies at William Paterson University.

Connect with Barbara Krasner online:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Blog

Illustrator Avi Katz was born in Philadelphia where he studied in the Schechter and Akiba schools as well as the Fleischer Art Memorial. After three years at U.C. Berkeley he moved to Israel at age 20, where he graduated in Fine Arts from the Bezalel Art Academy. He was the staff artist of the Jerusalem Report Magazine from its first issue in 1990 until 2012, and is active in the international Cartooning for Peace program. He has illustrated over 160 books in Israel and the U.S. including the National Jewish Book Award winning JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible. His books have also won the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Honors four times and Israel’s Ze’ev Prize six times. His art has been exhibited in Israel, America and Europe.

Connect with Avi  Katz online:

Website

Book Trailer:



Where To Buy The Book:

Gihon River Press

Amazon

Book Depository

Giveaway:

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I received this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb is a nostalgic short novel set in 1964 Connecticut.  The book tells the story of Felix Funicello (distant cousin of Annette) and his adventures in fifth grade from early in the school year through the Christmas pageant.

Felix has a loving family who own a lunch counter by the town bus depot.  He is a bright child (with a quick wit) and he bears a resemblance to comic strip character Dondi.  I was not familiar with Dondi, so I looked up the character and found this picture:

Felix wants to best the other academic star in the class, an unctious little girl named Rosalie Twerski.  He wants to spend time with friends, including Lonny Flood and new girl Zhenya Kabakova.  He wants to get along with the nuns who are his teachers, including the moody Sister M. Dymphna and her replacement, Madame Marguerite Frechette.  He wants to survive the Christmas pageant, with all the drama it brings to his fifth grade classroom.

This is a short novel, told with great humor and vivid characterizations.  I loved the nostalgic description of a 1964 childhood.  This book reminded me a bit of the movie A Christmas Story, and even more so, the writing of Jean Shepherd (whose stories inspired that movie).  I would recommend it highly for a holiday read.