Magic Words

6:00 this morning I received this special announcement...Snow Day!!!  Yahooo!  I immediately crawled back in bed and tried to finish my first fiction book of 2010.  I didn't quite make it to the end-I fell back to sleep, which isn't a bad thing either!
A few months ago I recieved one of those lovely padded envelope packages we so look forward to opening.  This one came from a marketing person and held 4 books for me to look at and review.  Two of them are chapter books, Runt Farm #1 and #2 and as of yet, I have not read them.  Recently Peaceful Girl and I read through both the board book and the picture book that were included in the package.

Dear Baby; What I love about you! 

by Carol Casey and illustrated by Jason Oransky

2008

The pages are bright and very attractive; eye-catching for the youngest book readers.  The lines are catchy and make you smile as you read. It begins: "I love the way you laugh and smile...I love your sassy baby style" accompanied by happy baby illustrations. I don't have any more tiny ones around this house but I can just picture snuggling a little one close and reading this to them.  This is a very sweet book to read with a new baby and would make an excellent baby gift, especially with the  guest sign in spot at the back of the book.

Highly Recommended for baby snuggling

                                                     5/5 peaceful stars

Dear Baby has its own website-click here

Scarecrow Finds a Friend

Written by Blume J. Rifken

Illustrations by Carol W. Wenzel

2008

Scarecrow Finds a Friend is a lovely read with very unique illustrations to match.   Scarecrow is finished protecting the farmer's crops and is happy to smell the delicious smells of Thanksgiving approaching.   As he takes a little nap in the field he reminisces about the fun he had on Halloween.  He remembers Tally, the friendly witch granting him one wish; to go trick-or-treating like the farm children do.  As Scarecrow is thinking about his past fun with the witch, Tally shows up again needing a wish for herself.  Scarecrow returns the favor and helps Tally get her powers back.  Scarecrow's plan is to get the

wishbone  from the Thanksgiving turkey to help Tally.

The story is simple, seasonal and delightful to read.  I enjoyed how it used the age-old tradition of making a wish using a wishbone.  I remember the excitement over the wishbone, and even as I became  a vegetarian the wishbone still held its power.  We never even paid attention to the fact that our specific wishes didn't come true-it was just fun to pull and hear the snap.

Luckily, Tally's wish does come true and she is able to fly again.  I love the illustrations of Tally,  truly magical, adding to the special friendship theme of the story.

Highly recommended-elementary

5/5 peaceful stars

Thanks to Paula Krapf for sending me these copies.