How to Catch a Leprechaun

Wallace, Adam. How to Catch a Leprechaun. 1 CD. unabridged. 6 min. Dreamscape Media. ISBN 9781520063416. 

The bestselling creators of the holiday classic, How to Catch an Elf, are back with another adorable book to delight children and families. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day or just general laughs, How to Catch a Leprechaun, will inspire children to get creative and build the best "leprechaun traps" they can invent. A naughty leprechaun taunts the reader on every page that the traps set out by other children aren't clever enough to catch him or his pot of gold. Since the leprechaun can't be caught, he wreaks havoc on the house, dying the toilets green and other mischievous pranks that children will enjoy. Narrated with British joviality by Qarie Marshall, children will delight in his hilarious telling of the naughty leprechaun who can't be caught. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN

Rasmus and the Vagabond

Children will eat up this adventure, as they imagine themselves as Rasmus, the runaway orphan. After he escapes the orphanage and "The Hawk" he encounters a tramp. Thankfully, this is the nicest tramp in the world and the two get along famously. Rasmus becomes dedicated to Oscar, God's favorite tramp, and the two pass their time singing or working for food. Things don't stay rosy for long though. The two encounter some masked robbers and the bad guys attempt to put the blame for the stolen goods on the tramps. Oscar and Rasmus must act quickly if they're going to save their reputation and stay out of jail! Rasmus never dreamed that leaving the orphanage would open such a world of adventure and mystery.

Rasmus and the Vagabond is a tale that will delight children, they will identify with Rasmus and his musings and will long for adventure on the road. Any fan of Pippi Longstocking will fall in love with this story, written by the same author. A quick read for all ages with great ink drawings dispersed throughout the story.

I received this book for free from Handlebar Publishing in return for my honest, unbiased review.

The Littlest Christmas Kitten

This book is perfect for children, cat lovers, and Christmas Eve story time. This is the story of a mama cat searching for her lost kitten in the stable on a cold night in December. She looks looks high and low in the stable, in the loft, under the manger, in the cubby holes but is unable to find her baby. When a man and a woman enter the stable the mama cat quickly hides in the manger where she finds her kitten fast asleep! Mama carries the kitten off to be with the rest of the cats and before long the woman who entered the barn gives birth to a baby and puts her son in the manger where the kitten had just been sleeping. All the animals looked on reverently because they knew that this baby was special. The cats had shared the manger with baby Jesus! As the tale concludes, "Now, down through the history of cat kingdom, Mother and Father cats tell this story to their kittens. They tell about the night Baby Jesus slept in the same manger the little kitten had found for its bed."

This Christmas story will give a different perspective of that sacred night to children who will be able to view it through another creature's eyes. Two miracles occurred that night, the mother cat found her kitten and Baby Jesus was born. Miracles, no matter how small, can take place if we only believe. This is a great story for parents and grandparents to share with children to get a close up view of what happened on Christmas Eve. The accompanying illustrations are vibrant and rich and seem to jump off the page. A must for any Christmas book collection!

I received this book for free from Book Crash in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Because of Winn-Dixie

I haven't read this book since it was first released and it was certainly a joy to rediscover it. The story follows ten year old India Opal as she tries to adjust to a new town in Floridia where here dad is a preacher. While grocery shopping she encounters a stray dog and immediately falls in love with him once he smiles at her. She names him Winn-Dixe and he becomes her first friend in the small little town. In no time at all practically the whole town is smitten with the well-behaved and loving mutt. Winn-Dixie gets India acclimated with the people and soon she has become friends with the pet store worker, the old librarian, the friendly "witch," a five year old girl and a few other kids. Winn-Dixie along with her new friends fill the void in India's life that her mother left her, India learns "...you can't always judge people by the things they done. You got to judge them by what they are doing now." I think that is a great thing for children to learn. India realizes that even though Otis went to jail, he is still a good man. Not dwelling on the past is important, India finally realizes this towards the end when she has to let go of and forgive her mother. She is still lucky enough to have a father that loves her very much.

Overall, it is a great read filled with wonderful messages of love, forgiveness, and friendship. This book won a Newbery Honor and is considered by many to be in the top 100 all time greatest children's books. It has even been turned into a movie (2005).

Gooney Bird Greene

Gooney Bird Greene is an adorable story about the new girl in school who quickly wins over every one. Gooney isn't your average second grader, she is a very eccentric dresser and she has some of the most outlandish tales the children and teacher have ever heard, although she insists they are real ("I tell only absolutely true stories!").

As the class starts to learn about what makes a good story they all volunter Gooney Bird as the character because everyone is so intrigued by her. Gooney Bird, happy to oblige, spends the next week telling one story a day. It quickly becomes everyone's favorite part of the day. She doesn't want to steal the limelight indefinitely though. When she runs out of stories, she convinces her classmates that they all have fun stories to tell and helps them figure out just what those stories are.

Overall, this book is a little goofy and a lot of fun. I can see why small children would get a kick out of reading about a character like Gooney Bird Greene. She's inventive, eccentric, and a fantastic storyteller (with tales like, "How Gooney Bird Came from China on a Flying Carpet" or "Beloved Catman is Consumed by a Cow").

This book would be a lot of fun read aloud and I think children up through fourth and fifth grade would even enjoy this book. The School Library Journal writes, "The cleverly titled stories could spark children's interest in writing their own stories." It's not my favorite book that I've read this semester, but I can see where children would thoroughly enjoy this book (and the pictures!).