Book Bites

The Doll People

by Ann M. Martin.

Girls (and boys!) will love this doll house story by the author of The Babysitter’s Club. Annabelle Doll and her family have lived in their dollhouse for 100 years, but things have picked up considerably when the new neighbors move in – the wild and unbreakable plastic Fun Craft Family! Annabelle now has someone to share her secret with! With Tiffany Fun Craft, she is finally able to get to the bottom of what happened to “Auntie” Doll Sarah, who disappeared so many years ago. You’ll want to read this exciting fun-filled adventure and its sequel, “The Meanest Doll in the World.”

The Great Fuzz Frenzy

By Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Violet, the Golden Retriever, drops a tennis ball down a hole into Prairie-dog town.  The rodents become fascinated with the green fuzz and go berserk playing dress-up and fighting over the fuzz.  Big Bark is the only prairie dog who seems to be immune.  However, when all the others “fuzzle out”, Big Bark steals all the fuzz.  The green blob catches a predatory eye, causing the prairie dogs to come to their senses and unite to save Big Bark.  The illustrations of prairie dogs in green fuzz costumes are comical.  This is a high-energy story and a great read-aloud.  Be sure to check it out!  A great picture book especially for ages 3-7 that can be enjoyed by all ages.

What’s Wrong, Little Pookie?

By Sandra Boynton

Sandra Boynton’s newest board book offers a delightfully on–the-mark portrayal of a mother’s attempt to soothe her infant’s (Little Pookie) sadness.  At first, Little Pookie is so unhappy he can’t speak and tell his mom what it was that upset him.  So mom proceeds to ask a series of questions, to which Pookie can simply reply yes or no.  Parents everywhere will relate to the detective work in which Pookie’s mom engages: “Are you cold?”; “Are you hungry?”  Pookie responds “no” to each of her questions.  Finally Pookie’s mom uses humor, still trying to figure out the problem, but also trying to move Little Pookie to a happier place: “Are there five lazy frogs in your bed for a snooze?”  To which Pookie replies, “That’s silly.”   In the end, all the questions which Pookie’s mother asks with patience, love and well-placed humor have a positive affect since Pookie forgets why he was ever sad in the first place.