Family Pack, by Sandra Markle

Illustrated by Alan Marks
Rating: Recommended
Charlesbridge, 2011, $15.95
978-1-58089-217-9
Age/Grade Level: K-4

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Based on true evens; the reintroduction of grey wolves to Yellowstone Park.  The story follows the ventures of a young grey wolf who leaves her mother to roam an unknown place.  She attempts to track deer and elk only to find herself alone howling in the wind.  As winter goes on, she learns to hunt, grows stronger.  As spring comes she finds a mate, and soon the family pack begins.  Beautiful illustrations, and great insights into the life of the wolf.  The back pages provide interesting information about the wolf.

Reviewer:  Jane Yarbrough, Library Consultant

No Dogs Allowed, by Anne Davis

Rating: Recommended
Harper, 2011
978-0-06-075355-9
Age/Grade Level: 4-8 years

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A visual description of exclusion that turns to kindness and caring, by two house cats and a new unwelcome dog named Cookie.  A wonderful read-aloud with an opportunity to identify all the acts of kindness.  Delightful animal illustrations.  Cat and dog lovers will enjoy this book.

If You're Hoppy, by April Pulley Sayre

Illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic
Rating: Very Good
Greenwillow, 2011
ISBN:  978-0-06-156634-9
Age/Grade Level:  2-5 years

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The "Hoppy Animals" help the young reader hop from page to page.  Frogs, rabbits, and kangaroos are seen jumping around while bears and dogs are the "growlie" guys.  Provides a good opportunity for naming and identifying the characteristicsof a variety of animals.  Vocabulary supports the action.

Reviewer:  Jane Yarbrough, Consultant

The Invisible Man, by Arthur Yorinks

Illustrated by Doug Cushman
Rating: Very Good
Harper, 2011
ISBN: 978-0061561481
Age/Grade Level: 4-8 years

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Sy sold all kind of fruit at his stand on Pitkin Avenue.  Folks came from all over as Sy prescribed his fruit for all kinds of ahes and pains.  What kind of world is it that one day, this nice fellow, without warning becomes invisible?  A series of events follow as Sy, the invisitible man, turns up, usually in trouble, all around the world.  Only a barrage of fruit thrown from an angry audience changes things, and Sy finds his way back to his fruit stand and his happy patrons.  It will take an imaginative reader to sort through the actions.

Reviewer:  Jane Yarbrough, Consultant

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile, by Gloria Huston

Illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb
Rating: Very Good
HarperCollins, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-029156-3
Age/Grade Level: 6-9 years

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When Dorothy was a young girl, she loved books and decided she would become a librarian.  Her dream came true, but not in the big library in her hometown in Massachusetts.  The author brings to life her memories of Dorothy Thomas, the rural library lady, who traveled about the rural south in her Bookmobile bringing wonderful books to young and old.  Years later, adults recall the bright spot in their lives was the love for reading that she brought to them.  A lovely memory of Dorothy Thomas.
A delightful reading experience.
Reviewer: Jane Yarbrough, Consultant

The Adventure of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter, by Kimberly Wills Holt

Illustrated by Laura Huliaka-Beith
Rating: Recommended
Henry Holt, 2010, $16.99
ISBN: 978-0-8050-7898-2
Age/Grade Level: Grades 1 to 3
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Granny and Little Critter are seated in the back of the wagon as the Clearwater family moves West.  A big bump in the trail bounces them out, and a new adventure for them follows.  As Granny leads the way, they encounter the MOUNTAINS, the Bad Poet train robber, and a brief ride with the Pony Express.  After an exciting journey, they meet up with Pa and Ma in California.

Wild and wacky illustrations fill the pages with opportunities for hilarious observations about Granny's next move as she and Critter travel West.

A delightful reading experience.
Reviewer: Jane Yarbrough, Consultant

The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux, by Emily Arnold McCully

Rating: Recommended
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010, $16.99
ISBN: 978-0-374366940
Age/Grade Level: Grades 1 to 4

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Four French schoolboys looking for treasure explore a deep hole in 1940.  They discover pristine old wall paintings of animals in the cave.  The boys tell their teacher, Monsieur Laval, who contacts Abbot Breuil, France's greatest expert on prehistoric art, to verify the find.  This true story of an unusual discovery is sure to appeal to the young explorer.  The author's note updates the story of Lascaux and includes a bibliography.  The watercolor illustrations are spectacular and beautifully complement the story of Jacques, Georges, and Simon and the discovery of what will become a Unesco World Heritage site.
Reviewer: Anne Williams, OCPL/Fountain Valley

Hothouse, by Chris Lynch

Rating: Very Good

HarperTeen, 2010, $16.99

ISBN: 978-0-06-167379-5

Age/Grade Level: Younger teen

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Life is not so straightforward in Chris Lynch's Hothouse. Russ and DJ, friends since boyhood, are bonded by the fact that both of their fathers are firefighters. Both fathers die together in what the town extols as heroism. Russ copes with a flood of memories and a tangled, twisted heap of smoldering emotion. Characters are all too real. Lynch knows the nuances of coping with tragedy and portrays the unfolding events with skill. The town that once heralded the boys' fathers as fallen heroes begins to learn trughts that knock the dead men off their pedestals. Recommended for the right reader, who has an interest in real, gritty, teenage boy bildungsroman.

Reviewer: Rebecca Porter, OCPL/Laguna Beach

Prairie Winter, by Bonnie Geisert

Rating: Additional

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, $16.00

ISBN: 9780618685882

Age/Grade Level: Grades 4-6

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With the wild winter we have been having, this book's subject matter is stilli topical even though it is set in the 1950's. Rachel and her family, who live on a farm, get cut off by severe blizzards. She and her two older sisters are allowed to move into a motel in town so they can continue school. The story, as were the earlier titles Prairie Summer and Lessons, is based on autho Bonnie Geisert's memories of growing up in South Dakota. Unfortunately, it reads more like a memoir than a novel; characters are only sketchily developed and the overall writing style is wooden.

Reviewer: Mary Smith, OCPL/El Toro

The Life and Times of Corn, by Charles Micucci

Rating: Very Good
Houghton Mifflin, 2009, $16.00
ISBN: 9780618507511
Age/Grade Level: ages 5-8

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In this extensively researched book, Micucci's bright eye-popping colors will have even the reluctant learner busy reading about corn. In fourteen informational chapters with such clever titles as "An A-Maize-ing Grain", Micucci presents corn's history in small kernels of information. Chapters are two pages in length; each page beginning with a seven-sentence introduction; with four bright pictures identified with a one-sentence explanation/definition. In short: at no time in this book will a beginning reader become overwhelmed. Even if they might, the corn yellows and vibrant greens will certainly hold their attention. Moreover, The Life and Time of Corn does not make the mistake of rendering itself potentially obsolete by dating itself--"corn of today"--which in ten years will no longer be pertinent, but rather informs the reader from an historical/informational perspective. Well written and charming; a must for your reference section.

Reviewer: Marie L. Twombly, OCPL/Aliso Viejo Library