Explore Reviews

2.5 - This would get a higher rating from me if it weren't for the muckity-muck, splashity-splash, etc. parts. The story itself is actually pretty funny. The story starts with the turkey having a bad day. We can all imagine why I suppose. So when the farmer goes outside to gather up his turkey... the turkey takes off. The turkey tries to hide in the mid in the pig pen, the water with the ducks, etc. Nothing works. The best aspect of this part of the book, where the turkey is hiding with/around other animals is that the story gets the child involved. The children can shout, along with the other animals rooting for turkey, "No! Run, turkey, run!". (This is one of the parts I found slightly annoying but that Julia loved. Eventually the turkey realizes he can't hide anywhere on the farm and he runs into the woods. Long story short, the farmer and his family end up eating grilled cheese sandwiches for Thansgiving dinner. :-) There is a really cute page nearing the end with the turkey and two rabbits dancing their hearts out and it's just the cutest ever. Julia made me turn back to it after we were finished and I have to agree, it's just so super cute. A cool little addition to the end of the story is when the farmer and family go into the... can you guess? They go into the woods to pick out their Christmas tree and run into..... the turkeys face is classic. I feel the need to add something. We didn't have turkey this year. My daughter is five years old and learned in school that turkey is indeed, ahem, turkey. Needless to say she wasn't thrilled and effectively banned turkey. Also needless to say, we listened like the good little adults that we are. Julia feels so strongly that in her Thanksgiving school play she refused to sing the words 'turkey on the table' in a song. She firmly planted her lips shut and waited patiently for that part to be over before she began singing again. I've always considered her to be a somewhat sensitive child but she had no p

I started this thinking I wouldn't like it. I assumed it was simply about a boy wanting to get some candy. I was wrong about what the story was about. Kind of. Once I got into it I started appreciating how pleasant, yet stern, the Daniels Aunt Thelma was. I also liked the glimpses into city life - any suburban child will like seeing the differences I would think. The author does this without getting so into it she loses the reader. In the story, Daniel and Aunt Thelma are walking through their neighborhood to the candy store. When they approach there is a crowd of people all huddled around and the candy shop owner, Miz Chu is obviously upset. This is where it gets a little tricky. I suppose Wahl left things a little up in the air here because, after all, this is a children's book. But it's somewhat unclear as to what actually happens. As an adult I can figure out that someone wrote something negative on the concrete in front of Miz Chu's shop. Can kids figure this out? And once they do what will they assume was written? I would have liked things to be a little more laid out. Not an actual derogatory statement of course, but just something to the effect of what actually happened. As it is, it isn't until at least 6 pages after seeing Miz Chu upset that the reader sees Daniel, kneeling outside on the concrete with a bucket of soap and water, washing the words away. This was after a good bit of other things in the story, some very minor and taking away from the severity of the story. I love that Daniel takes it upon himself to not just feel sympathy but to actually take steps to do the right thing and make Miz Chu feel better. I love the unity between the races. I do not like how Aunt Thelma speaks to the crowd outside the shop. What right does she - or anyone - have to come out yelling telling people to move and get away. Aunt Thelma would have been in for a surprise had Eva been outside. She only would have waved her umbrella in my face once. Let me be clea

For English, please visit Community BookStop. Bu yazinin orijinali zimlicious'ta yayinlandi. Judy Blume, simdiye kadar hicbir kitabini okuma firsatim olmasa da adini cok cok iyi bildigim bir yazar. Hani nasil bir aramizda gecmisi anarken "abi Ipek Ongun vardi yaeee" veya "abi Yesil Kiraz ne bunalimdi di mi la?" diye geyik yapariz ya... Iste Judy Blume da Amerikalilarin Ipek Ongun'u, Gulten Dayioglu'su... Amerikali arkadaslarim da "aaaa nasil okumadin!" diyorlardi. Sonunda biri en son ziyaretimde, dilimize de Orada Misin? Benim, Margaret olarak cevrilen bu kitabini bana armagan etti. Ucakta basladim, 1-1,5 saatte bir baktim bitmis... Coming of age" diye tabir edilen, cocuk karakterlerin olgunlasisini, ergenlige/yetiskinlige gecisini ele alan kitaplari oldum olasi sevmisimdir. Hatta kucuklugumden beri cok sevdigim kitaplar da hep bu tur kitaplar: Kucuk Kadinlar, Jane Eyre, Saksi Olmanin Faydalari, Cavdar Tarlasinda Cocuklar... Orada Misin? Benim, Margaret da Margaret'in hayati, ailesini, arkadaslarini ve Tanri'yi sorgulayarak olgunlasmasinin hikayesi... Margaret, kalabalik, janjanli New York'tan daha sakin, hatta bol bol ormani olan New Jersey'e tasinmak zorunda kaldiginda yeni evine, yeni mahallesine, yeni okuluna ve yeni hayatina alismasi gerekiyor. Her seyden once surekli gorustugu babaannesi ile ayni siklikla gorusemiyor mesela... Judy Blume, pek cok Genc Yetiskin yazari gibi asirilara kacmamis; bu da cok hosuma gitti. Margaret, siradan cocuklar gibi bir arkadas grubu olusturuyor. Siradan cocuklar gibi ailesinin secimlerini sorguluyor. Ve yine siradan cocuklar gibi baska kimseye anlatamadiklarini, baska kimseden isteyemediklerini Tanri'dan istiyor. Margaret'in siradan olmayan tek yani ailesinin ona Tanri ve din olgularini asilamamis olmasi. Annesi Hristiyan, babasi Musevi. Evlenmeye karar verdikleri zaman aileleri kiyameti koparttigi icin Margaret'in boyle seyler hakkinda kendi kendine karar vermesini istemisler. Margaret, ya Musevi, ya da Hristiyan spor

Bu yazinin orijinali Zimlicious'ta yayinlandi. Domingo Yayinlari'nin dilimize kazandirdigi Gokyuzu Cocuklari, bugune kadar okudugum en orijinal ve en sevimli cocuk kitaplarindan biri. Genellikle yazarlar baska kitaplar hakkinda yorumu para ile yapiyorlar ama Philip Pullman (ki onun cocuk kitaplari da efsanedir), Gokyuzu Cocuklari yazari Katherine Rundell icin "benzersiz bir sese ve sinirsiz bir hayal gucune sahip" demis. Cok dogru soylemis! Sophie, ailesini bir gemi kazasinda kaybettigi icin sanssiz ancak Charles gibi biri onu kurtararak kizi gibi sevdigi icin de cok sansli bir kiz. Charles, kaza sonrasinda Sophie'yi denizde suruklenen bir cello kutusunun icinde bulup yanina aliyor. Pek cok kisiye tuhaf gelebilecek ancak benim bayildigim bir ortamda buyur Sophie: caninin istedigini giyiyor, "korkarim, kitaplari insanlari anladigimdan daha iyi anliyorum. Kitaplarla gecinmek kolay" diyen Charles'in kitaplari ve klasik muzikle buyuyor. "Muntazamlik, mutluluk icin gerekli degil" diye dusunen Sophie hakli olsa da Sosyal Hizmetler Kurumu yetkilisi Bayan Eliot bu durumdan hic memnun degil; Bayan Eliot'a gore dugmelerin sagdan mi, soldan mi kapandigi, saclarin ne kadar muntazam tarandigi ve kizlarin etek giymesi gibi konular cok ama cok onemli... Hem Bayan Eliot'tan kacmak, hem de Sophie'nin olmedigine inandigi annesini bulmak icin Charles ve Sophie'nin yolu Paris'e dusuyor. Charles'in "ne kadar kucuk olursa olsun, asla bir ihtimali goz ardi etme" mottosu ile atildiklari macerada bir yandan polisten kaciyor, bir yandan da Sophie'yi annesine goturecek ipuclarini takip ediyorlar. Burda da Sophie en buyuk yardimi Paris'in catilarinda yasayan Matteo ve arkadaslarindan aliyor. Matteo ve arkadaslari, yani bu "Gokyuzu Cocuklari" o kadar sevimli bir gruplar ki anlatamam. Neden derseniz, kitabi okuyup gormeniz lazim; spoiler vermeyecegim. Ama en en en cok Charles'i sevdim sanirim ve daha cok yetiskinin onun gibi olmasini diledim. Charles'in ogretilerinden birkacini paylasmak

(book #7 in my pride month challenge) I finally read George after months of wanting to. I figured pride month was the perfect time to expand the types of books I read, even when it comes to LGBT+ rep. George is the first middle grade book I read since...I don't know honestly, it feels like it's been forever. When rating this I chose to put aside my own feelings regarding the depth of this book because it's obvious that I, a twenty-something year old, need to acknowledge that this book wasn't written for me and I chose to read it knowing perfectly well the protagonist was very young. Melissa is a 9-10 year old girl, but everyone thinks she's a boy. In fact, they all call her George and at the beginning of the book she hasn't told anyone that the name she likes for herself is Melissa. When she auditions as Charlotte for her class play, the teacher doesn't take her seriously and the role is given to her best friend, Kelly. Kelly is the first to whom Melissa tells she's a girl, and Kelly understands her and even thinks of a ploy to have Melissa perform in the play as Charlotte so finally everyone will see that she is a girl. Well, I'm not going to spoil the rest of the book, but I'm so happy with how everything turned out. I like the fact that the term transgender was clearly stated, because a kid reading this might need to have a word to base their research on (if they feel like researching more about this). The friendship between Melissa and Kelly was so sweet and pure and it made me a bit nostalgic of that age because to be perfectly honest everyone should have a friend like Kelly and I didn't have it. At the end of the book (the paperback, but I guess all editions have it) is a FAQ by the author that I found pretty useful and should probably be read by anyone (regardless of them reading the book or not). What I want to add is that I hope that this book is getting into the hands of the intended target audience. It's fine for us adults to read it and revie

Hip Hop Speaks to Children is a delightful and enlightening collection of poetry from various Poets, several performed by the authors themselves, on the included audio CD. With beautiful pictures depicting the poems and the contagious beat that the words pound out, this is a collection sure to capture the interest of all ages. Geared toward the 9 - 12 age group, this easily goes beyond that. As an adult, I greatly enjoyed each poem and as I read them out loud to my 6 year old daughter, she bopped around to the rhythm of my voice just reading the words. She was delighted with the rhyming, which easily draws the reader into the words. While some of the poems within Hip Hop Speaks to Children are fun and playful, others speak of deep emotion. One that I found especially fun is as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Funky Snowman by: Calef Brown Funky Snowman loves to dance. You'd think he wouldn't have much chance without two legs or even pants Does that stop Funky Snowman? No!! Turn up the music with the disco beat, when you're in the groove, you don't need feet. Crowds come out and fill the street. Kick it. Funky Snowman!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another favorite that is more on the serious side and geared toward helping a child's self esteem, I feel, is as follows: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Rose that Grew from the Concrete by: Tupac Shakur Did u hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete Proving nature's laws wrong it learned 2 walk without having feet Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams it learned 2 breathe fresh air Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loneliness, anger and sadness are feelings that every child knows. More often than not, however, a child is not given or taught an approp

I love Hilary McKay's books, and Binny in Secret is no exception. This beautifully characterized book tells a story about friendship and love in all its forms. Binny, newly moved to a town where she knows no one except her family, gets off to a rough start when she makes an enemy of a local girl. In her struggles to find a place for herself, she discovers a mystery and a century-old story, and I'd love to say she discovers the true meaning of friendship as well, but for a writer like McKay, things are never that simple. More accurate to say Binny learns a great deal about herself, not all of it pretty. There's something magical about Binny's family in the sheer ordinariness of it, but also in how much they all depend on each other. Binny's in the middle, with an older sister and a younger brother, and all of them have the kind of complex relationships with each other that siblings have in real life. I was impressed at how McKay develops the family relationship without making it sound like those of her other books. This is not the artistic insanity of the Casson family and it's not the laid-back craziness of the Exiles; Binny's family is comfortable with itself, and it made me feel comfortable, too. This book has everything to say about how friendship works. There's the friendship that develops between Binny's mother and Mrs. Tremayne, who at first seems so off-putting and irritable; the two single mothers find a kinship that you can see they both desperately need. There's the relationship of antagonism that exists between Binny and Clare, both of whom keep finding ways to hurt each other. Clare's bullying is nasty, but Binny behaves badly too, and the whole time I was conscious not only of Binny's pain, but of Clare as a person and not just some horrible, vicious antagonistic force the way most bullies end up being. And then there's Clarry and Peter and Rupe, whose three-sided friendship supports the secondary plot so beautifully. Clarry looks at first as if she

Did you find this review helpful? Find more of my reviews at Pop! Goes The Reader! "You are cordially invited to this tale for all ages about a child named Julia. While the story contains no true knowledge of (the real) Juia Child and should be taken with a grain of salt and perhaps even a generous pat of butter, we hope that you will find something here to savor. If you discover, as we have, that some stories taste best when shared with others, then all the better." It all began with sole meuniere. In a single bite, Julia's life is transformed forever, inspiring a love affair with French food that was to last a lifetime. Along with the help of her childhood friend, Simca, the two girls embark on a culinary quest filled with friendship, imagination, and a little bit of magic. There are ingredients and recipes galore. Some successful. Others...not. But no matter the dish, the recipe or the results, Julia and Simca know one thing for certain: You can never use too much butter. Oh, and there is nothing better than being a child forever. Determined to avoid the stressful, colourless fate that seems to await every grown-up around them, Julia and Simca devise the perfect recipe to remain young. With a dash of wonder, a spoonful of fun, and an undeniable dusting of joie de vivre Julia and Simca create the perfect recipe with unexpected, and decidedly marvellous, results. "Life was filled with far too many grown-ups who did not know how to have a marvellous time. The girls had no wish to become big, busy people - wary and worried, hectic and hurried." When I first heard of Julia, Child by Canadian author Kyo Maclear, it was love at first sight. Or should I say amour? As a self-professed 'Foodie' with a penchant for all things gastronomy-related, Maclear's latest publication loosely inspired by the life of the wonderful and enigmatic Julia Child was a must-buy. Of course, I would be lying if I said that Julie Morstad's eye-catching cover didn't also play a large role

Did you find this review helpful? Find more of my reviews at Pop! Goes The Reader! "Jen, have a look at this," he said. "Charissa's family has given Gladdy a free summer at Camp Bentley!" He plucked the paper out of Gladys' hand and passed it to her mom. "Oh, how generous!" she exclaimed. "Honey, what a great opportunity for you to make even more friends!" But Gladys didn't want more friends. In fact, she wasn't sure she wanted to keep all the ones she had at the moment. Gladys Gatsby is back and better than ever! With her cooking privileges restored and her position as one of the New York Standards's pre-eminent restaurant critics still a closely-guarded secret, twelve-year-old Gladys has everything firmly under control and is looking forward to a long, relaxing summer spent combing through cookbooks and researching new recipes. But you know what they say about the best laid plans. When Gladys' new friend, Charissa Bentley, surprises her with an all-expenses-paid admission to her family's day camp, Camp Bentley ("The Funnest Camp Ever!"), Gladys' carefree, culinary summer plans quickly go up in flames. Believing that camp will provide the perfect opportunity to slip into the city and complete her next newspaper assignment, Gladys agrees and all too soon finds herself having to contend with the perils of swimming lessons, kitchen duty, adolescent authors and opportunistic journalists who will go to any lengths to ensure that her next column is also her last. None of this, however, will prepare Gladys for her most daunting challenge of all: To find the best hot dog in all of New York City. Gladys will have to kiss a lot of frogs - or is it eat a lot of dogs? - before she finds a winner. You can do this, she told herself. A writer for the world's most famous newspaper doesn't get intimidated by stuff like camp. Tara Dairman changed my life. This time last year I was a reluctant middle grade reader at best, largely dismissing books aimed at this age group a