The Red Blazer Girls Series

by Michael Beil
#1 The Ring of Rocamadour
#2 The Vanishing Violin

For some reason I just love these girls. It's hard to put my finger on just why I like them so much. They remind me of a old fashioned detective novel but the characters still seem like modern tweens. Some might say that the girls are a bit too goody-goody some of the time, but that's one of the reasons I love them. I was just like that! (and I bet a lot of other were too but just don't want to admit it)

I love the puzzles Beil included is the novels as well. They can be challenging at times but never to hard I can't solve them. This format reminds me of titles like The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman or the Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin.

I'll be looking for more books to come in this series!

I know a Chicken...

Most people wouldn't guess that Chickens is one of my favorite storytime themes, but there is so much great stuff out there that it is! I had the pleasure of presenting a storytime on this theme the other day and the kids loved it. This storytime works for kids 2-3 or 3-5 yrs. old. (it was done with both of those age groups with minor changes) I didn't use all of these books since the story time is only 30 minutes, but it provides a nice list to choose from.

Some recent titles to try:

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (Try this one with a puppet!)

Higgledy-piggledy chicks by Barbara Joosse

Big chickens go to town by Leslie Helakoski

Other books to included:

Here a Chick Where a Chick? by Suse MacDonald

Wee Little Chick by Lauren Thopson

This Little Chick by John Lawrence

Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield

Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan

Cock-a-Doodle Quack! Quack!, by Ivor Baddiel and Sophie Jubb

One Little Chicken by David Elliot

The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend

Chicken Soup by Jean Van Leeuwen

Hungry Hen by Richard Waring

Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker

Tippy-Toe Chick, GO! by George Shannon

Where are my Chicks? by Sally Grindley

Music can also be a big part of any storytime and there are some great chicken songs out there. My favorite would have to be "I know a chicken" by Laurie Berkner on Whaddaya think of that? This song is great with shakers! Everytime I so much as think the tune, it's stuck in my head for the rest of the day! I also like "Here come the chicken" by the Wiggles on Racing to the Rainbow.

Going to the zoo

I've been wanting to plan a Zoo themed storytime for awhile now and found the perfect book to add to it. Now I'd really better get that storytime together!



1 Zany Zoo by Lori Degman
This is the winner for the Cheerios New Author Contest and it's no surprise to me that she won. This is such a creative story about what happens when all the zoo animals get out of their cages. I think #9 with the leopards choosing now spots was my favorite though. I'm excited to see what else this new author will come out with.

Super Chicken Nugget Boy and the Furious Fry

In Super Chicken Nugget Boy and the Furious Fry by Josh Lewis, Fern faces a terrible bully at his new school and decides to do something about it. He invents a superhero to stand up to the bully, but when the plan goes astray, Fern gets turned into the superhero for real.

I think this would be a good read for boys seeking early chapter books. It has the action, comedy, and even cartoon pictures on most pages. As far as the plot goes, many aspects are a bit unbelievable, but that's to be expected with a superhero based on a chicken nugget.