Madelyn RosenbergRecensioni

I was left desperately wanting more! Dreams apparently do come true in this awesomely amazing story from new to me authors. I was so invested in the characters that I couldn't believe what happened and the entire revelation was a shock!

From Kirkus: "Delightful, witty, and not just for New Yorkers."

An amazing book for kids into science fiction and environmental issues

A wonderful story with incredible illustrations. Great for prepping the little ones for a trip to NY's Central Park.

A lovely story about caring for our planet and our friends and family.

A delightful spy tale! Soon to be a major motion picture(?)

A wonderfully written, nicely designed book of manners and understanding.

I'm biased, but I think this is a great story about bravery, friendship, ecology, government, work and tetrapod vertebrates that most any kid (and plenty of adults!) would get a lot out of.

Tu B'Shevat is a Jewish holiday known as "New Year for Trees" or "Birthday of the Trees," a day that celebrates trees and taking care of our environment. In this story, which takes place on Tu B'Shevat, a little girl named Joni presents her favorite climbing tree with a special birthday gift.

Bitty, a canary, works in a Depression-era coal mine detecting gas leaks. Determined to improve mining safety, Bitty journeys to the state capital to get help from legislators.

I was left desperately wanting more! Dreams apparently do come true in this awesomely amazing story from new to me authors. I was so invested in the characters that I couldn't believe what happened and the entire revelation was a shock!

This book is about a girl named Julia trying to teach her brother Charles, and her neighbors how to behave at a tea party. At first, we see that Julia is very stricts about her rules and is upset that no one is listening to them and she thought that the whole party was ruined. That was until she started to have fun like everyone else and she wasn't following her strict rules anymore but, actually having fun. I liked this story because it shows us that you don't always have to follow strict rules to have fun and the illustrations show us how she is truly having fun with everyone now

In this lively celebration of Jewish traditions, a family must balance giving their children the freedom to make a mess and having a tidy home for Shabbos.

This book was strange to me. The message was never judge a book by its cover. The story followed the Schmutzy family, and how they have these crazy adventures and do these extreme things to their house while the mother just lets everything happen. She lets everything go even drawing on the walls, until the day before Shabbos, which is the Jewish Sabbath, and lasts 2 days. Then at the end of the story the mom decided to join the kids in their crazy adventures.

The last two years have been an emotional drain for myself and family. It is in my dreams that I have looked for calmness and clarity. It is in the night that I have spoken with the dead or simply soared with the birds in the sky. It is in those midnight hours that my mind has healed itself and has recovered just enough to handle the task of waking to be with the dying. Alzheimer’s is a cruel friend and for four long years we watched my grandmother struggle with it. I read this book during her final battle with this disease. It soothed me as I imagined the characters coming to life. I looked upon my grandmother as she lay unconscious and thought that perhaps she was a dreamer waiting for her chance to step into the light. This book is about a young girl named Annabelle and her mysterious gift of creating reality, for she has the ability to bring her dreams to life. What seems to be a mixed blessing turns into a nightmare when her fears become a reality.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself captivated with the world of the in between. It seemed as if those that had been made real by Annabelle were lost souls, like those that are lost in purgatory. I enjoyed how the author incorporated all of the characters together and made the story easy to read. I was not disappointed and read the story quickly. I can honestly recommend this book to both teenagers and adults. I believe it is going to be a great series and I am looking forward to reading the author’s other works. Great job author!

Reasonable Tu B'Shvat story. A young girl wants to celebrate her tree's birthday on Tu B'Shvat. With the help of her young neighbor, they try a variety of things to make the tree happy, including watering it, blowing the clouds away so the sun can shine on it, buying a young tree to be a companion, and finally, promising to take care of trees in the future. Since this is a PJ Library book, there are questions in the book cover flaps.

3.5 stars for a unique fantasy!! I love the theme of dreams in this story, but for some reason, I didn't like the main character very much. She grew on me by the end--review to be posted on the blog!

Big sister tries to teach little brother the rules of having a tea party. She's stereotypically frilly and girly; he's stereotypically a bit destructive and into everything.As you'd expect, all is a disaster and the guests (brother and neighboring twins) run off after they've wreaked havoc. But if you want a tea party, you have to reinvite the guests and be a bit more open to different kinds of fun. And she does just that. Turning tablecloths into capes, climbing trees turns out to be more fun.

Julia invites her brother, Charles, to her tea party, but when his friends show up along with the dog, who wants to eat the peonies, and a frog that jumps in the teacups, the party becomes a disaster. No one is listening to an increasingly bossy Julia and, in frustration, she yells and sends them all scurrying away. But you can’t have a tea party without guests, so Julia tries again and re-invites her brother and lets him bring his friends.

The book is only 32 pages long with cute and often humorous illustrations. There is not a lot of text with only a sentence or two on each page. The book is intended for preschool children and beginning readers. Besides teaching etiquette and manners, Julia also learns tolerance and acceptance of others. And, I suppose, a glimpse of what it’s like in the real world. I would have liked it a little more if it taught the same lesson without using stereotypical ‘girl’ behavior vs ‘boy’ behavior.

Narrated in two voices, this very readable novel (a 3.8 reading level) won't ever win any awards, but it's the kind of story that third and fourth graders would get wrapped up in. What kid wouldn't be surprised by a Nanny bedecked in a motorcycle jacket and sunglasses? And while young readers are taken with the kid narrators and unusual nanny, they learn a bunch of stuff. I got a kick out of the description of the playground that looked like an intestine --then followed by stats on the length of human intestines. And when the nanny refers to protein as brain food --it's stray bits like this that add interest.

The crux of the story is that someone wants to build a factory where the park is, and when ten-year old Allison asks "Who's going to save the park?" Nanny answers: "We are." Nanny, throughout the book, is a secret agent, and yet is not given her due by the adult males in the book. (Have kids do a close reading of p. 40). The plot is a bit circuitous; it's more of a character-driven novel, but it all comes together in the end.

ARC Review of Dream Boy SYNOPSIS
Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class. One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

Dream Boy is a book I received from Netgalley in Exchange for an honest review. To see my Review go to http://kindreddreamheart.blogspot.com/2014/05/arc-review-dream-boy-by-madelyn.html#more
 

I really liked this book for many reasons. First of all it teaches children of a not widely known Jewish tradition, A Tu B’Shevat, which is now Arbor Day. I like how the author included many messages within the book. First telling about the Jewish tradition then she goes into how each of us can do our part to help the environment. She shows this through the little girl character in the book that is excited about celebrating trees and gets everyone else interested in the trees as well. Since our environment is a very big deal in this generation, I like how the author teaches children about caring for our environment in a fun way through the little girl’s care for the tree in her yard. Another aspect I enjoyed about this book was that it showed how no matter how young or small you feel that every person on this planet can make a difference and that inspires other to do the same as well. That what seems to be the main message throughout the book, which is an excellent thing to teach children.

I had a few issues with this book, but overall I did enjoy the message it portrayed. My issue with the book was its representation of a young Jewish girl. The was drawn with brown frizzy hair and a large nose. I feel like this is perpetuating an untrue stereotype that needs to die down.
The reason why I did end up enjoying the book was its ability to properly and simply explain what Tu B'shevat is without overwhelming or complicating any of the pieces of it. In addition, the front and back of the book are illustrated with ways for the reader to 'go green' which encourages kids to help with the environment.
The main idea of the book is blatantly about how we can help the Earth, as well as the holiday of Tu B'shevat.

“Happy Birthday, Tree!” was a very cute story that I believed portrayed environmental conservation in a very powerful, enjoyable way for young children. One reason that I believed this story was powerful is because the author illustrated environmental conservation through the eyes of a specific religion, Judaism. Each year, Jewish people celebrate “Tu B’Shevat” or “The New Year for Trees!” I think for Jewish children, and children of other religions if addressed appropriately, this story could serve as a powerful tool to lead into the topics of environmental conservation. I also believe this book was powerful because the storyline outlined what exactly trees need to stay healthy. For example, the little girl decided to give the tree “presents” for its birthday: water, sunshine, air, cupcakes out of soil, and eventually, a friend. By addressing the issue of environmental conservation through “a birthday,” I believe that many children will be able to relate and want to do the same for trees in their area. The big idea of this story was clearly reiterated throughout the novel, as well as in an index in the front and back of the story: How can we help the earth?