Treasures at the Museum by Deborra Richardson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Aunt Imani takes Brittany and Peter on a visit to the Smithsonian Archives. This is sweet and simple introduction to the concept of museums and archives best suited as an additional resource for teachers taking a K to 3rd class to the Smithsonian. The setting is particular to Washington, D.C. and the questions at the back of the book are educational. Viewed courtesy of Elevator Group and netgalley.com



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The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This engaging novel explores the aftermath of the Titanic disaster through the eyes of Tess, an aspiring dressmaker, who makes the crossing as a maid to famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon. Although the sinking is a dramatic event in the story, the focus here is on Tess, her attraction to both a young sailor and a Chicago millionaire on the Titanic, and how she will forge a new life in New York. Alcott concentrates on the effect of the sinking and the subsequent investigation on the survivors and challenges readers to consider what they would have done if aboard the Titanic. There is a sly humor to some of the name dropping amid the glitzy fashion world of Lady Duff Gordon. Alcott's research shows as she deftly weaves historical facts and actual figures like the Astors, Molly Brown, Edith Wharton, Isadora Duncan, and Bruce Ismay, head of the White Star Line, into her fiction. A thoroughly enjoyable read and timely, with 100th anniversary of the Titanic coming up in April. [digital ARC= Thanks to Random House and NetGalley!]



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Fine Cooking Appetizers
By: Editors of Fine Cooking Magazine
The Taunton Press, 2010

The editors of Fine Cooking magazine have compiled a terrific selection of appetizer recipes that are easy to understand, offer a variety of cold and hot selections, and are generously illustrated with mouth-watering photographs.

Fine Cooking Appetizers will not only inspire your next party, it is also a great choice as a holiday or special occasion gift.

If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGuirk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"A is for addition"..."g is for ghosts"...."T is for Toast." McGuirk spent over ten years collecting rocks that resemble letters of the alphabet as well as the accompanying objects that comprise her alphabet. While mixing lower and upper case letters would confuse young ones looking to reinforce their letter knowledge, this is a clever and imaginative alphabet book that inspires one's powers of observation.



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The House Baba Built: An Artist's Childhood in China by Ed Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This episodic journey into Ed Young's childhood memories will probably have more appeal to older kids familiar with his picture books or adults. The mixed media of the page design is fascinating in itself. Great to pair with Allen Say's DRAWING FROM MEMORY, another view into the development of a children's literature author/illustrator.



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Fun video of Elvis Costello on Sesame Street:

Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers by Pendred Noyce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Noyce has created a delightful pair of characters who, bored with the lack of entertainment at their Aunt's house on a rainy day, explore a barn and find themselves in a magical world where the balance of language and numbers has become unhinged. Ivan and Daphne are set on a mission to find Lexicon's lost children who have been lured away by dancing lights in the sky. Along the way the survive a plague of punctuation, the fog of forgetting, feuding parts of speech, a panel of poets and illogical mathematicians in the town of Irrationality. This delightful story offers readers ample opportunities to solve the word and number puzzles along the way. I look forward to additional tales in the series. Recommended for grades 4 - 7.



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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Stockett takes a few liberties with history but still delivers an entertaining story mixing humor, dramatic tension, and stark facts. Not all the characters had adequate dimension for my taste, but I enjoyed the novel nevertheless.



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