Blue Aliens by Tony Porto and 3CD

3CD is a graphic design firm in Chicago.  This book was really fun!  A little boy is convinced that blue aliens have taken over.  The book starts off focused on green then the 2nd half of the book goes into blue.  You learn all sorts of fascinating, random stuff too.  Did you know that praying mantises are the only insects that can turn their heads from side to side?  And blueberries used to be called star berries!  Part story, and part Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, this book fascinates :o)

 

The Chalk Doll by Charlotte Pomerantz and illustrated by Frane Lessac

A sick girl is getting ready for bed and starts talking to her mom about her childhood in Jamaica.  The story segues from topic to topic and the reader is drawn in quite naturally.  My favorite part of the book is when the mom tells about how they used to pick mangoes from trees and let the seeds dry up, then they'd rub the seeds on some tar and stick them on their feet for some homemade high heels.  I wish there was a Taiwanese book like this.

 

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble and illustrated by Steven Kellogg

This book is ridiculous, and I love the pictures.  Kellogg is such a classic illustrator.  This is a fun story about a class visit to the farm where all hell breaks loose.  The pigs end up on the school bus, the cow is attacked by a haystack, etc.  And it all started because Jimmy's pet boa freaks out the farmer's wife by eating her drying laundry.

 

The Boy Who Cried Fabulous by Leslea Newman

This rhyming book was alright.  It's about a boy with ADHD who's always late because every little thing fascinates him.

 

Have You Seen Chester? by Andrew Murray and Nicola Slater

X marks the butthole for Chester a cat and Buddy the dog.  The two animals are always fighting and one day, fed up, Chester runs away.  Soon Buddy and their owner begin to miss the cat and Buddy crawls through the cat door and tries to find him.  I love the lesson that even though two people may not always get along, they can still be friends at the end of the day.