From the Family Bookshelf

Where has this month gone? I can’t believe July is almost here. The girls have been out of school since Monday. The Lil Princess joined our library’s “Go Green” summer reading program. The Lil Diva has officially declared she hates reading. When I suggested she join the summer reading program, not only did I get the eyes rolling up into her eyelids, I also received the lovely hand on the hip deal. How did I manage to end up with a kid who doesn’t enjoy reading?

In this issue of From the Family Bookshelf, you’ll once again get a glimpse into what our family has been reading lately. I, as usual, have read more books than anyone else; but that should change a bit with the Lil Princess participating in the summer reading program.

I really thought Dad would move right from Prayers for the Assassin  by Robert Ferrigno to the next book in this series, Sins of the Assassin, but he didn’t. After a short reading break, he moved onto the third book in The Zion Chronicles, The Return to Zion, by Bodie and Brock Thoene. This series is Christian historical fiction set aroung WWII. He has already read the first two books in this series, The Gates of Zion and A Daughter of Zion.

May 27th was the last time I updated this column. Sorry about that. With the wedding, the end of the school year, and preparing to leave for North Carolina on July 2nd, I haven’t been blogging as much as I usually do.

During that time I’ve read Ebeneezer’s Cousin, In My Bath, Sully’s Topsy Tale, Grin’s Message, Little Big Wolf, and Glamour Girl, all children’s books.  You can find those reviews on this site. I’ve also read Caves, Cannons and Crinolines, which is YA historical fiction from Beverly Stowe McClure. That review is also posted at this site.

At The Book Connection, I recently posted reviews of: The Wildcat’s Burden (sci-fi/alternative world) by Christopher Hoare, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (historical fiction), At Home with Laurie Ann by Laurie Ann McMillin Ray (home decorating), and Why God Matters by Karina Lumbert Fabian and Deacon Steven Lumbert (Catholic nonfiction). I also read The Lightkeeper’s Daughter by Colleen Coble as part of the Amazon Vine program. I am currently reading The Last Operative by Jerry Jenkins. If you want to know my Jerry Jenkins story, just ask!

The Lil Diva moved right from her Katie & Kimble books into reading Junie B. Jones.  I’ll have a separate post coming up about this book soon, but I thought kids were supposed to enjoy reading about those older than them. Junie B. Jones is a few years younger than her, so I wasn’t expecting that one. She read

The Lil Princess has been reading to herself, so I haven’t been privy to what she’s been reading lately. She hides in her room, shuts the door, and wanders off for a while. I know that she recently picked up a copy of The Raindrop by Brian McClure that I had in my office. She always asks before taking off with anything from here, since she never knows if it belongs in the TBR pile, the giveaway pile, or somewhere in between. 🙂

That’s about it for From the Family Bookshelf. I hope you enjoyed reading along. Until next time, keep reading!

Glamour Girl from the Stars by Carlton Scott

Glamour Girl from the Stars by Carlton Scott is the story of PleeDee, an alien girl who borrows her father’s spaceship to come to earth for the Miss Universe Pageant. After traveling around earth and experiencing different cultures, PleeDee soon discovers she feels good about herself without entering any beauty pageants.

Scott is back with a new book, one that seeks to teach girls about self-esteem. A very important message, but one, that seems a tiny bit lost to me in this story until the last two pages. PleeDee decides to leave her planet to enter the Miss Universe Pageant. She ends  up in the land of dinosuars before making it to Las Vegas in 2010. She then travels to Waikiki, China, Africa, and Rome before reaching her destination, all to find “two skinny women…tugging the same Zero Size Gown…” There are no girls from other planets at the pageant, “Only tall hungry females…”

I couldn’t quite connect the dots to see how PleeDee’s experiences in each of these places translated into her feeling good about herself. Yes, she surfs, meets some lovely animals, walks through Roman ruins, and becomes quickly disillusioned once she reached LA, but how could a young reader figure out those things impacted her self-esteem?

The artwork in this book, however, is wonderful. I love the scenes that Scott created of each place PleeDee stopped, and of PleeDee. She’s one hip looking alien.

Kids will enjoy the space travel and the nifty things PleeDee gets a chance to do on her journey to earth.  I would like to see a more focused message.

Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂

  • Publisher:  Ends of the Earth Books
  • ISBN:  0-9636652-4-3
  • SRP:  $9.95
  • For more information about this virtual book tour, please visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/05/13/blog-tour-carlton-scotts-glamour-girl-from-the-stars/ You can learn more about this author and purchase his books at http://www.carltonsbooks.com/index.html.



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    Little Big Wolf by Carlton Scott

    Nathan dreams he is exploring the rocky trails of the forest when a large wolf pounces. Suddenly the wolf appears nervous, and Nathan and he stumble upon two hunters. Nathan soon discovers the other source of the wolf’s anxiety, a pup that is too sick to play.  Nathan tends to the pup, then he and the wolf continue their adventure.

    Little Big Wolf by Carlton Scott brings young readers on an adventure into the forest, where a young boy befriends a pack of wolves. Soon, she discovers, however, this is just Nathan’s birthday dream.

    I have to admit to being on the fence over this book.  The storyline is good, though I’m not sure I care for a young boy wandering off into the woods and becoming friends with wild animals. The prose flows relatively smooth, but I guess I’m missing the point of the book. Perhaps the author is going for a subtle humans and animals can easily share the same world and humans should help animals in need type of message, but that isn’t truly clear to me.

    The other thing that stood out to me is the illustrations. In Grin’s Message, the author fully illustrated the book. But in Little Big Wolf, Scott opted to use nature photographs along with his drawings of Nathan, the wolves, and other people or things superimposed (I believe this is the correct term) over them. It gives the book an amateurish feel, besides looking odd.

    It’s a nice story, but after reading Grin’s Message I was hoping for a bit more.

    Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂

  • Publisher:  Ends of the Earth Books
  • ISBN:  0-9636652-8-6
  • SRP:  $9.95


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    Grin’s Message by Carlton Scott

    A charming story with an excellent message is what you’ll find in Grin’s Message by Carlton Scott.

    Grin is a bottlenose dolphin who likes to help others. When Ollie the Octopus gets caught in the trash between some stones, Grin helps him get free. He encourages Ollie to spread his message and help others, which Ollie does when he meets Moo Moo and Mee Mee the manatees. But it will take all of them to get Grin out of trouble when the time arrives.

    Grin’s Message is an enjoyable rhyming story that encourages children to help each other. In addition to the more subtle message of protecting our environment, Grin, the manatees, and Ollie show readers how wonderful it can be when we all do what we can to help out.

    Beautifully written and illustrated by Carlton Scott, Grin’s Message is sure to have many young fans.

    Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

  • Publisher:  End of the Earth Books
  • ISBN:  0-9636652-7-8
  • SRP:  $9.95
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