IT'S MONDAY AND I LOVE LULU!

Have you ever found a series or an author that you are sure is brand new? And you can't wait to share your new find with other people? And then you google the author to see if you can find a little more about them? And you discover the author is not new at all, but that they are really, really famous, and have actually written a whole bunch of books? And the only reason you don't know anything about them is that they live and write in a different country?

That's exactly what happened to me this month. A publisher sent me two books in a series I thought was totally new. And then when I googled author Hilary McKay, I discovered she is very well known, and has written lots and lots of books, but they have all  been published in England. Recently two books in her Lulu series have been released in the United States. Another one will be released next fall. And I'm excited, because I love them!

Lulu is a series for beginning chapter book readers; I'm thinking of kids that like Junie B. Jones, or Clementine, or Marty McGuire. She's a spunky, animal-crazy girl with a best friend/cousin named Mellie. And, as a teacher in urban settings, with a population of 95% non Anglo students, I really love that Lulu appears to be African American. That's not part of the story,  but at the same time, it's really, really nice to be able to hand my students a book where the child on the cover looks like them.

In the first book,  Lulu and the Duck in the Park, Lulu's class goes on field trip. It's early spring, and there are lots of mama ducks sitting on nests full of eggs. While the class is at the park, two big dogs get loose and cause major chaos. Mama ducks are chased off their nests and eggs are broken.  When the chaos is over, Lulu finds an egg. She doesn't want the egg to get cold, so she shoves it into her sweater, and takes it back to school, even though her teacher has told the children repeatedly that she doesn't like pets, and is trying to get rid of the class hamster. And then the inevitable happens.

In the second book, Lulu and the Dog from the Sea, Lulu's family, along with Mellie and the family dog, Sam, have rented a cottage at the beach. Sam does not like the beach, "he isn't fond of the sand, he didn't like the chilly breezes and he hates getting wet in the salty water." I love McKay's portrayal of Sam, a kind of sweet little guy, who is just kind of set in his ways and really does not like a lot of change.

Both Sam and Mellie take a lot of luggage on the trip. Sam has a blanket, a brush, his dish, special shampoo, and a much loved beanbag. Mellie has received a "Build your Own Kite" kit for her birthday, and can't wait to build the kite and then fly it on the beach. She opens the kit in the car, then promptly loses some major pieces (As an mom who has tried to assemble many things- kites, models, etc. with my boys, this thread of the story had me laughing all the way through the book).

When the family arrives at the cottage, the owner is waiting for them. She needs to warn them about a stray dog that lives on the beach. The owner tells Lulu and her family, in no uncertain terms, that they should not feed the dog, nor should they allow it to access scraps from the garbage can. And of course, the first thing animal-loving Lulu wants to do is to befriend the stray dog.

I love this series. I'm excited, when I look at Hilary McKay's website, to see that there are at least four more books in the Lulu series (Lulu and the Hamster on the Roof, Lulu and the Cat in the Bag, Lulu and the Hedgehog in the Rain, Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door). I'm hoping those will be published in the United States very, very soon. And then there is another series, about a boy named Charlie, that looks like one our boy readers might love. And then there's McKay's Casson Family series, and the Paradise House series, and the Pudding Bag series, and the Dog Friday trilogy. And then some others for older readers.

Hilary McKay seems like an author American readers definitely need to know.

A BOUNTY OF THANKSGIVING READS

Did a little reading between sporting events this weekend…The three books I read range from easy to medium to pretty difficult.

LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE is a book I have been reading about for the past six months. Finally saw it during a trip to the library on Friday. It's an easy chapter book, told in verse, perfect for those kidlets who are just making their way into novels. Eleanor Kane, has had the same babysitter for eight years, actually since she was born. Now Bibi's father is very ill, however, and she must move to Florida to care for him. Eleanor misses Bibi horribly, but comes to love her new sitter, the mancala playing Natalie. A great little book about saying goodbye, about grieving, and about starting over again…

TROUBLEMAKER is Andrew Clements' newest, or maybe just one of his newest. Clayton is a sixth grade troublemaker, with a two inch thick behavior file to prove it. When the book opens, he is in art class, drawing a caricature of his principal, Mr. Kelling, disguised as a donkey (WARNING: the word in used the book is jack***, which some people may find offensive). He can't wait to show the picture to Mitch, his older brother and role model, newly released froma 30-day prison stay. Mitch, however, is not as excited about the picture as Clay thought he would be. It seems that Mitchell has learned some invaluable lessons in prison, and wants his brother to change. That weekend, he takes Clayton to the mall to reshape his image, then it's up to Clay to prove he really has changed. Clayton soon discovers, however, that change is hard and getting people believe you have changed is harder still…

BREADCRUMBS, by Anne Ursu, is the third book I read this weekend. I feel like I need to preface this review with a warning. I am not an allegory reader. I'm one of the few teachers I know who doesn't especially like MANIAC MAGEE. I think it's really well-written, I think it's got great life lessons, I know most people love it, but I just didn't much care for it. I have never read it aloud in a classroom, nor have I handed it to a kid to read. I'm also not a big fantasy lover. I only read 1.5 of the HARRY POTTER books and have only seen a couple of the movies.

Even so, I loved BREADCRUMBS. BREADCRUMBS is the story of Hazel and Jack, ten-year-olds who have been best friends for a long time. This year, however, things have changed . Hazel's mom and dad have split up. Hazel has been forced to leave a private school, where she was viewed as artsy and creative and wonderful, and attend a more traditional public school, where her dreaminess and creativity is viewed much less positively. The only good thing about the public school is that Jack also attends there, but then he stops talking to her…

It turns out that Jack has been hit in the eye by the shard of a mirror, broken by a goblin in a faraway world. Jack's heart is frozen and he becomes a very different person, eventually leaving all that he loves, including Hazel and his family, to follow the Snow Queen into the frozen woods. Hazel, being his best friend, decides she must go after him. On the way, she encounters any number of different friends and enemies, including some who appear to belong in one category, but then end up belonging in the other.

This novel, a takeoff on Han's Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen" is way, way, way too complicated to try to explain. In fact, I'm not even sure that I'm ready to talk about it, but I'm hoping that some other people will read it and be ready to talk about it. A story of grieving and friendship and oh so much more…

VAMPIRE SCHOOL SERIES- Peter Bentley and Chris Harrison

I teach fourth grade, but only about 1/4 of my kids are reading at grade level. Another quarter of them are reading about a year below grade level, and the rest are two years or more below. Lots of them have not yet found their "reading legs."

While I'm a firm believer in explicit instruction, I also believe that kids get better at reading by reading. A lot. I'm always on the lookout for chapter books and series that will lure kids into my world of words. Last week I found a new series.

The VAMPIRE SCHOOL series, by British author and illustrator, Peter Bentley and Chris Harrison, currently has two books. They are written at about a second grade reading level, but the subject, a vampire school, is appealing to fourth graders- the books have been making the rounds since I took them into school last Monday. The books are long enough to classify as chapter books, but the chapters are short, and there are lots of great black line illustrations to support developing readers.

The books take place at St. Oorlok Academy. Everyone knows that vampires are nocturnal, so Lee's mom wakes him up at 8 every night, so he can get to school on time. At school, Lee, and his friends, Billy and Bella, learn vampire skills, such as how to turn into bats and how to fly. They also play on a casketball team, where Lee must rely on his bat friends to beat a cheating Werewolf on the other team.

In the second book, GHOUL TRIP, the kids from Saint Oorlok's go on a field trip to a fair. At the fair, Lee, Billy, and Bella encounter a dishonest ferris wheel operator, who leads them on the trail to capture some dishonest thieves who have been breaking into schools.

This is a series kids are going to love.

Review copies provided by publisher

BLESS THIS MOUSE- Lois Lowry

Last night I went to Tattered Cover to see Lois Lowry, who is on a book tour for her newest novel, BLESS THIS MOUSE. I didn't intend to buy it, but of course, I ended up bringing the book home.

BLESS THIS MOUSE is the story of a community of 200 mice , who live in St. Bartholomew's church. Hildegarde, the Mouse Mistress, must shepherd her flock through periodic visits from the dreaded X (the exterminator) and also the Festival of Saint Francis, when the parishioners bring their pets, including cats, to be blessed. She is assisted by her bumbling wanna-be boyfriend, Roderick, and Ignatious, a wise old mouse who spent most of his life nibbling books in the university library, and therefore knows a little bit about a lot of things. And then there is Lucretia, the mouse who is constantly trying to usurp Hildegarde as Mouse Mistress…

I'm not usually big on animal fantasy, but this book is delightful. Hildegarde is a brave and resourceful leader. The complex "underground" life of mice, living in a church, where humans are kind of aware of them, but not really, reminded me of the Borrowers, which was one of my childhood favorites. The mice have their own religious life, complete with services on Sunday (led by Hildegarde) that I loved.

A terrific read aloud for primary grade students.

THE TROUBLE WITH CHICKENS- DOREEN CRONIN

J.J. Tully is a retired search and rescue dog, planning to enjoy his retirement resting and relaxing on a farm. He is less than thrilled, then, when Millicent the Chicken (who J.J. calls Moosh) and her two chicks, Dirt and Sugar, approach. It seems Millicent's other two babies, Poppy and Sweetie, have gone missing, and Moosh wants to hires J.J. (for the princely sum of one cheeseburger) to solve the case. J.J. soon discovers that the chicks are being held by house dog Vince the Funnel (so named because he has chronic ear infections and wears a cone on his head)…

Kids, (think good second grade readers, typical third, or struggling fourth or fifth graders) are going to love this illustrated easy-to-read chapter book mystery series by much loved author, Doreen Cronin (CLICK, CLACK, MOO and DIARY OF A FLY series). Really funny, with humor that is sophisticated enough that fourth graders won't think it's baby-ish, loveable characters, and lots of twists and turns in the plot. I read this on NetGalley, so now I have to go buy it, so I can share it with kids.

Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off- Jacqueline Jewels

Freddie Ramos comes home from school one day and finds a package waiting for him. Inside he discovers a pair of purple sneakers with silver wings. He soon learns that the shoes are not just any old shoes, however, they are magical tennis shoes that enable Freddie to run faster than a train. He uses the shoes to help his friends and solve a mini-mystery.

I could see this book having a definite place in a primary grade library. It's a short chapter book (77 pages) with relatively large print and lots of pictures scattered throughout- terrific for those little guys who are just starting to read chapter books. The main character is a Hispanic boy, definitely needed in my urban setting, where over half of the kids speak Spanish as their first language. Freddie lives with a single mom, but there are several references to his father, a soldier who was killed in the war. Freddie also has significant connections with his Uncle Jorge, and the building landlord, Mr. Zaslov. As someone who works in a school where many of the children don't have fathers, I love seeing other mentor relationships validated.

Based on the last line, "Can you make flying shoes?" I thought there might be at least one more book in this series. I hope so. When I googled it, I discovered that book #2 has already been released, and #3 will be out in March. Always good to have a new series so that beginning chapter book readers can cut their teeth on.

DODSWORTH IN LONDON- Tim Egan

WARNING: If you are a children's book person, this post probably falls into the, "How'd you miss this series?" category. So you might want to skip it. DODSWORTH IN LONDON is evidently the third book in this easy chapter book series (think NATE THE GREAT or MERCY WATSON). And I have never seen DODSWORTH IN NEW YORK. Or DODSWORTH IN PARIS. But now, having read DODSWORTH IN LONDON, I will definitely look for the other two.

Dodsworth the Bear (whoops, our first graders think he might be a mole, and looking again, I suspect they are right) and his rascally companion, Duck, travel by hot air balloon to London. After an unfortunate dart throwing incident in a pub, the two decide to tour the city by double decker bus. The bus station is very crowded and Dodsworth and Duck become separated. In that brief moment, Her Majesty's Royal Duck, who looks a great deal like Dodsworth's travelling companion, happens onto the scene. Duck (Dodsworth's companion) gets onto one bus, and Dodsworth and the Royal Duck get on another one. Duck has tea and crumpets, sees a Shakespeare play, and splashes in the fountain near Pershing Square. Dodsworth spends a harrowing afternoon dealing with a case of mistaken identity, then trying to hunt down his naughty friend. Eight hours later, Dodsworth finds Duck happily dancing on the Queen's piano.

I teach in a very urban area and many of my students have never been out of our neighborhood, or to a another city. Many of our kids wouldn't recognize London or Paris, or cities, let alone know about any of the landmarks in those cities. I would probably have to read DODSWORTH IN LONDON aloud before children could be successful in reading it independently.

At the same time, I'm always looking for ways to expand my children's horizons, and I think this series would be perfect. I envision us getting out a world map, locating London, and googling places like Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, maybe printing out pictures and tracking Dodsworth and Duck's journey's (note to publisher: world or city maps or photographs would be cool end pages). I think we'd have a blast. I also think this book could lead to some great conversations about dealing with badly behaved friends, handling conflict, and just life in general.

A fun new-to-me series I can't wait to share with kids.