Best Buds: The Adventures of Max and Pinky By:Maxwell Eaton III

This book is so simple, but I found my self laughing out loud while reading it. This book is about two best buds, Pinky and Max who love adventure and have an adventure day every Saturday. One Saturday Pinky did not show up so Max had to figure out where he was. I found this book to be quite entertaining, becuase when Max was looking for him and thinking of possible explanations, every aspect of it was quite random. I also love the fact that they are shown playing tricks on each other at the end of the book, because I think that that is one important aspect of friendship that does not get played out enough and is thing that I personally love about have good friends.

Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes

When reading Chester's Way, the first thing I noticed was how much the watercolor paintings added to the story. The story was about Chester and how unique he and his friend Wilson are. They are best friends and do everything together, until Lilly moved to the neighborhood. Chester and Wilson ignored Lilly until she stuck up for them one day and then they all became best friends, sharing their uniqueness with each other and acquiring some of their habits. The watercolors add so much, because there is a small picture for nearly every sentence. Without the pictures, I do not think the story would be as enjoyable, or make as strong of a point. A couple of times in the story Henkes does not even write what they are doing, but the beautiful pictures are enough to fill in the blanks and make this story come alive.

The Big Game by Louise A. Gikow

The Gig Game by Louise A. Gikow leaves me with some mixed feelings. Overall, I do think that this book presents many positive messages. First off, this book does have a group of divers students depicted. Secondly, I like that it rhymes, especially since it is for beginning readers. Thirdly, I think it does show that you may not be good at everything, but everyone does have things that they are better at and some things that they are worse at.

One aspect, however, that I do not like is that the main character is a typical character for this story, a Mexican male named Jose. I know that soccer is a universal sport, but when I think of it, I think of people of Mexican decent playing it. I may have this stereotype because we did not have soccer in my town growing up and one of my friends from Mexico loved the sport so much. I think that is crucial to have diversity in books, but when this diversity comes in the same typical areas it does not have the same affect.

The Secrets of Droon;The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet by: Tony Abbott

Finding a magical land with new creatures and powers is something that most every child dreams of. The Secrets of Droon is a series of books about three friends that go on adventures in a magical land that they stumbled upon, named Droon. The first book is about their very first discovery and is filled with tons of action. The ninns, evil flying lizards that work for the evil Lord Sparr, are depicted so beautifully that I could imagine them flying over head shooting flaming arrows at me. This creature was first described as a flying lizard. After getting a closer look they could see that it had a red, puffy, fat face and slitty, close-set eyes and a pointy chin and ears. I think that this is a perfect description of a children's book villain, because it was just the perfect amount of scary. I am one that gets scared easily, and I was pleasantly on the edge of my seat the whole time in anticipation of the climax.

You Can Be My Friend by Lauren Child

I do not particularly like nor dislike You Can Be My Friend by Lauren Child. I think this book fails to make the point that it is trying to make, which I believe is that you can not always do what you want, sometimes in a friendship you have to compromise. I do not think this was captured as well as it could have been, because Morten, one of the friends, does not even say one word to Lola, the other friend, until she does something he thinks is funny half way through the book. For the first half of the book Lola seemed like she was trying everything and Morten just did not care. If I were to improve this story, I would have Morten choose some activities that Lola turned down and I would have Lola choose some activities that Morten turned down and I would have them decide what activities they would like to do together. As it is, Morten seems to be the one who is not compromising and making the friendship difficult.

Arthur and the Popularity Test by Marc Brown

Arthur and the Popularity Test is a children's chapter book that teaches some really important lessons. I think that the obvious thing that it teaches is that being yourself is the most important thing. People like you for you, so when you change it is noticeable and concerning. I think another, less obvious, lesson is that you can not always trust what you read or hear. One of the many unique characteristics of children is that they are very trustworthy, and typically believe everything, which is why it is so important for them to learn that sometimes information is not based on facts. These lessons are not easily taught, but I think this book does such a good job of it because it includes many different characters that children can relate to, such as: the smart one, the one that is good at everything, etc... Children are growing and developing their identities everyday, which is why I think this would be a great book for every child to read.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is a wonderful book that takes the reader on a a crazy adventure. The Cat in the Hat is always up to something mischievous, causing the fish much anxiety. I have always loved this book and have found it so fun to listen to and read. At the same time, it is very nerve racking to think about the mother walking in on this crazy spectacle. Although the rhyming is a bit of a tongue twister, especially for younger children,this is a book that can be enjoyed by all ages.