Don't Judge a Lizard by His Scales

Title: Don't Judge a Lizard by His Scales
Authors: Dan Dugi, Bli Marston Dugi
Illustrator: Andrea Vitali
Publisher: Dugi Group LLC (August 3, 2014)
Format: eBook; Hardcover, 19 pages
Genre: Children's
Source: Netgalley
Ages: Age Level: 2 - 8 | Grade Level: P - 2

I keep going back and forth about this book. I can understand the general question being asked - can two sworn enemies become friends? Science tells us that lizards eat flies, but what were to happen if they decided that being friends was a better idea.

What gives me the creepy factor in this book, and is the final deciding factor, is how they know each other in the first place. How does Danny the Wizard Lizard have Bli the Fly’s contact information? It is not mentioned that they are school friends or neighborhood friends and when Bli tells Danny of her mother’s concerns, Danny’s reply is “Your Mom sure does think a lot”. No, that is not right at all. Or manipulating the parent with charm and innocence when he is trying to spend more time with Bli – no that is crossing a line.

The language in this book comes across to me as if Danny is grooming Bli, and as a parent, this is the type of behavior that we really look out for and sends out those little red flag warnings.

I am glad I had read this prior to sharing it with a young mind. I would not want to inadvertently send the wrong message about listing to the pressuring of friends is more important than a parent’s concerns.

Call me overprotective and paranoid, but I do not think that this is the best book to be reading to a child when trying to present a book on making friends.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Title: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy
Author: Karen Foxleey
Published: January 28th 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf
Format: Hardcopy, Pgs 233s
Genre: Fantasy
Ages: 8 to 12

“I’ll Be Right Back, I’ve Just Got To Save The World”

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is one of those books that you look forward to reading to your children. Your youngest may not get all the intrigue, but your slightly older, those that think they are too old for mom to read to them, will love the depths that Ophelia will go to, to help the Marvelous Boy and to protect the world from the Snow Queen - a woman who had the kind of beauty that stayed pressed against your eyes, like the halo you see after you look directly into the sun.

Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard, who does not consider herself brave, but had always been very hopeful, is mourning her mother’s death when her father takes a job at a museum, in a place that never stops snowing, with the purpose of setting up a sword display to coincide with the Wintertide clock chiming.

A very curious eleven-year-old Ophelia, who does not believe anything that cannot be proven by science, discovers a little boy who has been locked away in a small room for three hundred years. His tale of olden times, and how he was chosen by a protectorate of wizards from east, west, and the middle to deliver a sword so that the Snow Queen may be defeated, hits the very practical Ophelia wrong, but still, there is something very interesting about this little boy.

Not realizing that she is the One Other, that the Marvelous Boy speaks of, she goes on a fantastical journey through an ever-changing museum to find the keys that will unlock the boy and hopefully, defeat the Snow Queen.

All the while, Ophelia is hearing the words and guidance from her deceased mother and with her own courage and her memories, Ophelia takes on a magical journey that will both strengthen her and save the world.

The audience of young readers will find the plot intense and the characters likable. The Snow Queen is just evil enough and the bizarre encounters that Ophelia is forced to battle her way through, will have you on the edge of your seat until the final battle of good and evil takes place.

Unlucky 13

Title: Unlucky 13
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published: May 5th 2014 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Genre: Suspense
Series: Women's Murder Club #13

Usually when an author has multiple story lines going the reader is drawn to one more than the other. Fortunately with Unlucky 13 the three lines that Patterson and Paetro have going had me fully engaged and not regretting the leaving of one to delve into the next.

Beginning with belly bombs and my never wanting to eat at a fast food restaurant again, to terrorists that will make you wonder about the safety of an Alaskan cruise to the return of Mackie Morales, Unlucky 13 is a fast paced evenly played novel that will have you entranced from the first page.

Arriving at the Golden Gate Bridge, Lindsey and Rich are pretty sure that this is not your standard traffic accident when two teens appear to have had their stomachs blown out from the inside and a fast food bag in the backseat. Then add in a honeymoon cruise for Yuki and Brady that has been taken over by hijackers determined to get millions from a cruise line that does not have the insurance to pay ransoms resulting in passengers being killed on the hour all the while, back in San Francisco, Lindsey is being stalked by a sociopath bent on her due revenge.

Pretty much another week in the life of Lindsay and the Women’s Murder Club, but this time, something seemed different. All four women were fully involved in the plots. Each provided their specialties and even though Cindy has been relegated to the backseat in previous books, she comes to the forefront here and is instrumental in both the flushing out of Morales and the saving of Lindsay’s life.

None The Number

Title: The Hueys in None the Number: A Counting Adventure
Author and Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Published: July 1st 2014 by Philomel
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 32
Genre: Children's

This book makes counting fun.

I have to admit, when I was young, and someone told me that zero was a number I could not wrap my head around it. I so wish I had this book to help me understand the “none” is a number. You just have to look at it through the Huey’s eyes.

With simple illustrations, the Hueys will guide your young scholar with the challenging task of learning to count. Be it one blue phone or five hats or ten trumpeters walking by – when they are all gone you are left with none.

I loved this book more than I thought I would and I am sure that the time you and your young reader spend together will be a delight to you both.