The Island Horse

From the book cover:
Ellie believes that she will live in her little village on the coast of Nova Scotia for always. But when her father gets a job on Sable Island, she must say farewell to her beloved home and her mother's final resting place. Not even the idea of seeing the wild horses that roam the island can ease the pain of leaving. And after arriving on the sandy, windswept crescent of land, Ellie feels adrift and alone...until one afternoon when she wakens on a dune to find herself looking into the curious eyes of a wild stallion. Little by little, as the days pass, Ellie gets closer to the beautiful chocolate-colored horse. Yet she soon discovers something that could take him away from his home, his herd and her. Ellie has lost so much already. Will she lose her island horse, too?

My Review:
Susan Hughes clearly has only the best intention and inspiration for writing the novel, but as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Admittedly, The Island Horse is far from hell but it is rather dull and by no means a pleasurable page turning read.

Set in the early 1800s, Ellie is a nine-year-old dealing with the death of her mother and a move away from the only home she's ever known to a remote island that she laments is not fit for human life. Perhaps because I'm use to modern kids who tend to be coddled by over-protective parents, I have a hard to finding Ellie's maturity believable. She's nine years old and baking bread, preparing meals and taking care of herself for long, lonely days while her father works.

The plot development in this novelette is very rough. Not enough quality time is given to making Ellie's attachment to her island horse, Orchid, believable or even her budding relationship with the only other little girl on Sable Island. There's a lot of untapped potential as far as the plot goes. This was especially evident after I read the Arthur's Note at the end of the book. It's a brief history lesson about the real Sable Island and how Susan Hughes made the decision to write this novelette.

This book is geared towards children seven to 10 years old. The writing is very simple and straightforward. There are no pictures but there are small black and white sketches at the beginning of each chapter.

2.5/5

About the book:
The Island Horse by Susan Hughes
ISBN: 978-1554535927
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Date of publish: March 1, 2012
Pages: 160
S.R.P.: $16.95

About the author:
Susan Hughes is an award-winning author whose books include Case Closed?, No Girls Allowed, Earth to Audrey and Virginia. She has loved horses since she was a child and has long dreamed of setting a story on Sable Island. Susan lives in Toronto, Ontario.

I Remember Mommy's Smile

Dina Wolfman Baker’s I Remember Mommy’s Smile is one of the best children stories I’ve read in a very long time - both of my girls enjoyed it.

My eight-year-old, Jaya, thought it was sad but definitely a story she’d recommend to a friend. Julianna, my three-year-old, was all about Rachel Nagelberg’s bright, colourful illustrations. Jaya really enjoyed the cut and paste effect of the flowers on each page.

The 11-year-old narrator of this story takes the reader through her experiences learning that her mother is ill, watching her mother die, and then finally after her mother is dead and she must face life without a mother. Baker uses very really terms, she doesn’t sugar coat things and I think that is something that a lot of kids and parents will appreciate. The language she uses is very appropriate, while reading it to my two daughters I found myself holding back tears.

I highly recommend this to all parents/guardians of small children, because death is something that all families are faced with at some point or another.

5/5

About the book:

I Remember Mommy's Smile by Dina Wolfman Baker

ISBN: 978-0615447520

Publisher: Baker's Dozen Press

Date of publish: April 2011

Pages: 45

S.R.P.: $11.95

 About the author:

Dina Baker lost her mother to cancer after a long illness. She wrote this book with the hope of helping other children who are coping with similar situations. In addition to authoring books and essays and running Baker's Dozen Press, Baker is an accomplished public speaker who has been engaged to address numerous audiences regarding I Remember Mommy's Smile-PhD psych candidates studying school psychology, children in child bereavement camp and with general audiences.

For more information on I Remember Mommy's Smile and excerpts from the video, go to www.MommysSmile.com .

Sofia's Rainbow

Set in Istanbul, Sofia's Rainbow by Lina Simoli is the story of six-year-old Sofia's quest to relieve her loneliness. Geared towards children 5 years and older, it attempts to teach a message of tolerance and acceptance.

Sofia considers a rainbow her only friend and spends hours on a terrace waiting for a rainbow to appear so she can climb it. One day she comes across a stray cat who's just had babies, and with her father's permission takes one home. As Sofia gets to know Incir (pronounced In-jir) she learns that he's not like most cats - he's afraid of heights and likes to eat figs. Sofia bullies and shuns him when he refuses to wait on the terrace with her for a rainbow to appear.

When a rainbow does appear, Sofia finds herself in unexpected danger. Incir conquers his fears to her rescue.

I read Sofia's Rainbow to my two daughters (ages 3 and 7 years old). The three-year-old didn't really get much of what was going on but she did enjoyed Laura's Furlan's illustrations. My seven-year-old got the plot but found it a bit too rambling. When asked if she'd recommend it to a friend she was very hesitant. For my part, I think Sofia's Rainbow has a lot to offer children. Because it's set in Istanbul, North American kids learn not only about tolerance and acceptance but they get a tiny snap shot of life in another country.

3/5

How to find this book:
Sofia's Rainbow by Lina Simoni , Illustrated by Laura Furlan
ISBN: 978-1-937700-00-3
Publisher: Moonleaf Publishing, LLC
Date of publication: December 5, 2011 (Paperback); February 20, 2012 (ebook)
Pages: 48
Paperback price: $14.99

A storybook Halloween

I'm a proud mama everyday, but tomorrow I'm gonna be especially proud. Both my girls are going out for Halloween in costumes inspired by books! And they are both so cute!!

First up is Jaya. She's going as a paper bag princess a la Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Princess Elizabeth is engaged to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon smashes her castle, burns all of her clothes and carries Prince Ronald away. Elizabeth dons a paper bag and goes off to rescue her prince. Using her smarts, Elizabeth tires the dragon and rescue her prince only to have him tell her to come back when she looks like a real princess! My favorite lines of the story:

"Ronald," said Elizabeth, "your clothes are really pretty and your hair is really neat. You look like a prince, but you are a bum."

The Paper Bag Princess is my favorite Robert Munsch story because of the valuable lesson it teaches little girls - and boys.



5

On to Julianna's choice....

I'm not going to lie, Julianna chose to be a tooth fairy before we read the book. I went in search of a tooth fairy book to get some inspiration for her costume. I was hoping for a short but sweet book and came across R.G. Cordiner's Candy Wars.

Candy Wars: The Tooth Fairies vs. The Candy King by R.G. Cordiner

It all starts when James' tooth is stolen by a green jelly monster. James follows the jelly monster into the magical world of candy land, where he becomes a general in the Candy King's army and helps to launch a war against the tooth fairies. Emily arrives on the tooth fairies side of the magical world just in time to fight on the side of the tooth fairies. With the help of a toothless dragon and a phoenix with hay fever, Emily is able to help save her brother and the tooth fairies from the wicked Candy King.

Candy Wars is a great book for pre-teens. There are valuable lessons about friendship, family loyalty and the importance of standing up to bullies.

3/5

Jaya's take on Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess.



Miss. Julianna Ivy as the Queen of the Tooth Fairies.

Sammy The Seal

Syd Hoff's Sammy The Seal changed my life. It's the first book I read on my own. I can remember the day I accomplished this feat, just like it was last month. I was home sick from school (where I was enrolled in my second year of grade two). I sat in our living room, focusing on the pages and carefully sounding out the words. By time I finished reading the book, my lips were really dry, I was really thirsty, and I was filled with one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment that I have ever experienced in my life.


I think almost everyone can relate to Sammy and his longing to see life outside the zoo. Haven't we all asked "what if?" or wondered "what would that be like?"


Through this tale about a seal who leaves the zoo to spend a day exploring the city and going to school, Mr. Hoff teaches children that there is no place like home.  Sammy goes from being unhappy at the zoo at the start of the story to be happy to return to the zoo at the end of the story, which is also the end of the day.


The language in this book is appropriate for young children and beginner readers. The key message is a cliche and everyone (even the kid re-doing grade two) knows that seals don't talk, visit the city or go to school.


Sammy the Seal taught me that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. The story isn't clever but it was just perfect for me back then.


3/5