Roger, the Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist

I think this picture book is really fun. The illustrator and author of this book is the same illustrator that has illustrated the "Series of Unfortunate Events" series.

This book tells us how Pirates came about having the flag with the skull and bones on it.

Roger is a jolly pirate and his fellow buddies call him Jolly Roger, but they are not nice about it.

Anytime they do their pirate work, they send him down underneath. He doesn't like that.

So one day while the enemy has attacked their ship they send Roger underneath. Roger decides he is going to bake a cake so that they won't be so mad at him.

In making the cake he looks for a pot to cook it in. You see him putting his ingredients into a cannon. He lights the wick at the bottom to watch it cook. It explode and he gets blown through the ceiling and up on deck. He has soot and flour on him and looks like a ghost. The attacking enemies sees this and abandon ship.

His fellow pirates are so happy that they make a flag for him.

This a fun picture book. The pictures say so much even when the words don't say it. I love the explosion.

They have a song at the end that is just fun.

I really enjoyed this Children's Picture Book

Lost and found by Andrew Clements

Ray and Jay have noticed that people look at them as one person. So when their new school, loses one of their files on the first day when one is sick, the twins decide to use the situation to be thought of as one person instead of a twin. This book is just simply FUN!! It is well written and a super fun read. Cute story.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

What a fun, little adventure of a book. Claudia decides to run away and Jamie is her brother of choice to go with her. Together they find themselves living inside a Museum. This book is surprisingly intriguing and fun to follow. The story is sweet and full of good secrets.

Smart Dog by Vivian Vande Velde

Amy happens upon a dog who can talk. He is trying to escape the college that he tells her has used him as an experiment. Amy tries to help him.

A talking Dog? The book makes it seem quite logical that this could happen in real life. The book feels very real.

The story is one of courage that Amy learns and of friendship. This is a very sweet book.

Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

I really liked this book. It seemed incredibly full of facts about this period of time. I have a deep respect for the Irish and all they’ve been through. I don’t know how people could ever survive amid such lack of food…or perhaps lack of access to the food.

I must admit, I was less than pleased about the help they received. Irish seem to be a very hard working group of people. Their ill fortune should not have been so tragic. If other countries, especially England, would have been less selfish they could’ve helped prevent such a massive desolation. England wouldn’t let Ireland handle its own problem. It was like their hands were tied. It makes me wonder what the outcome would’ve been if the Irish’s hands weren’t tied. If they were able to use some of their own resources instead of being taxed to death and left without their other major resources that were exported to England. It is a sad time in Ireland and England’s history.

I would definitely recommend the book. It gave me such a desire to feel grateful with what I have and sorrow for those who didn’t have much. Even though it is sad to know some of the details, it helps to be informed. Being informed may just prevent it from happening again.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Addie lives in a trailer with her mom. She would love to have a normal life and keeps waiting to have one. She loves her mom, but her mom is an “all or nothing” mom. This book is very effective in showing the effects of a mom who has some real problems and how it affects many people. This is a very good book. It is good to read about such an upbeat girl even though her world is far from ideal.

Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George

Dragons, Dragon eggs, Volcanoes, Adventure!

This book is full of excitement. I had a really tough time putting it down. I struggled to keep all the dragons straight. There were many, but I think I followed pretty well. I felt very satisfied with this book. In this book, some things happened that I wanted to happen since the first book. I highly recommend this series, it is a quick, fun read.