Hound and Hare

by Rotraut Susanne Bertner

Hugo and Harley could be best friends, IF their families weren't feuding. Despite their parents wishes they each sneak out to join in the Great Bone Big Race whose outcome has interesting consequences for everyone. An easy reader with picture book appeal, younger readers may enjoy the story line but they may not grasp the humor of the literary puns.

1 of 5 stars.

Princess Posey and the Perfect Present

by Stephanie Greene

Posey loves everything about first grade, especially her teacher Ms. Lee. When Ms. Lee announces her birthday, Posey decides on the perfect present. Five perfectly grown roses from her garden. But her plans go amiss and she learns a little lesson in being silly. Greene offers readers a simply written text with easy chapters, lots of white space and plenty of illustrations.

4 of 5 stars - Recommended.

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Catherine Combs and Ivy June Mosley are both chosen to represent their schools in the seventh-grade student exchange program. Each will spend two weeks visiting the other and keep a journal to document their thoughts. Catherine lives in a large comfortable home in Lexington and attends a private all-girl school. Ivy June lives with her grandparents in the mountains of Cumberland Gap, without running water or a telephone. The girls enter the program thinking they are very different, only to discover they are more alike than they could imagine. Naylor uses the girl's journals to create wonderful characters, especially Ivy June.

3 of 5 stars - Recommended.

Adventures in Cartooning : How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics!

by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost

A story within-a-story book about a princess, a knight and a dragon who likes bubblegum being guided through the story by a magical elf. Readers will be so engaged with the story they will probably not realized they are learning about cartooning, until they reach the Bonus Feature and Advance Cartooning Tips at the end of the book. The humor is spot on, the graphics colorful and bold, and the story appealing to both boys and girls. I'll need more than one copy in my library.  The first few pages can be viewed on the publishers website.

5 of 5 stars - Highly Recommended.

The Secret Zoo

by Bryan Chick

Megan is missing and the animals at the Clarksville City Zoo are acting strangely and giving Noah pages from her diary. Noah, and fellow Action Scouts Ella and Richie, are convinced the animals know something. Using secret entrances, the friends enter a magical and mysterious world where they find themselves befriending animals, learning their secrets, and finding inner strength. The characters lack a bit of development, although Chick creates a fantasy world with his descriptions of the setting which allows the reader to transport themselves into the book with ease.

3 of 5 stars - Recommended.

Grace for President

by Kelly DiPucchio

Grace Campbell can not believe that there has never been a girl president and decides that she'd like to change that starting by running for president in the school's own election.  Grace thinks becoming president will be easy until popular Thomas Cobb enters the race.  Grace thinks it will be even less easy after learning about the 270 electoral votes needed to win.  Tom calculates his win based on boys holding more votes than the girls and relaxes while Grace makes good on her campaign promises.  In early November, the students cast their votes and the best person for the job wins the election.  DiPucchio does a fine job explaining the Electoral College to a younger audience and Pham's illustrations bring Grace to life as she bounds from page to page campaigning.

4 of 5 stars - Recommended.

Duck at the Door

by Jackie Urbanovic

A cold and lonely duck finds a new home for the winter with Irene and her house full of pets. At first Max has a lot to learn, but by April he's learned so much that everyone else is tired and out of patience. Thankfully spring arrives, the flock returns, and life is ordinary again. Until October when there is another knock on the door. Urbanovic's illustrations are bold and colorful and creatively captures the wordless emotions on the animals throughout the story.

5 of 5 stars - Highly Recommended.

14 Cows For America

by Carmen Agra Deedy

While in the United States on scholarship during the 9/11 attacks, Kimeli Naiyomah feels the impact of the devastation on the American people and wishes to do something to help. He returns to his home in Kenya and shares his story with his Maasai tribe. Together they offer fourteen cows as symbol of life and sacred healing. A simple story brought to life by Gonzalez's beautiful and richly colored drawings. The end note gives additional story details which help to answer questions that are sure to arise. Readers may want to learn more about the Maasai people or follow the journey of the fourteen cows on-line at the publishers website. Also available in Spanish.

4 of 5 Stars - Recommended.