Twelve year old Micah discovers the old dilapidated Victorian house her grandfather (Poppop) makes her promise she will never go near has been repaired and has people living in it. Micah knows this because she has just met Theo, the boy who lives there, outside in his yard. That is one promise she has broken to her dear Poppop.

Micah’s curiosity about Finch House grows the more Poppop refuses to talk about the house. Finch House has drawn many children into itself over the decades, so many that these missing children no longer make the news. Poppop’s sister Jenn was one of them. Little by little Micah is drawn into Finch House, literally. That is another promise Micah has broken to her Poppop. Curiosity has trumped Micah’s rational behavior. Will Micah be able to escape the hold her great aunt Jenn has on her and escape Finch House? Or will Micah be trapped inside Finch House forever?

This book draws the reader into itself much like Finch House does to the children (now ghosts) that live within it.

Submitted by Mary Pong

When the light go out “after the clap of thunder” Max asks his father ‘ “Dad, have you ever been afraid?” ‘

So begins this conversation starter book on a story about fear. Fear can be about the: unknown, shadows, words or blows, lonely or alone, real monsters, freedom, falling short, free-falling, fading away, and/or the armor will crack open.

Older children will see or may need help seeing the symbolism both in the words and in the illustrations. Fear is pictured as a black hole in the sky on the front end cover and as a black oval shape that can carried around through the story pages.

The adult sharing this book may want to read the last two pages first – SHINING A LIGHT ON FEAR. They include: the original fear, the types of fear, the lessons behind our fears, the masks of fear, and the appeal of fear. Plus, two activities.

Submitted by Mary Pong

Shy Barry the bear seeks some privacy when he does his ‘ “First job of the day.” ‘ Barry treks through the woods avoiding the woodpeckers, skunks, and moose until finally his old friend Brenda Bigpaw tells him of a place up stream. Lucky for Barry, he finds the cabin before the burly woodsman returns there to do his business on the “POO THRONE”.

Cute, humorous illustrations with a nice rhyme scheme.

Submitted by Mary Pong

Smelly Nat the Cat is afraid of taking a bath until Pat the Rat jumps into the tub with gusto.

Facial expressions, especially the eyes, make the art work well the the text.

Most pages have one sentence, but occasionally there are two.

More than half of the words are one syllable.

Submitted by Mary Pong

Crocodile Monitor vs. Southern Cassowary is part of the Animal Battles series. In this series, two animals face off against each other. Each book starts off with a description of the two competitors, their attack moves, their secret weapons and then finally the battle. The narrative text at the end describes the fight scene and will certainly catch the reader’s attention. The book has 4-5 sentences per page for each animal and color photographs.

Text features such as bold words, text boxes, maps, a table of contents, glossary and an index are incorporated to aid the readers. Profiles of animal statistics include the height and weight as well as the physical advantages of each animal and habitat.

In Crocodile Monitor vs. Southern Cassowary, a large crocodile monitor stalks a southern cassowary. Each animal’s unique characteristics could lead to it winning this face-off. Which animal will come out on top?