HELLO, THIEF

In Hello Door by Alistair Heim and Alisa Coburn,  Fox burgles the Three Bears' home.  He climbs through the window, saying hello to each inanimate object as he rifles through their house, eats their food, messes up their bed and steals their things.  I'm not advocating thievery here, but if I did, it's because of this very cute and silly B&B.  Finally, Fox gets tossed out the window, to an even bigger house, to commit yet another crime.  Fox didn't learn his lesson I guess. 

For preschoolers through second graders who enjoy a fractured fairy tale and a some great illustrations. Be sure to look at each framed picture at the end pages of the book.

Bye-bye, Reader.

SHOE ENVY

One day, a stranger comes to town and asks the cobbler to make a shoe using the most beautiful blue gems anyone has ever seen. Displayed in the cobbler's window, the shoe brings nothing but trouble for the cobbler, his young apprentice and the people of the village. This fantasy adventure brings together the worlds of human and trolls working along side each other to take down evil and greed to bring about a new world of harmony.
The Blue Shoe: A Tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery and Shoes by Roderick Townley is for readers in grades 4th- 6th.

FOLLOW THAT GOOSE!

All manner of cucumber foods are available at the annual Bloomsberry Cucumber Festival for free! Too bad Margaret isn't in the mood for stewed cucumbers, or cucumber casserole, or cucumber shakes. As Margaret is being forced to eat stewed cucumbers, she and her buddies discover a stolen necklace in the dish. Realizing that their neighbor would be accused of the theft, they follow her goose for clues all over town in order to catch the real thief.

A Recipe 4 Robbery by Marybeth Kelsey is a very pleasant old fashioned kind of mystery with lots of red herrings and narrow escapes. For readers 4th and older.

EEK-TASTIC!

Who is Samuel? Is he a child? Is he a Frenchman? Is he a thief? Citizens of MacOongafoondsen want to know! When a ship washes up near this small town of 21 people, many questions arise, such as why don't the people of MacOongafoondsen know how to swim and why does the bailiff have a dead sparrow on his hat? MONSIEUR EEK by David Ives is a silly yet philosophical story about perception with a clear message woven into this short but sweet tale. For grades 4 and up.

GRK THE DOG, PART 3

GRK AND THE HOT DOG TRAIL by Joshua Doder is the third book about Grk and his British owner, Timothy Malt. Tim and Grk are visiting New York when the Stanislavian Golden Dachsund statue is stolen, and Tim takes it upon himself to solve the mystery. Managing to wheel through New York City with no money, Tim and Grk chase the infamous Dr. Weiner, owner of a big hot dog stand company, and colletor of all things Dachsund. Tim and Grk suffer many close calls along the way, but are helped along by many adults who don't seem a bit concerned about a young boy running around New York with his dog without any supervision! What an exciting life! Great for grades 4-6.

PENGUINS SAVE THE DAY!

In the book Gus & Gertie and the Lucky Charms by Joan Lowery Nixon, Gus and Gertie are off to the winter Olympics to show off their synchronized swimming talent. While they are there, they learn that swimming only happens in summer, and someone is stealing the athletes lucky charms! Gus and Gertie try many things to find out who is stealing the lucky charms, and you'll be surprised who the culprit is in the end. This is a great book for someone who is just starting to read chapter books, but still enjoys fun and colorful pictures to go along with the story. Grades 2-4.