Module 15: My Mom’s Having a Baby by Dori Butler, Illustrated by Carol Thompson

My Mom’s Having a Baby by Dori Butler is a non-fiction look at baby from conception through birth.

Summary

This is an informational book that gives children a look at sexual reproduction and the beginning of life.  With illustrations that show the growth of a baby from conception to birth, the text gives an honest account of the miracle of life. Scientific terminology is mixed in with kid-friendly comparisons such as a comparison of the baby being the size of a little girl’s tooth.

Impressions

This is an accessible way to approach a sensitive topic for parents who would like to discuss this with their children.  I think that many parents will appreciate the candor and discretion that is used.  For those who may want to leave out the parts concerning sexual reproduction, the pages covering that can be easily skipped without affecting the rest of the content or diminishing the value of the material about the development of a baby.  This could be a great asset to parents who are not sure of how to approach this topic, but would like to, or who are already fielding questions from a curious little one.

Professional Reviews

Numerous books are avialable to prepare soon-to-be siblings for the changes that come with the arrival of a new baby in the house. Butler’s goes one better by candidly and thoughtfully responding to the question many such books ignore, “How did that baby get there?” Joyous, splashy watercolors establish the warmth of a close-knit family and introduce narrator Elizabeth, about five, a bundle of energy. Her delight and curiosity spill across the pages as she explains that her mother “has a baby growing inside her” and describes what she learns about the pregnancy and her developing sib. In between, Mom talks to her aobu how “our baby got inside,” allowing Elizabeth to relay what she learns abou everything from fertilization (correct terms are usually used) to “the liquid that shoots out of a man’s penis.” The art is somewhat more demure than the text (lovemaking is hidden under blankets), but labeled cutaways show adults sexual organs and the developing fetus, Mom huffing and puffing during labor, and newborn Michael smiling at the world in all his naked glory. The disconnection between the picture-book format and the informational content may be problematic for some, and certainly an adult must be around to answer the inevitable questions this book will provoke, such as, “Is breaking water like having to pee?” In the end, though, the affectionate family dynamics and Elizabeth’s ingenuous, enthusiasitic narration beautifully sustain the child-centric view.

Zvirin, 2005

Library Uses

Expecting parents could bring their young children for an interactive storytime where we use dolls as a substitute for the new baby and practice how to hold and be gentle with the baby. Parents will interact to answer their child’s questions one on one after the story is read.

References

Butler, D., & Thompson, C. (2005). My mom's having a baby! Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman 
     &  Co.

Zvirin, S. (2005). My mom’s having a baby. Booklist, 101(15), 1358.

Module 14: Ride a Purple Pelican by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Garth Williams

Ride a Purple Pelican by Jack Prelutsky is a wonderful ride through the world of poems and rhyme with an exotic cast of animals to equally unusual destinations.

Summary

A rollicking trip to places as distant as the moon and as close as the back yard, this book takes a flight of fancy to a whole new level. Colorful pictures enhance the imaginative vocabulary and complement the playfulness of the rhyming verse.

Animals and people travel the pages in equal measure from an avocado cat dancing with a boy who has a watermelon hat to a girl who rides a mouse to Cincinnatti.

These fun rhymes and illustrations are sure to put a smile on the faces of young and old alike.

Impressions

These rhymes are a great way to introduce poetry, but also have a wealth of geography and vocabulary which could spark questions and discussion. The vivid and colorful pictures will captivate children and they will definitely run into words they are not familiar with as they wind their way through the book.

Professional Reviews

With this book of new rhymes, readers will discover a modern-day alternative to Mother Goose. Twenty-nine wonderfully rhythmic chants introduce such colorful characters as Hannah Banana, who “Walked on her hands from Montana to Maine,” and Minnie and Moe, who “went to Chicago/ to see the wind blow.” Prelutsky’s rhymes are rich in language, story, humor, and sensory content. But the joy of this book is not just the rhymes - it’s also Williams’ glorious, brightly colored pictures, which bring the words to life. These pictures faithfully show episodes from the poems while extending and enhancing the text.

Mellon, 1986

A new collection of bouncy nonsense rhymes is aurally inviting with rhythm, onomatopoeia, and alliteration. . . . Since his debut as a children's book illustrator in 1948, Garth Williams has produced a distinguished body of work usually associated with subdued color and soft-edged drawing and with animals that—like those of Beatrix Potter—retain their natural appearances. Now, adapting his style to Prelutsky's racy verses, the artist has made forthright full-page pictures chiefly characterized by absurd humor and flamboyant color. Occasionally, when a rhyme assumes a lyrical tone, the illustration takes on a more poetic feeling.

Heins, 1987

Library Uses

Students could have maps to track the places that are mentioned in the poems or there could be a large map and students could put stickers on the places as they are mentioned in the poems.

References

Heins, E. L. (1987). Ride a purple pelican. Horn Book Magazine, 6366.

Mellon, C. A. (1986). Ride a purple pelican. School Library Journal, 3382.

Prelutsky, J., & Williams, G. (1986). Ride a purple pelican. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Module 13: The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan tells the harrowing story of a young boy during the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s in the barren and windswept plains of Kansas.

Summary

Jack is a boy whose family lives on the high plains of Kansas in 1937.  They are poor and their land is destitute. The only thing they have more than enough of is dust and dirt.

Jack is a melancholy character who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. He is loyal to his family and helps when and where he can, but his father is so frustrated that he often ignores him or brushes him off as a pest.  He has no playmates except his siblings and the only boys his age around bully him and taunt him.

His only friend works at the store in town. He tells Jack fantastical tales of a boy named Jack who defeats giants and is very brave. Jack longs to be like the Jack in those stories, but he has no confidence in himself.

He struggles to come to terms with the dry, desperate land and comes face to face with the King of Rain in the barn on a neighboring property.  As he does battles with his own demons and the King of Rain, the real rain comes to his family’s land and quenches the angry dust back to the ground.

Impressions

Phelan uses the graphic sketch style in this novel along with shades of grays, browns, and blues.  These tones add to the bleak feeling that comes from the story. The colors become more intense and varied when Jack is imagining things or in the middle of a story.  Phelan explains that the drawings are based on some actual photographs of the time period along with a documentary that he saw.  He succeeds in telling a tale of history from the point of view of a person who might have been there, rather than as an outside observer looking back.  The text is sparse, but the images are dense with meaning and detail.

Professional Reviews

Ten-year-old Jack and his family suffer the hardships of Dust Bowl America, while a secret in the barn may alter their fortunes forever in this superb graphic-novel evocation of childhood’s yearning and triumphs.  Phelan (illustrator of the Higher Power of Lucky, 2006) turns every panel of this little masterpiece into a spare and melancholy window into another era, capturing an unmistakable sense of time and place—as found in James Sturm’s Satchel Paige (2007)—even as he takes full advantage of the medium’s strengths by using fantasy elements to enrich the deep, genuine emotional content, much as Shaun Tan did in The Arrival (2008). All the more impressive is how he balances fleet pacing (thanks to low word density) with a thoughtful, contemplative homage to storytelling and storytellers, which, in the tradition of the greatest tall tales, presents an empowering message that all a child needs to change the world is courage and ingenuity. Great for a wide range of readers, this will work particularly well as a gentle introduction for those new to graphic novels or as an elegant argument on the format’s behalf against dubious naysayers. A single warning: there is a restrained depiction of a rabbit slaughter, which could upset more sensitive readers.

Karp, 2009

It is 1937 in Kansas, during the Dust Bowl, and 11-year-old Jack can barely remember a world with plentiful water and crops. Unable to help his father with a harvest that isn't there, and bullied by the other boys his age, he feels like a useless baby. Stories offer a refuge, and there are multiple stories in this work, Jack's mother tells about the time when the land was a fertile "paradise." Jack's invalid sister, Dorothy, is reading The Wizard of Oz, gaining inspiration from the adventures of another Kansan of the same name. Jack's friend comforts him with folktales about a brave man named Jack who masters nature, battling the King of the West Wind, the King of Blizzards, and the King of the Northeast Winds. In the end, Phelan turns the Dust Bowl into another one of Ernie's "Jack" tales when the real Jack encounters the Storm King in an abandoned barn and finds out that he has been holding back the rain. The boy must then gather the strength to determine his own narrative, as well as his parched town's future. Children can read this as a work of historical fiction, a piece of folklore, a scary story, a graphic novel, or all four. Written with simple, direct language, it's an almost wordless book: the illustrations' shadowy grays and blurry lines eloquently depict the haze of the dust. A complex but accessible and fascinating book.

Goldstein, 2009

Library Uses

I would use this as a book club book for a group of reluctant readers or as a transition for comic readers to get them into graphic novels.

References

Goldstein, L. (2009). The storm in the barn. School Library Journal, 55(9), 190.

Karp, J. (2009). The storm in the barn. Booklist, 105(12), 68.

Phelan, M. (2009). The storm in the barn. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Module 12: Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell is a biography about the life and work of Dr. Jane Goodall, famed scientist and naturalist.

Summary

McDonnell writes about the early youth of Jane Goodall as she grew up in the country and was an immediate observer and recorder of nature.  Through detailed sketches of graphs, diagrams, and records she may have kept as a girl, he shows how she became more and more interested in animals and plants and the nature all around.

At the end of the story, he beautifully transitions from the drawings of her as a little girl with her companion of a stuffed chimpanzee called Jubilee, to a real photograph of the grown up Dr. Goodall with a real live chimp, which emphasizes to young readers that this is a nonfiction story.

The last pages of the book include an epilogue about her life and work and a letter from Jane Goodall urging children to become involved in helping in their communities.

Impressions

I loved the beautiful drawings and pictures in this book. They are reminiscent of A.A. Milne in their shapes and colors.  However, the animals are not overly humanized.  This is an inspirational story about a girl who followed her passion. It can teach children the importance of being a careful observer and about seeing patterns in the world around them.  The connection to Tarzan that Goodall made was an interesting bit of information and the obvious inspiration for the title.

Professional Reviews

Little Jane Goodall and Jubilee (her toy chimpanzee) ramble outside their English country home observing everyday animal miracles and dreaming of a life in Africa, "living with, / and helping, / all animals." Readers familiar with the groundbreaking primatologist will love seeing her as a conventional, buttoned-up child, wearing a plaid skirt, classic bob and hair clip as she squats in a coop to watch a chicken drop an egg. McDonnell's simple ink-and-watercolor illustrations appear as sunny, amorphous panels in ample white space. Purposeful black lines provide specificity with small suggestive strokes--a tiny apostrophic smile relays Jane's complete contentment sprawled in grass. Opposite pages offer groupings of faint, intricate stamps that correspond with young Jane's early outdoor experiences and engage readers with their fine details. The playful interplay among stamps, cartoonish drawings and real photographs of Jane reminds readers of a child's hodgepodge journal--one like Jane's, which appears as a double-page spread showing her animal studies, charts, games and doodles. Children will appreciate McDonnell's original format and take heart that interests logged in their own diaries might turn into lifelong passions. Backmatter includes a pithy biography, additional photographs and a letter and drawing from Jane herself--children will thrill at the connection.

Kirkus, 2011

In this tender homage to the famous primatologist, McDonnell gives readers a peek into Jane Goodall's formative years. Even as a young child she had an abiding love of the natural world and took every opportunity to study and enjoy the plants and animals around her. "It was a magical world full of joy and wonder, and Jane felt very much a part of it." Her constant companion, whether climbing her favorite tree or exploring her grandmother's chicken coop, was her stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee. Her fascination with Africa was presaged by the drawings and puzzles she made as a child for her club, the "Alligator Society," as well as her fondness for Tarzan of the Apes. Her dream of going there to live with the animals and write about them took hold when she was 10 and the fact that she has devoted her life to that mission is a testament to her dedication and an inspiration for young dreamers everywhere. The artist's engaging, almost naive cartoons, done in India ink and watercolor, set the perfect tone. As the girl reads and learns more about Africa, the drawings become more fanciful with a giraffe and elephant appearing in the English countryside, and Jane and Jubilee swinging on vines through the trees. These charming images are complemented throughout with 19[supth] and early-20[supth]-century engravings and photos of Goodall with her beloved chimps. The package is an appealing and satisfying introduction to a well-known scientist and activist. Concluding notes give more information about her and her life's work.

Toth, 2011

Library Uses

I would use this as an introduction to STEM programming for younger students. Using the observations and diagrams in the book as an example, ask students to record their observations of a plant, tree, or animal around their own home.

References

McDonnell, P. (2011). Me...Jane. New York, NY: Little, Brown.

Me…Jane. (2011). Kirkus Reviews, 79(5), 418.

Toth, L. (2011). Me ... ]ane. School Library Journal, 57(4), 148.

Module 11: Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins, illustrated by James Priomos

Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins is an autobiography about a year in Collins’ life when she was young and her father was deployed to fight in Vietnam.

Summary

This is a touching story that is told simply as though the author is still that little girl. She tells of what life was like, in all of its normal routines, before her father went to fight in Vietnam for a year.

 

Suzy is the narrator, and she tells about things that her father does on a regular basis throughout the year long deployment. She marks time by using holidays to track the months, but since she is only 6 years old, she often asks “How long is a year?”

She tries to think of the jungle of Vietnam in terms of the only jungle she knows, from her favorite television show. However, when she inadvertently sees a live news broadcast from the war zone, she realizes that there is a big difference between the jungle she is thinking of and the one her father is fighting in.  Her father sends postcards occasionally and makes every attempt to remain connected to his family, but it takes its toll through the year.

When he returns, Suzy notices that he has changed while he was away, but some things will always stay the same.

Impressions

This is a very personal and candid look at a frightening time in the life of a child.  Collins has done  a wonderful job of not exaggerating her own young behavior, but also shows that there were a lot of unknowns at the time.  She makes sure to use the holidays as a calendar for the reader and they also serve to show that those days are times when military families feel the absence the most.  The vulnerability of her character is really beautiful and very believable as what a child would think, feel, and do.  This was a fresh approach to looking at the Vietnam war and how it affected people of all ages.

Professional Reviews

Collins tells a story based on her own childhood, the year her father was deployed in Vietnam and she began first grade. The narrator’s limited point of view is what allows a complex story to work as a picture book for young children: “My dad has to go to something called a war...He will be gone a year. How long is a year? I don’t know what anybody’s talking about.” Suzy does know that her dad is in the jungle, so she fills in that gap with happy images from her favorite cartoon. As the year goes on, her sheltered understanding is eroded by grown-ups who act worried when she tells them where her father is, by some confusing messages on the postcards her dad sends, by a sudden absence of those postcards, and finally by frightening images she sees on TV (“Explosions. Helicopters. Guns. Soldiers lie on the ground. Some of them aren’t moving”). Throughout the book, scenes of Suzy’s everyday life (getting a new lunchbox, tracing her hand to make Thanksgiving turkeys, playing with her cat) alternate with wordless spreads from Suzy’s imagination, as her benign picture of the Vietnam jungle begins to morph into something much more dark, dangerous, and realistic. At the end of the book, Suzy’s dad has returned home “different”—tired, thin, and prone to staring into space—and Suzy has changed, too, able to talk with her dad about that year and to live with the changes it has wrought. An understated, extremely effective home-front story.

Parravano, 2014

Collins mines her own experience to tell a tender personal story of war seen through a child’s eyes. First-grader Suzy’s father is deployed to Vietnam. At first, though she misses him, she dreams of the exotic jungle. But as the year goes on, marked by Christmas trees and candy hearts, things get harder. His postcards arrive less and less frequently, while news of the war, and its real dangers, comes more and more often. In the end, Suzy’s father returns, and while some things are differnet, some things are the same. Collins’ unflinching first-person accountdetails the fears and disappointments of the situation as a child would experience them. An where more realistic illustrations would feel overwrought and sentimental, Proimos’ flat, cartoony drawings, with their heaby lines and blocky shapes, are sturdy and sweet, reflecting a child’s clear eyed innocence. While small personal details and specific references to Vietnam fix the story in one child’s individual experience, it is these very particularities that establish the kind of indelible and heartfelt resonance that is universally understood. Indeed, children missing perents in all kinds of circumstances will find comfort here.

Barthelmess, 2013

Library Uses

This would be great book to share for a family/community event to make care packages or holiday cards for veterans serving overseas.

References

Barthelmess, T. (2013). Year of the Jungle. Booklist, 110(1), 105.

Collins, S., & Proimos, J. (2013). Year of the jungle. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Parravano, M. V. (2014). Year of the Jungle. Horn Book Magazine, 90(1), 69-70.

Module 10: Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine tells the true story of Henry, a slave who has a brilliant idea to mail himself to a free state in a wooden crate.

Summary

Henry is a slave who is owned by a master who is good to him, but things change when the master dies and gives Henry to his son.  The son works Henry hard in a tobacco factory.  Despite the difficult days, Henry meets a slave girl from another plantation and they are allowed to get married. They even are allowed to live together and have children.

However, one day while Henry is at work, another slave comes to tell him that his wife and children have been sold to another owner.  Henry is heartbroken that his family has been taken from him.  His life is meaningless without them and he can only think of how to escape to freedom.

One day he devises a plan to get into a wooden shipping crate and mail himself to a free state.  His friends help him hide in the box and address the box to a man who can help him in Philadelphia.  Although the journey is very rough, Henry arrives in Pennsylvania and is able to live the rest of his life as a free man.

Impressions

The incredible illustrations convey this true story with depth and character.  The colors are vivid and many of them have a crackled crosshatch texture that makes them look worn.  The story is full of drama and suspense and is told with honesty that will make most children ask questions about why this was happening and for a confirmation that this is a true story.  The feelings of despair, loneliness, hope, joy, and the closeness of family come through in the way that Levine describes the characters as well as through the illustrations.  The description and pictures from the 27 hour long trip are especially real.

Professional Reviews

In a true story that is both heartbreaking and joyful, Levine recoutns the history of Henry “Box” Brown, born into slavery. Henry works in a tobacco factory, marries another slave, and fathers three children; but then his family is sold, and Henry persuades his friend James and a sympathetic white man to mail him in a wooden box to Philadelphia and freedom. Levine maintains a dignified measured tone, telling her powerful story through direct, simple language. A note at the end explains the historical basis for the fictionalized story. Accompanying Levine’s fine controlled telling are pencil, watercolor, and oil pain illustrations by Kadir Nelson that resonate with beauty and sorrow. When Henry’s mother hold him as a child on her lap, they gaze out at bright autumn leaves, and the tenderness is palpable, even as she calls to his attention the leaves that “are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families.” There is no sugarcoating here, and Henry is not miraculously reunited with his wife and children; however, the conclusion, as Henry celebrated his new freedom, is moving and satisfying.

Lempke, 2007

Inspired by an actual 1830s lithograph, this beautifully crafted picture book briefly relates the story of Henry "Box" Brown's daring escape from slavery. Torn from his mother as a child, and then forcibly separated from his wife and children as an adult, a heartsick and desperate Brown conspired with abolitionists and successfully traveled north to Philadelphia in a packing crate. His journey took just over one full day, during which he was often sideways or upside down in a wooden crate large enough to hold him, but small enough not to betray its contents. The story ends with a reimagining of the lithograph that inspired it, in which Henry Brown emerges from his unhappy confinement -- in every sense of the word -- and smiles upon his arrival in a comfortable Pennsylvania parlor. Particularly considering the broad scope of Levine's otherwise well-written story, some of the ancillary "facts" related in her text are unnecessarily dubious; reports vary, for instance, as to whether the man who sealed Henry into the crate was a doctor or a cobbler. And, while the text places Henry's arrival on March 30, other sources claim March 24 or 25. Nelson's illustrations, always powerful and nuanced, depict the evolution of a self-possessed child into a determined and fearless young man. While some of the specifics are unfortunately questionable, this book solidly conveys the generalities of Henry Brown's story.

Threadgill, 2007

Library Uses

This would be a great storytime selection for any grade level for African American history month.  It would be a good demonstration to have a box or crate for students to sit in to get an idea of how cramped it would have been.

References

Lempke, S. D. (2007). Henry's freedom box. Horn Book Magazine, 83(2), 186-187.

Levine, E., & Nelson, K. (2007). Henry's freedom box. New York: Scholastic Press.

Threadgill, C. (2007). Henry's freedom box. School Library Journal, 53(5), 176.

Module 9: Cam Jansen and The Mystery of Flight 54 by David A. Adler

Cam Jansen and The Mystery of Flight 54 by David A. Adler is a fun exercise in being a detective for Cam and Eric as they help figure out what happened to a suitcase and a missing girl.

                                                          Summary

The Jansen family goes to the airport to pick up Aunt Molly, but when they discover that Aunt Molly has picked up the wrong suitcase at baggage claim, they set out to find her bag.  As they try to figure out what happened to her luggage, they meet a couple who are also looking for their niece.  When they find out that she was on the same flight as Aunt Molly, they work to help the couple find her.

After a series of failed attempts at locating the girl and the bag, Cam begins to use her powers of photographic memory to solve the problems.  She remembers seeing a man who looked similar to the girl’s uncle and thinks that the girl may have followed him.  As it turns out, she was right, and they follow the girl to the city where she has taken the bus.  Aunt Molly’s suitcase is found inside one of her other suitcases because it was empty.

Impressions

Cam and her friend Eric are a great team of sleuths as they think their way through what happened to the missing girl.  Their plausible solutions take the reader through their thought processes and the reader is able to “guess and check” their ideas right along with them.  Cam’s mental pictures do come in handy and are a good way for students to begin tracking data and solving puzzles as they remember what works and what does not work.  This book is an easy read for a developing reader with large text and detailed drawings.  Kids should enjoy predicting what comes next.

Professional Reviews

“Suspense and humor will keep readers involved until they reach the happy ending.”

Booklist, 1989 (From back of novel)

Library Uses

This would be a great lead up to a scavenger hunt in the library. Students would use picture clues to find certain titles in the library.

References

Adler, D. (1989). Cam Jansen and the mystery of flight 54. New York, NY: Viking Kestrel.

Module 8: Smells Like Dog by Suzanne Selfors

Module 8: Smells Like Dog by Suzanne Selfors

Smells Like Dog by Suzanne Selfors is the intriguing mystery about a boy who is on a search for a mysterious treasure after the untimely death of his explorer uncle.

                                                                   Summary

Homer pudding is a shy and awkward boy who finds himself in an unlikely situation when he sets off to find a mysterious treasure .  Following the death of his beloved Uncle, Drake Homer is given his shoes and his basset hound.

The tag Homer finds on the dog’s neck leads him on a wild adventure to The City where he meets a variety of unsavory characters and makes a few new friends.  He is seeking the meaning of the letters on the dog’s tag: L.O.S.T.  This treasure hunting is at times dangerous and always exciting as it reveals to him a lot of information about his uncle and about himself.

The dog is a great sidekick as he explores and tries to figure things out and helps him find information and clues more than once.  It takes most of the book for Homer to discover all of the ways he has been getting help from the dog and to figure out just why Uncle Drake called Dog his "most prized possession".

Impressions

This was a really fun read even though I thought it started out a little slow.  Once the mysteries start piling up like what’s up with the dog, what is the meaning of the letters on the tag, what are the details surrounding Uncle Drake’s death by tortoise, and why are the clouds watching him, then the plot gets really interesting.  This book will be challenging for younger readers because it is quite long and there are a whole host of characters and settings to keep track of throughout the story.  This book left me wanting more, so I was very glad to discover that there are sequels featuring Homer and some of the other characters from this story.

Professional Reviews

Homer Pudding is a luckless 12-year old who dreams of hunting treasure like the uncle he idolizes. When his uncle is eaten by a killer tortoise, Homer gets swept into the middle of a treacherous race to locate a pirate's treasure. A whimsical narration and sometimes comical dialogue add a light touch-but perhaps not quite light enough, as the boy's initial cheerlessness makes him hard to warm up to. The pace picks up when he arrives in The City, however, and gets himself out of danger more than once by using his wits. He is aided by Dog, a peculiar basset who turns out to have surprising sleuthing skills of his own, though readers will figure this out long before Homer does. The main villain is appropriately over-the-top: she's a ruthless museum director who seeks the treasure for personal gain, rather than sharing with the world. Occasionally silly plot contrivances make Homer's journey less than gripping, but they match the consistent mix of silliness and action. The boy's growth from hapless loser to skilled treasure hunter is fairly convincing; Homer uses his uncle's advice and the story of the Odyssey for inspiration and steadily gains confidence. The supporting cast is quirky and mildly amusing, if not especially memorable. The perky homeless girl who aids, and then betrays, Homer is more intriguing, though; the conclusion sets her up as a potential rival or possible friend in future installments.

Engelfried, 2010

Selfors offers up an adventure tale that features a humorous, high-stakes mystery and a lovable hero. Twelve-year-old Homer Pudding lives on a goat farm but dreams of growing up to be a great treasure hunter like his uncle, Drake Pudding. Drake spent most of his career searching for the greatest mass of loot collected by another great treasure hunter, the late Rumpold Smeller. When Drake dies under mysterious circumstances, he bequeaths a sad-eyed basset hound named Dog to Homer. Attached to Dog’s collar is a coin etched with the letters L.O.S.T. As Homer races to decipher the meaning of L.O.S.T., find Smeller’s treasure and locate the whereabouts of Drake’s vast library, he discovers a valuable secret about Dog. Along the way, Homer encounters the devious Madame la Directeur, the pink-haired homeless girl Lorelei, Ajitabh, the inventor of the cloudcopter, and other equally memorable characters who help or hinder his quest. Peppered with funny dialogue, this joyous romp is a page-turning adventure that will appeal to enthusiastic and reluctant readers alike.

Kirkus, 2010

Library Uses

This could be used in the library as part of a book and/or drawing club for boys.

References

Engelfried, S. (2010). Smells Like Dog. School Library Journal, 56(5), 122.

Selfors, S. (2010). Smells like dog. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Co.

Smells like dog. (2010). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-

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