Children's Books for Parents and Teachers - book reviews and suggestions for parents and teachers.
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The Truly Terribly Horrible Sweater. That Grandma Knit
By: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Cameron loves his grandmother. She knows just what makes him tick. That’s why he can’t figure out why Grandma would send him a sweater—a truly terribly horrible sweater—for his birthday.Cameron pours mustard on his sweater. He puts it on his dog (in the rain). He even tries to send it to the thrift shop. But nothing works.Now Grandma is coming for the holidays, and Cameron has to wear her gift to him. But what’s he going to say when she asks what he thinks about the sweater she made?With a …

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If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late
By: Pseudonymous Bosch
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pseudonymous Bosch is back with another smart and original book that is hard to put down! When last we left our heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest, they were about to join a secret society and join the fight to stop their evil archenemies. While waiting for a sign from the society, the kids stumble upon a fast-paced adventure, filled with more codes to crack and mysteries to solve. An adventure that could lead them right to the secret everyone’s been searching for. What is this secret, you ask? You’ll have to …

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The Unnameables
By: Ellen Booraem
Publisher: Harcourt

Medford lives on a neat, orderly island called—simply—Island. Islanders like names that say exactly what a thing (or a person) is or does. Nothing less. Islanders like things (and people) to do what their names say they will. Nothing more. In fact, everything on Island is named for its purpose, even the people who inhabit it. But Medford Runyuin is different. A foundling, he has a meaningless last name that is just one of many reminders that he’s an outsider. And, to make matters worse, Medford’s been keeping …

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Gully’s Travels
By: Tor Seidler
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.

Gulliver, an affable but snobbish Lhasa apso, lives at a fashionable Manhattan address, enjoys opera and looks forward to yearly trips to Paris where he reconnects with Chloe, a Maltese with “eyes as black as raisins,” while “his” professor enjoys a nightly tête-à-tête with the beautiful Madeline de Crecy, who is allergic to long-haired dogs. When Madeline accepts the professor’s marriage proposal, Gulliver is dispatched to live at the doorman’s “tasteless, overcrowded,” no-frills apartment in Queens, with kids who treat “Gully” like an indestructible plaything. Gulliver, believing he’s been kidnapped, …

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Mad Dog (Starlight Animal Rescue Series #2)
By: Dandi Daley Mackall
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Meet 16-year-old Dakota Brown. She used to love all things “horse” until she lost everything, including hope. The minute she sets foot on her foster parents’ farm—Starlight Animal Rescue—she plans her escape. But can an “impossible” horse named Blackfire and this quirky collection of animal lovers be the home she’s always dreamed of?

Starlight Animal Rescue: Where problem horses are trained and loved, where abandoned dogs become heroes, where stray cats become loyal companions. And where people with nowhere to fit in find a place to belong.

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Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin
By: Tad Hills
Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Duck and Goose, where is your pumpkin? Is it in the log? Is it under the leaves? Is it in the apple tree? Preschoolers will surely enjoy going on a pumpkin hunt with Duck and Goose … especially when they find the perfect pumpkin at the end!

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Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation
By: Linas Alsenas
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.

It’s Christmastime…and Mrs. Claus wants some sun and surf! Mrs. Claus has never had a vacation. The endles snow at the North Pole is getting her down, and she doesn’t see why her husband should have all the fun. So she hitches up the reindeer and takes a world tour. While Santa tries his hand at baking gingerbread cookes and decorates the tree alone, Mrs. Claus hits the beach, eats sushi for the first time, and visits the Taj Mahal. Will she make it home in time for Christmas?

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Barack Obama
By: Stephen Feinstein
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated

Barack Obama had a childhood full of adventure. He grew up to be a senator and run for U.S. president. This inspiring biography tells the exciting life story of this African-American hero.

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If I Were President
By: Catherine Stier
Publisher: Albert Whitman, 1999

Six fictional children talk about what they would do if they were president of the United States. “If I were president,” says one child, “the people would be my boss.” With simple text in a picture book format, Stier touches on the duties, responsibilities, and traditions of the office of the president.

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Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes
By: Peggy Gifford
Publisher: Random House Childrens Books

IT ISN’T AS though Moxy isn’t grateful for her Christmas presents. She is. She’s just not thrilled that she has to write a thank-you note for each one by tomorrow . . . or she will not be allowed to fly to Hollywood to attend a starstudded Hollywood bash with the father she hasn’t seen in three years. And writing thank-you notes is not something that a world-class Creative Type relishes doing. But it is more than writing thank-you notes that finally prevents Moxy from taking her trip. When her …

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