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Jimmy is fat, and he's an excellent cook, but he plans on keeping that a secret. Until the coach finds out his secret. And then starts him swimming. And Jimmy finds out he loves to swim.

Girl finds out she's part of an alien family that has been living on Earth and now they need to move back to their homeworld.

Mickey and Margalo are both new students in the 5th grade, and somehow, nobody's quite sure how, because they look like complete opposites, but somehow, they become the best of friends and battle their way through the fifth grade.

It's 6th grade now and Mickey and Margalo are back from summer break raring to go. Now, however, there's a new girl in class and there's something about her that Mickey doesn't like....

Book 3 in the bad girls series, this time the girls are entering 7th grade, and it's a new school. Middle school is different, everyone just wants to fit in and be cool with all the older kids, but Mickey is still Mickey so their popularity plummets.

It's hard to rate this book. It's a multi-author work that makes a case for infant baptism. I am a Baptist (not by birth or upbringing, but by choice, because I see this as the biblical position), and they didn't convince me my position was wrong. So, on a level of convincing, it was one star. But the authors did their best and made some points, so I would give it four stars in that regard. If you want to know what paedobaptists think, this is probably a good book. I wish the publisher had made the margins wider so that I had more room to write my comments. I felt like the authors of this book failed to do serious exegesis. Often times, the exegesis was poor. And their arguments were not always consistent. Case in point: two adjacent chapters addressed the new covenant passage of Jeremiah 31:31-34. The first chapter said that the only thing new about the new covenant is that the ceremonial law of the Old Testament has been fulfilled by Jesus; therefore, there are no special priests in the new covenant who have a special knowledge of God. The next chapter had a different take. It acknowledged that the new covenant means that its members will have the law of God written on their minds and hearts (by the Spirit), they will know God savingly, and they will be forgiven of sin. Fine. But then the author applied the "already but not yet" card, saying that the new covenant has been inaugurated but not fulfilled or consummated. When it is fulfilled in the new creation, then, of course, all the members will know God and be forgiven. It's easy to see that both interpretations of this passage can't be correct. Often, these arguments come across as desperate attempts to justify a tradition, and the authors not infrequently invoke inconsistent arguments and special pleading. The one positive take away is really a question: how do Christians regard their children? Even if they are not members of the covenant, as paedobaptists assert, how do they fit in? How should we teach them and make disciples of them? These are important questions to answer.

Very cute premise and plot. The busy king takes only just enough time to blow his son a kiss. In his rush, the kiss misses and flies out the window. A brave knight is sent to retrieve the kiss. Before he can, it lands on wolves, bears, and owls to tame them, and even calms a dragon before the knight can return the kiss to the royal family. This escapade changes the king into a father willing to slow down and enjoy his family. Sweet message, fun adventure to get there.

One of the more enjoyable Leo Lionni stories. A real mouse makes friends with a toy mouse, and in a Velveteen Rabbit flavored plot, unselfishly makes a magical wish for his friend instead of himself.

This beautifully illustrated picture book portrays what a childhood summer should be like. The connection with nature and appreciation for it really touched me, probably because it was done in such a natural way, without any sort of socio-environmental or ecological agenda. A group of children determine that a sunken area they frequent must really be a pond. There is a natural spring that should feed it, but any dams and barriers that had been there previously are gone. They spend their summer recreating the pond, and enjoying the pleasures that come with it - wading, boating, watching insects, birds, and animals appear. If only all children had an open area where they could also spend hours in imaginative and wholesome outdoors, instead of in front of a screen, indoors, or even in structured pursuits. This captures a time that seems to be lost to most, when without any demands on their time, children were free to simply explore and create.

I wish I had known about this book when my oldest son wanted a harmonica for his birthday. It would have been the perfect go-along gift. Such a sweet story about a boy who, though not musically inclined, wants to make music. He can't carry a tune, and can't even pucker his lips to whistle. So he buys a harmonica and practices during every spare moment. The day comes when that practice comes in handy and he saves the day with his harmonica tunes. Worthwhile themes such as community, giving and gratitude, perseverance, and following an interest are enhanced and brought to life by McCloskey's recognizable illustrations. We have several McCloskey books but I'm going to have to add this one to the shelf.

Lizzie: The kids in this book are good kids who care about other people and are nice to everyone. I feel like all ages could read this and enjoy it because it's cool what the kids do and how they help their father. They don't know what really happened to him for a long time.

Lizzie: I liked the book a lot because it had a lot of adventure. It's a little scary. There are often cliffhangers when you get done with a chapter. It has kind of a weird ending, though.

This is a great all-ages picture book. The paintings are fantastic! There are few pages where the entire spread is text free and you can just sit and absorb all of the details in the art. The poem is simple enough for little ones to enjoy (though long, my 4-year-olds enjoyed it in one sitting and have asked for it again), but detailed and beautiful in its imagery. After checking this out of the library, it is one that I will be looking to purchase for the bookshelf at home.

I adore these Little House Picture Books. We've read a couple of the ones about the Ingalls family, but this one is about Almanzo and his family's day at the county fair. Just like the others, it has beautiful illustrations. It will be fun, I think, when my little ones get older and start reading the Little House chapter books, for them to recognize some of the stories from these pictures books. I love how they capture such an innocent and family-focused time.

My admiration for Patricia Polacco grows with each book of hers we read. This one, detailing a full day of a family reunion is lovely. She really captures the sense of family ties and traditions, and the feeling of being part of something that was started long before a person exists and will continue to go on for generations to come. Hopefully, other readers will also come away from this book with a greater appreciation for their own heritage.

I'm a sucker for a book that has some sort of gold or silver award medallion on the cover. This one is a Caldecott Honor recipient. I have learned, however, that I'm not always on the same page as the award committees. Silly, nonsensical books can be fun, and I try not to let my own tastes dictate what I read to my children. I've suffered through plenty of repeated readings of stories that have a nails-on-a-chalkboard effect on me. But even my littles didn't like this one, and they are very into "silly" these days. They sat there in a confused silence during the reading. While very detailed, the illustrations weren't engaging to my children nor to me. The whole thing feels like it wanted to come across as fanciful and imaginative. Instead, it just came across (to us, anyway), as...well, weird. It is a rare thing to read a library book only once before returning it, but there were zero requests for this one again while it was in our possession.

Lizzie: It's not one of the best because it has robbery in it. Someone is stealing antiques and selling them for money.

This is one that I want to remember for use in our co-op preschool when we talk about colors. It's a very cute book that teaches, in a fun way, the basics of color and how three primary colors can mix to create a greater variety. I also appreciated the lesson on optimism and making the best of things. The name of the book comes from the sound that happens when one of his brand new crayons breaks. Though at first he is sad, he soon realizes the opportunity it gives him to draw two lines together. The same thing happens when other things happen to damage his crayons and he finds alternative uses for them - rubbings, for example.