If you’ve been reading this blog, you know my daughter loves the American Girl stuff. Dolls, magazine, books, Maegan loves them all. We just discovered these small books from the American Girl collection.

Every story is just as richly detailed and illustrated as the standard American Girl books, they’re just smaller books filled with shorter stories than the bigger books. The artwork and extras are just as good in these short story books.

We’ve checked out these two from our local library:

Kit’s Tree House

By Valerie Tripp, illustrations by Walter Rane, vignettes by Renee Graef and Susan McAliley

In Kit’s Tree House, Kit’s reward for baby-sitting the terrible Pew children is a tree house of her own. Kit’s dream of a tree house seems to have come true at last–or has it? Only Kit can decide. If she tells the truth, Kit risks hurting Dad and her friend Stirling. But is it ever ok to lie?

Molly’s Puppy Tale

By Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes, vignettes by Nick Backes, Susan McAliley, and Keith Skeen

In Molly’s Puppy Tale, Molly tries to care for her new puppy, Bennett, without any help from anyone–especially her big brother, Ricky. But caring for a puppy is a lot of hard work, and Molly soon wonders whether she can do it all by herself.

At the back of each of these wonderful little books is a craft or other activity for your daughter to try. Kit’s Tree House has a jewelry tree craft, and Molly’s Puppy Tale has a recipe for doggie waffle treats. Since Maegan has a dog, she’ll want to make these soon, I’m sure.

By Valerie Tripp, Illustrated by Walter Rane, with vignettes by Susan McAliley

ages 8 and up

Ruthie Smithens, a girl who loves fairy tales and happy endings, doesn’t mind being “goofy Ruthie” if it makes her best friend, Kit Kittredge, smile and forget about the hardships of the Depression.

But when Ruthie finds out that the Kittredges are going to be evicted from their house, she makes up her mind to help. Ruthie has learned the hard way that offers of help, even between friends, are tricky. She knows that to bring about a happy ending, she’ll have to be as smart and brave and determined as she can really, truly be.

Ruthie embarks on a lengthy journey to Kit’s Aunt Millie, who will be willing and able to help Kit’s family keep their house. At first, Ruthie decides to go (in addition to helping her friend’s family of course) so that people will stop looking at her as someone daffy and ditzy and begin to see her as a girl who can live in the here and now and handle herself. However, as Ruthie’s journey continues, she begins to realize that there are more important things.

This book lacks the letters section that we enjoyed so much at the end of Bravo, Mia!, instead there is a sneak peek at the first Kit book, Meet Kit. There is also a list of other Kit Kittredge books. Really Truly Ruthie is a companion to the beautifully illustrated Kit books, which are about growing up in America during the Great Depression. Includes an illustrated “Looking Back” essay.

The American Girl books from different historical periods are some of the best books out there.  Not only do they tell the story of what life was like “way back when”, they also encourage a love of history in my daughter.

American Girl celebrates a girl’s inner star—that little whisper inside that encourages her to stand tall, reach high, and dream big. We take pride and care in helping girls become their very best today, so they’ll grow up to be the women who make a difference tomorrow.

That may all be marketing talk, but it sounds good. My job as a parent is to take that marketing talk and make it reality for my American Girl.

By Laurence Yep

Mia St. Clair is the youngest child in her family and the only girl.

This means that instead of playing hockey like her brothers, she dances on the ice. She is pretty good but not the best in her ice skating class. Mia has been training all year to master the moves she needs to compete at Regionals.

She is eager for and worried about Regionals all at the same time. Is she a good enough skater? Does she have what it takes to survive in the world of competitive figure skating and still be a good sport?

When a family crisis threatens Mia’s chances of going to Regionals, Mia is heartbroken. The problem is her parents do not have a lot of money and when the heater breaks, they only have enough money for either Mia’s regional skating competition or her older brother’s hockey tournament. The family must decide between the two. But she knows that being a good sport means accepting challenges–even losses– with determination and grace.

Throughout the book, Mia demonstrates her strength of character as she handles competition and disappointments. This is a realistic story about a good family with financial struggles. Healthy competition and hard work are emphasized in the book, along with the philosophy that winning is not everything as long as you do your best.

The end of the book contains letters written to American Girl, along with responses to those letters. Each letter talks about a relevant issue (brothers, competition, unique interests, etc.) and gives advice to the girls.

I love that my daughter is more of an American Girl girl than a Barbie girl. Barbie was always about how you look and what you have, not who you are and what you are capable of like the American Girl stuff.

By Kristi Holl with Jennifer Vogtlin

What girl doesn’t like a nice cozy chat with a friend–especially a friend who understands everything about her? In Chick Chat, you’ll learn how to build that heart-to-heart connection with the One who loves you best.

Each devotion brings the Bible right into your world and offers lots to learn and think about–from the values that will be good for a lifetime to the things you can do to survive every day. Chick Chat discusses such topics as loyalty, courage, faith, and peace.

This ninety-day devotional will “totally” help girls connect with God, as well as learn his will for their lives.

Kristi began her writing career in a bedroom closet in order to escape her younger sister. Written at the age of ten, her first novel, Four Sisters, was a thinly disguised remake of a favorite book, Little Women. Kristi’s first “adult” writing room was another closet - this one painted orange for inspiration!

Jennifer Vogtlin is Kristi Holl’s eldest daughter and formerly an educator in special education preschool and pre-kindergarten. She lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband and daughter.

By Judy Cox, Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman

Make way for the boss of tetherball!

Fran knows she’s best at everything, so who cares if nobody wants to play with her? She has her rowdy puppy, who could care less if she cheats or pushes a little. Fran and her puppy, Hercules, have a lot in common. Most importantly, both have a hard time controlling their impetuous behavior.

Then Fran receives the part of Princess Penelope in the school play, and she is thrilled–until her teacher warns her that she will be kicked out if she doesn’t curb her bullying behavior.

Even worse, her parents are at the end of their rope with Hercules. Fran’s pregnant mother tells Fran, “I’ve had it with that dog. Either he gets trained or he’s out of here.”

Will Fran be able to keep Hercules and the leading role?

By Jane Yolen, Illustrated by Victoria Chess

Everyone knows King Long Shanks has strong, long legs of which he is especially proud.

Two visiting tailors, whispering to the king in poetry that “bumped in the wrong places and pretended to mean much more than it did,” offer to make him an outfit.

King Long Shanks, dislikes their poetry but he  is no match for the yarns of the “tall tailor who squats to be shorter” and the “short tailor who stretches to be taller”-thus perfectly positioning themselves to poison his ears with their flattery.

So when the two swindling tailors promise to sew him a suit from a mysterious, expensive, invisible magic cloth that would show off his great legs, the king vainly accepts.

The ensemble is completed, just in time for the Summer Parade. Of course, only those who are “true/and good/and honest/and smart/and loyal” can see this new finery.

When King Long Shanks proudly struts through town in nothing but his bare green skin, his subjects get to see more of their ruler than they bargained for –  until a young tadpole has the courage to speak up.

Join Jane Yolen and Victoria Chess for this uproarious adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic ” The Emperor’s New Clothes,” complete with a cast of amphibians as loveable as can be.

Yolen’s version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is both fresh and entertaining, especially when read aloud. The bright cartoon illustrations in watercolors, colored pencils, and pen and ink feature a large cast of costumed frogs. Their spotted green skins are echoed in the border surrounding each page of text and prominently featured on the book’s cover. Filled with lots of sly expressions, the artwork suits the text perfectly. This delightful variation of a favorite fairy tale will charm audiences. In the words of the tailors, “Toadally majestic” and “Ribeting.”

Witch of North Farm

Retold by Toni de Gerez with pictures by Barbara Cooney

Although at the beginning and at the end of this tale, Louhi looks as harmless as a kitchen witch dangling in the cupboard,  Louhi, Witch of North Farm, is up to mischief again. The grandmotherly Louhi is a shape changer, at home knitting socks, comfortable as an eagle snatching the Earth’s light.

This time she’s stolen the sun and the moon and locked them away behind nine great doors in Copper Mountain. Now darkness is everywhere, nothing but darkness. but Vainamoinen, the Great Knower, the Great Singer, whose singing had caused the moon and the sun to come out, has plans of his own to deal with the troublesome witch.

Vainamoinen goes to see Louhi, but she frightens him away. Vainamoinen asks Seppo, the smith, to make a new sun and moon, but Seppo’s efforts fail. Angrily, the smith forges an iron collar and nine “terrible” iron chains. Louhi, disguised as a hawk, hears of the chains, and hurries to release the sun and the moon.

This tale, taken from the Kalevala, the magnificent Finnish epic which is dear to the heart of every Finn, is retold by Toni de Gerez, and is stunningly illustrated by two-time Caldecott winner Barbara Cooney in paintings that capture the winter light and the snowy landscape of Finland.

The original tale, in which Louhi is not a witch on a farm but a female ruler of Pohjola, a powerful land in the north, appeals more to my inner feminist. This one does show Louhi as a strong female character, I just wish it hadn’t translated into her being a “witch”.

Ages 3 - 8

Octopus

By Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Peanut butter and jelly. George and Martha. Frog and Toad. Cowboy and . .. Octopus?

Yes, that’s right. Meet Cowboy and Octopus the next great pair to become a household name.

Cowboy likes beans’n'bacon and bacon’n'beans.

Octopus eats raw seafood.

Octopus prefers knock-knock jokes, but Cowboy doesn’t get them.

How will these two ever be friends?

The very odd couple, Octopus and Cowboy, meet and find that “Some things work better with a friend.” A seesaw, for example. Shaking hands, however, takes a while, since Octopus has eight. Communication suffers when Cowboy takes Octopus’s instructions too literally. When Cowboy surprises Octopus by making him dinner, unfortunately Octopus does not like Cowboy’s favorite beans and bacon. But being his friend, Octopus tries to enjoy one bean at least. The friends share “scary” Halloween costumes, misunderstandings about knock-knock jokes, and honest opinions about their new hats. The silly fun supports the notion of the strange friendship. Smith continues to try out new media. This nonsense tale is visualized using a variety of collage objects. On the title page a pair of plastic scissors cuts out a “Western Heroes” paper doll; the multi-armed friend has been cut from a comic book. These figures remain constant through the seven episodes, for which titles have been constructed from cut-out letters. Other pictures, papers, and photographs are assembled to provide the contexts. Wispy orange clouds and a big yellow sun are cut from paper for background; a checkerboard tablecloth displays the plates of beans. Half of the endpapers display brands for cattle in brown on tan for the Cowboy; seashells on blue fill the other half for the Octopus.

…Peace

By Karen Katz

Karen Katz once again celebrates diversity in this colorful picture book. International Peace Day is September 21. On this day and every day throughout the year, children all over the world wish for peace. Parents or teachers can have a wonderful time with their preschoolers exploring sameness and difference in the architecture and activities shown in each spread. Meena, who says shanty, and her family in India are shown wearing saris and scarves as they prepare chapatis, while Claire calls out paix from her street in Paris with the Eiffel Tower looming overhead.
Karen Katz takes readers on a bright and colorful journey around the
globe to meet some of these children and learn about the many ways to
say peace! The bright and childlike illustrations are the perfect way to introduce the very young to the concept of peace and teach them how to say the word in twenty-two different languages.

Every Day!

Written and Illustrated by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Minna decides to enter a poster contest for the Community Recycling Calendar. If her poster is picked, it will be printed in the calendar. She is so excited! She wants to come up with a really different idea.

Her family reduces, reuses, and recycles. Each day of the week, she and her family tackle a different recycling project. On Monday, for example, they take old clothes to the clothing bank; Tuesday they rake leaves and weeds for compost; Wednesday they go to the recycling center. Everyday they reuse, reduce, or recycle, but Minna doesn’t decide how to make her poster until the day before the contest.

They give her lots of ideas. She thinks and thinks and thinks. The day of the contest gets closer and closer and closer. Will Minna come up with a really different idea?

Between the seven activities Minna and her family do during the week and the posters her twelve schoolmates display, each with a recycling suggestion of it’s own, there are plenty of ideas children can act upon to be kinder to the Earth.

The book concludes with a recycle game, an activity, and a list of the recycled materials used in the illustrations. The end papers are particularly clever; the calendar pages are blank in the front of the book, and the winning posters are filled in on the back.

The book’s bright, bold cut paper illustrations are enhanced by Wallace’s use of recycled materials such as bubble-wrap, envelopes, and wallpaper. With games, activities, and recycling suggestions, this book is a fine way to introduce a timely topic to young children, it’s  destined to be read again and again.

…Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables

By Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Admit It.

You know you’d just love to tell stories about all of the annoying, weird, pain-in-the-neck people you know. But you wouldn’t want to be a gossip.

Well here’s how it’s done. Make like Aesop (and legions of storytellers before him): change the people to animals and add a moral. Now your stories aren’t rude gossip and bad jokes. They’re fables!

We’re all used to hearing fables — those moral-filled stories about tortoises and hares, and ants and grasshoppers. But fables about skateboarding frogs? Duckbilled platypuses? BeefsnakSticks«? Outrageous, you say? After standing fairy tales on their heads in The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and blowing the lid off The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, the enormously popular and highly acclaimed author-and-illustrator team of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith are back. This time they have created contemporary fables that reflect all the bossiness, sneakiness, boastfulness, and silliness of our everyday lives.

Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith twisted fairy tales in The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Now they’ve unlocked the ancient secret of animal tales, and the world of fables may never be the same.

The moral of the story? If you can’t say something nice about someone, change the guy’s name to Donkey or Squid.

Squids Will Be Squids pretends to be a book of fables, but it is really a sardonic riff on the idea of fables, a punch in the tummy of the notion that a story might have a lesson. . . the trouble is, fables need the crowing pearl of a lesson in the same way that jokes need punch lines. -- Riverbank Review

…of the Big Bad Book?

By Lauren Child

What would happen if you fell into a book of fairy tales?

Would the stories still end “happily ever after”?

Open this book-if you dare-and find out what happened to Herb one strange night.

Herb never imagined the dangers when he decided to scribble on and cut up his book of fairy tales. Drawing mustaches on the character, pasting telephones into the rooms, and cutting out Prince Charming and the royal thrones had seemed like good fun. But then Herb never imagined he’d fall into the book one night. After contending with a petulant Goldilocks, a very angry wicked stepmother, and a disappointed Cinderella, all Herb wants to do is find his way off the page. If only he can escape the book, he can make everything happily ever after again, sort of. With exuberant illustrations and hilarious text, award - winning author and illustrator Lauren Child a wild, irreverent romp through the land of fairy tales. A pleasantly warped, kid-friendly romp through familiar fairy tales for ages 4 - 7.

Here’s a book with a message that librarians can get behind, with fairy tale characters who berate the book owner for defacing the pages of their book.

Lauren Child grew up in Wiltshire, England. Before beginning her career as a writer and illustrator of children’s books, she created ceramics for children, worked as an artist’s assistand, and designed lampshades for her own company. She is the author of THAT PESKY RAT, I WILL NEVER NOT EVER EAT A TOMATO (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), and the Clarice Bean books, among many others. Lauren Child lives in London, England. This is her first Hyperion book.

Holy Guacamole! and other scrumptious snacks

By Nick Fauchald, illustrated by Rick Peterson

Part of the “Kids Dish” cookbook series. Each book in this series of large (9″x11″) hardcover books includes notes to kids and parents from the author which emphasize that kids should always have a grownup in the kitchen when they cook, a page of special tips about things like cracking eggs, measuring wet ingredients, measuring dry ingredients, a glossary, a conversion chart for metric and temperature (not sure why this is in such an elementary cookbook), and a page of kitchen tools illustrated with drawing. Also a full page about the new food pyramid which appears in miniature on every recipe as well. Recipes are grouped into Easy, Intermediate, and Advanced based on the skills needed, time required, number of ingredients, and tools needed. Whenever an action like cutting with a knife or baking in the oven (even the microwave) is mentioned, there is the admonition to have an adult do it. Each full-page recipe includes an ingredients list, a tools list, the number of servings, prep time required, and an illustration of a child eating the finished product. Steps for each recipe are in illustrations panels, making the visual cueing excellent. The index includes recipe names and ingredients. Recipes in this book include “Pineapple Popsicles”, “Pimiento Cheese Dip”, “Quesadilla Bites”, “Quick Energy Trail Mix“, “Citrusy Soda Pop”, “Mini Pepperoni Pizzas”, “Spicy Tortilla Chips”, “Monkey Milkshakes”, “Chili Cheese Popcorn”, “Raisiny Applesauce”, “Yogurt Fruit Kabobs”, “Parmesan Pita Chips”, “Gooey Granola Bars”, and, of course, the titular “Holy Guacamole”.

Secret of the Dance

By Andrea Spalding and Alfred Scow, Illustrations by Darlene Gait

This picture book is based on an incident from Scow’s childhood.

In 1935, when Judge Alfred Scow, Elder of the Kwakwa’ka’wakw Nations, was a child, his family defied the Canadian government to honor their sacred aboriginal traditions. His family is spirited away by boat to a secret location where he witnesses a Potlatch ceremony- outlawed with severe consequences at that time by the Canadian government.

This picture book captures the story of that memorable event in young Watl’kina’s life. The book’s bright red cover show’s a close-up illustration of the eyes of a child, and in those eyes shine the reflection of a brightly burning bonfire.

Despite the Indian Agent’s declaration of the illegality of native ceremonies, the family determines to hold a Potlatch ceremony. The Potlatch, which “lies at the heart of West Coast Aboriginal culture,” celebrates marriages, the naming of children, and mourning the dead, and it involves the performance of specific traditional dances to the music of chanting and drums.

Although young Watl’kina has been left at home to watch after his three sleeping younger siblings during the ceremony, he cannot resist the temptation to venture out when he hears the drums and chanting.  When the dancers spot Watl’kina, they invite hime into the Big House, and with awe and wonder, he watches as Bear (the symbol of his clan), Wolf, Whale, Raven, and even Dzunukwa, the Wild Woman, dance.

Darlene Gait’s illustrations of animals and the landscape are more skillfully rendered than those of humans, but she does capture the conflict within the story well by visually associating black and white with the authorities and the cultural contact zones, and full color with the native people and their ceremony.  The glossary of unfamiliar terms  and the historical note following the story offer young readers enough additional information to give them a deeper appreciation of the story. While American readers have easy access to Native American children’s stories, this Canadian aboriginal story educates U.S. readers about the struggles of the native peoples of our closest neighbors.

Hopefully the flu will pass soon.