Attracting Birds and Butterflies by Barbara Ellis

Attracting Birds and Butterflies by Barbara Ellis-266 pages

Now that I am sequestered at home, I am so glad that I read this.  It is simply written with some great tips.  The pictures are beautiful and helpful.  Now I can't wait until I can purchase some of the plants and shrubs that they recommend.  To all you gardeners out there ready to dig in and get those hands dirty, I highly recommend this book.

13 Words

by Lemony Snicket and Maira Kalman - 36 pages

I thought this was a fun book that introduced new and fun vocabulary words to kids through a nonsensical story.  I would definitely use it in a classroom or one on one reading and encourage interaction through different ways.

The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman

The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman - 229 pages

One night a lightning strike animates a scarecrow.  The next morning a young boy, Jack, become the servant of Lord Scarecrow and they set off to make their fortune.  They have various adventures including facing brigands, acting in a play, leading a battle, and becoming castaways on a deserted island.  All while being chased by the lawyers of the family trying to make certain Lord Scarecrow never claims his inheritance.

I listened to this on audio.  It took a really long time for me to get into the story.  I don't think it was until the fourth and final CD that I really cared what happened to either Jack or the Scarecrow.  What mainly bothered me was how whiny Jack was.  He was always on the brink of starving to death even though he had only missed maybe one or two meals the entire story.

Eep! by Joke van Leeuwen

Eep! by Joke van Leeuwen, 149 pages

I was drawn to this because of the title and the cover art.  Warren is a bird watcher, who finds a stranger bird under a bush one day.  It has wings and likes to eat bugs, but everything else about it is like a little girl.  Warren and his wife Tina name her Beedy (she can't say Birdy) and grow to love her, but when she flies away without saying goodbye, the couple are distraught.  They embark on an adventure to find Beedy in order to properly say goodbye, which involves meeting others that Beedy has met and affected. I liked this- it was not a typical children's book, and I wasn't always sure about the direction it went, but it was not a bad chapter book.