Thumbs up for Benjamin the True by Claudia Paley. Children’s fantasy.
Benjamin discovers a witch, Ellenwan, in a cellar in his otherwise ordinary town. She teaches him witchcraft. There aren’t many books that really make you believe in magic while you’re reading them. This is one of them.
… >> Read more“I am not leaving you behind because I think you are afraid, or because there is nothing for you to do.
Neither thumbs up nor thumbs down for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg. Children’s.
Hmm. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy reading it, it just seemed a bit pointless at the end. There are better books about magic, about imagination, about friendship, about school in the 1960’s, and there are better books by E. L.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Prince of the Godborn by Geraldine Harris. Children’s fantasy.
By all rights I should have been bored to tears by this, the first volume in a series about a spoiled half-God prince and his warrior half-brother traveling the world in search of seven MacGuffins. It also suffers a slight lack of commas. Yet, somehow, the characters and the world charmed me.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Children’s.
I honestly don’t remember ever having read this before. It’s possible I read it as a kid and didn’t connect with it. As an adult, however, I loved it.
Save… >> Read more
Thumbs down for The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Children’s book.
Someone else already wrote the perfect review of this obnoxious book. Thank you, Goodreads reviewer Sava Hecht for summarizing my own feelings so succinctly.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for A Ride on the Red Mare’s Back by Ursula K. Le Guin. Children’s.
I love Dala horses. Le Guin is reliably great. The watercolors are lovely. Entirely delightful.… >> Read more
Thumbs up for Alfie’s Feet by Shirley Hughes. Children’s.
The plot is nothing to speak of, even for a pictorial kids’ book, but Shirley Hughes has long been one of my favorite illustrators; if she painted Fungi of the World I’d admire it.… >> Read more
Neither thumbs up nor thumbs down for Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Children’s fantasy/horror.
It was…fine. I think I would have liked it more had I been reading it aloud to small children. But then, I would have to get close to small children…so I’ll pass.
… >> Read moreCoraline knew that when grown-ups told you something wouldn’t hurt it almost always did. She shook her head.