Blizzard: A Tale of Snow-Blind Survival

Blizzard: A Tale of Snow-Blind Survival
by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
illustrated by Kirbi Fagan

When the power goes out during an ice-fishing trip, Jeff and his friend Keith discover they are stuck in a blizzard!   Forced to leave the freezing shack to search for someplace warm, the two boys soon get lost in the windy storm.  How will they survive in the dangerous blizzard?

This fiction survival story is one in a series by author Thomas Kingsley Troupe.  Other books in the series include Volcano, Tornado, and Lost.   Fans of the I Survived series may want to give this series a try - while it does not have the historical theme of the I Survived stories, it does have characters who are trying to survive a realistic, yet potentially disastrous, situation.  At the end of the book, the author shares several survival tips for blizzards.  

Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse

by Torben Kuhlmann

How does a mouse get to America? An inquisitive, book-loving mouse emerges one day to discover all the mice have disappeared and he is surrounded by strange, new contraptions.   Suspecting the mice have gone to America, he decides to follow but runs into obstacles along the way.   After seeing bats for the first time, the mouse decides to fly to America.  The determined mouse makes many attempts in building a flying machine, modifying his design often.   When one of his attempts to fly is witnessed, he soon becomes to target of some hungry enemies!   Will the mouse ever make it safely across the ocean to America?

This is a beautiful book!  It's a wonderful story of how a determined mouse never gave up, instead he kept going back to improve his design until it finally worked.   The illustrations in this book are beautiful, with outstanding detail.  Torben Kuhlmann also wrote a companion book, Armstrong, which I plan to read soon!

Book trailer:

Guess Who, Haiku

Guess Who, Haiku
by Deanna Caswell
illustrated by Bob Shea
Can you guess who from the haiku?  Deanna Caswell has created fun, animal-themed riddles told in haiku!  Each haiku riddle is answered with a turn of the page, where the reader sees a sweet, bright illustration of the animal that the haiku on the previous page was about.  

This fun, engaging book is a great way to introduce haiku to growing readers.  I'm looking forward to sharing this new book with my kindergartners and first graders when we celebrate National Poetry Month in April!


Illustrator's website: http://bobshea.com/

Raymie Nightingale

Raymie Nightingale
by Kate DiCamillo

Raymie Clarke wants to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest.   Why?  Because she thinks that's the only way her father will return to her and her mother.   To help her win, she takes baton lessons from the moody, eccentric Ida Nee, where she meets Beverly and Louisiana.   Beverly and Louisiana are also planning to enter the same contest as Raymie, but for very different reasons.   Despite their differences and initial conflicts, the three girls find themselves being pulled into an unlikely friendship as they come together to help each other through their struggles.

This was one of those books that I did not put down until I was done reading!  I found it to be a wonderful story about friendship, family, and overcoming struggles.  Although it is set in 1975, this story deals with many issues that readers today can relate to.   It's a great book that I highly recommend!

Author's website: http://www.katedicamillo.com/books/raymie.html

Book trailer: