I don’t always love the easy readers from the Cybils short list. Some are just too – too – typical. So it is with much surprise that I’m here to report that I just finished four really excellent easy readers.
Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus – it was obvious that I was going to love that, because I’ve loved all of the Anna Hibiscus books. This one might be my favorite because Anna went to Canada and met Canadian kids and the Canadian kids met Anna, who is from Africa. Anna also met a dog – a Canadian dog, which is not like an African dog. I love this series and I loved this book.
I read Just Grace and the Double Surprise and I was probably most surprised by this book. I expected it to be… boring. It wasn’t. Just Grace got a puppy, which made me laugh because her puppy is like my puppy which is like every puppy. And Grace’s best friend got a baby brother, through adoption, which is not at all what she was hoping for. Many lessons were learned but the book wasn’t at all boring and I laughed out loud, several times.
Also surprising was my appreciation of The Trouble with Chickens. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t JJ the retired search and rescue dog, Vince the Funnel or the chicken family and their suspenseful mystery. An easy reader suspense drama – almost pulp fiction like in an easy reader animal story kind of way. Excellent.
And, the book with the best title – Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. I know about bad months and about missing people who had to leave and about getting used to new people. Eleanor Abigail Kane knows this stuff too. Another good story with good characters. And now I’m going to think about sprinkling some pickle juice on a cookie… just to see what that’s like.
(Readathon count after two hours and four easy readers: 521 pages.)
Sounds like you’re doing very well so far in the read-a-thon! As a Canadian, I’m now curious about how Canadian dogs differ from African dogs. 🙂