Title:  Randy's Dandy Lions

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Circus / Animals / Training / Children's

Year Published: 1964

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (A Scene of Bullying)

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another classic book from the creative mind of Bill Peet about how Randy’s lions always had stage fright but they realized that there are things far scarier than stage fright. “Randy’s Dandy Lions” is a superb book about friendship that children will enjoy for many years.

Bill Peet has done it again with his brilliant illustrations and witty writing. Bill Peet’s writing is cleverly written in a rhyming prose, making this story similar to Dr. Seuss’ children’s books, thus making the story extremely creative to read as children will have fun putting the rhyming words together. Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful as usual in this book, especially in the images of the lions performing on stage as the lions are innocent looking yet also look a bit cowardly and scraggly, which fit the situation that the lions were in perfectly.



Parents should know that the new trainer that he Colonel hires to replace Randy may frighten smaller children, especially during the scenes where the new trainer starts whipping the lions relentlessly. Parents might want to tell their children that it is not good to mistreat pets in this manner and that one should not use brute force to get what he or she wants.

“Randy’s Dandy Lions” is another great classic from the brilliant mind of Bill Peet and will surely attract many children who are fans of Bill Peet’s marvelous work. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be frightened by the new trainer who comes later on in the book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Title:  Encore for Eleanor

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre:  Animals / Children's / Circus / Artist

Year Published: 1981

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

“Encore for Eleanor” is a cute story by Bill about an old elephant named Eleanor who was once a great circus performer, but was moved to the zoo when she got too old to play her part. It was then at the zoo that Eleanor learns a new special ability that might jumpstart her career again. “Encore for Eleanor” is a great book for children who want to discover new talents for themselves and realize that everyone is special in their own way.

Eleanor the elephant was once a great circus star who would stand on stilts and impressed the audience to no end. One day however, since Eleanor has been performing in the circus for forty years, Eleanor’s knees were weak and suddenly, she fell off the stilts and landed on the floor with a hard crash! Eleanor began to worry that her boss, Colonel T.J. Tinglehoffer was going to send her away because of her ruining her act by falling off the stilts. Sure enough, Colonel Tinglehoffer did send Eleanor away to the zoo and Eleanor bade a tearful goodbye to her friends at the circus. 
Even though Eleanor had plenty to eat and good home to stay in, she still missed the circus life and was miserable because she felt like she could not do anything extraordinary like she used to do in the circus. One day, however Eleanor awoke to find a teenage girl trying to draw a rhinoceros on her canvas. Of course, when the rhinoceros moved and girl could not draw the rhinoceros, the girl became angry and threw her charcoal to the ground. Eleanor was so interested in what the girl was doing, that she wanted to learn how to draw also. So, when the girl went off to see some ducks in the pond, Eleanor slyly picked up the charcoal and she decided to draw one of the clowns from the circus. However, Eleanor was soon discovered drawing the picture by the teenage girl and the teenage girl was so impressed by the drawing that she decided to show the picture to everyone. Everyone was impressed except for Mr. McJunkens, who did not believe that Eleanor drew the clown. Eleanor was so mad that she grabbed the charcoal and… 

What does Eleanor draw and will she able to convince Mr. McJunkens that she can really draw? 

Read the rest of the book to find out! 

Bill Peet’s story of an old elephant who wants to be special again is extremely cute and brilliant for children to read. The scene that stood out the most for me was the scene where Eleanor learns how to draw after she witnesses the teenage girl drawing the rhinoceros. That scene was so amazing because you would have never imagined an elephant drawing such a great picture and drew the picture in a matter of seconds. Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful and detailed, especially of the image of Eleanor herself as she looks beautiful in her circus outfit and yet, she maintains wise appearance throughout the story telling the audience that she has indeed aged after performing in the circus for forty years.

“Encore for Eleanor” is a great book about the importance of trying out new activities in life to keep your life going and will surely encourage many children to follow what they believe in and do many new things in their lives. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Title:  The Widow's Broom

Author:  Chris Van Allsburg

Genre:  Horror / Witches / Halloween 

Year Published: 1992

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Houghton Mifflin Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Intense Themes of Witchcraft)

“The Widow’s Broom” is a haunting story from the great mind of Chris Van Allsburg and it is about how a lonely widow named Minna Shaw finds a friend in a witch’s broom, but is threatened by the villagers to get rid of the broom because the know that it is witch crafted. “The Widow’s Broom” may have some controversial material about witchcraft, but it is a brilliant read for children who love haunting stories.

Chris Van Allsburg makes this story haunting yet memorable at the same time as it details the story of friendship between a widow and her broom and the bond that Minna Shaw and the broom share together will definitely show children about the importance of friendship even in the worse of times such as when the broom was being harassed by the villagers because it was witch crafted. Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations are highly beautiful and haunting at the same time as the images are mainly in black and white giving the story a haunting and old fashioned feel since this story probably took place during the 1700s and the image that stood out the most was the image of the broom itself as its handle actually curves when it is doing the work for Minna and because the broom looks so innocent and friendly, many children would actually like the broom instead of fear it.



Parents should know that the theme of witchcraft in this book might be too sensitive to readers who do not approve of witchcraft, even though personally, this subject does not bother me so much since I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, but the broom in this book was friendly and he only threw up the Spivey boys and the dog because they were harassing the broom. Depending on your views on the subject on witchcraft, parents should talk about this book with their children and see how they handle the witchcraft theme.

“The Widow’s Broom” is a brilliant book about the importance of true friendship and will be an instant treat for children who love reading haunting books. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the witchcraft theme might be scary for smaller children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Title:  Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Author:  Sarah MacLean

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 397 pages

Date Read: 12/15/2010

Series: Love By Numbers #1

Publisher: Avon 

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

After reading so many romance novels with a generous and kind hero, I have finally stumbled upon a romance novel where we have here a “bad boy” hero. “Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake” is an amazing tale by Sarah MacLean about romance, drama, betrayal and lots of love making scenes that will have romance fans flipping over with excitement!

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell (Callie for short) has always wanted more out of her life since her life as a spinster to make a list of nine rules to break to make her life more interesting. While completing her list, Callie meets notorious and handsome rake Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston (Gabriel or Ralston for short) who she seems to have feelings for since ten years ago. Now Callie’s notorious list will either break her and Gabriel apart or bring them together.

Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh! I have never read a romance novel quite like this before! Sarah MacLean has certainly done an awesome job at writing this wonderful tale of love and betrayal! Now, I will talk about what I loved about the characters and the story. Sarah MacLean has probably created the most controversial yet most memorable characters in romance novels history! Callie is such a headstrong and passionate character, that I just loved her from the beginning! I loved the way that Callie was willing try something different in her life; even if it meant that she has to break the rules of the society she lives in to be a more daring person. Another character that really grew on me was Gabriel St. John and I will admit that when I first read about him, I was so annoyed by his rude and arrogant behavior towards Callie, but once I found out about how his mother had abandoned his family when he was small which caused him to distrust the power of love, I actually felt sympathy for him and when he stood up for Callie, watch out because Ralston truly shows his “bad” side when it comes to Callie! I also loved the fact that Gabriel is a true “bad boy” hero of the story as he has one rude and arrogant attitude, but he truly does have a heart of gold when it comes to protecting Callie. Now onto the juicy parts of this story! There are plenty of love-making scenes in this book from the very beginning to the very end and each love scene in this book will make you literally sweat and tingle all over as the scenes really go into great detail.

This book is basically filed to the brim with sex scenes, so anyone who is uncomfortable with reading about sex scenes might find it a bit difficult to read through this book.

Overall, “Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake” is definitely one of the most irresistible and unique romance novels ever written and any romance fans looking for pure love scenes and “bad boy” heroes will definitely get a kick out of this book!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Title:  Need



Author:  Carrie Jones



Genre: Paranormal Romance



Year Published: 2008



Number of Pages: 306 pages



Date Read: 6/17/2010



Series: Need #1



Publisher: Bloomsbury  



Source:  Library



Content Rating:  Ages 15+  (Some Language)

“Need” is one of the first paranormal books I have read in my life and I can tell you that I really enjoyed reading this book! “Need” is a paranormal book written by Carrie Jones and it is about how Zara White realizes that a mysterious stranger has followed her from her hometown Charleston to her new home in Maine. “Need” is a brilliant book that will be a huge hit for paranormal fans.

What can I say? Carrie Jones has really brought life to this paranormal romantic story. Carrie Jones has made the book extremely intense yet charming at the same time as Zara White is a truly wonderful character in this book. Zara is not afraid to speak her mind as she is genuinely interested in World Peace and she tells everyone her desire to be a pacifist with such passion that it makes her a truly admirable and courageous character. Another character who is truly memorable in this book is Nick Colt as he seems like a mysterious character, but as the story progresses, he becomes a close friend to Zara as he is willing to protect her from any danger. Carrie Jones brings creativity to this book as each chapter is named after various types of phobias that Zara experiences in her adventures in Maine such as one chapter being called “Didaskaleinophobia – fear of going to school” and another chapter is called “Sitophobia – fear of eating.”

For adults who do not like bad language in books, this book has a couple of mild profanities, but the profanities in this book are not as strong as some of the books and it might not affect many adults who dislike bad language in books.

“Need” is a truly mesmerizing book full of mystery and romance that any hardcore paranormal fan will for ages.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog