This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen is about a small fish that has stolen a hat from a big fish while it was resting. The story follows the little fish as it tries to justify its wrongdoing. The small fish makes comments such as "The hat looks better on me anyway" and "That fish will never find me." The book is best for K-1st grade and can be used to teach character traits, predictions,  connections. In my classroom, I would have students write a reflection of what the little fish could have done instead of keeping the hat. 

AR: 1.6 

Heart’s Bend, Tennessee is the setting for The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck. Let the town’s name give you a clue as to the message contained within this story  – the love story of Jimmy and Colette. Their tale begins in 1948 when Colette and her sister Peg arrive in town to live with their aunt and uncle. The girls are war orphans who lost both parents as a result of World War II. When Jimmy sees a picture of the two girls before they arrive in town, he loses his heart to the younger of the girls, Colette. But due to his shyness around girls and her overbearing sister, the two have a hard time getting to know each other and end up merely looking at one another from afar. Jimmy overcomes his shyness enough to make the first move and the two fall in love. Fast forward to the current day and we find Jimmy and Colette in their early eighties, living lives much different from what they first imagined. Jimmy is now the retired coach of the local high school football team. Colette is living a life of luxury in a Manhattan penthouse overlooking Central Park; she is adored by her fans after having played Vivica Spenser on a soap opera for 60+ years. What has split these two young lovers apart? What secrets does each hold close to their heart? And how does a never used wedding chapel back in Heart’s Bend figure into their love story?

A second love story set in the present is also interwoven throughout, that of Taylor and Jack. They too are natives of Heart’s Bend who left the country to find fame and fortune and is so doing find each other. But each has a boatload of baggage that they’ve brought with them. In spite of that they both want desperately to make their marriage work but fear the unknown. Will the wedding chapel back in Heart’s Bend bring these two closer or finalize their split?

A tale of love and lost love, secrets and lies, and healing of wounds is the central theme of this wonderful story. Interwoven with an unshakable faith in God, you’ll find yourself rooting for the characters in this charming tale.

Have you often wondered how the stories in the Bible relate to today’s world? I, for one, have done that many times. Many times I’ve tried to draw parallel lines between today and yesterday. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But within the pages of this book Addi ben Zuriel, the central character, brings new understanding to an old story.

In the Bible Jesus tells this young man, Addi, that in order to find eternal life he (Addi) should sell all of his possessions and follow the Lord. Of course Addi is skeptical since it is he, along with an elite band of Pharisees, who are seemingly preparing for a great leader in the guise of their Messiah to arise and with a vast army break the people freefrom the chains of Rome’s rule.

What follows is the story of how Addi comes to accept Jesus as the Messiah; it also takes Addi quite some time to reailze that the ‘new world order’ is not to be of this world but a kingdom of the heart. Through the perils and intrigues of a Biblical Jerusalem at Passover, we follow Addi as he in turn follows Jesus through the Passover and ultimately through the crucifixion. We become friends with the disciples and with Jesus’s mother Mary.

I wish the Bible could be retold in a manner similar to this book. It is easy to read and understand. For me, it was also easy to see the amount of research that has gone into this tome. And while it can easily be read in a day or two I took several weeks to finish it, allowing myself the time to absorb the personal meanings. It is a book rich in detail yet easily understood.

I look forward to reading another book by Richard Hackett. Note: This Kindle edition did have several typos, however, not enough to interfere with the enjoyment of the story.

Please note that all proceeds from the sale of Mr. Hackett’s books go to fund the work of SeaMercy, a non-profit organization that brings healthcare to the remote islands of the South Pacific. www.seamercy.org

Fairly far along in the book and there is no puppy in the story.  Don't write checks your ass can't cash, covers!

Ugh, that's what I get for choosing the puppy cover over the sexy chest one.

UPDATE:  Chapter 13 we have a puppy!

Doug "Ten" Rose - Fearless Puppy on American Highway