Little Red Reads

Children’s Ebook Review- Why Zebras Have Black and White Stripes

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Why Zebras Have Black and White Stripes
by Eric Pullin
Kindle Edition, 36 pages
Published: January 15, 2011
by Barny Books
ASIN: B004JF4MZ6
Book Source: Bought
5 stars
Book Description: The Why Series is a collection funny, fantasy stories for children (and grown-ups too) Each story tells the tale of why something should be the way that it is, all written in amusing verse and fully colour illustrated.
There’s a game – “Find the Owl” – in every book so please join in and play.
5 titles are currently available in The Why Series –
Book 1 Why Owls Are The Wisest Birds
Book 2 Why There Are Waves On The Sea
Book 3 Why Stars Come Out At Night
Book 4 Why Animals Don’t Talk
Book 5 Why Zebras Have Black And White Stripes
Please enjoy my stories.

Mary’s Review: All the animals in the world are white. Everything else on the earth has a color. Blue flowers, yellow sun, green grass, but not the animals until one day a chimpanzee wondered what it would like to be a different color. Orange, red, brown. Before you could count to 10 he had all the animals daydreaming about what color they would like to be. Leave it up to the chimpanzee to find a way to color all the animals. Come join the fun and see how the animals got their colors and how the zebra came to be black and white striped.
This is a very clever little book; very imaginative and the illustrations are delightful.
I recommend this book for ages 4 and up.
About The Author: This is all new to me – but very exciting.
Not too long ago I would never have dared to dream of having a book published. Now I have ten and, hopefully, many more to come.
I’m just a very ordinary guy who has always loved to write. I am now nearly 65yrs old, married with 4 children ( all grown up) and two beautiful grand daughters who are growing up too fast.
My books called “The Why Series” are written for my grand daughters Lucy, age 9yrs and Lulah age 6yrs. They are my pride and joy.
Life has been kind to me. “Family” is the most important word in my life. A wonderful mother and father, two fantastic sisters and a big brother who is just “the best” have given me a very stable and happy life. Add to that my lovely wife who is always with me in everything I do and my own children of whom I am very proud and you can see just how lucky I have been.
My career as an author began 9 years ago with the birth of my first grand daughter Lucy. As with all new grandfathers I wanted to become the best grandad in the World. I tried to think of something very special that I could give to Lucy – something that she would grow up to cherish. I decided to write her a story – a story that she could call her very own story, a story that one day, she could tell her own children and say ” My grampy wrote that for me when I was little”.
I began to write a story about a cat called Digweed – just a short bedtime tale, or so I thought. Once I started writing I simply couldn’t stop and instead of a short bedtime story I found that 4 months later I had written a 100,000 word book called “Digweed the Cat”.
“Digweed the Cat” was hardly suitable to give to a new baby so Lucy didn’t get her special present until her 7th birthday. Now, instead of me reading my story to her, she reads “Digweed” to me. We haven’t finished it yet but Lucy loves the story so far.
Digweed the Cat has now been transformed into a 5 book series ( each chapter book is about 10,000 words long). All 5 books are now available on Kindle
When my second grand daughter, Lulah, was born, my family said that, having written something for Lucy, I must do likewise for Lulah.
This time I was determined to write a short story – a little bedtime tale.
One day I was out for a walk with Lucy, who was now nearly 3yrs old. Walking in the woods behind my home, we bumped into a lady who was walking two enormous dogs. Unafraid, Lucy began to stroke one of the dogs whilst I talked with their owner. After a few moments, the dog who was not being fussed by Lucy became a little jealous and began to bark. Being such a big dog, it produced a very loud bark which frightened Lucy.
The woman became very cross with her dog for frightening such a sweet little girl and shouted at it. This, I think, upset Lucy even more than the barking. I tried to calm the situation by saying to the woman “Please don’t shout at your dog – I think that he was just trying to tell Lucy that he would like to be stroked as well.”
Lucy thought that this was fine and gave the “barking” dog a cuddle and we carried on with our walk.
I sensed that Lucy had something on her mind because she wasn’t chattering away as she normally would. Suddenly she turned to me and said ” Grampy – Why don’t animals talk like we do?”
Lucy had decided that if the silly dog had just said ” Please give me a bit of fuss too.” instead of barking so loudly the problems would not have arisen.
I thought “What a wonderful question for one so young to ask”
I started to try to explain why dogs bark and cows moo etc. but I soon found that I wasn’t making a very good job of my explanation. So I said to Lucy – I’ll write a story about it and we can make it our story for Lulah.
That night I wrote the story of “Why Animals Don’t Talk” and, as soon as I had finished it, I realised that I could write lots of similar stories about why things are the way that they are – not in reality, but in a fantasy world for children.
That night “The Why Series” was born.
Now I have published five titles and there are many more stories already written that will be added to the series bit by bit.
There are many people that I have to thank for helping me get this far. Lucy, of course, my wife Penny for her continual support and encouragement, my sisters Rosie and Gill who have helped me all the way, especially with producing and promoting my work, my illustrator Chris Davis who is hugely talented as well as being a great guy, my publishers, Barny Books, my printer, Richard and lots more. I am so grateful to you all.
Please enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. If you do, “The Why Series” will continue to grow. Help that to happen by telling all your friends about the books and, if you ever have a question for me, please don’t hesitate to email me or write to me. You will find all my details on our website www.thewhyseries.co.uk

Children’s Ebook Review- Monster Picnic

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Monster Picnic
by Kurt and Michelle Zimmerman
Kindle Edition, 36 pages
Published: September 1, 2012
by Kurt Zimmerman
ASIN: B0095866G0
Book Source: Bought
5 stars

Book Description: Frankie wants to have a picnic, but where are his friends? In Monster Picnic, your young reader will enjoy a story of friendship and responsibility. 34 pages of bright, colorful 3D illustrations will keep your little one reading and entertained!
With its colorful, playful monsters, this book is a great bedtime story- especially near Halloween. Frankie Frankenstein, Boris the Vampire, Wendy the Witch and Ty the Mummy will delight young and old alike!

Mary’s Review: Frankie woke up with a terrific idea. It was a wonderful day for a picnic. He invites his friends Wendy, Boris and Ty. They’ll all be there. Excitedly, he runs to the store and buys all he needs for a cookout. When the time comes for the picnic he waits and waits for his friends to show up, but they don’t come. Frankie disappointed decides he’s going to have the picnic anyway. See what Frankie does to have his picnic; make new friends and how even though they are different can be fun. See how his old friends feel when they realize how badly the have treated their friend Frankie. This is a book we can all learn from.
I love the little monster illustrations. They are so cute.
I recommend this book for ages 5 to 9.
Good job Kurt and Michelle.

About The Authors: Kurt Zimmerman, as a father of twelve, and a grandfather of fourteen, enjoys writing books and crafting stories for and about his own family. He has also spent many years writing newsletters and policy manuals for a chain of retail stores, where he is currently vice president and director of operations. In his spare time(?) he makes public apprearances with his full-sized Star Wars R2D2 replica, entertaining kids and grownups.

Michelle Zimmerman holds a bachelor’s degree in Radio/Television and a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She makes her children’s book debut with her title “Can’t Catch a Butterfly”. This playful tale is the first in a series designed to encourage early language and literacy skills in all children. Her mission is to help children shine their brightest through language, literacy, laughter and love!
Michelle is currently spreading her wings and flying high. “Can’t Catch a Butterfly” was chosen as a finalist in the 2009 Indie Excellence Awards Picture Book Category as well as the 2009 Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award for Toddlers/Preschoolers Category. Michelle enjoys fluttering across Long Island and surrounding communities presenting her butterfly program at preschools, kindergarten classes, libraries, bookstores, and many other special events.

Children’s Book Review- Always October by Bruce Coville

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Always October
by Bruce Coville
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published: August 28, 2012
by Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060890959
Book Source: Publisher
4 Stars
Book Summary from the author’s website: No doubt about it, little brothers can be monsters. When sixth grader Jake Doolittle finds a baby on the doorstep and his mother decides to keep it, those words are more than just an expression. Instead, they perfectly describe the way his new little brother, LD, sprouts pointy ears, thick fur, and fangs in moonlight.

Not only is LD a monster… other monsters have plans for him. But together with his friend “Weird Lily” Carker, Jake isn’t about to let anything happen to the baby. The little guy is still his brother, even if it turns out that LD may be the key to saving the world—or destroying it.

Soon Jake and Lily are on a perilous quest through Always October, a world populated with monsters ranging from the venomous to the ridiculous. Master of comic suspense Bruce Coville presents a tale of ominous dangers and hairbreadth escapes, of the conflict between forces of dark and light, and of the lengths to which one boy will go to save his brother—monster or not.

Cathy’s Review: Jake Doolittle is in the 6th grade, he lives with his mom. His dad left them a few years earlier, just like HIS dad had left when he was a kid. Jake’s best friend Lily is the granddaughter of the town cemetery caretaker and their favorite hideout and “library” is one of the mausoleums on the cemetery grounds. One day, as they are hanging out in their “library” they hear some weird noises coming from behind it, but when they work up the courage to check, there’s nothing there. That’s when they notice that there’s a huge storm coming and head home so they don’t get in trouble for being out in the storm. That night, during the storm, there’s a knock at Jake’s door and when he goes to answer it, he finds no one there, but a baby in a basket has been left. There’s a note too, asking them to care for her baby until she can come back for it. Jake’s mom knows that she must help this desperate mother, she decides that they will keep the baby. This works out well for all three of them, because Jake and his mom immediately fall in love with Little Dumpling as they decide to call him, LD for short. LD also loves Jake and his mom and they quickly fall into a pattern of caring for him. One night during a full moon, Jake and LD are home alone while Jake’s mom goes to a class, when something strange happens. LD turns into a small monster complete with fur, fangs and pointy ears! Scary!

Things get even scarier the next full moon when real monsters come out of the closet. Jake and LD are able to get away from the monster coming out of the closet with the help of another monster, but Jake, LD, Lily and her Grandpa find themselves in “Always October” a place where it’s perpetually October, autumn leaves, cool temperatures, and Halloween type monsters. They must keep LD safe, not die themselves, and finish a quest to find the object that will keep LD human in their world, all while escaping from the bad group of monsters that want to use LD to split the two worlds. But will a couple of kids be able to do that, basically on their own?

This was a fun book! I loved the adventure of it. This book is written for kids ages 8-12, so it’s fairly easy reading for an adult. I liked the story line, it kept me entertained, I liked the characters, I liked the idea that there’s a separate place where the monsters do live. The one thing that kind of annoyed me was that there was one thing in the plot that never ended up wrapped up in the ending. I hope that there will be a second book, that tells us more about what happens to Jake, LD and Lily. This is a cute Halloween read for kids 8-12!

Content: I did notice one mild swear word
About the author: Bruce Coville grew up around the corner from his grandparents’ dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time dodging cows (and chores) and reading voraciously. He has been a toy maker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, and an elementary school teacher. Bruce’s books have appeared in more than a dozen countries and have sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are My Teacher is an Alien, Into the Land of Unicorns, and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. October is Bruce’s favorite month, so he is especially delighted that Always October is his 100th book. He lives in Syracuse, New York.
Find out more about the author, Bruce Coville: Goodreads/ Website