Phineas and Ferb and A Platypus' World

Some of us have a small obsession with Phineas and Ferb. At the most recent Scholastic book fair, each boy got a Phineas and Ferb book, as well as a Phineas and Ferb poster to share. Tintin also recently asked for a book on platypuses because he correctly assumed Perry the Platypus was not your average platypus and he wanted to see what they were really like. A couple of reviews:

The Phineas and Ferb Comic Reader #1: Nothing But Trouble
The Phineas and Ferb Comic Reader #2: The Chronicles of Meap
Author: John Green
Publisher: Disney Press (June 2010)
Category: Graphic Novel

The book we actually got from the book fair is two books in one, Nothing But Trouble on one side and The Chronicles of Meap on the other. (We also got Phineas and Ferb's Guide to Life but haven't delved into it enough to review it.) In Nothing But Trouble, Phineas and Ferb experiment with gelatin, but of course something goes wrong and out of a pool of gelatin emerges an enormous gelatin monster. The evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz gets involved and Perry steps in to save the day. In the second part of Nothing But Trouble, Phineas and Ferb and their family explore London. Candace uses Sherlock Holmes's method of deduction to bust her brothers (once and for all). There's a little bit of Big Ben and of course appearances from Dr. Doofenschmirtz and Perry the Platypus.

The Chronicles of Meap is about a cute little alien who has crash-landed in Phineas and Ferb's yard and needs help defeating his evil enemy. Phineas and Ferb (and Perry) come to the rescue and, with the help of the universal mustache translator, Meap can finally show his appreciation.

The boys liked this book so much that I had to hide it to stop them from fighting over it.

And a review by Tintin, age 9:

A Platypus' World

Author/illustrator: Caroline Arnold

Publisher: Picture Window Books (January 2008)

Categories: Picture Book/Nonfiction

In this story it tells about platypuses and their life. It tells about their habitats, prey, enemies, food, and how babies are made. I thought this book was great. I liked how there were little pink platypus babies. My favorite part is how they make the burrows. I would recommend this book to animal lovers.

Books of the Week: Chocolate Fever, Bone, The Earth Book, Planets

Here are our favorites from the past week:

Tintin, age 8

Chocolate Fever
Author/illustrator: Robert Kimmel Smith/Gioia Fiammenghi
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (1972)
Source: Public library

Henry Green eats a lot of chocolate, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When he notices brown spots spreading all over his body one day in school, he, his teacher, and the school nurse are baffled, until they notice the overpowering chocolate smell of Henry's spots. At the hospital, the doctor diagnoses Henry with Chocolate Fever, a never-before-seen disease caused by eating too much chocolate. Not wanting to undergo any treatment from a doctor he doesn't trust, Henry runs away and ends up going on an exciting adventure.

Tintin's note: I like when he feels better. My favorite part was when he ran away from all the doctors.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

Bone 2: The Great Cow Race
Author/illustrator: Jeff Smith
Publisher: Graphix (August 2005)
Source: Half Price Books

Fone Bone and his cousins, Phoney and Smiley, visit Barrelhaven while planning to get back to Boneville. After Phoney and Smiley fix the village's cow race in an attempt to get rich quick, the villagers find out and chase the Bones out into the forest, but not before giant, evil rats try to kidnap Fone Bone.

Tintin's note: I liked when Rose won the cow race.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

Johnny Boo, age 5

The Earth Book
Author/illustrator: Todd Parr
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (March 2010)
Source: ALA Convention 2011

Todd Parr teaches kids how to take care of the earth by offering simple suggestions, like using both sides of the paper and turning off the lights. At the end of the book is a go-green poster with 10 ways kids can help the earth. Number 10, "Put my underwear in the freezer when it's hot," is the favorite in this house, but now I have to keep checking the freezer to make sure my underwear isn't in there.

Johnny Boo's note: I like when it says I put my underwear in the freezer.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

Various books about planets and the sun: Space! Jupiter; Space! Mars; Space! Neptune; Space! The Sun; Space! Uranus; Space! Venus; Mercury; Why Isn't Pluto a Planet?
Authors: George Capaccio; Josepha Sherman; Ruth Bjorklund; Christine Taylor-Butler; Steve Kortenkamp

Johnny Boo's been learning about planets in school and insisted on getting these books (and no others) about planets. The Mercury book is the easiest to read, followed by the one on Pluto; the Space! books are geared more toward upper elementary kids, but Johnny Boo liked them anyway. And any books that keep him entertained the whole time I'm taking a shower and getting dressed are winners over here. Plus, now Johnny Boo knows he can't sing on Mercury, so he'll have to find another planet to move to if he doesn't follow the tips in The Earth Book.

Johnny Boo's note: It was great as usual. 

Straight Hair, Curly Hair – A Kid's Review

Review by Tintin, age 7

Straight Hair, Curly Hair
Author/illustrator: Augusta Goldin/Ed Emberley

Straight Hair, Curly Hair is about long hair, curly hair, different kinds of hair. There are different shapes of follicles that tell you if your hair is straight, curly and wavy. I liked this book because it has my color hair in it and it has curly hair in it. My favorite part is when the person's hair got wet and she made a frown. I would recommend this book to kids who like to experiment with hair.

LitLass's notes:  Speaking of experimenting with hair, the following is what reminded me of this book:

The good thing about having one boy with straight hair and the other with curly hair is that you can always tell which one has cut his hair. Unfortunately, it was both of them this time.

Here is Tyg (from the 1982-1985 Shirt Tales cartoon) modeling with one of our hair experiments. In this one we've taped one end of a piece of hair to a paintbrush and the other end to a closet rod to show that a hair in good condition is strong enough to support two ounces of weight:

And here we get a little more scientific by proving that straight hair gets straighter with moisture and curly hair gets curlier. Here is our before picture:

Our during picture:

And, finally, our after picture:

We're linking this up with Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom and with Nonfiction Monday, which is being held this week at Madigan Reads.

Books of the Week – October 2, 2010

Here are our favorites from the past week:

Tintin, age 7

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself
Author/illustrator: Lincoln Peirce

Sixth grader Nate tries to set a world record, but he doesn't yet know his strengths. He thinks he could be the best at eating green beans, or maybe at tickling teachers. Whatever it is, he's going to have to find out before the end of the day for his fortune cookie prediction – You will surpass all others today – to come true. Of course, the book wouldn't be as humorous without our hero getting into trouble along the way. And, I just asked Tintin, Big Nate is funnier than Diary of a Wimpy Kid (to which Big Nate has been compared). And no, I'm not worried that my 7-year-old now knows additional ways to get in trouble at school (he saves all his craziness for when he's home). Oh, and I think LitDaddy appreciated the reference to Elfquest.

Usborne First Skills: Starting Chess
Author/illustrator: Harriet Castor/Norman Young

Tintin learned how to play chess over the summer and just joined the chess club at school. He's still very much a beginner, though, so when I saw this book at the library I knew he'd like it. And since the pieces all have faces, I think it makes it a little more inviting to him (he's not usually a fan of nonfiction, unless it's about outer space). I'm not sure about Tintin, but I like that the book gives a little bit of history and shows pictures of some of the oldest-known chess pieces. He's not quite done with the book yet – he just finished the section on rooks – but we'll see next Wednesday after chess club whether the book actually works.


Johnny Boo, age 4

This Book Is Haunted
Author/illustrator: Joanne Rocklin/JoAnn Adinolfi

In this book a ghost tells scary – but not too-scary – stories about a haunted house for rent, an encounter with a witch and ghost on Halloween, brothers who lay awake listening to a tapping sound, and more. At the end of the book the ghost narrator asks the reader to read the book one more time (it gets lonely being stuck in a book) or to tell him a story. Here's the story Johnny Boo told him: Once upon a time there was a bear. He was mean and friendly. He was really a ghost. The End. And yes, we did have to read the book twice in a row a couple of times.

Know-It-Alls
Author/illustrator: Varies by book

The Know-It-Alls series is full of information on various subjects. Johnny Boo has five of these books, and he wants more (although, sadly, it looks as though they're out of print). Johnny Boo has been obsessed with these books for the past couple of days and has been carrying them around with him, just as his brother did three years ago.

Our Know-It-Alls books:

Crocodiles!, by Irene Trimble and illustrated by Jean Cassels
Fish!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Jean Cassels
Snakes!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Michael S. Maydak
Wild Cats!, by Diane Muldrow and illustrated by Greg Harris
Wolves!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Drew Brook Cormac

We're linking this post up at What My Child Is Reading, hosted by Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns, and at Kid Konnection, hosted by Booking Mama.