Author: Luisa LaFleur

Robert Bauer is the author of the soon-to-be-released CJ in a Pickle. We reviewed it here. Robert was kind enough to answer a few questions, here’s what he had to say.

In C.J. in a Pickle, author Robert Bauer introduces us to C.J., a highly imaginative and cheeky young boy. C.J. comes home from school and his mother notices that something is amiss. C.J. thinks that if he tells the truth he’ll get into bigger trouble than if he tells a creative re-interpretation of the events.

A new book for older children, Remembering Oakley, by Carl J. Schutt, tells the story of Jacob and his beloved dog, Oakley. When Jacob’s mother tells him it’s time to put Oakley down, Jacob struggles to understand why.

Two books that tackle the topic of self-discovery from a Native American point of view. They are geared to older children and pre-teens and the lessons they impart are valuable and timeless.

These books use mice as a metaphor for bravery and demonstrate strategies for children to put aside their fears and shyness.

Pretty Peace, an interactive children’s book, gives children an easy way to begin exploring the possibilities inherent in positive visualization.

“What’s up with My Family?” tackles eight issues that often confound teenagers with regard to how their parents and siblings behave.

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: February 17, 2010 Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 by Eric Wight (author and illustrator) Reading level: Ages 7-10 Paperback: 86 pages Publisher: Simon and Schuster (forthcoming) Source of book: author What to expect: Overcoming adversity, importance of teamwork Remember when you were a kid and your parents were mean? Or unfair? Or the world seemed like it was going to end because you didn’t get your way? I remember plenty of those episodes – and just when things seem to be at their bleakest, a ray of hope breaks through…

By Luisa LaFleur, The Children’s Book Review Published: February 15, 2010 I’ve written before about the spate of new books that are bilingual and aim to tell a story as well as teach another language. For the most part, these have been in Spanish. Recently, I received a few new books that tell fables from a Native American perspective. These have been interesting for me to read as they open up a whole new world of literature and they’ve been interesting for my kids as well because of their vivid and fantastic stories. Here’s a brief rundown of three of…

What I take from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and what I try to subtly convey to my kids when I read it, is that giving is good and important.