Bunjitsu Bunny Review

Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny by John Himmelman is so great.  It is made up of short stories that impart Eastern wisdom.  I didn't love all the stories, but I did love most. This book is great for bedtime stories and the fables will reach big kids or little kids. 3 Poppies for content, 4 Poppies for brevity.  7 Poppies total.

Cloudy with a Chance of Boys by Megan McDonald

I read Cloudy with a Chance of Boys and I loved it!  It's one of the books in the Sisters Club series by Megan McDonald, author of Judy Moody. The sister stuff is really cool that you could copy if you have sisters or try with friends if you don't have sisters (like me), and on top of that, there's a lot of cool Shakespeare references.  You'll like it even if you don't know or don't like Shakespeare.

This organizer was inspired by all the weather in the book.

I give it 3 for content, 4 for brevity because so much happens!  7 Poppies total

HP Challenge Day 1 and Sorcerer's Stone review

I have been doing pretty well on the Harry Potter Challenge so far.  I finished the first book, and got 75 percent through the second one before my  first 24 hours were up.  Now we're on the second day, and I've finished the second book, hoping to finish the third by the day's end.  So far, I haven't had to forgo food or sleep, and I've even fit in some social events, so I am darn proud!

My friend Bea didn't start with as strong a plan as mine, and she only read the first book on the first day.  That's fine, but I hope her reading rate accelerates enough to read all of the seventh book on the seventh day - it's a long one!

If you're joining us and you've only read the first book, or haven't even finished it yet, don't give up!  I noticed that the first book took me longer to read than the second because there's just so much information to cover.  The second has more action, and you know the third has even more! 

Poppy's Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling:
Wow.  Sorcerer's Stone is fantastic.  Rowling takes us to a magical place and makes us believe in it - REALLY believe in it.  Rowling makes us love Harry and so many other characters.  I felt like this book was as short as it could be - no fluff at all.  Rowling tells us the exact basics to help us understand what's going on in the wizarding world and the bare minimum of events and characters to set up all the other books.  It is an amazing stand alone book and the clues in it that set up the rest of the series are brilliant.  Can we just take a minute to marvel at the game of Quidditch?  There are so many things that are genius about this book.  If you've only watched the movie, you are really missing out.  Five Poppies for content, five Poppies for brevity.  TEN out of ten Poppies. 

P.S.  I would love to do a graphic organizer for the Harry Potter series someday, but I just can't during the Harry Potter Challenge.  I'm not that powerful a wizard ;) 

DOUBLE Review: Arnie Doughnut and Boy on the Porch

I looooove Sharon Creech.  If you haven't read Walk Two Moons yet, you HAVE to.  It is so good.  But since I've already read that, I just finished The Boy on the Porch by the same author.  This is the kind of country story I like (sorry, Hank the Cowdog).  The story is from the point of view of a couple who lives on a farm and one day find a boy asleep on their porch.  The story is very subtle and an excellent example of brevity.  I didn't love this book as much as Walk Two Moons, probably because there wasn't a romance element, but it was still very good.  2 for content, FIVE for brevity.  Seven Poppies out of ten.

Loved Arnie the Doughnut.  There are kid jokes and grownup jokes and a mystery, too! The one I read was Arnie the Doughnut: Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller.  Quick read, super fun - 3 for content, 3 for brevity.  Six Poppies for Arnie!
This is a time when my love for the book really showed in the organizer:

Graphic Organizer FAIL

Wow.  The View from Saturday is amazing. 

I never picked it up because the cover was sorta boring and after reading the blurb, I didn't think that a book about an Academic Bowl team would be that interesting.  Nerd alert!

But I was wrong.  It starts out a little slow, and then gets amazing.  E. L. Konigsburg shows that four kids can start a revolution!

4 points for content, 5 Poppies for brevity.  9 out of 10 Poppies!!!


Here's the story with this organizer, though: I made a rookie mistake and didn't put anything on the paper until I was totally done with the book.  Bad idea!  I remembered some of the good stuff, but not enough.  I don't know why I didn't write it down sooner...probably just too lazy.  Anyway, graphic organizer - FAIL, but book - EPIC.