Blogcritics Author: Kate McCarthy Bond

Book Review: Pandora's Lunchbox by Stephen Sonneveld and Andrew Krzak

Kate McCarthy Bond — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 23:08:35 EST

"Say what you will of children, they're downright jerks sometimes."
In Pandora’s Lunchbox, by Stephen Sonneveld and Andrew Krzak, Pandora is a young girl with a “wonky eye” who is bullied, daily, by “Mean Children.” Pandora looks different; one eye is much larger than the other, thus making her an easy target for the bullies. When she opens her lunchbox one day Pandora discovers her...

Book Review: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. Lafevers

Kate McCarthy Bond — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 02:47:15 EST

"I�m beginning to suspect he�s up to something. What�s worse, I think he suspects I�m up to something. Which I usually am.�
In R.L. Lafevers' Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, the title character lives in the museum of Legends and Antiquities in London with her father, while her mother is away on archaeological digs in Egypt. She is a girl of unusual talents: she can detect black magic and curses emanating from ancient Egyptian artifacts. The trouble is,...

Book Review: The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz

Kate McCarthy Bond — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:54:36 EST

"I am the ugly pumpkin, as you can plainly see. Of one hundred thousand pumpkins, none are quite like me."
At first glance The Ugly Pumpkin may appear to be a Halloween story: it begins in early October and takes place, partly, in a pumpkin patch with witches and skeletons taking home pumpkins. But this story is more than that. It’s a delightful twist on the “Ugly Duckling” story. From the author’s biography on the back flap of...

Book Review: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Kate McCarthy Bond — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:52:59 EDT

This is the story of one woman, some clothes, a pumpkin head and how she faced her fears.
Halloween is right around the corner! For many kids this is an exciting time -- dressing up is fun and the prospect of free candy, and lots of it, is a rush in itself. For some kids, though, Halloween is a scary time. It is when their fears are actualized, in the guise of other kids dressed up as witches, goblins and ghosts. Children need a...

Book Review: Who Let the Ghosts Out? by R.L. Stine

Kate McCarthy Bond — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:36:58 EDT

"My sister and I were walking home on the night all the horror began."
Who Let the Ghosts Out?, by R.L. Stine is the first in the series, Mostly Ghostly. It tells of a brother and sister who find themselves in a rather unusual situation.Nicky and Tara are coming home from school one day when they begin to notice some strange things: Nicky can’t seem to remember when school started, Tara has leaves in her hair,...

Book Review: Leonardo, The Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Kate McCarthy Bond — Mon, 8 Oct 2007 16:52:15 EDT

Leonardo is your typical two-horned, big-headed, green-eyed monster. For a monster, he�s rather cute. That�s where the problem is...
Leonardo isn’t like all the other monsters. He’s not tall, doesn’t have a lot of scary teeth and he’s not weird. No, Leonardo is an unusual monster -- he’s simply not scary. As hard as he tries, he just can’t seem to scare anyone. But Leonardo has a plan. He begins to research the perfect candidate to...

Book Review: Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Kate McCarthy Bond — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 06:45:53 EDT

�...in his deep, dark lair, through the long, cold winter sleeps a great brown bear��
One cold, wintry night, as bear hibernates, a mouse creeps into the cave to escape the storm. He is soon followed by a host of other forest animals bringing food to share. They soon have a blazing fire and hot meal going. The party goes on, despite the sleeping bear, until a small “pepper fleck” makes the bear sneeze, and the animals...

Book Review: Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison

Kate McCarthy Bond — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:12:26 EDT

"If you've ever been in a real haunted house....you'll know that they're very quiet."
Eighth grader Gilda Joyce has found a way to ease the pain of losing her father and maintain a connection with him; she has decided to become a psychic investigator. With her Master Psychic's Handbook and the typewriter her father gave her, Gilda is ready to take on the spiritual world.This summer Gilda's psychic sensibilities (a tickle in...

Book Review: Knuffle Bunny - A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

Kate McCarthy Bond — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:21:07 EDT

Trixie has a stuffed bunny that she takes everywhere. This is the story of a daddy, and one lost bunny.
I first read this story about two years ago, and I thought it was cute. However, at the time I didn't have a two-year-old who was attached to a Piglet toy and so I couldn't really relate. I have since reread the story, now a handful of times, to my own "Trixie" and appreciate it much more having left Piglet at a restaurant (after...