Miscellaneous Monday - Tacky the Penguin

Tacky the Penguin
by: Helen Lester

Genre: Children's
Rating: 5 stars

Summary:
"Tacky was an odd bird, but a nice bird to have around." Compared to the other penguins Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly and Perfect, Tacky is an odd bird. Yet when hunters come to the ice we find out that he is a nice bird to have around.

I have already reviewed a Helen Lester story-A Porcupine Named Fluffy - which I adore and this is another one of her creations. I giggled at Tacky's antics when I was little - I mean really a penguin in Hawaiian shirts? who cannonballs into the ocean? you can't get much better than that- and my little sister does so now and my children most likely will as well. The rhyming used will ensure that you remember the specific lines like how the hunters come with their "maps and traps and rocks and locks."

This is another unknown wonder of childhood that I would recommend for everyone.

Miscellaneous Monday - I Am Really A Princess

I Am Really A Princess

By: Carol Diggory Shields

Genre: Children's

Rating: 5 stars

Summary:

 "I am really a princess. And when my true parents, the king and queen, find out how I have been treated around here, they are going to be very upset." That first sentence says it all as a little girl complains about all of the things she has to do.

However, after the day is done, the chores are through and it's time for bed our little princess that trading ponies and princes for tickles and hugs just might be worth it.

There are childhood favorites that stay with you and that you want to make sure that you have for your kids, this is definitely one of those for me. The story is very cute and expresses  exactly how all children feel, from eating whatever you want for dinner to having a pony (who of course will stay in your room). 

This is another that I had memorized because I wanted to hear it every night. I really think I just wanted to look at the pictures. The  illustrations are what really make children's books and these are just so adorable. I had a toss up between the picture of the dinner scene or where the young princess picks out her own most marvelously mismatched outfit.

This is perfect for just about every little girl you may have in your life and maybe even some of the older ones as well.

Miscellaneous Monday: Porcupine Named Fluffy

A Porcupine Named Fluffy

by Helen Lester

Genre: Childrens

Rating: 5 Stars

I feel like children's books sometimes get forgotten and it is fun to go back and remember some of the stuff you (or more likely your parents) read when you were very young.

Summary:

What do you name a porcupine? Lance or Spike? No, those are too common, you want something unique. Fluffy sounds like a good idea. Fluffy grows up and begins to realize there is a problem...he isn't fluffy. After many desperate, and somewhat silly attempts to become fluffy he meets a rhinoceros who has a name just as ridiculous as his own. 

This was the first book I "read" on my own. Quite frankly I believe that it had been read to me so many times I had it memorized. I love all the different ways that Fluffy tried to become fluffy, my favorite involved mounds of shaving cream. I love how he finds someone who has just as odd a name as he does and because he found someone else like him he accepts the fact that he simply isn't fluffy. I love the illustrations and how well both it and the text work together. This was one that I still come back to when I am home from school and one that will most definitely be on my children's bookshelves.