Student Post #5 '09

Tough Chicks
by Cece Meng

Tough Chicks is a fun book with a great story. There is a group of three chicks that are always getting into trouble. They are constantly doing the opposite of what people want them to. The chicks are always finding some way to get into trouble and their mother is always standing up for them trying to convince the other hens “They are good!” One day the farmer’s tractor breaks down on a hill over-looking where the animals are. It starts to roll towards the hen house. The chicks decide to try and save the day.

This book makes a great read-a-loud. There are fun words and the pictures are really funny. Tough Chicks has an overall message that children can relate to. There are animals they can easily identify with and children will love some of the repetitive words and colorful pictures. S.N.



Beyond the Great Mountains
By Ed Young

Beyond the Great Mountains is a visual poem written and illustrated by Ed Young. He was born in China, and he shows his love for his home through this poem. The pictures that Young uses bring the words to life. While the poem is only a few lines long, he shows how much he cares for China. The pages of the book gradually get bigger, so if the reader wants to read the poem all on one together they can do that, then they are able to look at the pictures. The book also shows the Chinese characters for some of the words in the poem. At the end of the book there is a list of Ancient Chinese characters alongside the modern Chinese characters with the words that the characters represent.

This book is a lot of fun. The illustrations are colorful, and each page is unique in color, design, and even size. Beyond the Great Mountains is set up to allow the reader to choose how they want to read the poem. Whether they want to read line by line and study the illustrations at the same time, or they would like to read the entire poem and look at the pictures after, they have the options because the pages are layered on each other. I really enjoyed looking at the characters in the back to see how they have changed, and it is a good way to incorporate cross-cultural learning. K.B.



Pirates Don’t Change Diapers
By Melinda Long

Melinda Long’s book, Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, is a fun sequel to How I became a Pirate. In this sequel, Captain Braid Beard and his crew show up once again in Jeremy Jacobs’s life, but this time it’s at his own house. The pirates have run aground and wrecked their ship and need the treasure buried in Jeremy’s backyard to fix it. The only problem is Jeremy needs to babysit his little sister but the pirates need his help. Will they be able to babysit and find their buried treasure? And when the baby goes missing along with the treasure map, Jeremy and the pirates worry that the ship will never be ready to sail again.

This book is great for children of all ages. The story is unique and engaging and the pictures add so much to the story. There is so much humor hidden in the illustrations that David Shannon creates. Everyone I have read this story to have loved it and it quickly becomes a favorite story time book. D. R.

Keep Reading,
Dr. Quinn