"The Tale of Ole Green Eyes" by Cathy Kennedy

The Tale of Ole Green Eyes by Cathy Kennedy is a short children's book about two sisters to get a scare in the woods because of the story their grandmother told them.  It has a bit of suspense.  It's a happy little story for small children.  Of course, I liked that a cat was in it!
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Teaser from Loc. 113 on Kindle:  Brittany jumped.  She spun around and gasped, "What?"

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We Miss You, Abby!--A Letter to My Dog

Abby with her Daddy, Gerard

It is with great sorrow that we had to help our dog cross the Rainbow Bridge last Monday.  I thought about this book and the letter I wrote to our dog back in November of 2014 so thought this would be a good post to update and post again.    
 
A Letter to My Dog by Robin Layton is a happy, feel-good book that is a collection of notes from people (some well-known) to the dogs which show the value of rescue dogs.  Along with the notes are full-page photos of the dogs and in the back is a summary of the dog-owners with their dogs including smaller pictures of them together.  I enjoyed this book very much and found myself smiling all the way through.  It is a quick-read that I recommend to anyone who is considering getting a dog as well as all dog owners.  This book inspired me to write the following letter to our dog:

Dear Abby a/k/a Abby Dabby Doo or Abby Dabs,

You are the best dog we could ever have!  You won our hearts the first day we met you with your soft thick fur, your big beautiful brown eyes, your sweet personality, your curly fluffy tail, your big smile and your gentleness.  I am amazed at how well-behaved you were from the first day we met you.  You got along with our two cats just fine and fit right into our family with no problem at all. 

I love how all kinds of people are drawn to you.  It was so much fun taking you to dog training classes at PetSmart because you managed to make people laugh and still were the best at following commands most days.  You are so eager to please and easy to train.  We are so proud of you!  I love to watch you enjoy the outdoors and wish we had an area where you could run off leash like you did at the park the one day when the clasp broke off and you got in a good run.  I couldn’t believe how fast you could go and how happy you were that day! 

The bond you have with Gerard is heartwarming to me.  I know you will always be a daddy’s girl, but just hope you know how much I love you too.  I enjoy feeding you breakfast every morning and reviewing the commands you learned.  I like giving you big hugs and belly rubs too.  You are such a good dog and I am so glad we decided to look on Petfinder for you when we did.  You have certainly enriched our lives!

Addendum to letter--5/25/19:  We are so sorry you dislocated your shoulder January of 2017 and that you were in pain for a couple years.  You were so tough and stubborn and we just wanted to have as much time with you as possible.  It was so hard to watch you not be able to enjoy so many of the things you used to be able to do.  Yet, you were a trooper and still wanted to please us!  When you finally reached the place where you could not longer get up or walk through the house even, we knew it was time to say goodbye.  Tell Mr. Moe and Manny Boy we miss them too and say "hello" to them for us.  We know they would be ready to greet you as you cross the Rainbow Bridge.

Karen, Lucky Mom of a Rescue Dog

 (Karen's review 11-6-14, 5 stars)

A Letter to My Dog by Robin Layten is a collection of letters written by people to their dogs.  Some famous, some old, some young contributors all have one thing in common:  they love their dogs!  The pictures in this book alone are a reason to get this.  It is filled with full-page color glossy pictures of all kinds of dogs on every other page!  The letters are very touching, some funny, some sad.  If you are a dog lover, this is a must read!  I'm sure you can agree with most, if not all, of the letters.  I know I did!

What a great book to start off with for November!  I love you, Abby!
(Gerard's review 11-5-14, 5++ stars)

Also read and loved A Letter to My Cat.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Grumpy Bunny Goes to School" by Justine Korman

The Grumpy Bunny Goes to School by Justine Korman (illustrated by Lucinda McQueen) is a cute little children's book that caught my eye at a rummage sale.  I won't tell you why the bunny was grumpy, but I will say I think any teacher would enjoy this one!  It is about teaching creatively.  I enjoyed it very much!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Only Child" by Guojing is a Picture Fantasy Book

The Only Child by Guojing is fantasy which reflects the author’s feelings of growing up as an only child in China. The story is cute and I really enjoyed the pictures. There are no words, just pictures except for the author’s note at the beginning which explains the story. This is a debut book. Give it a chance, especially if you have a young child.
Gerard’s review, 4 stars)

I did not like this book at all! I didn’t think the pictures were all that great and thought the book was stupid. I sure wouldn’t buy it.
(Karen’s review, 1 star)

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"Harry Potter--The Character Vault" by Jody Revenson

Harry Potter--The Character Vault by Jody Revenson is like looking through a scrapbook of the world of Harry Potter.  This is quite an informative, interesting book about the behind-the-scenes work of the Harry Potter films.  It gives interesting facts about the costumes and props for the different characters as well as some feelings the actors expressed about their characters, roles and costumes.  I think anyone who is considering watching or has enjoyed watching the Harry Potter movies would find this book very interesting.  It has lots of pictures of movie scenes and two posters, one of death eaters and one of the Order of the Phoenix.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt is a Best Seller Children's book!

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt is a story told through letters to a little boy from crayons.  As soon as I started this book I was hooked because I wanted to see what each color had to say.  It's cute and liked how this book is told from lots of different point of views.  I think it would get young children to use different colored crayons instead of just one or two colors.  This is a short, fun read that shows what crayons think.   It has over 2500 reviews on Amazon, mostly 5 stars! My husband read this too, see his review below.
(Karen's review)

Duncan is a little boy who one day opened his crayon box and found a bunch of letters from his crayons.  Every now and then you need to read a kid's book.  I enjoyed this one very much!  Happy coloring!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"I Am Tama, Lucky Cat" (A Japanese Legend)

I Am Tama, Lucky Cat by Wendy Henrichs is about a kind Monk to brings in a cat and names it Tama.  In Japan, it is believed that when a cat washes his face, a guest will arrive.  (I didn't know that.  My cats wash their faces all the time and we don't get any guests.)  So, in the book, the cat brings luck. 

I was disappointed with this book.  The illustrations weren't all that cute and the story line was nothing exciting, just okay.  It is a picture book and I read it in five minutes.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

A Letter to My Cat—Notes to Our Best Friends by Lisa Erspamer is full of Cuteness!

A Letter to My Cat—Notes to Our Best Friends by Lisa Erspamer had this cat lover saying “AWW” on practically every page!  The full-page color pictures of cats are beautiful and the letters by their owners are heartwarming.  It is a collection of notes from cat owners, including some celebrities, to their cats.  It is a quick read and very enjoyable.   This is a wonderful book for any cat lover! 

(Karen's review, 5 stars)

 Our cats like this book to and highly recommend it since there were several pictures of cats that looked like them.

Gerard and I (and Abby, or dog) also loved A Letter to My Dog.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Posy" by Linda Newbery is a Cute Picture Book about a Kitten

Spunky Doodle reading POSY

Posy by Linda Newbery, illustrated by Catherine Rayner, is a cute picture book.  Little rhyming phrases describe a normal day in the life of Posy, the kitten.  Many of the descriptions apply to our cats so they loved this book!  Our cat, Spunky Doodle, was being the hissy spitter in our blog header for this week which was one of the descriptive phrases used in this book.  I liked it because of the clever rhyming phrases that describe cats in general as well as because many applied to our cats.
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(Karen's review, 4 stars) 

Spunky Recommends This One!

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Tuesday Tucks Me In by Luis Carlos Montalvan - Children's Book We Both Loved!

Tuesday Tucks Me In by Luis Carlos Montalvan is a juvenile non-fiction book about Luis, a vet, who came back home disabled.  Tuesday, his service dog, helps Luis through the day and tells the story.  The pictures in this book take you through a day with them.  I liked it.  Thank you for your service, Mr. Luis Montalvan and give Tuesday a treat and belly rub for me!  
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

I liked this book because it is both informative and heartwarming.  The pictures are touching and some humorous.  It's a wonderful children's book that teaches exactly what service dogs can do for vets.  I was amazed to learn that the dog recognizes 114 words!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!