Two Great Dog Stories

Rover and the Dog Hotel by Uncle Amos
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Source: I received a copy from the author to help facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Rover lived with a wonderful family. they had taught him so much. He fixed their breakfast, helped them get dressed and out the dor for work and school.  One day they decided to take a vacaton to Bermuda.  Rover had to stay behind.  Mrs. Rhone found the cheapest dog hotel she could find. Finally the family left him to get to the dog hotel on their own.  Rover found life completely different at the dog hotel.  He was having a wonderful time.  He met a lovely female dog.  The Rhone family were not having as much fun on their vacation.  Without Rover around to do things for them, things began to fall apart. The children insisted they return home immediately to see their dog Rover.  The parents realized their vacation was ruined and had no choice but to return.  The children missed Rover so much.  The question is, did rover miss them? Another great book by Uncle Amos.

Dog's Coffee Shop by Uncle Amos and Edith Ordan
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Source: I received a copy from the author to help facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This was a very creative look at role reversal. Instead of people getting together to talk about their pets, dogs gather at a cafe to discuss their humans. Mr. Golden Retriever talks about how trained his humans are. Mrs. Collie sees her job of guarding the family as more important than going to the park. Mr. Akita's owner ties him us and fees him kibble.  He has been working hard to train his human. He sees it as a work in progress. When Miss Dachshund declares she has no owners, because they moved and left her behind, the dog club decides to hel pher find a home. you must read this book to find out if they were successful. Any child reading this book will be able to visualize the dogs as almost human. This is another must read book from Uncle Amos.

Lady Emma in Her World of Wonder – Martha M. Harrison

Genre:  Children’s Picture Book

Source:  I received a copy from the publisher to help facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Amazon:

Lady Emma is a young girl whose adventures lead her to missteps and mistakes. She tumbles and jumbles and falls out of her boat. She falls under a bridge and under a witch's spell. She faces dragons and ogres. As her father guides her gently through life and she finds a prince, she ultimately learns that she must fix-up her own mix-ups before she can find her dreams. The character Lady Emma indirectly emerged from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

My Thoughts:

This is a wonderful book to share with your young daughters.   As Emma grows up she goes through several trials.   Throughout the story her father is the one who comes to her rescue.  As she grows up and marries it is her prince who protects her.  Both her father and her prince have taught her that she can think things through and stand on her own.  This is a wonderful lesson to teach all young girls.  We need more books like this to encourage them.  Our daughters need to learn that they are not helpless creatures. This is a book to teach them just that.  The pictures are wonderful and convey the message as much as the words do.  I recommend this book especially because the author has not dumbed it down with the words she used.  Great book.

Nerd Camp and Nerd Camp 2.0 Elisa Bren Weissman

Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction
Source: Purchased

Nerd Camp Blurb:
Ten-year-old Gabe has just been accepted to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment. That means he’ll be spending six weeks at sleepaway camp, writing poetry and perfecting logic proofs. SCGE has been a summer home of some legendary middle-school smarty-pants (and future Jeopardy! contestants), but it also has a reputation for being, well, a nerd camp. Gabe isn’t a nerd. Is he? He’s never thought about it much, but compared to Zack, his hip, soon-to-be-stepbrother from LA, Gabe’s not so sure where he falls on the cool scale. A wild summer at camp—complete with a midnight canoe ride to Dead Man’s Island—helps Gabe realize that he and Zack may be different, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be brothers…and friends.

My Thoughts:
Gabe was such a fun character. He'd always wanted a brother. He knew with his parents divorced that was not going to happen. Then he learns his dad is getting remarried and he's going to have a brother after all. There is one problem. His new brother thinks learning over the summer is stupid and Gabe is going to a camp for nerds. he spends so much time trying to keep Zack from knowing he's a nerd. He's so worried about being a kid and fitting in. This would be great for my students because they all want to fit in.  Gabe actually sets things up complete with a problem: "Am I a nerd who only has nerdy adventures?" and a hypothesis, "No". He decides there are things he can tell Zack such as, "Wesley (his bunk mate) says amazing things in his sleep."  Then there is the actual truth he can't tell Zack. Wesley, "solves math problems and brain teasers" in his sleep.  When Zack comes to pick Gabe up what will Zack truly think of his new brother?

Nerd Camp 2.0 Blurb:
Gabe is happily headed back to Nerd Camp, but can he handle a cool-kid invasion?

For Gabe, the equation for ideal summer bliss equals six glorious weeks of vigorous learning immersion at the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment; aka, Nerd Camp. Last year was amazing, and this summer will be even better.

At least, that's what Gabe thinks until a new variable is introduced: Zack, Gabe's cool stepbrother, was supposed to attend a camp nearby, but in the aftermath of a recent wildfire, Zack's camp and nerd camp will be sharing territory. As these two very different worlds collide, will both camps - and both stepbrothers - survive the summer?

My Thoughts:
Zack doesn't always understand Gabe and his nerdiness, but he has accepted him.  When Gabe helps Zack convince his parents that they should let him go to sleep away camp Gabe is excited for Zack. A wildfire changes things for both boys.  Zack's campgrounds and most of the buildings are destroyed.  Gabe's camp extends the hand of welcome to the other camp. They are going to share their campground.  Both Gabe and Zack learn that it will be more difficult than they think.  To start with the "cool" kids try to rule the camp, bullying the nerds.  Then the "nerds" decide to take back the camp. The battles go back and forth.  The one common denominator in all of this is Zack and Gabe.  Zack has discovered he loves to cook.  He is even becoming quite nerdy about it.  He overhears his brother make a comment about him and it hurts him.  He seeks revenge against his brother.  When things once again get out of hand Zack decides he must set things right and find a way to stop the camps from destroying each other. 

This was full of fun, and practical jokes.  There is something here that everyone can relate to.  Most importantly for me was the message that ran through about accepting each other's differences.  I loved this book and can't keep it on my shelves at school.  This should be a must read in all middle schools.