The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate

 

Genre: Middle Grade, Animals

Source: I purchased a copy

The One and Only Ruby is the third book in the four book series written by Katherine Applegate.  The book tells the story of Ruby, the elephant we meet in the first book, “The One and Only Ivan.”  Ruby was a very small elephant when we was brought to the “The Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade”. She lived there with a larger elephant named Stella, Ivan the Gorilla and their friend Bob the dog.”

Ruby now lives in the zoo next  to Ivan.  She is not happy that she has tusks, even if they are small. She dreads having to give a speech about what Tuskday means to her. She sees no use for tusks. Maybe this is because she has seen what happens to elephants when poachers want those tusks. As she tries to work her way through her feelings leading up to Tuskday she tells her story to Ivan, his mate Kinyani, and Bob. Through this story we learn about Ruby and her life in Africa and the herd she was a part of. We learn of her joys and her sadness. Along the way we see Ruby mature and grow and actually become a part of the herd she is with at the zoo.

I was so excited when this book came out. Just as excited as when I read the first two books, “The One and Only Ivan”, and “The One and only Bob”. This book, like the others is an emotional read. It is one that I will never forget.

Student Saturday: Connecting Dots: Poems of my Journey by David L. Harrison

Genre: Children, Poetry
Student Reviewer: Aleah F.

"Connecting Dots” is a poetry book. The reason I like this book is because it is a book of poems about his life. He had lots of pictures he loved, and he always wrote poems about his life. His life was very difficult. His high school year was fun. He played basketball and always tried the best he could. He would always shoot the ball and miss the basket, but he never gave up. He kept going. He did not care who was in the crowd watching him. All he was worried about was if he was getting somewhere in life. 

The lesson he learned was that it's okay to miss the basket but never put that down on yourself. People would always laugh at him, but the lesson he learned was never to care what people thought about him.

After he was done with a basketball game, he was surprised with a puppy, and his teammates were so proud of him. The teammates told him to go outside right after the game, so he did. His coach was outside and told him to close his eyes; when the coach told him to open his eyes and when he did, his coach had a black and white dog for him. 

 After he did all of that, he went home and got puppy love from his new puppy named Freckles.

I would recommend this book to people who like basketball, and to those who believe they should never give up.

I Am A Big Sister by KidsUp

Genre: Children's Picture Book

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

What a wonderful book to read with your soon to be big sister, or even your soon to be big brother. It puts a positive spin on being an older sibling. The story takes you through the things your child can do to help take care of your new baby. Instead of feeling left out they become a very important part of the help with the new baby.  I didn't have a book like this when my second child was born. However, we sat down nightly with our son and talked about the things he could do to help with his new sister when she was born. There was no feelings of being left out. He took his "job" seriously. Before she was born he talked to her in my tummy nightly and kissed it and told her good night. The funny thing is, he was the only one who could calm her down. She recognized his voice. They maintain that closeness today, forty years later.  

This is a must read book for all new to be brother or sister.