Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon (4 books)

Stars: *****

If you are a UK reader, you may have already heard of Horrid Henry. The Horrid Henry series has sold over 15 MILLION copies in the UK and there is a TV show named after it as well.

Well good news, Horrid Henry has come to the USA.

I got to review the first four books in the series and there will be at least more more coming out before the end of the year.

When you're finished reading my reviews, check out the links for fun and educational materials related to Horrid Henry.

Each Horrid Henry book comes with 4 very short but very funny stories about Horrid Henry, his brother Perfect Peter, and his friends, classmates and family. The stories are intended for a Grade 2-5 audience but are especially great for boys and reluctant readers. The text is large and the words fairly simple yet it doesn't take away from the hilarity. I'm almost 26 and I was laughing! I read all four in one sitting.

Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon
"Horrid Henry's Perfect Day", "Horrid Henry's Dance Class", "Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret" and "Horrid Henry's Holiday."

Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy by Francesca Simon
"Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy", "Horrid Henry's Wedding", "Moody Margaret Moves In" and "Horrid Henry's New Teacher."

Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine by Francesca Simon
"Horrid Henry's Hike", "Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine", "Perfect Peter's Revenge" and "Horrid Henry Dines at Restaurant Le Posh."

Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb by Francesca Simon
"Horrid Henry Reads a Book", "Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb", "Horrid Henry's School Project" and "Horrid Henry's Sleepover."

I love all the people featured in the books, especially their names: Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, Moody Margaret, Lazy Linda, Jumpy Jeffrey, Rude Ralph, Clever Clare, Sour Susan, Weepy William and more!

Be sure to check out Horrid Henry's Facebook page to become a fan and be alerted to news.

Also Check Out:

Horrid Henry Teacher’s Guides
Horrid Henry Activity Book
Horrid Henry Maze Game
Glop Recipe Activity
Horrid Henry Word Search

Dump 'Em: How to Break Up with ANYONE from your BEST FRIEND to Your HAIRDRESSER by Jodyne L. Speyer

Stars: *****

Summary: I think the subtitle says it all. This book is NOT about breaking up with a spouse/partner but about breaking up with everyone else.

Here is a complete list of who's covered: Hairdresser, manicurist/waxer, trainer, therapist, neighbour, house guest, kid's friend's parents, landlord, friend, assistant, co-worker, boss, carpooler, family, nanny/babysitter, housekeeper, roommate, contractor, accountant, lawyer, doctor and mechanic. We can't forget the appendix which is Dumping Your Author. (very funny!)

This books is both helpful AND hilarious.

For each "person" on the dump list, the book follows a set layout. I've give examples from the Hairdresser one. (pages pg 3-15) The layout is as follows:

1. A funny cartoon picture with some "Signs It's Time to Dump Your _____" - such as: "Your smock is covered in dandruff... and it's not yours."

2. The author's experiences with the type of person

3. What she's learned from those experiences

4. "Laying the Groundwork" is some basic ideas to consider first - such as: "Make sure you have realistic expectations of what you hair can and cannot do. If you don't know, ask your hairdresser."

5. "How to Dump 'Em" are a few different ideas - such as Talk to the Hair(stylist), Musical Salon Chairs and 1-800-flowers.com. The main one includes steps to take - such as: "2. Acknowledge your discomfort: This is an awkward conversation to have."

6. "In a Pinch" will give you some more ideas if the first few didn't work - such as "Locks of Love"

7. A short interview with someone at least somewhat related to the chapter - such as Paul-Jean Jouve (Owner and Celebrity Hair Designer of Paul-Jean Salon in Beverly Hills) The answers again are both helpful and silly, depending on the interviewee.

8. "Dumpipedia" which has interesting tidbits of information - such as "The average life span of a strand of hair is between four and seven years."

This is the layout the book follows for each "person" to dump. I like when books keep a certain format, especially nonfiction books. It's because of that and the fact that the book is so helpful and yet so funny at the SAME time that I've given it five stars.

Thanks to HarperCollins for the opportunity to review Dump 'Em!

New Book Bloggers

*There are reviews coming soon, HONEST!*

In the meantime, visit these NEW Book Bloggers and show them some comment love!

Falling Off The Shelf - Just started this month! Beautifully designed and well thought out reviews!

Literaturely Speaking - Started this May, mostly fiction, especially paranormal.

Luxury Reading - not quite as new, started Jan 2009, book tours and giveaways

- if you've started a book blog in 2009, email me! callista83 AT cogeco DOT ca

Discussion to weigh in on...

Emily of Emily's Book Reviews is weighing in on what is important in a book review. I know we've discussed this before but wanted to point everyone that way in case they wanted to help her out: http://emilysreadingroom.blogspot.com/2009/06/reviews-whats-important.html

Back to my vacation...

I'm Reading...

I'm off at 5am to visit my brother by train. It's approximately a 3 1/2 hr ride so I hope to get a bunch of reading done. I've packed the following books:

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman

The Man's Book by Thomas Fink

Dump 'Em by Jodyne L. Speyer

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Writing for the Web by Crawford Kilian

As you can see I wanted variety. I'll let you all know Monday how it went!

Most Visited Reviews

First of all sorry to my regular readers for being practically non-existant. I've lost visitors on this blog and Callista's Ramblings because I've been busy working on my newer blog about mental health. I intend to work back up to regular posting.

For now though, I thought I'd share the top visited reviews in the past month:

1. The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland
2. Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
3. Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters by Bill Tancer
4. There Will Be Wolves by Karleen Bradford
5. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
6. The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson
7. Walking a Thin Line by Sylvia McNicoll
8. The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (pretty good considering I posted it June 10)
9. Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman
10. My First Year as a Teacher by Pearl Rock

So considering 7 of them are for tweens or teens, I will be trying to post more
t(w)een reviews in the upcoming months. Some to look forward to include:

Chanda's Wars by Allan Stratton
The Shifter by Janice Hardy
Secret Society by Tom Dolby
The Amanda Project: invisible i by Stella Lennon

Booking Through Thursday - Niche

I haven't participated in Booking Through Thursday for a while because I just haven't had anything interesting to say to the questions. But I love this week's and would have answered sooner but have been busy.

"There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.) But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that. What niche books do YOU read?"

I love parenting books and books about all kinds of psychology, sociology and cultural/gender issues. For example:

Cultural Issues:

In Your Face: The Culture of Beauty and You by Shari Graydon
Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price by Warren Blumenfeld

Gender Issues:

Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives by Rose Weitz

Fast Girls: Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut by Emily White

Psychology:

One Child by Torey L. Hayden

Sociology:

Click: What Millions of People Do Online and Why it Matters by Bill Tancer
Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment by James Garbarino
The Survivor's Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood
Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives by Richard Wiseman

Some of those are my early reviews and as such don't include book covers and are short, sorry. If you feel like buying any of those books, feel free to support me by buying through My Amazon Affiliate Link

YUM: Your Ultimate Manual for Good Nutrition by Daina Kalnins, MSC, RD

Stars: ****

Lobster Press 2008
Children's Non-fiction (9-15)

192 pages

Summary: YUM: Your Ultimate Manual, explains how you can get exactly what your body needs from the foods you eat, it also shows you how to become a label-reading pro, gives you delicious recipes and suggestions from kids just like you, and empowers you with great tools, including an action plan, that will help get you on the road to finding your own healthy body balance.

I thought this was a great manual for teens on nutrition. It covers everything you need to know from macro nutrients (like protein, carbs and fats) to micro nutrients (like vitamins and minerals.) Also included is how to read a food label, how to identify healthy foods and how food is processed throughout our body.

We get to follow the food from your mouth right through to when your body expels it. It's an interesting trip!

YUM is filled with fun facts and tips throughout and little quotes both from kids like you and from some celebrities.

Finally after learning all there is to learn the reader can take a pledge to eat better and then do a six month challenge to help you find and maintain your body balance.

Too Tall Alice by Barbara Worton

Stars: ***

ISBN: 978-0979066115
Great Little Books (March 2009)
Pages: 32

Summary: Alice (8 years old) is four inches taller than the other girls in her class. This is the story of how she realized that it's okay to be tall and that she can be whoever and whatever she wants to be.

The premise is good and the illustrations are different and interesting but it just wasn't as good as I was expecting. I'm not sure the specified age range for the book but the girl is 8 so with that knowledge and having read the book I'd say 8-12. My eldest child is only three but she seems to really like the book for some reason. I doubt she understands the material so I think it's the colourful illustrations and the Mermaid bed Alice has.

There is a lot of text; it's a fairly long picture book so an 8 year old would need help reading it, but would enjoy it. I personally am not fond of the font used, it's very "spazzy" and is bigger in some places. I found it a bit hard to read and anyone hard of seeing would find it difficult but I suppose it might appeal more to the intended age group. Also the book has a lot of dreaming in it, which I wasn't expecting and didn't necessarily like.

I never did understand picture books for children over 8 myself anyways though.

Official Website
Publisher's Website

Buy Too Tall Alice Now

Other's Reviews:
(whose I must admit are better reviews than mine this time at least)

Book 'Em Benj-o
Book Reviews by Bobbie

Booking Mama
Diary of an Eccentric
Pussreboots

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

Stars: ****

ISBN: 978-1-59051-313-2
Other Press (June 2009)
272 pages
Fiction, Dystopian
Originally Pub 2006 in Sweden as Enhet by Norstedts

Summary: In the world of The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, men over sixty years old and women over fifty—who are not engaged in “useful” professions, or are childless—are categorized as “dispensable,” and will enter a “Reserve Bank Unit” for biological material. Once inside, childless dispensables like fifty-year-old Dorrit Weger can live out their days in comfort, while they contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and donate their healthy organs, little by little, until making their final donation. Despite its undercurrent of ruthlessness however, the prevailing ethos of the Unit—and the society beyond—is to take care of others.
Resigned to her fate, Dorrit lives out her days in the Unit with peace and consolation. But when she meets a man inside and falls in love, Dorrit is faced with questions that challenge her at the very core of her identity; with the overtones leading to her ultimate decision: Escape or comply.

I haven't read many Dystopian novels but I do like The Giver by Lois Lowry and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley although I do agree the latter can be hard to digest. But I love how creative the authors are at thinking up a way that some people might think is the "best" way for us to live in the future.

Usually when new books come into my house, they go on my shelf in the order they came in. I don't always read them in order but I try to read the ones that have been here longer first. Well I started reading this one the day it came, it didn't even make it to the shelf. I love the cover and that and the summary are what drew me in.

Dorrit is the main character in the book but there are a bunch of other secondary characters that we see a lot of. Many of the character names are unusual, but I suppose "popular" names chance with the times and this is the future. There are quite a range of names, from highly unusual, to uncommon to old fashioned. Other names include Elsa, Vivi, Johannes, Alice, Kjell, Fredrick, Petra, Boel and more. We were shown a lot of the before-life of Dorrit but I would have liked to have heard more about the before-life of other characters such as Johannes and Elsa.

There are many themes running throughout the book including but not limited to ageism, what makes us needed and identity. I'm not good at explaining this so I'll quote the press release which says it beautifully:

"Based on her own experiences, Swedish author Ninni Holmqvist delves into the nature of the female psyche, exploring its struggle to find an identity in the face of culturally-defined relevance, ageism, and gender roles based on child-bearing. Holmqvist has achieved a debut novel of humor, sorrow and tenderness, while exploring the bonds of love and friendship in a utilitarian existence, cynically disguised as compassion.

The Unit raises poignant questions that may finally receive their fair share of the spotlight as the Baby Boom Generation faces retirement en masse. Submitted for your review or profile feature consideration."

Now as for plot, I think it could have been handled better. The beginning did an okay job of wheeling me in but the first page could have been better at grabbing me. I think first lines are important and "It was more comfortable than I could have imagined." fell a bit short. Also with adult fiction, I find the good books have me reading the last third non-stop, where I can't put it down or look away for a second because it's so good. I didn't have anywhere near as strong a pull with this book. I read the middle third all together but the end had me slowing down a bit. The end shocked me though, but not necessarily in a good way. I would have preferred a different ending.

Overall though I did enjoy the book, it's quite different from what I generally read as I don't make much time for fiction but I'm glad I read it. I prefer nonfiction because I like to think and learn but this fiction novel definitely had be thinking as well, weighing their system of being/working in my head and trying to think of a way it could work and still be within my moral system.

Buy The Unit Now

Other Reviews:

Read a Canadian Book Month

Are you participating in the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge?

I just wanted to pass along this message from John, about the amount of books collectively read for this challenge:

"Now with just 47 books to go to reach 1000 (which is just amazing-- thank you so much!), I want to really push it his last month. If every participant just reads one book this month, we'll easily reach this goal. But just in case, I want to make June Read A Canadian Book Month. So, even if you've completed the challenge already, please read just one more! Pretty please! Pretty please with a Canadian cherry on top! And if you were going to read a Canadian book this month anyway, I challenge you to read two. Come on! I need your help here! Steal this logo and push Canadian books on all your friends!"

Mailbox Monday - June 1

Here's what's come in the past two weeks both through the mailbox and when I went book shopping. Last week I got 9 books which is the most I've ever got in one week!

See what others got this week at The Printed Page.

In the mailbox two weeks ago:

Circle of Friends Book III: James by L. Diane Wolfe
This is a review copy I got from the author. It will be released by Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. August 2009. It's YA fiction and is part of a series.

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
I am so excited about this one. My favourite author! It's long compared to what I normally read but I think I'll be okay since it's Alice Hoffman! Thanks to Shaye Areheart Books which is a imprint of Crown Publishing which is a divsion of Random House. Phew! (Due out June 2/09)

Finding Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen by Noel Montgomery Elliot

A cold request from Firefly Books. It's a Genealogy book that focus on using the internet to do research. It not only talks about what's available now but what will be available in the future and has an extensive World Wide Web Directory with websites in more than 200 countries and websites pertaining to religious and ethnic groups.

Via the bookbag (bought at thrift and discount stores):

Man of Steel: The Career and Courage of Christopher Reeve by Adrian Havill (1996)
BackTalk: 4 Steps to Ending Rude Behaviour in Your Kids (1998)
Raising a Daughter *Revised* by Jeanne Elium & Don Elium (2003)
Barron's Spanish Visual Language Guide (2001)
Love Juice by Donna Exeter (Erotica) If I like it, I'll try for the Erotica Reading Challenge

In the mailbox last week:

Do the Web Write: Writing for and Marketing Your Website by Dan Furman (with CD-ROM) AND
Writing for the Web by Crawford Kilian

I got these both from Self-Counsel Press and they're about just what they say.

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD

This is supposed to be like Stuffed (which I haven't reviewed yet) but for all of North America and is from McClelland and Stewart.

The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasselbeck
From Center Street at Hachette, there will be a giveaway to go with it.

Two to Six: A Sex Offender's Story by James P. Cornelio

From Bostick Communications. I know this is the type of book many of you would never read. The author was arrested and charged with crimes alleging child sexual abuse. This is his story of how he copes with those charges and seeks to uncover the truth about his crime, his life and himself. As the back of the book states: "Only you can decide if he does so with the searing honesty such a quest demands."

The Shifter by Janice Hardy (The Healing Wars: Book 1)
From Balzer + Bray, an Imprint of HarperCollinsChildren. It's an ARC for ages 10 and up. I suppose it's fantasy.

Secret Society by Tom Dolby

From HarperTeen. It's also an ARC, YA obviouslly and about just what it says, a secret society.

invisible i (The Amanda Project) by Stella Lennon

From HarperTeen. It's also an ARC, YA and is about a girl named Amanda who disappears and when her friends try to find her, they find out that Amanda isn't exactly who they thought she was. The above three were surprises!

The NDD Book by William Sears, MD

From Little, Brown from Hachette, there will also be a giveaway attached to this one. It's about Nutrition Deficit Disorder, how it affects your child and what you can do about it - without drugs.

Buy Now

Pre-Order