The Hug Machine by Scott Campbell
Publisher: Atheneum Books | August 2014
Age: Preschool – 2nd Grade | 40 pages
This endearing story encourages a warm, caring, and buoyantly affectionate approach to life. Everyone deserves a hug—and this book!
The Hug Machine is an adorable book about a little boy who loves to give hugs. He is so good at hugging that he calls himself ‘The Hug Machine’. Nothing is too big or too small – or even too prickly – to receive a hug. And how does the Hug Machine get all that energy to keep hugging? Pizza, of course!
With only a small amount of text and many fun illustrations, this cute picture book is aimed at pre-school through second grade children.
I realize the little boy is hugging everyone and everything in town and indiscriminate hugging is not a good thing to teach a young child. However, I liked this book enough to assume that he knew all the people he was hugging and his parents were OK with it, so it was all good – and besides, this a book to be read with the very young, and an ensuing discussion about who to hug would be most appropriate.
Rating: 4½ stars
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through AmazonVine.
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While on an outing with my bird club a few weeks ago, I watched a Downy Woodpecker on a small tree trunk vigorously pecking away at the bark. He kept creeping lower and lower.
Since this is a common bird that can be seen year-round across the US and Canada, I don’t usually get too excited to see one. But this bird was almost oblivious to my presence. The bugs in the tree must have been delicious because he didn’t care that I was creeping closer and closer until I was able to get this shot.
Male Downy Woodpecker
Friendly Birds
Downy Woodpeckers don’t mind people and will readily come to backyard feeders. The bird in my photo is a male. Males and females look alike except for a red patch on the back of the head of the male.
Before I lost my mature elm trees several years ago to Dutch Elm disease, I had several families of woodpeckers in those trees everyday. They mainly eat insects and loved the beetle larvae in the bark of the sick trees. They still visit my peanut and suet feeders, but I don’t see them as often anymore.
This post is linked to Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy.
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A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
Publisher: Penguin Audio | September 2014
Format: Audio Download | 9 hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country’s most famous museum of medical oddities.
Imagine living in a time when there were no antibiotics and the slightest infection could kill you; even worse, there was no anesthesia and only the most desperate patients even attempted to have surgery. Compound that with no sterilization of instruments, doctors that didn’t believe they needed to wash their hands, bloodletting and leeches used as a ‘cure’, and you get an idea of the world in which Thomas Mütter practiced medicine.
The author provides an interesting and compelling look at both the history of modern medicine and the life of Thomas Mütter, a pioneer in medical innovation. I was surprised I had not previously heard of Mütter and his many innovations and learned that he is mostly known for the Mütter Museum and its collection of anatomical specimens, medical instruments and medical history.
Audio production:
Narrated by Erik Singer, the book was an easy and entertaining listen. The only downside was that I couldn’t look at the illustrations included in the text as I listened.
For those that prefer the printed word, the book is also available as an enhanced eBook which includes over one hour of audio in which author Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz shares facts, stories and insights about Dr. Mütter and his contemporaries that she discovered in her research but didn’t make it into the book.
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Source: Review copy provided by Penguin Audio and Gotham Books.
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The Clairvoyant of Calle Ocho
by Anjanette Delgado
Narrated by Roxanne Hernandez
Genre: Contemporary/Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone | Kensington | August 2014
Format: Audio Download: 9½ hours | Print 288 Pages
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4 of 5
About the Book:
Two divorces have taught Mariela Estevez that she’s better suited to being a mistress than a wife. Whose heart needs all that forever after trouble? Still, her affair with her married lover, Hector, has become problematic especially because he’s also a tenant in her apartment building in the heart of Miami’s Calle Ocho in Little Havana. But when Hector is found dead just steps from Mariela’s back door, on the eve of her fortieth birthday, she’s forced to examine her life and come up with a plan to save it, fast.
My Thoughts:
After divorcing two cheating husbands, Mariela decides marriage is not for her and, ironically, feels it’s better to be the other woman. Thinking it would be less complicated, she vows to only have affairs with married men; however, she soon discovers that this has it’s own set of problems – not the least of which is that her current lover, Hector, is now dead and she is a prime suspect.
Soon after Hector’s death, Mariela begins to have clairvoyant visions. It had been years since she had been able to ‘see’ things, a gift she inherited from her mother. Now she is having visions of others tenant’s secrets – bits and pieces that could help her put together the events of Hector’s death and clear her name.
Even though Mariela has made some bad choices in her life, she is a likable character who learns and grows from her experiences. Filled with clever, witty dialog, a cast of colorful characters, and set in the vibrant Cuban culture in Little Havana, this was a charming and delightful read. A little bit chic-lit, a puzzling mystery, some mysticism and a lot of fun – I quickly flew through the story not wanting it to end.
Audio production:
The narration, performed by Roxanne Hernandez, was a pleasure to listen to. She moved at a brisk, but steady, pace making for an engaging listen. Her voices for the characters were fun and full of life and, while there were more than a few characters to remember, her distinctive voices made them stand out. The dialog had Spanish words and phrases scattered throughout and it was nice to hear, rather than read them. I alternated between print and audio, but in the end found it a delightful and easy book to listen to – and one I would recommend to those new to the audio format.
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Source: Review copy
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Even though garden season has come to an end, I still have a few pots of begonia blooming in my backyard – a small reminder of summer. Over the past week almost everything has been cleaned up and tucked away in the shed for the winter, but I try to keep a few plants as long as I can… or until it snows. Here are last week’s new books…
New Arrivals
Saving Grace by Jane Green from Tandem Literary and St. Martin’s Press.
Powerful and riveting, Saving Grace will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow Grace on her harrowing journey to rock bottom and back.
The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma by Diane Fox from AmazonVine and Scholastic Press.
A comical twist on “Little Red Riding Hood” told by Cat and Dog!
The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford from William Morrow and AmazonVine.
A story of marriage, murder and madness, The Pocket Wife explores the world through the foggy lens of a woman on the edge.
How was your week?
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A Rapid Review
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
Publisher: Random House Audio | October 2014
Format: Audio Download | 7¼ hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy
In this revolutionary, Joycean experiment in light celebrity narrative, actor/personality/carbon-based-life-form Neil Patrick Harris lets you, the reader, live his life. Even better, at each critical juncture of your life you will choose how to proceed. Choose correctly and you’ll find fame, fortune, and true love. Choose incorrectly and you’ll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas.
This was clever, original, funny, occasionally R-rated and, above all, entertaining. It’s written in the form of a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book and you, the reader, decide what path to take next. Some of the ‘alternate endings’ to Neil’s life were laugh-out-loud hysterical, often ending with a failed career choice or his untimely death.
For those who like celebrity gossip there are nice stories about Elton John, a crazy story about Anne Heche and a funny – or maybe scary – one about Scott Caan, to name a few. Other than a little too many magic tricks – not much fun in audio – it was a delight.
Audio production:
Neil narrates his life story as only he can, and often talks about himself in the second person. The audiobook is arranged slightly different from the print. Since the listener can’t choose what page to jump to, we instead listen to each scenario and then after a slight pause Neil tells us what’s up next and to stay tuned for more. A very entertaining 7 hours and an easy listen.
Audio Sample:
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Source: Review copy provided by Random House Audio.
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How to Behave at a Tea Party
by Madelyn Rosenberg
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books | September 2014
Julia’s little brother doesn’t know how to behave at a tea party. It’s time that changed.
Julia will show Charles that slurping and burping are not allowed, that teacups are not building blocks, and that underwear does not count as a fancy hat.
Charles will teach Julia that tea parties sometimes require deep breaths, and welcoming unexpected guests, and that maybe–just maybe–there is more than one way to properly behave.
Julia invites her brother, Charles, to her tea party, but when his friends show up along with the dog, who wants to eat the peonies, and a frog that jumps in the teacups, the party becomes a disaster. No one is listening to an increasingly bossy Julia and, in frustration, she yells and sends them all scurrying away. But you can’t have a tea party without guests, so Julia tries again and re-invites her brother and lets him bring his friends.
The book is only 32 pages long with cute and often humorous illustrations. There is not a lot of text with only a sentence or two on each page. The book is intended for preschool children and beginning readers. Besides teaching etiquette and manners, Julia also learns tolerance and acceptance of others. And, I suppose, a glimpse of what it’s like in the real world. I would have liked it a little more if it taught the same lesson without using stereotypical ‘girl’ behavior vs ‘boy’ behavior.
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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