Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff

It is another rushed day to get out of the house and catch the school bus for Meg and her brother Morris. Strange that Morris give Meg a powdered doughnut to eat, but it is food!

Strange things start to happen after she eats it. Seems she has developed special powers. In class, when book reports are to be turned in, Meg realizes that she hasn't done hers. She wishes that she had it and voila! She finds that what she wishes for she gets.

This power can be fun, but there are also some not so fun things that come with it.

I bought this and another to send to my great-gran who is learning to read. I thought it sounded fun and I was not disappointed. It is a chapter book with illustrations, and I think it could be read to a young child if they weren't at the reading level for this book. Fun!… (mehr)

Not a bad read, all in all. _Rosemary_ is much more thorough, well-written, and historic-in-place. Ms. Koehler-Pentacoff writes ametuerly, telling a family story that happens to include a relative taking care of lobotomized Rosemary Kennedy, and she is not good at keeping things in order, timewise, skipping whole chunks of time - for instance, from explaining that Joe Kennedy ordered the lobotomy & kept it from the rest of the family to various members of the family spending huge chunks of time with her. No mention of how that came to be, what had happened in the interim. Even an "after Joe's death, blah blah found out & so & so went to see Rosemary . . . " couple of paragraphs would have been helpful. -- That said, this still fills in tidbits - gossipy tidbits- the other leaves out. -- All in all, an interesting read, but if one really wants to know the Rosemary Kennedy story, one will read _Rosemary_.… (mehr)

This book explores the adventures of John Muir to Alaska, who was a naturalist, conservationist, writer, and explorer. John Muir travels to the glaciers in Alaska with a dog name Stickeen. Throughout the book, their journey becomes very grueling as they struggle to get back to their camp. The illustrations in this book are well done as it captures the reader's attention of the harsh winter that helps the reader to visualize the characters' struggles throughout the journey in the glaciers. Themes like endurance and courage are covered in this picture book and I like how it is illustrated through the endurance and courage John Muir and his dog companion has gone through by traveling to the glaciers back to their camp. All in all, it was adventurous and informative to read about the journey of John Muir and his exploration in the glaciers in Alaska.… (mehr)