June 2013 – Booktalking #kidlit

Kiss, Kiss, Bark!

Kiss, Kiss, Bark!
by Kim Williams Justesen (Author)

Booktalk: Mattie has a couple of dilemmas. First (sigh), her parents are making her babysit her humiliating younger brother nearly nonstop. What could BE more awful than the constant company of a 4-year-old brother who acts like a dog? Then, her best friend’s brother begins to show serious interest in her. Mattie thinks all her prayers have come true, that is, until her best friend Livvy stops returning her phone calls. Is this how a best friend should act?

Snippet: Recently Donny has decided that he’s a dog. Mom and Dad play along with it. If I had tried this when I was four, they would have sat me down and had a long conversation about how dogs are dogs and people are people, and I couldn’t be a dog because I was a people, and I didn’t have fur or a tail or paws.

But that was then, this is Donny.

Tyrannosaurus Dad

Tyrannosaurus Dad
by Liz Rosenberg (Author) and Matthew Myers (Illustrator)

Booktalk: What’s forty feet long, fifteen feet high and wears a necktie? (Tobias’ Dad! He is, after all, a Tyrannosaurus.)

Snippet:
With Tyrannosaurus Dad around, he never felt afraid of spiders or strange noises at night, Still he couldn’t help wishing his father would be — well, a little more part of things. His dad was always, always working.

My Dad Thinks He’s Funny

My Dad Thinks He’s Funny
by Katrina Germein (Author) and Tom Jellett (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The perfect gift for anyone whose dad makes them laugh — or roll their eyes.

Snippet:
My dad thinks he’s funny.
Whenever I say, “I’m hungry,”
Dad says, “Hello, Hungry.
Pleased to meet you.”