Copyright © 2009
CreateSpace
$ 8.50 Paperback
$ 1.99 Kindle edition & Smashwords edition
248 pages

We first met Tiff Banks in Along Came a Demon. During the course of the first book, Tiff Banks is established as a person with the ability to talk with ghosts, who are referred to as shades. Tiff used her gift to assist the Clarion Police Department with murder investigations. That career came to an abrupt halt when she accused one of Clarion PD’s golden boys, Royal Mortenson, of being a murderer based on the say so of the ghost of a little boy. The actual murderer was Royal’s brother, who looks so much like him Tiff had difficulty in telling them apart, so she couldn’t blame the shade of a little boy for getting it wrong. The police department was a little less forgiving. And Tiff didn’t even tell the police department that Royal is a demon. Okay, so that is what Tiff has been calling those beings which have metallic looking hair, glittering eyes, and pointy teeth. Although, Royal has had his teeth capped.

Since Royal is now Tiff’s lover and partner in the detective agency they have opened, Tiff learned Royal is actually a Gelpha. But she continues to think of him and others of his kind as demons. The Demon Hunters opens with a comic scene in which Tiff convinces Royal to go after a kidnapped cat for the reward money, because she was feeling the pinch of being out of a semi-regular consulting fee. After speaking with a rather nasty ghost called Freddy, they got a lead on where the catnappers were located. Tiff then uses her bad-tempered Scottie, MacKlutzy to bring the catnapper out of the apartment while Royal, who has the ability to move at lightning speed, rushed in and out with the cat. Having little dogs of my own, I identified with the description of MacKlutzy squaring off with the catnapper.

If there’s one thing Mac hates worse than cats, it’s being threatened. He recognized that tone of voice. Terriers are fearless. They literally do not perceive any distinction in size or bulk. Something stood between him and a cat and that something threatened him. Mac attacked.

Following this fun, lighthearted case, Royal calls Tiff to come meet some new clients, Gia Sabato and Daven Clare. Gia Sabato just happens to be an enormously successful author who sprang out of nowhere eighteen months prior to the start of the story. Tiff is surprised when the case ends up being about the abduction of a Clarion Latino former gangsta, who is the lover of Gia Sabato. Tiff doesn’t really like her new clients and suspects them of being Gelpha in disguise. On top of that Royal is acting very strange and keeping secrets from her. Add to the intrigue, the mysterious arrival of a nineteenth century journal kept by a fifteen year old British girl on the travels to Burma, and you have a case getting more bizarre by the moment.

When Gia and Daven unexpectedly arrive at Tiff’s house and waltz right in, Jack and Mel, Tiff’s resident ghosts, go ballistic and try to attack them and force them to leave. And even stranger, MacKlutzy, who never met an ankle he didn’t want to bite, runs away from them as quickly as he can and acts scared out of his wits. Even though she is the one who hired Royal and Tiff to find Rio, Gia Sabato doesn’t want Tiff to have too much information about the disappearance. Frustrated by being kept in the dark by her clients, and fearful her relationship with Royal could be on the way out, Tiff just wants this case to be over. Once Tiff finally gets them to let her in on what is really going on, she finds out someone is seeking out and killing demons and their Dark Cousins. No one will tell Tiff exactly what a Dark Cousin is, but she quickly figures out that they really don’t get along with Gelpha and that it is taboo to even mention what a dark cousin is. Join Tiff and Royal on their hair-raising adventure to find The Demon Hunters.

I first read The Demon Hunters toward the beginning of the year, put together a draft of the review and scheduled it. Linda Welch contacted me and requested we postpone the review as she was making some changes to the manuscript. I was very interested in seeing what those changes might entail. Being a confirmed tweaker of my own novels, I completely understood the request and tried to wait patiently for the changes to be completed. Before I received the revised manuscript, I noticed the cover had been changed. The original cover is depicted to the right, and I think the cover pictured at the top of this review is a definite improvement. After reading the book, I understood what the original cover illustrated, but I don’t think it would have immediately grabbed the attention of potential readers.

The bulk of the changes to the actual content of the book are additional scenes which definitely add to the overall story. There is an added scene which takes the reader back to the first time Tiff ever saw a ghost. This was good back story information, and something I had been wondering about. Since Tiff didn’t see ghosts until she was an adult, the shock of it had to have an impact. Welch also takes the time to tie up a loose end or two from the first novel in the series, as well as building some additional animosity between Tiff and her client, Gia Sabato. All in all, the revisions were definitely worthwhile, and worth the wait for the now completed product.

The first time I read The Demon Hunters, it was in PDF format on my laptop. This time, I transferred the PDF to my Kindle to read it. The PDF conversion did okay for the most part, but there were a few issues, such as anything in italics appeared to have removed the appropriate spacing. Any dashes showed up as some sort of character in a box, and some of the formatting was off, such as paragraph indents, and some carriage return issues. Nothing significant enough to drive me back to the laptop to read the book. One of the benefits of using the Kindle to read the book over the PDF format is the ability to highlight text and input some notes, so I was able to bring up my notes to help me construct the review, a very useful feature.

Linda Welch pens her characters with authority, and you are instantly taken into the world of Tiff Banks and her demon lover, Royal. Her story contains action from start to finish. You feel like you know Tiff from the instant you pick up the book and want to stay with her as she jets all over this world and through otherworlds in search of answers. I’ll be anxiously waiting for the next installment in the Whisperings series.

To preivew The Demon Hunters, click the Read Now button below:

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review.

Tilbee Toadlet’s Trip to Town

Illustrations by MikeMotz.com

Copyright © 2008

$ 12.97 Paperback
$ 5.00 Download

20 pages full color

ISBN: 978-0-9822542-6-4

We first encountered the delightful writing of P.J. Cowan in March with the review of Michael O’Brien and the Magic Hat. I was pleased to be able to request another book from Ms. Cowan and asked for her selection. Tilbee Toadlet’s Trip to Town was the book she sent stating it is one of her personal favorites. I always enjoy a chance to read an author’s favorite work, and I certainly was not disappointed.

The title alone had me captured. Even the dedication at the beginning gives you a picture of the author as a warm and loving person.

For all parents and children who love small amphibians and protect the friendly creatures by making their yards and gardens a safe place for them to live and thrive.

Tilbee toadlet was captured as a tadpole by Finny Fain, and raised in an aquarium with his brothers and sisters in Finny’s room, until he grew legs. Every night Frances Fain, Finny Fain’s mother would come in and read bedtime stories to Finny. Tilbee loved hearing the stories and his greatest ambition was to be in a story himself. After hearing the story of the princess and the frog, Tilbee became determined that he would leave the Fain farm so that he could be in a story and maybe even turn into a prince one day. After all, he wasn’t much use as a toadlet.

Tilbee saw his chance when farmer Frank Fain was on his way into town and Tilbee hitched a ride on farmer Frank’s foot. Once in town, Tilbee is captured by Cameron Carter and given to his father, third grade teacher, Carl Carter and taken to school. Mr. Carter gave his class an assignment to write a story about a toad. Tilbee was thrilled. It was his dream come true. He was finally going to be in not only one story, but in many stories. He could hardly wait until school started the next day.

Things didn’t work out exactly as Tilbee had planned as none of the children knew his name and the stories weren’t even about him. And the stories didn’t change who he was. Tilbee realized that he had made a big mistake and wanted to go back home to the farm. Tilbee made it back to the farm and realized there were some lessons learned.

Maybe he did change. He learned that running away wasn’t very smart. He learned that toads can’t become princes. He learned the difference between a story and reality. He learned that the Fain family knew his name; and they really appreciated him. Tilbee Toadlet learned that being a toad isn’t such a bad thing and that he was useful after all.

I truly enjoy alliteration in children’s books which are meant to be read out loud. While I was reading, I could hear the voice of the author in my head reading it out loud. The illustrations come from MikeMotz.com and enhance this delightful story by bringing the words to life with colorful pictures depicting the action. I know that my soon-to-be three year old neice will be enchanted with the story of Tilbee (rumor has it that Grammy may be purchasing it for her soon), and it will be one of the night after night selections for the favored bedtime story.

About The Author

PJ Cowan writes children’s books during fall and winter and is an avid gardener during the spring and summer. She knows Tilbee well, he came to live in her pond three springs ago and stayed to raise a family. She can distinguish his voice from the other amphibians that visit her pond during mating season and hopes he will live a long life and stick around for awhile longer.

Originially reviewed for the LL Book Review.
____________________________________________________________________________
LK Gardner-Griffie
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The LL Book Review

Copyright © 2008

$ 7.50 Paperback
$ 2.50 Download

48 pages

ISBN: 978-0-615-18718-1

Crosswords, acrostics, logic problems, word search, all of these were a big part of my youth. I could spend hours with a puzzle book figuring out the answers and filling them in. Sudoku had not yet come into vogue, or I’m sure I would have spent many a pleasurable hour working on those as well. With More Kindergarten Sudoku: 4×4 Classic Sudoku Puzzles for Kids I got my first taste of Sudoku and was able to enjoy for the first time what has become all the rage in puzzle books. For the other Sudoku novices in the audience who have been wondering what this is but afraid to try and learn the rules, fear no more. The classic Sudoku 4×4 has only three rules:

1. Each row must have the four numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 occurring just once.
2. Each column must have the four numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 occurring just once.
3. Each block must have the four numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 occurring just once.

While most of us know what columns and rows are, the Kattans provide clear pictures to help illustrate this for children. If you are wondering what constitutes a block, the block is pictured below.

Also included at the front of the book are two examples of puzzles laid out step by step.

The only thing that I would have liked to see with the step by step solution was a little bit of an explanation that could be provided as the target audience of this book is quite young. Something like, the first step to solving a puzzle is to search for the open cells, where the number has to be a particular one. For example, in the outside colum of step one, the only number that can go into the open cell is the number 1. In the bottom row, the only number that can go in the open cell is the number 4. Having taught preschool and Kindergarten for several years, I found a few words of explanation can help to ward off a great deal of frustration.

The only other aspect of this book that I would change is the organization of the puzzles themselves. There are a combination of Easy, Medium, and Difficult puzzles on each page. For something targeting a young audience, I would have preferred to see them organized by sections, so that while working the puzzles, the child (or adult) can master the easy and slowly make their way to the more difficult.

Each page contains four puzzles, and the back of the book contains a list of the answers – but don’t cheat! More Kindergarten Sudoku contains 96 Classic 4×4 Sudoku puzzles to entertain and provide hours of delight.

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review.

____________________________________________________________________________
LK Gardner-Griffie
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The LL Book Review

Hannah And The Magic Blanket – Land of the Dinosaurs represents Barry Nye’s debut children’s story. Inspired by the imagination of his granddaughter, Hannah, Nye brings her imagination to life in this first of a series books about Hannah and her magic blanket. We meet Hannah as a spunky preschooler, who is preoccupied with playing dinosaurs and whose favorite toy is a purple dinosaur. After a hard morning at play, Hannah lays down on the couch for a nap snuggling with her pink blanket and purple dinosaur. The next thing she knows, she is in an unknown land and Mommy is nowhere to be found. Hannah’s spunky spirit takes her exploring and she soon runs across a purple dinosaur, just like her favorite toy at home. The dinosaur is very unhappy because she has a stone stuck between her toes. Hannah helps the dinosaur, whom she names Lulu, with the stone and they become fast friends.

“It should be pretty simple to remove,” Hannah said.
Lulu pulled her foot back and said, “Maybe we should wait for my Mommy.”
“Nonsense,” exclaimed Hannah. “I can do it!”
Lulu gritted her teeth. “OK,” the baby dinosaur said reluctantly, “but please don’t hurt me.”

Lulu takes Hannah home with her and they play along the beach while Lulu’s mom makes them some chocolate chip cookies. During Hannah’s adventure, she is able to help out her new friend with the stone between her toes, and later on is rescued by Lulu, cementing their friendship forever.

Nye crafts a good read-to-me book for young children. The illustrations are colorful and expressive, capturing the moment for the reader in a delightful way. For the most part the story flows easily and will be easily understood and appreciated by the younger set. One part which I felt could be potentially confusing is when Lulu and Hannah are playing by the lake and Hannah suggests a game of hide and seek, then they are splashing in the lake, and then playing hide and seek. I felt that the sentences may have somehow become rearranged because it would have made more sense for them to splash in the water and then for Hannah to suggest hide and seek followed by their playing of the game.

Hannah And The Magic Blanket – Land of the Dinosaurs represents the first in a series of books featuring the spunky and imaginative Hannah. Land of the Robots is currently being illustrated, so we can look forward to the release of the next adventure of Hannah and her magic blanket soon.

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review.
____________________________________________________________________________
LK Gardner-Griffie
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

Copyright © 2008

$ 10.96 Paperback
Available as an online novel (free)

144 pages

ISBN: 978-1-84728-924-7

I fell in love with Mary Hellick on page one and nothing through the course of the book caused me to change my mind. Mary is a prickly teenager who is an outcast at her school. Shunned by most of the students who taunt her and generally make life hell for her, Mary tries to keep to herself and not draw any attention to herself, but sometimes strikes back. This means that Mary has regular sessions with the guidance counselor, Mr. Landa. Mary is your typical awkward, rebellious teenager, with one exception. Mary is also clairaudient, which means that she can hear the dead, and that tends to complicate her life.

We meet Mary on the first day of Mary’s junior year in high school on her way to Mr. Landa’s office.

Mr. Landa greeted her with an already weary smile. “Welcome back, Mary.”
Mary put her fist on her hip. “Who gets called to the guidance office on the first day of freaking school?”

I love a character with attitude and Mary has it in spades. Orphaned, Mary lives with her maternal grandmother who is a fortune teller/psychic. Mary fiercely loves her grandmother and looks to her as the only person in her life who understands Mary’s abilities. Her grandmother is teaching her to live with the abilities that she would rather not have, as well as teaching her the responsibility that comes along with such a gift. Mary deals with prejudice against her on a daily basis because she is different.

S. A. Hunter brilliantly takes us into Mary’s mind. We see things from her unique perspective throughout the book. I found myself chuckling over some of Mary’s thoughts. Hunter has truly captured the teenage mind and how it reacts when not believed by adults.

She clenched her fists to keep herself in check. It wouldn’t do to get emotional. He would only make a note in her file. “It did happen. Just like everything else I’ve ever told you.”–Except for the cavorting with demons, the abduction by little green men, and the Elvis sighting. Mary told Mr. Landa outrageous things because he insisted she tell him something. She’d tried to tell him the truth at first, but like now, he always refused to believe her. She wished she hadn’t tried to tell him something truthful now.

On the first day of school, Mary meets new student, Cyrus Asher, who is someone that Mary dismisses as being a “Shiny” person. Someone who will be in the in-crowd, who will hang out with only the best people in school. To her surprise, Cyrus seems to seek her out and want to hang out with her, even though the queen of the campus, Vicky wants to get her hooks into him. Mary tries rebuffing him at first, figuring that once he hears the stories about her, he will soon leave her alone. But, the stories don’t seem to bother him and he genuinely enjoys her company. She finds that she enjoys his company as well, because he has a quick wit and can poke fun at all of the people who try to belittle Mary.

Add into the story, Rachel, a best friend who thinks Mary’s quirks are cool and thrives on being an outcast. Everything is going along better than Mary expected for the school year until Cyrus asks her to come over to his house. She suffered the usual angst of not knowing whether this was an actual date or not, and when she arrives, she finds out that his parents aren’t home. But, things still were going along pretty well until Ricky, the ghost haunting Cyrus’s house shows up and starts talking to Mary. It is an understatement to say that Ricky is not a benevolent ghost. Things go from ok, to bad to worse, and continue to spiral out of control until Mary determines that she will need to rid Cyrus’s house of Ricky, and this might be a little difficult since Cyrus was mad at her and no longer her friend. Mary had scared him, and thought that she had done it on purpose.

In Scary Mary, S. A. Hunter’s characters jump off the page and into life. You are pulled into the story from page one, much like Ricky trying to pull Mary through the basement window (you’ll just have to read the book to find out why). With each turn of the page, the situation escalates through the exciting conclusion. I am very glad to see that S. A. Hunter is working on another book with Mary Hellick, called Stalking Shadows, and can’t wait until she has completed it. After reading Scary Mary, I can add S. A. Hunter to my list of favorite young adult authors.

Reviewed for the LL Book Review
____________________________________________________________________________
LK Gardner-Griffie
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

I have been an avid mystery fan for much of my life. I read before going to sleep every night and the books that usually make up that reading material are mysteries of the cozy type. Agatha Christie, P D James, Elizabeth Peters, Ngaio Marsh, Sara Paretsky, Martha Grimes, and the list goes on. When I saw that Linda Welch had requested a review for her psi-fi mystery, Along Came A Demon, I leapt at the chance to read and review it. I was not disappointed.

Tiff Banks, nicknamed the Ice Queen by the Clarion police department for her tall stature and ice blonde hair, works as a consultant for the police in murder cases. She has told them that she is a psychic, but in actuality, she sees dead people as flesh and blood and they whisper to her. Tiff, who hates to be called Tiffany because of the image that projects, was orphaned as a baby, grew up in a variety of foster homes, and always felt she was a little different than everyone else. Happier being by herself than with a group of people, Tiff left Utah as soon as she was able and went from place to place and job to job. Until, after landing in San Francisco, boom, out of nowhere she started seeing and being able to talk to dead people. She returned to Utah to the small town of Clarion in the hopes that there wouldn’t be too many murdered people trying to get her attention. Unfortunately for her, she moved into a house where there were two ghosts in residence, as well as two who lived on her street. So much for trying to get away from them.

Along Came A Demon starts with Tiff being told by Jack and Mel, her ghost couple, that there is a naked woman dripping on her front grass. Tiff is cranky that she has to deal with a dead person before she can even get her morning coffee

“A naked wet woman in the garden. Dripping wet.”
I sighed and turned to lean against the counter. I would rather she were an escaped lunatic wandered into the neighborhood than what she really was. Although why she was wet on that chilly November morning was anyone’s guess.
“I’ve been watching her from the bedroom window,” Mel said, coming through the door from the hallway, mussing up her permanently mussed red hair with one hand. “She’s been standing there, wet, for half an hour.”
Not a disorientated stranger in the wrong back yard. Not an escaped loony. Worse. One of them. I sighed again. I did not want to deal with it that early in the morning. “She’ll have to wait till after I’ve had my coffee.”

Tiff was trying to figure out how the naked woman came to be on her grass as usually, the dead are bound to where they passed. Lindy Marchant passed away in the apartments behind Tiff’s house, and she is concerned about her son. Tiff promises to find out about her son so that hopefully, Lindy will leave her alone, as she doesn’t want to live with a naked woman in her orchard. The only problem is that once she checks with the Clarion police department, it appears that Lindy Marchant had no son.

Not willing to give up, Tiff requests to search the apartment. Under the refrigerator she finds a drawing by Lawrence, which is given to the police to goad them into searching for the missing child. So starts the twisted case which involves the missing child Lawrence, which blossoms into a nationwide case where over 200 boys born on November 9, 2002 had gone missing.

In addition to being able to see the murdered, Tiff can also see the otherworldly, whom she had heard about from her psychic friend, Lynn.

Lynn was trying to be ethnically sensitive when she call them the Otherworldy. That was too much of a mouthful for me – I called them demons. Not that I thought they were creatures from Hell – I didn’t know what they were or where they came from. They could be aliens from outer space for all I knew. But with their pointed teeth and glimmering eyes, demon seemed a fitting description.

And a little later on, Welch provides some more description of her demons.

I would never call a demon cute. Incredibly handsome. Charming. Deadly. Not to be trusted. According to Lynn, they did not blatantly lie but could do so by omission when it suited them. And you could ask them a question and they would answer in such a way that, without exactly lying, they didn’t give you the truth.

Tiff stays as far away from these demons as she can, but to her chagrin is partnered with Royal Mortenson, of the Clarion PD to work on the missing child case, and he is a demon. While wishing that she could shoot him instead of partnering with him, Tiff becomes suspicious of Royal, who has been moving from police department to police department, never staying too long in one location. She suspects that he may be involved in this missing children case from an inside perspective.

Linda Welch pens a engaging tale, full of action and adventure. A definite page turner full of twists to keep you guessing until the end.

Originially reviewed for the LL Book Review.

To preview the book, click the Read Now button below:

Copyright © 2008

$ 11.92 Paperback
$ 5.00 Download

ISBN: 978-0-9822542-3-3

What more fitting way for the LL Book Review to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than with a review of a book about leprechauns. I was delighted to run across P.J. Cowan’s Michael O’Brien and the Magic Hat. Michael is a young leprechaun who, unlike other leprechaun children, was born without magic. So, when Michael turned seven, the Leprechaun council had a tailor make him a magic green hat that when he wore gave him as much magic as any other leprechaun child. Michael would put the hat on his head the moment he woke up in the morning and take it off only to go to bed at night.

One morning Michael decides to skip school so that he can engage in his favorite activity, fishing.

Michael didn’t catch fish because Michael didn’t use a hook. He tied a worm to the string and watched as the fish chased after it. When he was done fishing, Michael would untie the worm, thank it for it’s help and let it go. That was fishing to Michael O’Brien.

On the day he skipped school, while he was watching the fish, a playful breeze came by and stole Michael’s hat. While chasing his hat, Michael is captured by a woodsman because he is unable to become invisible to humans without his hat. Suddenly Michael learns that there are consequences to skipping school.

Michael O’Brien and the Magic Hat provides a fun and adventurous way for children to learn, though Michael’s mistake, the value of going to school. P.J. Cowan provides a wonderful tale for small children that will make a good bedtime story to share with your children or grandchildren. Cowan started telling stories to her own children many years ago to teach and entertain, and finally started putting the stories down on paper for her great-grandchildren. While the tale of Michael and his magic hat is delightful to read, what makes this book stand out from the crowd are the illustrations. Cowan used the illustrative talents of MikeMotz.com and the results speak for themselves. Cowan’s story comes to life in bright colorful illustrations that will captivate the young audience they are meant to entertain. Just look at the example of the picture showing Michael receiving his magic green hat from the Leprechaun council. The picture is bright and happy with lots of color and kindly expressions on the faces of the older leprechauns.

P.J. Cowan has several other stories already published, and I for one am hoping that she has several more in her arsenal to keep us entertained for years.

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review.

Grandma’s First Computer
Written by Linda Hayes
Illustrated by Acesgraphics

Copyright © 2008

$14.95 Paperback
$ 6.00 E-Book
ISBN: 978-0-557-01609-9

When I saw this book posted for a review request, I knew that I wanted to read and review it. The title says it all. I immediately thought of the past several years of attempting to bring my own mother into the computer age. It has been a slow and go process and one day, she will finally give in and buy a computer. The frustrating thing is that she has taken some classes and does very well in the classes, but then when it comes time to buy, she postpones because “she needs to know more about that whole internet thing.” I haven’t given up hope.

In the story, if you haven’t guessed it already, Grandma goes out and buys a computer. The problem is that once it has been delivered, she has absolutely no idea what to do with it. Fortunately for Grandma, her grandson, Timmy shows up unexpectedly and comes to her rescue. He assists her in connecting the unit up and explaining some of the parts as he goes. This allows an opportunity for Grandma to become confused by the lingo.

“Almost done,” said Timmy. “All I have to do now is connect the mouse.”
“MOUSE,” shouted Grandma. “Did you see a mouse?” “Oh my,” she thought. “Kitty must not be doing her job.”

The illustrations for the story, done by Acesgraphics, are darling. If Timmy were a blond, he could have passed for a cartoon version of my nephew when he was that age. Grandma’s First Computer is a very short, but charming educational story which details computer components in a simple to understand manner. Linda Hayes combines the educational features with the bonding between two very different generations and does it with humor and simplicity. The story winds up with Timmy telling Grandma she has a lot to learn, so we may expect to see another book with Timmy and Grandma in the future. I’m not so sure that senior citizen groups will appreciate that all of the senior’s in the book are depicted with canes, or that it is intimated that no senior citizen knows anything about computers, but the target audience of young children will want to read it again and again. This is a must read for the young school age.

Originially reviewed for the LL Book Review.
____________________________________________________________________________
LK Gardner-Griffie
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit: Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
For other e-book formats, visit Smashwords.com
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

Stumps in the Cellar
Written and Illustrated by Jeff Smallman

Copyright © 2008
$13.95 Paperback
$ 5.50 E-Book
ISBN: 978-0-557-03091-0

Stumps in the Cellar begins with 7 year old Colin Whilliker moving to a new house with his parents. The problem was, in Colin’s opinion, the house was too old and decrepit to move into. He didn’t understand how his dad could be so happy moving into such a wreck, and it didn’t seem to bother his mother either.

Most of the windows were either broken or missing. The porch sagged at one end. The paint was peeling, and there was a big hole in the ground filled with old garbage not too far away.
“Well,” Colin thought to himself, “at least the garbage may be interesting.”

While his parents were working on fixing up the house, Colin decided to go exploring. His dad told him to not go in the creek and to keep the house in view. In trying to get a better look at the creek, without going too close, he climbed to the top of a small hill. What Colin didn’t realize is that he was now standing smack-dab on top of the Stump’s house, which was built underneath the hill.

The Stump’s appear to be small people, although not to be confused with the little people who live across the meadow. Bertram (Bertie) Stump is an irascible old man, who just wants to be left alone, doesn’t like visitors, and likes to threaten Colin about what he will do if Colin walks on his roof again. All of the bad-tempered blustering by Bertie is waved away by the goodness of Hennifred, his wife. Hennifred is definitely an optimist and looks to make the best of any situation. One of my favorite Hinnifred moments comes when the fruit cellar has been flooded and Hennifred regards it as a bonus because she now has a swimming pool.

Colin quickly makes a new best friend in neighbor Tish. Tish is definitely a tom-boy and loves to fish, get dirty, and has spotted something that she wants to set traps for. Based on her description, Colin figures that what she thinks might be an animal is actually the Stump’s, so he has to gather up his courage to go and warn them.

While the warning about the traps that Tish was going to set helped to improve Colin’s relationship with Bertie, accidentally flooding their house, and later smoking them out and causing them to lose their home stretched the bounds of Bertie’s already not so good nature. That’s when Colin had the idea to let the Stump’s live in the cellar.

The title alone is delightful for the target age group of 8-10 year olds. I find that this story is something that most of that age group can identify with. Colin is a very likable youngster and though trying his best, tends to get himself into trouble somewhere along the way. The illustrations throughout the book are engaging, and Mr. Smallman has put together a book that is sure to amuse his readership.

While a fun read there are several questions throughout the book which remain unanswered, and the book ends with a big cliff hanger, which leads me to believe that we may soon have another story with the Stump’s to devour.

Reviewed for the Lulu Book Review
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LK Gardner-Griffie
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