Season's Best Crop: Reviews of Children's Books

Reviewed by A.C. McCall
Editor of The Blueberry Patch.

Squashed in the Middle
Written by Elizabeth Winthrop
Illustrated by Pat Cummings

In this picture book Daisy explores some of the woes of being a middle child and going unnoticed. We like that Daisy's dad cuts carrots! And Blueberry Patch fans will appreciate Daisy's favorite food, which she shares with a new friend.

The Wiggles: Yummy, Yummy Fruit Salad

It's a board book (which means its pages are thick, like little boards, making it easier for younger hands to turn). The text is short (only 10 pages), direct, and tells kids how to create a fruit salad. The book is based upon The Wiggles' Fruit Salad song on their Yummy Yummy album. A bonus to the book is that it comes with Scratch-and-Sniff Stickers that smell like fruit!
Publisher's age recommendation: 0-3. 100% fruit. 100% raw. (And it's The Wiggles!)

A Mango-Shaped Space
by Wendy Mass

The Blueberry Patch's teen read of the season.

Editor's Note: After A.C McCall, our Blueberry Patch reviewer and co-editor, selected this book and wrote her review, this book won the Schneider Family Book Award (sponsored by the ALA). The Schneider Family Book Award honors an author for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Thanks to A.C. McCall for having such excellent taste!

This book grabbed me by the cover, held me by its title, hooked me on page one, and kept me reading until the end. In this fictional story about some of the typical and non-typical pains a teen experiences growing up, 13-year-old Mia has a disorder called synesthesia. She experiences numbers, letters and sounds as having color, making some classes in school difficult, sometimes haunting or jarring her, and at other times providing a nice colorful atmosphere for living. With today's increased interests in learning styles, this book provides an insight into one teen's struggle to fit in, not to mention, get by. Although little brother Zack delights in keeping tally on the number of McDonald's hamburgers he's consumed, big sister Beth provides a balance with her new-found interest in vegetarianism.
Publisher's age recommendation: 10-13.