Vicky Fang

First sentence: This is Sniff. Hello. Woof! This is Scratch. Nice to meet you! Meow! They are best buddies. Well, sometimes.

Premise/plot: There are three stories in this early reader. There are color coded speech bubbles. Young readers will always be able to know who is speaking.

The three stories are "The Pie," "The Box," and "The Thing." In the first story, these two decide to team up to out-best their human(s). Can working together help them in reaching the goal--getting the PIE. In the show more second story, "The Box," Scratch LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the box. Sniff is less certain of the box, or the appeal of the box. But how does the box really feel about Scratch??? In the third story, Scratch and Sniff discover a new "thing." It is a mirror. How will these two respond to their mirror-second-selves????

My thoughts: This one was a DELIGHT. I absolutely loved it. It is definitely an early reader. Simple and basic in many ways. Yet there is humor in the stories. I think the book and series will prove appealing to those just learning to read. Definitely recommend for classroom purchase in addition to school and public libraries. show less

Sniff, a dog, and Scratch, a cat, are the best of friends -- most of the time. Join them in their everyday adventures of smelling delicious food just out of reach, finding an empty cardboard box, and encountering a strange new object (a mirror).

Anyone who has ever had a canine or feline pet -- or spent time with family/friends who do -- will immediately recognize typical behaviors such as cats loving to sit in boxes or hissing at their reflection in the mirror, thinking it is another cat. I show more found that all rather amusing, and I think kids will as well.

The book is broken up into three chapters, which are actually each a separate story that can stand alone (other than that the two animals are introduced by name only in the first one). That is great for beginning readers who might be turned off by the length of this book initially, but then can realize that they can easily stop at the designated spots and pick it up again later. The vocabulary is relatively sparse, with the same words repeating a lot. Again, this is good for early readers who will get the reinforcement of certain words they've learned and can feel accomplished after reading a relatively long book. Backmatter includes some questions to engage readers with the text more fully.

The bright illustrations are more cartoon-like than what I typically prefer; however, they are sure to appeal to young readers. Backmatter includes a step-by-step guide on how to illustrate Scratch. The formatting style is just on the cusp of being a graphic novel, so it's also beneficial for readers transitioning into more early comics or who want to read comic books like their older siblings.

This book is the first in a series so readers who enjoy it will be able to find more titles to read. show less

This was a fun Halloween book in the vein of Press Here. Things are happening on Halloween night that are messing with the party. But the Boo Crew is here to help, with a little assistance from the readers, the party will be put to right, and every one can have a fright.

In the exuberant tradition of first graders everywhere, Ava starts first grade with the goal of finding a best friend, like her older cousin Nikki did in first grade. But Nikki doesn't have much useful advice about how to go about it, so Ava is on her own. She's a bit of a magpie, which gets her into trouble more than once - finding and giving away a blue jewel; sticking a silver pebble in her ear - but all's well that ends well, and Ava ends with friends and a loving family.

See also: Junie show more B. Jones, Jo Jo Makoons, Marisol Rainey show less