Patricia Lauber (1924–2010)

Cute, Terhune-esque story of a dog finally growing up in a crisis. Total spoilers, if you care: Champ is called Clown for his silly, puppyish tricks, though he's over a year old (a grown dog, or should be); he runs off instead of taking care of the sheep, hides things from his owners, and teases the working horse, Snowball. Hmm, no mention of how he regards Shep, the old sheepdog - who Clown is supposed to replace, as he's getting old. So his owner - the owner of the sheep ranch - finally show more decides that he must sell Clown and buy a better dog, despite his son's sorrow at the loss of his pal. But just then, the valley is about to flood when an old dam is cracking under the weight of heavy rainfall, so the family (and Shep) leave, leaving Snowball and the sheep to fend for themselves - and Clown, because he's run off again. Clown comes home to find no one there and the house is soon surrounded with water. Then a few lost sheep, trapped nearby, are bleating in despair - and somehow Clown grows up and into his responsibilities. There's a puma, later, as well, and Champ is badly wounded - but since this is Terhune-esque and not an Old Yeller story, Champ survives and the story ends with him being accepted back into the family, as the excellent working dog he should have been all along. The story is completely predictable, and written in very simple language - which doesn't detract from it at all; for what it is (a children's animal book), it's great. show less

Addie is visiting Chris Johnson at his family's summer home in Canada, and he invites her out for a ride in his leaky old rowboat to see Black Rock Island. He's curious about the legends of pirate treasure he's heard and the two strangers who have been camping on the island for several days. The mystery deepens when they discover a concealed entrance to a cave and have a hostile confrontation with the men.

It's a fair mystery, but the story and conclusion sort of rely on humiliating Addie, show more making her act like Goofy to Chris's Mickey Mouse, the silly girl to his brave boy.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: 1. Lights at Black Rock -- 2. Addie and the Pirates -- 3. Caught in the Storm -- 4. The Secret of Black Rock Cave show less

Patricia "Sis" Logan, her brother Brian, and their dog Clarence, get to leave their Connecticut home for a short while as they travel with their mother to New York City to help run the small dress shop of a sick relative. They stay in an apartment above the business and get to know all the quirky neighbors in the building in a series of episodic chapters.

They deal with a mice infestation, sniff out a fake fur coat, take part in a talent contest, catch some bad guys at a dog show, help save a show more failing restaurant, stow away on a cruise ship, and solve the mystery of the wild beast in the cellar. A pretty typical week for any pair of kids and their energetic dog, right?

Whatever they touch turns to gold, and Clarence always comes up smelling like roses.

I can almost see the appeal of the dog, who is always on the move, but the rest is boring and contrived.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: 1. Dogs or No Dogs -- 2. New Friends -- 3. Mouse Hunt -- 4. The Fur Expert -- 5. Silent Partner -- 6. Dog Show -- 7. Clarence Dines Out -- 8. Over the Bounding Main -- 9. Wild Beasts -- 10. Good-by, New York show less

A non-fiction Newbery Honor Book about the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 and the area's subsequent regrowth. Eh. Clearly meant for kids, but it accomplishes this in simplistic language only. I mean, come on, this is a cool topic, so a book for kids about it should be more interesting than this one is. Also, the photos included were weirdly hard to figure out; for example, some of them were meant to focus on something that was *way* in the background of the actual photo, and a couple show more had blurbs that talked about features of the mountain that I could not find in the photo at all. Some sort of arrow pointing out said feature would have been great and seems like an obvious necessity to me. Anyway. I'll file this one in the Could Have Been Cool But Missed the Boat box. show less