Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

Scarlatti's Cat is a cute children's story about an Italian music composer, Scarlatti, and his beautiful and smart cat, Pulcinella, and how his cat composed a sonata. Man, I wish my Wedgie was talented like that - does this mean his scratching on my furniture is really a display of artistry?

This book is beautifully drawn, and I especially love the drawings of Pulcinella, who reminds me a lot of my beloved Zorro. There's a great drawing of Scarlatti holding Pulcinella, with Handel's dog show more nearby.

The book also teaches young readers to follow their hearts, their passions and their dreams. Though being a proud and crazy cat lady, I was very sad to read the ending. show less

Have you ever picked up a haunted book? According to the narrator of this delightfully spooky picture-book, you probably have! Haunted books sometimes switch the plot on the reader, without any warning. The ghost haunting the book might like to play pranks, like scrambling the words on the page. If the reader finds themselves holding a haunted book, they should be sure to follow certain steps, outlined here. The most important of these, of course, is never to take a haunted book for granted, show more lest its ghost (and his magic) depart...

Although it does not specifically address Halloween, I found The Boo! Book on my public library's display for that holiday, and immediately picked it up. I have enjoyed illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli's artwork in other books, and loved the cover illustration here. Author Nathanial Lachenmeyer's narrative was engaging and immediate, while the artwork from Ceccoli was, unsurprisingly, absolutely gorgeous. I enjoyed the final spread, in which a ghost pops up from the page, shouting "Boo!" All in all, a sweet and slightly spooky picture-book, one I would recommend to young children who enjoy ghostly tales. show less

I love fairy tales and the fantasy spin-offs are... fun, but sometimes I think they get too far from the original stories which are short and often funny, weird, or just random. This collection of "new" fairy tales (There's a word for this! It's called KUNSTMÄRCHEN and I wrote a paper on it in college!) is just what I love.

The four stories included introduce readers to animals and humans, all dealing with something a little different. A frog goes up against a genie who's just desperate to show more grant some wishes. An irritable witch meets her match in a determined singer. A clever sorcerer outwits a rival. An artist finds an unexpected patron in an ogre king.

There are no princesses or happy-ever-afters here, but there is magic, humor, and cleverness. There's also a variety of skin colors, body types, and settings, from forests to a Mediterranean village. One of the thing I love about stories like this is there's no worry about age-appropriateness or content. Kids and adults of any age can appreciate the artist's confusion in trying to meet the ogre's demands, the annoyance of the witch, and the sorcerer's clever tricks - especially when they backfire. There are morals here if you want them, but they're not required for enjoying the stories.

Verdict: I never thought I'd have much audience for this type of book, but I turned out to have several kids who are huge fans of Fairy Tale Comics and Nursery Rhyme Comics and will absolutely love this book. Truly an all-ages book that can be enjoyed by many readers.

ISBN: 9781596437500; Published June 2019 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less

A look into superstitions, beliefs, and attitudes surrounding the number 13, including how they've changed and developed over time. It's not incredibly well-organized and in places it gets pretty repetitive. The whole book is only 200 pages, and yet I feel like it could and should have been tightened up a lot.

Still, I respect how much effort the author put into researching the topic, and I did learn some interesting stuff. I was particularly interested to read about the existence of Thirteen show more Clubs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose members enjoyed flouting, defying, debunking, and generally having fun with superstitions. They sound like my kind of people. For my own part, I've always had a real fondness for the number 13. Partly because I dislike superstitions and am happy to champion an unfairly maligned numerical underdog (an attitude that the author also talks about a bit in the book), but also because I turned 13 on a Friday the 13th and have 13 letters in my full name. I've always said that if there was anything at all to superstitions about the number, I would never have survived to adulthood! show less