Stephanie Calmenson

Sisters Plinka and Trinka Witch discover that they are out of the magic brew needed for their usual hi-jinks in this witchy re-imagining of the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen. As Plinka sets out to make some more of the brew - doing the a rain dance to procure water for the pot, performing a special spell to summon the necessary mushrooms - Trinka refuses to help, spending most of the afternoon napping. Predictably, once the brew is finished, Trinka wants to join in the play - but show more will Plinka allow her to do so...?

I thought that Stephanie Calmenson's revisionist solution to this classic teaching tale, in which one member of a group does all the work, and then enjoys the rewards of her labor, was really quite creative! It turns out that, although the work of making the brew is finished, there is still more to do, in the form of cleaning up the resultant mess. I liked the fact that Trinka is given a chance to redeem herself, after her initial failures. I also liked the accompanying artwork by R.W. Alley, which was colorful and cute. All in all The Little Witch Sisters was a fun little picture-book, one I would recommend to younger children looking for witchy fare. show less

The Principal's New Clothes by Stephanie Calmenson is a whimsical and modern take on the classic tale of 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' In this humorous adaptation, the principal of Wagstaff Elementary finds himself in a comical predicament when he falls for a cunning tailor's scheme. Calmenson's witty storytelling and playful illustrations by Denise Brunkus make for an engaging read that will leave both children and adults chuckling. Beyond the laughs, the book cleverly imparts lessons about show more honesty, leadership, and the importance of questioning the status quo. It's a refreshing twist on a timeless story that will entertain and enlighten readers of all ages show less

This was one of my favorite books when I taught kindergarten. Stephanie Calmenson's rhyme and rhythm are just right and it makes a marvelous read-aloud, along with a great way to practice counting as each group of customers increases by one. (Pigs need a table for three, monkeys arrive and go "swinging across to their table for five," a bear baseball team requests a table for nine . . .) Nadine Westcott's illustrations are funny and bright and will have little ones smiling from page one. A show more bonus? It's a sweet lesson in hospitality. As I begin a new chapter in my own life as a school librarian, I look forward to adding Dinner at the Panda Palace to our library media center! show less

Kate and Lucie are next-door neighbors, best friends, and share a powerful secret -- when they wear their magical dog-bone necklaces and high five each other, they turn into talking dogs! In this title, the girls meet Molly and Wally, the owners of a new hot-dog stand in town -- and their adorable dachshunds named Ketchup and Mustard. But things quickly go awry when Ketchup and Mustard escape from the stand's gates, and the whole town is on high alert looking for them!

While this is the third show more book in a series, this title stands alone surprisingly well. It recaps the major players and plot points from the previous book without being overly summarizing. For those who really enjoyed the first two books, this is sure to please as it has all the same characters plus some new ones. In fact, my 10-year-old niece and I both actually liked this title a little better than the second one in the series.

The adventures the girls get into as dogs are more like playful hijinks with no real danger feared, although there are some tears shed over the missing dogs. It is not much of a spoiler to say that of course Ketchup and Mustard are eventually found, but not without some false positives along the way. The other plotline with the boys Danny and DJ trying to catch the girls when they are dogs was mildly disturbing to me as an adult, with the boys walking around with "just in case" leashes to hook them, but it's meant to be light-hearted and I think kids will take it that way. The girls eventually take pity on the boys and help them out by winning them trophies under their dog personas at the Bark-in-the-Park contest.

There are attempts at diversity here with Lucie presumably being Latina, although that is only subtly gleaned through naming conventions and illustrations. Another character is Black, but again that is only made clear via illustrations. It is also explicitly stated that both girls have single mothers, but the mothers are referred to as "Mrs." and their last name, which seemed odd to me if they were either single always or through divorce (i.e., "Miss" or "Ms." would be more appropriate in either case).

Speaking of illustrations, the black-and-white pencil drawings don't add much, but they are nice for breaking up the text from time to time. I think young readers will appreciate that. The book ends with some jokes/riddles and authors' notes about their own real-life experiences with dachshunds.

My niece was disappointed to learn this was the last book in the series! It ends well enough, with no loose ends hanging, but there's also the potential for more adventures if the authors ever decided to come back to Lucie and Kate. show less