The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

Dabney Kimball Beech works for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce and she loves everything about the island.  The residents of Nantucket all think quite highly of Dabney too.  Dabney is responsible for matching 42 couples which gives her the well deserved title of matchmaker.  Sadly, as great a matchmaker as Dabney is, she let her own true love match slip away.  Clendenin Hughes was Dabney's true love match but he left the island to pursue a journalism career 27 years ago.  Although Dabney has moved on with her life Clen still holds a large piece of her heart.  

After years of silence between the two, the story begins with Clen emailing Dabney to let her know that he's decided to move back to Nantucket.  The moment Clen arrives back on the island Dabney begins to feel unwell and she is convinced it’s simply heartache.  To complicate matters, she is terrified of leaving the island and can’t get the courage to go to Boston for the medical tests to confirm her self diagnosis.  Her fear of leaving Nantucket is what cost her to lose Clen in the first place.  Between not feeling well and all the lies she is telling Dabney is having a hard time keeping it all together.  As Dabney begins to unravel she continues to keep matching friends and family with their true loves.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand is a story filled with true love but a fair amount of heartache as well.  Like most, if not all, Elin Hildebrand novels, the setting for The Matchmaker is once again the beautiful island of Nantucket.  The setting descriptions will make you wish you were lying on a beach.  The Matchmaker is a perfect summer read.

Once Upon a Balloon - Bree Galbraith

Once Upon a Balloon is the story of two young brothers, Theo and Zeke.  Theo receives a balloon from his cousin.  His mom offers to tie it around his wrist.  Everyone warns him not to let go of the balloon.  Theo tries really hard but his fingers just won't listen and sadly, he lets go of the balloon.  But where did it go?  Theo asks.  His mom and dad give answers that seem very unlikely.  But his big brother Zeke knows everything so when Theo tells him the balloon went to Chicago that just has to be true.  But what happens to all the balloons in Chicago?  Big brother Zeke has answers to all Theo's questions, after all, he is the older brother and he does know everything.

I had so much fun reading this book to the kids at school.  I read it with kids from kindergarten to grade 5.  They all enjoyed it.  While I read I asked the kids where they thought the balloon went.  Had any of the children been to Chicago?  Did they see lots of balloons there?

I was very surprised when I read that Once Upon a Balloon is Bree Galbraith's first book.  However, I was not surprised to read that she is Canadian.  So many great authors come from Canada!  Can't wait to see what Galbraith writes next.

Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards

Now that we`re all done reading the Forest of Reading books at school I went looking for some other books from some of our favourite Blue Spruce authors.  I found Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards.  Edwards was the author of Uncle Wally`s Old Brown Shoe which the kids just loved.  They really enjoyed the illustrations.  So yesterday I pulled out Monkey Business and read it to a grade 2 and 3 class.  They loved it!  The book starts with a definition of an idiom which none of them really understood.  After one or two pages there was a lot of shouts of "I get it!!"   They enjoyed the pictures and especially finding the magic page.  This is a fantastic book for grades 2 to 5.  Monkey Business is a fun way to teach idioms.

How To Make a Planet by Scott Forbes

How to Make a Planet is full of interesting facts about the earth and how it was made.  The book is presented and in a fun and engaging way with lots of great illustrations.  How To Make a Planet uses many large scientific terms but does a pretty good job explaining them.  I think for the most part the majority of this will be over most kids heads but little boys tend to love non-fiction and facts and they will certainly learn a few new things from How to Make a Planet.  I`m sure this book would appeal to many young boys probably between the age of 8 and 11.

Spud The Couch Potato by Sean Jackson

Spud is the ultimate couch potato.  He sits and watches television all day long.  The book shows all the fun things he is missing out on like flying a kite and fishing.  One day the television breaks and Spud heads outside to give baseball a try and surprises himself by having a great time.  The message is loud and clear in Spud The Couch Potato; get outside and move.

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen

Henry K. Larsen is trying to rebuild his life in a new town where no one knows his name or about IT.  His brother recently committed a murder/suicide at his high school.  His new psychologist wants him to try writing a journal.  In the journal Henry deals with why IT happened.  

In the journal Henry reflects on many situations of bullying that he saw his brother suffer.  Also, in his new school he sees a kid that reminds him a lot of his brother and sees the bullying that this poor boy suffers as well.

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen is nominated for the Red Maple award in this years Forest of Reading program.  Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author that has also written the very popular Word Nerd  and Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom. 

If It Rains Pancakes by Brian P. Cleary

In If It Rains Pancakes by Brian P. Cleary writes poems about anything and everything.  The poems are all very entertaining and silly.  The illustrations are perfectly suited to the poems.  Children will love the poems because they are fun but teachers will love them more when they're students are inspired to write their own.  If It Rains Pancakes explains the patterns of how to write a traditional Japanese haiku and lantern poem.  This book would be a fantastic addition to any school library or classroom!