Vivian Vande Velde

First sentence: Squirrels tell the best stories. Wonderful squirrel stories I have heard include:
adventures such as "My Death-Defying Escape from A Cat,"
tragedies such as "Uncle Whiskers Drops a French Fry and Watches as a Seagull Steals It Away,"
romances such as "How Your Father and I Met in a Trash Can,"
and comedies such as, "Nearsighted Cousin Chatter Mistakes a Lawn Ornament for Her Brother."

Premise/plot: Twitch the squirrel and Sweetie the Library Rat have an adventure. Sweetie persuades Twitch, who is reluctant, to go see the school play. The librarian has written a stage version of Cinderella. Sweetie loves this story so much. But a squirrel and a rat have a hard time seeing the action on stage....leading to hilarious results as they move closer and closer to the action on stage.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. The narration alternates between Twitch and Sweetie. It's a fun adventure of two friends who love stories. It was fun to see these two appear on stage in the production of Cinderella. I definitely recommend this series.… (mer)

First sentence: I am a very highly educated squirrel. I always paid attention to my mother's life lessons. Some of my mother's life lessons: Don't let an owl eat you. Don't let a weasel eat you. Don't let a fox eat you. Don't let a wolf eat you.

Premise/plot: Twitch the Squirrel tags along on a field trip to a museum. Twitch normally sticks close to the school, but his curiosity about wolves leads him to want to go on a field trip with a class visiting the museum. He sees many, many, many rooms in the museum. Plenty of misadventures/adventures are had. Not everyone--especially the adults--want a squirrel in the museum. In fact, there's a frantic attempt to CAPTURE the squirrel and get him out, out, out.

My thoughts: I thought this was a funny read. It's been years since I've read previous books in this series. But it could easily be read as a stand alone. Twitch is just an absolute delight as a narrator. What I would call a hoot.… (mer)

What was WITH that BIZARRE fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin?

WHY would a miller claim that his daughter could spin straw into gold? WHY would the king believe him? And WHY would an odd little man that CAN spin straw into gold do so in exchange for a tiny gold ring? The story is just SILLY.

In an attempt to make sense of this wayward fairy tale, Vivian Vande Velde provides six alternative versions of the classic account, each of which is far more intriguing and revealing than the original.… (mer)