Reviewed by Margo L. Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Picture book for preK-third grade students (contemporary setting with flashbacks into historical fiction)
Young girl and her grandparents as main characters
Rating: A wonderful book about immigration and grandparents and imagination. This is one of my favorites!

Short, short summary: Julie visits her grandparents, and her grandfather loves to tell her tall [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com

Middle-grade novel, fantasy and adventure
A 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy, and a baby girl are the main characters.
Rating: The voice in this book is unusual and playful and makes the book as popular as it is–popular enough to be made into a movie (along with book 2 and 3 in [...]

Picture book for preK-3rd grade students, contemporary
Seven-year-old girl as main character
Rating: Beautiful, beautiful illustrations. The author is clever and shows the celebration of Ramadan through a young girl’s eyes while she keeps track of the phases of the moon. Wonderful!
Short, short summary: Yasmeen is a Pakistani-American girl, trying to understand how the moon’s phases affect [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Middle-grade fantasy novel
High school girl and five-year-old boy as main characters
Rating: A classic book (a Newberry Award Winner even) that can STILL relate to children today and get them excited about reading!
Short, short summary: Meg Murray and her brother, Charles Wallace, are a little different than everybody else. Meg has [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, margodll@aol.com, www.margodill.com
Picture book for preK-3rd grade, fantasy/sci-fi
Traction Man, of course, with a little help from a young boy (as main characters)
Rating: What a creative, wonderful, fantastic book that celebrates imagination and good-old-fashioned playing.
Short, short, summary: Traction Man and his pet, Scrubbing Brush, are ready for an adventure in the compost pile, [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Picture book, contemporary, mostly for children preK-2nd grade
Young boy as main character
Rating: Everyone, young and old, can relate to this book. It is funny, clever, cute, and touching!

Short, short summary: What’s a boy to do when everyone is home, but no one is paying attention to him? That’s what the [...]

CINDA!!
Congratulations, Cinda, you are the winner of the copy of Amadi’s Snowman.
Thank you to everyone who left comments on the post or one of my pages this week. If you want to purchase the book, click on the link above, (of course . And check back this weekend, for another blog post [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Young adult novel, contemporary
High school guy and girl as main characters
Rating: This is one of the best YA books I’ve ever “listened” to. The story is well-told, realistically in two distinct voices. I would recommend this to anyone–young or old.
Purchase Thirteen Reasons Why

Short, short summary: Clay Jensen receives a [...]

Anyone who leaves a comment on today’s post will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of this book, Amadi’s Snowman! The drawing will take place on Wednesday, November 12. Make sure you leave an email address or contact information on your comment if you want to be in the drawing, or check [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com
Middle-grade fantasy novel, but not fantasy with faeries or dragons or witchcraft–good-old fashioned storybook fantasy
12-year-old boy and 5-year-old boy as main characters
Rating: Delightful book in an unusual setting (for children’s books) with loveable characters
Purchase The Thief Lord
Short, short summary: Prosper and Bo are two orphans, who go to Venice to [...]