Carolyn M. Mullin

Entries Tagged as 'Carolyn M. Mullin'

Now Hiring: White House Dog

September 6th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN Loosely based on Malia and Sasha Obama’s quest for a canine companion, Now Hiring boasts a simple storyline where the girls take the dog search into their own hands. They fashion a homemade “Now Hiring” sign for the front lawn and receive half a dozen candidates on a particularly busy [...]

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?

September 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN What is it with princesses? Is it the lovely pink hue of their dresses? Good breeding? Financial success and widespread popularity from being cast in a Disney film? Personally, I find the little princess of Carmela LaVigna Coyle’s picture book to be more up my alley than most idolized cartoon [...]

Forever Young

September 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN Music icon Bob Dylan penned the words for “Forever Young” back in 1973. In 2008, illustrator Paul Rogers, through his imagery, interpreted those lyrics into a sweet rendition for children…and of course Bob Dylan fans. While the book definitely reads like “words of wisdom” imparted to children by their (grand) parents, it shares [...]

Two Bobbies

September 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN It’s been five years since Hurricane Katrina first struck New Orleans. While much of the city seems to have recuperated, sections like the Lower Ninth Ward look more like untamed fields than once lively homesteads. And emotional stories like that of the Two Bobbies still sit with us, reminding us [...]

I’m Gonna Like Me

August 26th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN In this day and age, kids can use all the positive reinforcement they can get in feeling good about themselves. Other children and society at large can be rather cruel, even to the youngest of minds, pointing out personal flaws or quirky differences. Jamie Lee Curtis’ I’m Gonna Like Me [...]

If You Were My Baby: A Wildlife Lullaby

August 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN If you were my baby squirrel,/ I would welcome you to the world/ In a secret nest I made just for you. And so begins this tender bedtime story. Following the same format on each page — three poetic lines written from a parental perspective — children are introduced to [...]

Jubela

August 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN I never could watch “Bambi” or “The Land before Time” more than once. Any baby, whether animal or human, losing his or her mother is one of the most depressing things I could ever imagine. I do, however, give much credit to these emotionally charged films for helping to lay [...]

Weslandia

August 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN In the hum drum of suburbia, Wesley is an inharmonious presence, disliking pizza, soda and, goodness gracious, even professional football! Let’s root for the ambitious young underdog as he subtly sticks it to his more normal classmates in this tale about a special summertime project. Utilizing knowledge he soaked up [...]

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

August 13th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN I think I gained a pound or two just reading this delectable little morsel. Using oh-so-tempting cookies to teach children the significance of new vocabulary words, Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s text can be challenging depending on the age of the child (compassion, envy, open-minded). Other concepts are more commonplace: honest, polite, fair, [...]

Cherry and Olive

August 7th, 2010 · No Comments · Books

Review By CAROLYN M. MULLIN Move over Nikki McClure fans, there’s a new hot shot artist-author on the Vegbooks blog. He’s Parisian. A little dark. A little gothic. And he has my heart. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Benjamin Lacombe. Cherry, who doesn’t actually like the fruit she’s named after, is a plump, alienated child who [...]

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