Book review - Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions

Title: Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions
Author: Sheila Grau
Genre: humor
Similar books: Goblins by Philip Reeve
                     Little Miss Evil by Bryce Leung and Kristy Shen
Rating:

What's not to like?

Summary: This should be Runt Higgins's year. He may be the smallest werewolf at Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions (he hasn't even transformed for several years) but now that he's in the Junior Henchman program he has a chance to prove himself. Unfortunately, things start going wrong the first day with a series of attacks against the school. It's up to Runt to save the school from destruction.

My Opinion: This book is really fun. Runt is an incredibly likeable character who gets into entertaining scrapes. This is a great start to a series and has lots of room for growth as the series progresses. It's funny and relatively gripping just in the writing. The illustrations just add to the charm. I really enjoyed it and I'm sure kids will too. I look forward to recommending this to kids at my library.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

My new messenger bag

This craft is one I've been working on for a while. I found some bright green canvas pretty reasonably priced at a local store. The lining fabric I had picked up previously to make a shirt. It's large enough to hold several books. I think I'd like to add pockets at some point.

Book review - Little Miss Evil

Title: Little Miss Evil
Author: Bryce Leung and Kristy Shen
Genre: humor/superheroes
Similar books: How to Grow Up and Rule the World by Scott Seegert
                     V is for Villain by Peter Moore
Rating:

deliciously evil

Summary: Fiona's dad is a villain. They live in a volcano. She flies to school in a helicopter. And every year on her birthday, her father gives her some kind of weapon to prepare her for a future as a villain. The problem is, Fiona doesn't want to be evil. She wants to be seen as a regular kid. Then, the volcano base is attacked and her father is kidnapped. The only way to get him back is to hand over a nuclear bomb. It will take all of her skills for Fiona to get him back. And she just might have to get a little bit evil.

My Opinion: Could this book be any more fun? You've got all the classic super-villain types here: the greedy for gold, the power-mad, and the over the top evil-for-the-sake-of-evil screwball. It might not be great literature, but there are a lot of good things happening here. Characters all have at least a little depth. Life is portrayed as complex, a series of tough choices. Mostly, though, it is incredibly entertaining.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Pick 6: love stories

Romance is definitely not my favorite genre. I try to read them occasionally just be aware of what's out there.  Here are 6 love stories published in the last 6 months.

6 new love stories

1. Love and other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

2. How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts

3. I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

4. Paper or Plastic by Vivi Barnes

5. The Secrets Between You and Me by Shanna Norris

6. My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?
Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions by Sheila Grau
This should be Runt Higgins's year. He may be the smallest werewolf at Dr. Critchlore's School for Minions (he hasn't even transformed for several years) but now that he's in the Junior Henchman program he has a chance to prove himself. Unfortunately, things start going wrong the first day with a series of attacks against the school. It's up to Runt to save the school from destruction.

I love the concept behind this book. What I've read so far is quite entertaining.

What did you recently finish reading?
Enchantment Lake by Margie Preus
When she takes a mysterious phone call from her great aunts, Francie rushes off from her audition in New York back to Minnesota where strange things are happening. Residents of Enchantment Lake are dying in mysterious accidents. Local law enforcement thinks nothing is wrong. Francie isn't so sure and her investigations might just get her in over her head.

This is a fairly standard young teen mystery. The clues can be a little hard to follow and the writing style is a bit odd but it's not a difficult read.

What do you think you will read next?
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
A story about two non-white girls, disguised as boys, headed west on their own? This could be absolutely amazing.

Book review - Catch You Later, Traitor

Title: Catch You Later, Traitor
Author: Avi
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
                     Rex Zero and the End of the World by Tim Wynne-Jones
Rating:

I highly recommend

Summary: It's 1951 and Pete likes nothing more than reading and listening to detective stories. He soon finds himself mixed up in a very different sort of mystery when a rumor goes around that a member of his family is a Communist and his teacher and classmates, even his best friend Kat, turn against him. Pete searches for the truth, but he begins to wonder if finding it will fix his problems or make things even worse.

My opinion: Avi is pretty much a consistent source of good kid's fiction, especially historical fiction. I find that novels are a great way to learn about history and this novel is certainly no exception, taking a close look at life during the cold war and the affect being an accused communist had on whole families. Add in universally applicable lessons about loyalty, honesty, and growing up and and this becomes just an all around great novel.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Talking dogs

For some time now I've been toying with the idea of what you might call a "hidden arm" puppet. This is a puppet attached to a shirt of some sort. The intent is that a false arm appears to be holding the puppet while your real hand manipulates it. 

This is actually a pretty easy puppet to make. What you'll need is a loose fitting shirt of some sort (I used a hooded sweatshirt), a large-ish stuffed animal (Build-a-Bear sized works pretty well), sharp scissors, thin cardboard, and some knit fabric. I'd hoped to do a full tutorial for you but I forgot to photograph the middle steps so I'll describe those as best as I can.

Preparation:
1. The first thing you'll want to do is cut open your puppet's mouth. The dog I was using actually had a folded over lip that was just about perfect, but most stuffed animals have a stitched on mouth that should work pretty well as a guideline. Once you've got the mouth cut, go ahead and pull the extra stuffing out of the head and set it aside for later.  

2.Cut a hole in the animal's back that gives you access to the mouth, probably from the neck down about 4-6 inches. If the animal you chose has a narrow neck, you'll need to cut into the back of it's head. Don't be afraid to cut farther than you think you'll need. You can always sew or glue that back shut. Pull some extra stuffing out at this point. You'll want the animal pretty floppy so you have room inside of it to work. 

3. Decide which arm will be holding the puppet. This will generally be your dominant arm. Cut a hole in the armpit of your shirt large enough to fit your arm comfortably through. I also cut several inches down the sleeve to give the top of the shirt a more natural look. This also gives your arm a little more space to move.

4. Sew the end of the dominant arm sleeve shut. To make the false arm more convincing you might want to stuff the sleeve lightly with fiberfill or even some rags. If you're using a sweatshirt like I did you can sew the sleeve cuff into the front pocket. For a regular shirt you'll need to tuck the cuff firmly into your pants pocket. 

My false arm isn't stuffed in this photo and you can see how odd and flat it looks.

4. At this point you're going to want to make a sort of sleeve out of your knit fabric. This sleeve goes inside of your puppet, so you'll want to make a tube of fabric that fits loosely around your forearm. It needs to be long enough to reach from the puppet's mouth to the hole you cut in it's back. You can sew your tube but hot glue works pretty well too. You also need a circle of fabric the same circumference as your tube. Think of it as a "cap" for the tube. Attache this circle of fabric to one end of the tube.

5. This part is a little tricky. Cut 2 half circles about the size of the puppet's mouth from the cardboard. These give your mouth stability. Glue them to the inside of your fabric tube, resting against that "cap" you made. Now you need to insert the tube into the puppet. Line up your cardboard circles along the puppet's upper and lower jaws. I found hot glue was the easiest way to attach the tube into the puppet's mouth.

6. Remember the stuffing you removed earlier? It's time to put that back into your puppet. Stuff it just enough to give it some shape. If you over-stuff it will be uncomfortable when you work the puppet. 

7. Attach the top of your fabric tube to the opening you cut in the back of your puppet. Again, you can sew this but for mine hot glue worked pretty well.

My fabric tube was a little long, so one edge hangs out of the puppet's back. I tuck it around my wrist when I use the puppet.

8) optional: At this point, you can attach the puppet directly to the shirt. You may find it easier to leave the puppet unattached and simply tuck it into the crook of the false arm when you want to use it.
 

Finished puppet!