The James Monroe Elementary School in Edison, NJ where my fellow GAP Angel, Rachelle Burk lives burned to the ground March of this year. Rachelle quickly made a call out to her fellow authors to donate books to the school so they could begin restocking efforts for their school library while administrators found a new location. 

I recently received the below heart warming thank you card! 

DROP EVERYTHING (YOU’RE DOING) AND READ,

D. E. A. R.

Today is Drop Everything And Read Day celebrating children’s books and reading. The folks at the official website have this to say, “Our assertion around here is that reading, whether you’re on your own or cozied up on the couch with your kids, is so much more fun and rewarding than just about anything else . . .”

So, stop what you are doing and go read with a kid or by yourself. Read and then come right back here . . . you still have this review to read. OR, BETTER YET! Read this review and then go read a book. Reading is reading, right?!

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Don’t Turn the Page!

by Rachelle Burk & Julie Downing, illustrator

Creston Books               6/10/2014

978-1-939547-06-4

Age 4 to 8              32 pages

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“Like most children, Sami puts off going to bed for as long as possible. But reading a story about Little Bear’s bedtime ritual inspires Sami, just as the young reader will be inspired by this soothing story and clever book-within-a-book conceit. A bedtime book that both parent and child will relish reading one more time, Don’t Turn the Page! features a surprise ending that reinforces the sense that it’s bedtime for everyone.”

Opening

“’How about a bedtime story?” Mama asked. Sami shook her head. “I don’t want to go to bed. I’m not tired yet.’”

The Story

Sami is not tired and not ready for bed. Mama reads her a story, but Sami only wants her to read one page. In the story, the Little Bear is yawning and getting ready for bed. After the first page, Sami said, “Don’t turn the page.” Mama places a bookmarker between the pages and closes the book. Then Sami asks a question about how bears get ready for bed, but Mama doesn’t know. They must read one more page, but only one more. Sami continues to ask questions and Mama reads the bedtime book slowly, page-by-page, and question-by-question. Soon, Sami becomes interested and allows Mama to read one more page, but only one more “don’t turn the page,” while Sami brushes her teeth. In the story, Little Bear gets a goodnight kiss from his mama.  Sami is ready and says, “Don’t turn the page.” Will Sami ever go to sleep?

Review

Don’t Turn the Page! It’s time for the review, so please do not turn the page. Sami and the bear stories are both bedtime stories about going to bed. Sami is not ready, or so she says. Her body language is saying something different. Mama is patient and seems to be letting Sami make the decisions. The story of Sami the hedgehog is simply adorable as is that of Little Bear. The two stories mirror one another. As Little Bear puts on his jammies and fuzzy slippers Sami puts on her jammies and fuzzy slippers.

It is difficult enough to write one publishable story but the author wrote two for this picture book. The story of Little Bear could be a solo book kids would love. I suppose the question to ask is which story do you like best? That of Little Bear or of Sami Hedgehog? Kids and parents might differ but I choose them both. The illustrator did a fantastic job on both stories. Each are different in style and color. I really like the turned up page corner on Little Bear’s right side page. It is just waiting for Sami to tell her Mama to turn that page. The ending is quite a surprise and may have you thinking about reality. At the very least it will give you a huge smile, as will the back of the book.

Young children and parents will love this dual bedtime story. The story of Sami going to bed and the story of Little Bear going to bed, flow well together as you read from one story to the next. For those kids not ready for bed, not yet tired, or simply determined to stay awake, Don’t Turn the Page will send them off to where sweet dreams lay waiting. Mama, or Daddy, will enjoy ready this story in a story. The title, Don’t Turn the Page, is possibly not the best title because all you will want to do is turn the page. I’m betting your little one will want these pages turned as well. However, don’t be surprised if the new stalling tactic in your house is “Don’t Turn the Page!”

DON’T TURN THE PAGE! Text copyright © 2014 by Rachelle Burk. Illustrations copyright C) 2014 by Julie Downing. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Creston Books, Berkeley, CA.

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Learn more about Don’t Turn the Page HERE.

Buy your copy of Don’t Turn the Page at Amazon—B&N—Creston Books—your local bookstore.

Meet the author Rachelle Burk at her website:   http://www.rachelleburk.blogspot.com/ 

Meet the illustrator, Julie Downing at her website:    http://www.juliedowning.com/

Find more Creston Books at the publisher’s website:    http://www.crestonbooks.co/

.Also by Rachelle Burk

Tree House in a Storm

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Also by Julie Downing

Mozart Tonight.

No Hugs Till Saturday

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.NEW at Creston Books

Mini and Moo: Hooves of Fire

Blood Diaries

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Both reviewed here soon!

Ever since the publication of Johann David Wyss’ Swiss Family Robinson in 1812, children have been captivated by tree houses. Later, Mary Pope Osborne's popular Magic Tree House series (http://www.magictreehouse.com) made the idea even more appealing for kids. Tree houses equal fantasy and adventure, a way for kids to get out and experience nature while having some time alone away from parents and still remain safe in their own garden.

Reasons Children Like Tree Houses

I recently asked a group of 8-10 year olds why they loved tree houses and this is what they had to say:

“You can shut yourself out from the world.”

“You can create a club in it.”

“It’s high up and you can see everything around you.”

“You can get away from parents—especially if they make you angry—and still be safe in the garden.”

“It can be a hiding place.”

“It’s a quiet, peaceful place to read a book, listen music, or do yoga/meditation.”

“It’s a private place to play games with friends.”

Resources for Parents and Teachers

For those people who have large trees in their gardens, there are many websites online that sell tree house kits. These kits range from simple and affordable to sophisticated and expensive. If building a tree house isn’t an option, parents and teachers can introduce tree house stories to children and engage them in various fun and educational activities. Besides introducing them to Swiss Family Robinson a

Join host Suzanne Lieurance for Book Bites for Kids this afternoon at 2:00 CST on blogtalkradio. Her guest today is Rachelle Burk, author of Tree House in a Storm.

Call in to the live show to ask Rachelle a question or to make a comment at 1-646-716-9239.

It's 1965 in New Orleans. Seven-year old Kenny and his six-year old sister Allison build a tree house in their back yard. The tree house becomes their fort and they become king and queen. In it they play without invasion from grownups; they enjoy the hot summers and sip limonade under the branches to escape the heat... nothing can lure them down, not even delicious peanut butter and sliced banana sandwiches.

All is fine until one terrible day when a monster attacks them: Hurricane Betsy. Together with their parents, Kenny and Allison must evacuate immediately. Kenny is afraid for his tree house, so before they go to the shelter, he gets his tools and puts some extra nails into the boards. Then they stay in the shelter until it's safe to go back home. However, nothing prepares the children to what they see when they get back home...

Years pass and the story moves to the present, where Kenny, now a grown man, builds another tree house, this time for his sons.