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Hippu. Oili Tanninen. 2015. Tate Publishing (Abrams) 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Hippu looks out of the window and sees a dog.

Premise/plot: Hippu is a small, square picture book originally published in Finland in 1967. Hippu, a mouse, meets Heppu, a dog, and they become good friends. The book is about what the two do together. The text is very matter-of-fact. For example, "Hippu sleeps. Heppu sleeps. Good night."

My thoughts: Hippu is a strange little book, in a way, certainly different from what is currently being published. But just because it's strange doesn't mean it lacks charm. The illustrations are simple, yet bold and striking. (The only colors in the book are red, white, and black.)

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Egypt Game. Zilpha Keatley Snyder. 1967/2009. Simon & Schuster. 215 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Not long ago in a large university town in California, on a street called Orchard Avenue, a strange old man ran a dusty shabby store. Above the dirty show windows a faded peeling sign said: A-Z Antiques Curios Used Merchandise. 

Part of me wishes I'd read The Egypt Game years ago. I loved, loved, LOVED it. Though part of me still loves the fact that there are still WOW books waiting for me to 'discover' them. I do love being swept away by a great book.

The Egypt Game celebrates friendship and imagination. The Egypt Game was invented by Melanie Ross and April Hall. Soon after they meet--very soon--they discover they are kindred spirits. Both have big imaginations, love storytelling, and have a fascination with Ancient Egypt. The Egypt Game is played in an abandoned lot near their neighborhood. They sneak in through a gap in the fence, I believe. Melanie's younger brother--much younger brother, Marshall--is part of the fun as well. He's four, and, he almost always, always brings his octopus, Security. By the end of the book, there are SIX "Egyptians" playing the Egypt game...

I do love the storytelling and imaginative play. How creative they all are in coming up with ideas for what to act out or play next. But I also love how they build a world and fill it with stuff, with costumes as well. But I also love the mystery element to the novel.

I would definitely recommend this one. I came to love all the characters. And there was a scene that just got to me--it reminded me so much of To Kill A Mockingbird. Anyway, I loved this one, and you may too. If you've read it, I'd love to know what you think of it!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Princess of Celle. Jean Plaidy. 1967/1985. Ballantine. 400 pages. [Source: Bought]

The Princess of Celle felt longer than it actually was. Perhaps because the chapters were so long. Perhaps because the book was complicated. If it helps, it was necessarily complicated. It is the story of a dysfunctional German family, one of whom would come to the throne of England as George I.

I was a bit disappointed that George Lewis does not become George I until the epilogue of this one! I suppose I had the silly idea that this book would focus on the obviously unhappy marriage between George Lewis (George I) and Sophia Dorothea (the so-called Princess of Celle). And, in a way, it is. But George Lewis is one of the most unimportant characters in the whole book. Seriously. Readers get to know--for better or worse--his mother, his father, his uncle, his aunt, some of his brothers. But for George himself? Well, he gets a tiny fraction of the author's attention.

If I had to describe The Princess of Celle, I would say it was a tug of war between multiple generations of mistresses in a super dysfunctional German family. I would say that almost all the men in the novel are vile, power-hungry, lusty creatures with big egos. I would say that the mistresses in the novel are vile, power-hungry, lusty creatures with big egos. The wives, well, have to make the best of it. They may hate their husbands. They may hate the mistresses their husbands keep. They may be humiliated in public by those mistresses. But they can take comfort that their children are legitimate.

For better or worse, the "main" story of The Princess of Celle begins in the middle of the novel. It is at the halfway point that readers see Sophia Dorothea marry her cousin George Lewis. She had wanted to marry someone else, another cousin. He had not cared who he married. He was content to marry whomever pleased his mother...and his father. He very much cared about picking his own mistresses. But a wife?! Not worth his bother. It's not like he'll be enjoying her company!

Is Sophia Dorothea the main character? I'm not sure that she is if I'm honest. She's not the strongest character. The most obnoxious or ambitious or strong-willed. George Lewis's mother is SOMETHING. As is his father's mistress, Clara von Platen. I would say that Clara gets more time and attention from the novel than any other character in this one. What does Clara want? What will Clara do to get what she wants? Who will Clara hurt to get her way? How many lives can she destroy? How much power can she grab? How can she keep the power? Clara is a disgusting character, truly revolting.

Did I like Sophia Dorothea? Well. She may not be as horrid as Clara. Who could be?! But she could not keep my sympathy. Yes, to a certain point I could see why she was so miserable and so trapped. She could not escape her in-laws and her husband. Not that her husband stayed remotely close to her. He was off doing whatever, whenever, whoever. But court-life was miserable for her because of the dominant women: her mother-in-law and her father-in-law's mistress. There were people at court, namely Clara that hated her and were actively plotting against her, plotting to ruin her life thoroughly. It was almost Clara's one ambition in life to destroy Sophia Dorothea, or perhaps the right word is obsession.

A sick love triangle. What every book needs is a love triangle, right?! Sophia Dorothea falls for the same man as Clara. His name was Königsmarck. There was nothing about him that I could admire or respect. Because his love for Sophia Dorothea was oh-so-pure and oh-so-true, he satisfied his lusts with Clara. Until he went off to war and was thought to be missing in action. Then Sophia Dorothea rejoiced with his return! Of course, she abandoned her morals, she was so happy! Clara then takes evil to a whole new level. You see, Clara already hated her and despised her. She already was out to get her. But NOW...she was a million times more determined to win the day.

I did not like spending time with any of these characters. I really didn't.


© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Story and drawings by Mervyn Peake  Originally published in Country Life magazine 1939 Macmillian 1967 reprinted by Candlewick 2001 The Captain and his oddball crew settle in on an uncharted island where they encounter a creature the color of butter and then... do nothing?   The good Captain is a bruiser who has run through his share of crew. His ship, The Black Tiger, has lost many a men to

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From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. E. L. Konigsburg. 1967. Simon & Schuster. 162 pages.


Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn't like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place. And that's why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Claudia Kincaid, our heroine, wants to run away, but she knows she can't do it alone so she recruits her younger brother, Jamie, to go with her. He may just be her favorite brother, and he's definitely her richest brother. Their plan is successful...and they do manage to have quite the adventure.

I really, really liked this one. I thought it was great fun. I loved Claudia. I loved Jamie. I loved the writing of this one. I loved the way we got to know the characters. This brother-sister relationship is done so well. I love that I can relate to both Claudia and Jamie. While we don't get to know anything really about the rest of the Kincaid family--about the parents, about the other kids, we do get to know these two very, very well! Which was enough for me!

Here is one of my favorite scenes between the two:

Upon their return to the museum, Claudia informed Jamie that they should take advantage of the wonderful opportunity they had to learn and to study. No other children in all the world since the world began had had such an opportunity. So she set forth for herself and for her brother the task of learning everything about the museum. One thing at a time. (Claudia probably didn't realize that the museum has over 365,000 works of art. Even if she had, she could not have been convinced that learning everything about everything was not possible; her ambitions were as enormous and as multi-directional as the museum itself.) Every day they would pick a different gallery about which they would learn everything. He could pick first. She would pick second; he third; and so on. Just like the television schedule at home. Jamie considered learning something every day outrageous. It was not only outrageous; it was unnecessary. Claudia simply did not know how to escape. He thought he would put a quick end to this part of their runaway career. He chose the galleries of the Italian Renaissance. He didn't even know what the Renaissance was except that it sounded important and there seemed to be an awful lot of it. He figured that Claudia would soon give up in despair.
When she gave Jamie first pick, Claudia had been certain that he would choose Arms and Armor. She herself found these interesting. There was probably two days' worth of learning there. Perhaps, she might even choose the same on the second day. (47)

Jamie's choice of the Italian Renaissance leads them on their biggest adventure yet. It leads them to a statue. A statue that may have been done by Michelangelo. A small statue of an angel that they learn was donated by a Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Once they become curious about this statue, once they decide they want to "solve" the mystery, well, that's when their adventure finds a purpose, a dream.

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The People: No Different Flesh. (The New Chronicle of  THE PEOPLE) Zenna Henderson. 1967. Avon. 225 pages.

Meris watched the darkness rip open and mend itself again in the same blinding flash that closed her eyes.

No Different Flesh is the second People book by Zenna Henderson. It's a collection of loosely connected stories about The People. If you enjoy science fiction, I'd recommend both books. Both are well-written. Both are fantastic. (Much better than what you might think based on the book covers alone!)

The novel does begin on a dark and stormy night. Meris and Mark are a married couple grieving the loss of a child. After the storm, Mark discovers a young child. Where did this little one come from? Why are her clothes so out-of-this-world? Is she not talking because of shock? Or does she not speak English? One mystery is soon solved when the girl's father arrives within a few days. But for Mark and Meris, it's only the beginning of the wonder, of the mystery. For this child and her father are of The People. And soon they are joined by others of their Group. And the stories begin. And Mark and Meris are very happy to be included in these gatherings. The framework of this novel isn't as strong as in the first book. But the stories are just as fascinating, just as wonder-making.

The stories included in this one are: No Different Flesh, Deluge, Angels Unawares, Troubling of the Water, Return, and Shadow on the Moon.

My favorite would probably be "Deluge" and "Angels Unawares." In Deluge,  readers learn about The Home--the origin planet for The People, a planet that was dying, a planet The People were forced to leave; we witness everything through the eyes of one family. In Angels Unawares, readers follow one member of that family to her new home, Earth.

I enjoyed the stories. I enjoyed the characters. I even enjoyed the structure--how many stories we have, and how many different narrators we have.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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