I don’t want to grow up – My love for children’s books seems endless.

I enjoy reading children’s books. I am for sure not the intended audience but I love reading them. Not all of course, but the majority.

Funnily enough I enjoyed reading books from authors like Barbara Wood and others when I was about 13 years old – why I have no idea. During my studies in which I read many classics, I turned to fantasy and during the past say 4 to 5 years I discovered or better rediscovered my love for children’s books. Maybe I liked them because (of)

• the nostalgic factor of my own childhood,
• the fact that children are mostly straight forward and don’t hide what they feel,
• they see things differently maybe even clearer.

Whatever the reason, they are fun, entertaining, usually contain a moral and just beautifully written and thought out.

As the international children’s day has been on June 1st, I just want to share some of my favorite children’s books which some might categorize under different or more specific sub-genres but from me they are still books for children – and in the end, I am still a child and will always be my parents kid no matter how old I am.

   

 

Doreen Cronin – Inspektor Barney: Tatort Hühnerstall/ The Trouble With Chickens: A J. J. Tully Mystery

Hardcover
Verlag: Egmont Schneiderbuch
veröffentlicht 2014
Seiten: 144

Book (Deutsch/English)

Klappentext/Blurb:

Gestatten, Barney Bartholomäus Wuff. Kurz Barney. Ex-Rettungshund. Im Ruhestand. Das dachte ich jedenfalls. Bis mir diese verrückte Henne einen Zettel unter die Nase hielt: Ich habe deine Küken! Schon mal Hühnertränen gesehen, mein Freund? Kein schöner Anblick, geht einem bis in die Knochen. Dabei machen mich Hühner so schon nervös. Sie halten einfach nie den Schnabel … Ein mürrischer Vorruheständler mit dem Hundeherz am rechten Fleck, eine aufgelöste Henne in Not, ein Rettungsküken in spe, eine Verschwörung, die schwer nach Huhn riecht und ein fieser Drahtzieher mit Halskrause – mehr braucht es nicht für das perfekte tierische Krimi-Abenteuer! Inspektor Barney – ein Hund für alle Felle!! Oder Federn … (Amazon)

J.J. Tully is a former search-and-rescue dog who is trying to enjoy his retirement after years of performing daring missions saving lives. So he’s not terribly impressed when two chicks named Dirt and Sugar (who look like popcorn on legs) and their chicken mom show up demanding his help to find their missing siblings. Driven by the promise of a cheeseburger, J.J. begins to track down clues. Is Vince the Funnel hiding something? Are there dark forces at work—or is J.J. not smelling the evidence that’s right in front of him? (Amazon)

In Kürze/ In (Very) Short:

+ spannend und unterhaltsamer Kinderkrimi
+ sympathisch Protagonisten
+ schöne Illustrationen
+ große Schrift für Erstleser

+ exiting and entertaining crime story for children
+ sympathetic characters
+ lovely illustrations
+ quote big writing beginners

Meinung/ My Opinion:

Barney ist ein pensionierter Polizeihund, der jetzt auf einem Bauernhof lebt und prompt hält ihm die Henne Hatty einen Zettel unter die Schnauze auf dem die Notiz eines Kidnappers steht: Wenn Hatty tut was der Täter verlangt, bekommt sie ihre Küken zurück. Barney beginnt mit seinen Ermittlungen.

Eine wirklich schöne Geschichte mit einem spannenden Kriminalfall. Der Fall ist wirklich “spannend” bis zum Schluss ohne dabei jetzt zu aufregend zu sein für die kleinen Leser. Die Charaktere sind wirklich liebevoll dargestellt und sind auch wunderbar illustriert, was sie gleich noch liebenswerter macht. Besonders gut gefallen haben mir die Küken – frech, fluffig und amüsant. Einfach herrlich.

Der Schreibstil ist einfach, flüssig und gut zu folgen, ohne dabei vorhersehbar zu sein. Die Schrift ist schön groß für Erstleser. Die Illustrationen sind sehr schön.

Barney is a retired police dog who now lives on a farm. One day the chicken mother shows him a note of kidnapper saying that if she didn’t do what the culprit wants, she will never see her children again. So Barney starts to investigate.

It is a really cute story with a quite fascinating “criminal case”. The case is quite exiting without being to scary for the young readers. The characters are sympathetic and charming as well as beautifully illustrated which makes them even more endearing. I especially fell in love with the little chicks – cheeky, fluffy, and funny. Simply adorable.

The writing is simple, fluent and the story is logical and easy to follow without being to predictable. The writing is quite big which is good for beginners and the illustrations are over all very well-made.

Fazit/Bottom Line:

Ein wirklich gutes, unterhaltsames, spannendes Buch.

A really good, entertaining, and exiting book.

Rating:

My Reading Month December

First and foremost, I wish you all a Happy New Year and a great, exiting, and wonderful 2015.

This reading month actually looks quite good and was quite good, but I read most of this in the beginning of the month. Towards the end of the month and year, being in the final stages of writing my thesis took its toll and I barely managed anything. Since I am still in the editing process, this monthly review will be brief. I am sorry and I promise to be more thorough in my next reading month and the reviews of the books.

Melanie Welsh – Felicity Gallant und das steinerne Herz

I finally read the second Felicity adventure and it was as great as the first story. I really hope Melanie Welsh continues to write more Felicity books. This time felicity has to stop a witch (that’s what I call her) from erasing all the stories with a happy ending. Again a great book about friendship and a little love… poor Henry.

Gitta Edelmann – Canterbury Requiem

This is a crime story written by a German author and set in Canterbury. I really enjoyed the story, it was an interesting case, the characters were likable, and the writing was fluffy and fluent. It was maybe less crime related than I thought it would be, but it was lovely and interesting.

Andreas H. Schmachtl – Hieronymus Frosch feiert Weihnachten

A short children’s book in which the inventor frog Hieronymus experiences winter, invents a lot of snow removing machines, and almost forgets that Christmas is around the corner. Really cute.

Doreen Cronin – Inspector Barney: Tatort Hühnerstall

A children’s crime story set in a chicken house. The old rescue dog Barney is retired and lives on a little farm, where the mother hen shows him a letter in which she is told that some of her chickens are kidnapped. Barney starts to investigate. Really cute, fun, and easy read. I think it would be lovely read for kids.

Daniel Glattauer – Der Weihnachtshund

My Christmas book this years is written by an Austrian author and centers around the dog Kurt. It was an easy and fluent read with of course a happy ending, some quirky and weird characters, and a dog with two different souls.

Andreas H. Schmachtl – Weil ich dich mag

Another Tilda Apfelkern book. This special edition contains 4 stories that all center around Tilda and her friends. Lovely, fast, and fun.

A. A. Milne – Positively Pooh: A Book of Happy Thoughts

This is a collection of positive Pooh moments and thoughts. I got this as a present and although I was a little confused in the beginning, but it really is a lovely and beautiful little book.

Stephan Ort – Sorry ihr Hotel ist abgebrannt: Kurioses aus dem Urlaub

This is a collection of weird and funny and sometimes really strange incidents that happened on vacation. Either in planes, at hotels, in buses and so on. It is a great read for in-between since the narratives are really short and sweet and can be read independently. Quite entertaining.