Green Dolphin Street (Book Review) #1944Club

The 1944 Club is a theme in which two prolific bloggers, Simon from Stuck in a Book and Karen from Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings, promote a specific year of published books. Anyone can join in by reading and reviewing a book published in 1944 and adding a link to that book's review in the comments on Simon's blog. 1968,  1951 and 1977 have also been promoted recently.   

Title: Green Dolphin Street
Author: Elizabeth Goudge (pronounced Goozh, per the dust jacket)
Publication: Hardcover, 1944
Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Set on the remote English Channel Isle of Guernsey, in the town of St. Pierre, in the mid-19th century, Green Dolphin Street is the story of two unusual sisters, Marianne and Marguerite, and William Ozanne, the neighbor both love.

The Hate U Give (Book Review)

Title: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Publication: Balzer & Bray/Harper Collins
Genre: YA

Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime (Book Review)

Title: Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don’t Do Bedtime
Author: Cate Berry
Illustrator: Charles Santoso
Publication: Hardcover, Balzer & Bray/Harper Collins, May 2018
Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Plot: Penguin and Tiny Shrimp DO NOT have a bedtime story to share with you.

There are no soft beds or cozy covers here. There are fireworks! And shark-infested waters!!

This book will never make you sleepy. Not at all. Not even a little. . .

Enjoy their adventures while they avoid bedtime!

Audience: Toddlers – and their bedtime story readers! Fans of my favorite, Bedtime for Frances.

My Impressions: As the aunt of eight children who never want to go to bed, I found this book very charming. It begins with Penguin in PJs and Tiny Shrimp sporting a night cap but they make it clear they are not interested in bedtime. And yet, when they say there is nothing in this book about big soft beds or super-squishy pillows . . . then they test out the bed and exclaim, “Ohhhhhh, squishy pillows.” I must say, this was my favorite line in the book – every night I procrastinate about going to bed (sometimes doing quite valid things like cleaning bathrooms) but when I slide into bed it is so delicious that I wonder why I waited until 1 am to do so!

This is a debut picture book, full of humor that will appeal to the reader and the child, from the talented duo of Berry and Santoso. The quirky illustrations perfectly complement the text. I don’t understand how the Penguin and Tiny Shrimp became friends so would have liked a little more story but maybe we’ll find out in the future - I hope this will be a series and they will have more adventures in the future. In the meantime, the book would be a great gift for a baby shower or a preschooler in your life.

Purchase Links:  HarperCollins * Barnes & Noble * IndieBound * Amazon

Author: Watch author Cate Berry read this book aloud. Visit her at www.cateberry.com to learn more about her. You can follow her on Twitter, @cberrywriter. You can also follow illustrator Charles Santoso: @minitreehouse and the publisher, @balzer+bray and @harperchildrens.

Source: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. You can visit other stops on the tour and read the reviews by clicking below:

Tour Stops

Tuesday, May 8th: Instagram: @jackiereadsbooks

Monday, May 14: Instagram: @ladyofthelibrary

Tuesday, May 15th: Wining Wife

Wednesday, May 16th: Instagram: @hollyslittlebookreviews

Thursday, May 17th: Time 2 Read

Friday, May 18th: Instagram: @thepagesinbetween

Tuesday, May 22nd: Instagram: @_literary_dreamer_

Wednesday, May 23rd: Instagram: @theliteraryllama

TBD: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

* Image above copyright to HarperCollins

My Blog's Name in Childhood Favorites

Desperate Reader spelled out the name of her blog from her collection of Virago Modern Classics and Simon from Stuck in a Book used books from his TBR but I thought I would do it from some of my favorite children's books:

England 2018, Day 12

There was about half a day left – just enough time for one last excursion!  First, we had tea and chocolate chip muffins for breakfast in our room, and checked our luggage with the extremely attentive staff. Then we strolled to the Gloucester Road tube and zipped down to Westminster. Ironically enough, it was a beautiful sunny day just as we were about to leave London.

This time we were armed with tickets as we approached the Churchill War Rooms. Two queues were already in place: one for people just hoping to get in and one for people with tickets. I guided Mother into the former and I moved into the ticket line, asking the friendly guard if I could be at the front so we could enter promptly at 11, our appointed time, or if he thought Mother might get there first. She was afraid I was going to make a fuss but I was just getting the lay of the land. He asked if I was in a hurry and I told him we were flying home that afternoon and, to my surprise, he said we could go right in. Hooray!

The civilian secretarial staff also signed the Official Secrets Act

The Churchill War Rooms were an underground bunker near Parliament where Churchill and his war cabinet were able to work during WWII without the distraction of bombing. The war rooms were opened to the public in 1984, almost exactly as they had been left at the end of WWII (one officer had left his sugar ration behind in his desk, not expected he wouldn’t return). In 2005, other nearby rooms were expensively turned into a museum honoring Churchill’s entire life. Two of the best anecdotes: that Churchill accidentally had his private secretary invite Irving Berlin to lunch at Chartwell, his country home in Kent, having confused him with a philosopher named Isaiah Berlin; and that he invited Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier to Chartwell on another occasion and was so taken with Vivien that he gave her one of his paintings, an unusual circumstance.

Perhaps my favorite part of the War Rooms were interactive displays featuring commentary from the young women who did the secretarial work for the officers. As you may recall, I have always been fascinated by women and war work (although it is annoying to think how much more they could have done if given the chance!). It was amazing to see the rooms in which everyone worked and basically lived, sneaking in and out so the Germans couldn’t target it for air raids (although wouldn’t they have been aiming for Parliament and Westminster anyway?), and smoking all the time with no ventilation.  Two of the rooms were of great significance: the Cabinet Room which in May 1940 Churchill decided he would use to direct the war, and the Map Room where every move of the British Army, Navy, Air Force was tracked and reports were prepared for the King, the Prime Minister, and Chiefs of Staff. We learned that although many spent the nights underground, Churchill only did so a very few times because he liked to take two baths a day and preferred his own bathtub!

Churchill's office/bedroom with chamber pot!

Is it really Big Ben under there?

For those interested in the period, I recommend Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson, my favorite nonfiction in years.   About 12:30 I tore myself away (allowing myself to buy a mug on my way out at the appealing gift shop).  The weather was by now warm and sparkling and Green Park was full of happy Londoners. We walked around the block and saw Big Ben covered with scaffolding, completely unrecognizable. I didn’t want to go but we returned to Hotel Xenia for our luggage, headed down Hogarth Road to the Earls Court tube station, then to Heathrow for our 5 pm flight home.

Goodbye, London, we’ll be back!

Re the Abdication - "Why shouldn't the King be allowed to marry his cutie?"

Same Beach, Next Year (Book Review)

Title: Same Beach, Next Year
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Publication: William Morrow, Trade Paperback, April 2018 (originally published 2017)
Genre: Fiction

Plot: New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to the Lowcountry of South Carolina in a warm story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with humor.