Colorado

Beverly Lewis was born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. She fondly recalls her growing-up years, and due to a keen interest in her mother's Plain family heritage, many of Beverly's books are set in Lancaster County.A former schoolteacher, Bev is a member of The National League of American Pen Women&#151the Pikes Peak Branch&#151and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her bestselling books are among the C.S. Lewis Noteworthy List Books, and both The Postcard and Annika's Secret Wish have received Silver Angel Awards. Bev and her husband have three children and make their home in Colorado.

edition

More text-heavy than the subtitle suggests, this loopy debut opens as Alex's well-meaning parents buy the 10-year-old a jungle gym. They also arrange a playdate ('Playdate? Alex hadn't had a playdate since he was seven') with neighbor Herbert, a compulsive inventor, who tinkers with the body suits that came with his AlienSlayer:3-D! video game. When he and Alex wear the suits on the jungle gym, the tubular slide becomes a wormhole that catapults them 100 years into the future. Their hometown is now inhabited by G'Daliens, aliens that speak with Australian accents and resemble giant squid wearing toupees and fake mustaches, a sight the boys find 'fall-down, pee-in-your-pants hilarious.' The cartoony line art and wacky futuristic particulars should appeal most to readers whose sense of humor tends toward the absurd. Ages 8-12. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the   edition.

beans

Kindergarten-Grade 3-All of the elements of the classic story are present: the cow, the magic beans, the hen that lays a golden egg, the harp, and, of course, the menacing giant. His castle has been intricately drawn; in an author's note, Lorenz explains how he created a scale of exacting proportions. He also has his Jack fashion clever contraptions, using the principles of simple machines, to carry his finds home. The illustrations are extraordinarily detailed and, in a number of instances, bordered with fairly elaborate designs. There is a lot going on-snakes, insects, mice, bats, and quite a few skulls, mostly human, litter the landscape. In four of approximately 12 spreads, readers are asked to find Jack. They can also find jars labeled noses, feet, and pickled eyeballs resting on shelves near a bound volume, 100 Ways to Cook Boys. Despite its numerous pluses, the narrative seems burdensomely long; the text itself stretches out in fairly labored declarative sentences without the richness of vocabulary needed to imbue such a vivid old tale. Also, the many illustrations, although colorful, are often cluttered and occasionally garish in tone.Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.