Dewey has been left in charge of the family business, The Bike Barn. Older sister Lil has been accepted as a student at an art class for the summer so Dewey and his brother Vince are very busy.  Seems everyone is using bikes now that gasoline is impossible to obtain. Add a mysterious old codger neighbor, a helper who shows up one day, two policemen and a set of impetuous twins and the plot is off and running, or should I say pedaling.

The parents call in everyday to check on the family.  The shop becomes very busy and soon Dewey discovers someone has been pilfering the shop. The sister’s summer class is cancelled so she decides to paint her summer mural project on the barn side, add  customers galore and one has the ingredients for a fun filled adventure.

Author Connor is a master plot manipulator who gets readers quickly involved. As the plot gets more and more involved the lifelike characters with their distinct personalities come alive on the pages. There is even a hint at a budding romance at The Bike Barn. I know I would love to meet this family again as the children grow and get involved with life.

The girls have grownup  to be very close, and new life in the south puts this friendship under serious strain.  Life with Grandmother Johnson is also very strenuous for the girls. Personal strengths and motivations are questioned as the days prior to the pageant slowly pass. At the actual event the girls each shine with their own strengths emerging.

The story has moments of hilarious high jinks where the twins work to relieve some of their pent up pressures. There also are moments of great humanity and passion especially as Minni gets to know the next door neighbor.  Previously Grandmother Jackson had the girls nail a brown bag of dog poop to the neighbor’s front door, so this new friendship for Minni has a definite bit of tension.

Being recognized as twins, despite  their  color differences,  is one of the major components of this marvelous fast-paced story.  Young readers will quickly identify with our intrepid twins.  I can hear the laughter and chuckles as they follow the twins from their safe home in the Northwest to humid pressure-prone life in the south at the program particularly.

The story opens with Rhea giving her son, Zeus, to an enchanted she-goat on the isle of Crete. Rhea tells that she fears  Zeus’ father Cronus will harm the baby boy.  On the isle Zeus has a happy childhood but when he questions why he has no playmates, he learns that Cronus, fearing he might be overthrown by one of his own children,  did away with all his siblings. His mother, Rhea, gives Zeus a stinky potion to use whenever he catches up with his father.  Eventually he finds Cronus sleeping and pours the potion into his open mouth. And while doing this Zeus sings, ” One, two, three, four, five,You swallowed my brothers and sisters alive.  Now drink this stuff — set them free! For I am ZEUS , you didn’t eat me!”  Zeus organizes everything and everyone. Thus he becomes ruler of heaven and earth.

It is a bit simplified, yes, but the story is there.  The artwork is splendid  and reinforces the irreverence beautifully.

Greek Mythology Zeus —  humorous retelling   elementary level

Her newest book, THE BIRTHDAY BALL , with illustrations by Jules Feiffer (Houghton Mifflin, 16.00  April  2010) brings us Princess Patricia Priscilla about to turn sixteen.  This age is crucial for at her birthday ball she will select her husband from a group of “unappealing” suitors. And unappealing is a subject Lois handles most adroitly. She manages to make each suitor more unattractive than the others.

Princess Patricia Priscilla is not one to wait around for the fickle finger of fate.  No, she disguises  herself as a peasant girl, sheds her shoes and enrolls in the village school where she meets a young and handsome schoolmaster. Marveling at what she learns about the other children, she soon develops friendships unheard of in her former life.

The day of the ball arrives, the suitors are in house, the festivities begin. Who will claim the prize of the princess and the kingdom? Never try to out guess Lois Lowry.  Remember the schoolmaster was young and handsome  and actually from a noble family!

The whole package here is splendid fun.  The independent princess, her personal staff who becomes absorbed in reading ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the students of the village school, the bizarre suitors  combine to make rollicking happy read.

The artwork is typical Jules Feiffer and adds form and body to Lois’ characters.  This is an genius combination of talents. Fun for all readers no matter the age.  Independent readers grade 4 and up.

Imagine Jack’s  surprise when one day, after he gets lost in the woods,  he is approached by a large grizzly bear. He tells the bear the woods are dangerous and full of ferocious wild beasts who gobble people up.  The bears asks if they gobble up bears, and Jack replies Yes. With some fear the bear agrees to lead Jack out of the forest. Along the way they encounter other wild beasts who are equally alarmed over the wild ferocious animals of the forest. This makes for a wonderful parade of scared ferocious animals. Mother ultimately finds Jack and safely leads him out of the forest and home.

Chris Wormell’s art is absolutely perfect for this amusing clever storyline. The expressions on the faces of the animals, when they hear of the ferocious wild animals in the forest, are wonderful.  The ending, when a real ferocious something (Jack’s mother) comes into the forest,  the faces of the forest animals are extra special. Such fear will send young listeners or readers into giggle fits.

The art is up to Mr Wormell’s usual high standards. There is a minimum of details allowing the reader/listener to focus full attention on the title characters. This is a magnificent book.

This text, while loaded with good information about the Pilgrims and the settlement at Plymouth Rock, has a counterpoint delivered by two young scamps.  Their outlook and outtake on events is pretty funny.  They almost desensitize the reader making ones’ memory of historical accounts seem in a way maybe more real.  For example,  in the construction of the communal meeting house where everybody assisted, one of the young scamps  says,”Hey, this is the new world. Aren’t there child labor laws?”  These asides to the reader from these BAD  pilgrims make the text quite funny and helps question our memories from history lessons past.

Delightfully funny text with illustrations that are so hilarious. This husband and wife team aim directly for the kids’ funny bones and they sure do hit a bulls eye.  Picture book, available now.