Review: Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves

Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves by James Matlack Raney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Welcome to ye olde days in England. Prepare ye selves for pirates, treasures, thieves, and mysteries. James Francis Morgan is old enough (eleven years old to be exact) to make his own decisions and run his life ...until his Father, Lord Morgan returns. Life as he knows it has turned upside down in one day and he's on the run.

Raney crafted his story for young male readers. (Ladies, you'll enjoy this tale, too!) He hits on some popular themes without going overboard on the swashbuckling or drama. He offers dashes of humor throughout as well as an occasional word that might need to looked up in the dictionary. Being set in England there is a sprinkling of British jargon. I believe you can share this tale with middle schoolers and/or tweens. It's fun, not too long, and excellent chapter lengths. I also think this would make an excellent audiobook (with the right reader, of course). I love a good audiobook!

Reviewed from a Smith Publicity copy. Thank you!

Smith Publicity also shared an ebook with me to giveaway! If you'd be interested in reading Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves, please leave a comment below with your email address.  The giveaway will close on the last day of the blog tour (May 24, 2013). Good luck, readers! 

Thanks for following the Jim Morgan Blog Tour!

Storytime: Vegetables

Every May at the library, we have a special garden storytime series that lasts for three weeks. This year's theme was Planting a Rainbow. My themes for Planting a Rainbow were flowers, fruit, and vegetables.

Vegetables Storytime

This was my favorite Preschool Planters from the Planting a Rainbow series. Here's the agenda for vegetable storytime:

Welcome

Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed SONG by Carole Peterson

Vegetables, Vegetables by Fay Robinson

I like to start out my storytime with an easy nonfiction about the theme. Vegetables, Vegetables fit the bill this week. There were pages I didn't want to include (the pages on veggies that are fruit and making a salad) so I paper clipped them together so we could focus on "regular" vegetables.

Potatoes on Tuesday by Dee Lillegard, illustrated by David McPhail

This is a short and little easy reader. To add to the book, I added flannel board veggies and asked the audience to tell me the veggie when I placed it up on the flannel board.

Vegetable Soup SONG by Piggyback Songs

I added ASL signs for this song. We learned the American Sign Language sign for broth, carrot, celery, onion, and potato.

Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre

And then it’s Spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. stead 

This was a great book to add a counting activity. Throughout the book we'd count the days of the week: 7 days are in 1 week. We'd also name the days of the week. It was repeated 3 times in the book.

Announcements

Goodbye Rap SONG by Carole Peterson

Blog Tour: Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves

Thanks for following the blog tour of Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves by James Matlack Raney. Sarah of Smith Publicity put this tour together and I am thrilled to be a part of it!

The blog tour began on Monday, May 13th and it goes until Friday, May 24th. The participants include: Nerdophiles.com , Oops! I Read A Book Again (http://oopsireadabookagain.blogspot.com) , TracysNook.com , You Can Read Me Anything (http://kellysessionswoodward.wordpress.com) ,  I Am A Reader, Not A Writer (http://www.iamareader.com/) , Hook of a Book (http://www.hookofabook.wordpress.com/) , Readalot (http://readalot-rhonda1111.blogspot.com/) , Learning & Growing the Piwi Way (http://piwiprincess.blogspot.com/) , and Silk Screen Views – (http://silkscreenviews.wordpress.com).

Please stop by the other websites and blogs to read their reviews and author interviews. You can also sign-up to win a copy of the book! I will be posting my review and a giveaway opportunity later today. Happy touring!