Contests Books

I can't tell you how many times I've read this book to my daughter. WAY WAY TOO MANY, that's how many! She adores it. Of course, mostly that's because she adores anything with Care Bears in it, but she has other Care Bears books she doesn't love as much, so there must be something about this one. It's the tale of a contest held to see which Care Bear can show the most caring. If you guessed the ending, you are probably right---it's a TIE, they ALL care the most! It's not a bad message, but why have it be a contest in the first place, if of course having any kind of competition is pretty much banned in books like this? My husband always says I analyze kids' books too much, and I probably do, but I do like to think about what I'm reading to my kids. But of course, no one is forcing me to read this, and it makes my daughter very happy, so I guess it deserves some credit for that!

This book was OK. If you like Mary-Kate and Ashley, I'd say that you'd like to read the book. I like some Mary-Kate and Ashley things, but I do think that some of it is going a little too far. Like, for instance, fragrances?! And did you know that they have rugs now!!! I mean, they have almost everything!!! They have sooo many different types of dolls. They have clothes, cosmetics, books, CDs, Movies, Games, Rugs, Dolls, Hair supplies, and footwear...they might even have more than this. I just can't believe all that the stuff that they have! They are only 17 and about to be billionaires, too! However, they HAVE been working a little over 16 years. I LOVE the movie, Our Lips Are Sealed. Even the bloopers are funny!

This is basically an Iron Man book.

The Heroes of the Marvel Universe have been basically kidnapped by aliens and brainwashed into fighting one another. Only Iron Man, due to his armor, is immune to their advances.

There are, of course, battles between the heroes. Most are disappointing.

Most of the plot relies heavily on Chris Claremont's earlier works in Marvel, namely the X-Men, so if you haven't read those, you might be lost. There are a couple of extra-dimensional guest stars, too, that are idiotic.

It's a flash in the pan, but if you like Iron Man, you might be interested.

This book was good for my son who is in 1st grade, but not an early reader. The story line, as in the entire series, is slightly different from other early readers. In this case, the children brainstorm in order to count to 10 in one second. While the book is solid, it does not have as strong a story line as some of the others in the series. My son was proud to be able to read the book. The illustrations are good and there is a lot of detail worthy of discussion. At the same time, it is relatively simple and not one a child would want to read over and over. Get free shipping and share the book with other children or donate to the class. I highly recommend the Robin Hill School series by Margaret McNamara.

"The Great Monster Contest" I thought was an okay book. I would recommend this book to a kid that has a good imagination and that are interested in crazy creatures. I thought this book had great pictures for kids. This book was about a little normal not good at much monster named Jurgles. He lived in Horrendous Swamp with "forty-eleven" other monsters. One day the decided to have a contest to choose the champion monster except Jurgles. She didn't want it to happen because she knew that she wouldn't win anything because she wasn't good at anything every monster she knew was more outstanding at something or other. Jurgles best friend Boomer was very popular and agreed with Jurgles that she shouldn't enter the contest. Jurgles was feeling very down but then her other friend had an idea that Jurgles should be the judge of the contest. She seemed happy with that idea. In the next few days everyone was very busy making signs and posters and trying to look their best for the contest. The day of the contest everyone voted for whom they thought should have been the winner. To found out who won the contest I think you should read this book for yourself.

Hank's best friend is Irma, the smartest dog in the world. Today, Hank's school is having an egg drop contest. Contestants have to construct a container that will protect a raw egg from breaking when the container is dropped to the ground. This engaging premise should have produced a wonderful book, but the author unfortunately spends about half of the book describing how Irma helps Hank get ready for school. Hank then spends too many pages bribing Irma with doggy treats so that she will help him gather supplies for the contest. The two race to school, where one of Hank's friends decides to test her container before the contest. Irma interferes with the test by catching the falling container and running off with it, and that's the end of the book.

This unsatisfying story is followed by a page describing how egg drop contests are conducted, and another page of online resources. By wasting so much time on the irrelevant details of Hank's morning, the author misses an excellent opportunity to write an exciting story demonstrating the principles she summarizes on the next to the last page.

Vivid illustrations and the summary and online resource pages keep this book from being a complete disappointment.

This was not such a good book, it doesn't live up to Dian Curtis Regan's standards. The "romance" title leads you astray, at least that is what I gathered from it. If you are really looking for a good read by Dian Curtis Regan, you should read Princess Nevermore. AWESOME!

I can't believe Sam has been around this long and still hasn't learned to assert herself. My blood just boiled when the editor complimented her for putting on what he thought was a "flake act". Now, I wouldn't have been wearing one of Angie's "Save the Monkeys" badges, because I personally don't believe that animal testing is wrong. *But*, if someone called me a "flake" for endorsing something that I *do* believe in, I wouldn't shrug it off; I would tell them exactly *why* I believed in it, whether they were going to listen or take me seriously or not.

And the scene where Aaron tried to pull what he must have thought was an "intervention"...! Telling her "Your mind's turned to mush. Don't you think for yourself any more?" JERK! Her mind was mush when she was with him; she let him do all her thinking *then*! And of course, she can't say "Let go of my arm; you are my EX-boyfriend, and you have no say in what I do." Instead, she actually sits down and mulls over what he said, as if it carries any weight at all! Zheesh!

I think Scott has a lot more character than Aaron. The scene where he's teaching basketball to the ghetto kids was really touching. Of course it's not what Aaron would do, but Aaron is so caught up in politics and giving people what he *thinks* they ought to have, he never gets down off the pedestal and makes human contact. I am glad that Scott realized that Sam really did believe in him, and proved it by getting the info needed to clear his name. Hm...Maybe she is capable of independent thought! (But she still shouldn't let people push her around the way she does.)

Imagine being kidnapped by a giant cockroach from the Moon, who runs the local Burger Buckaroo in disguise, to take part in the Cavalcade of Loveliness Beauty Pageant on the planet Neptune. Imagine that the talent portion requires you to capture the Beast of the Mall, which turns out to be a giant plant named Claude. Then imagine that your science teacher from school, who had the students take care of his cacti, turns out to be a misguided alien seeking revenge by brainwashing everyone attending the pageant while he impersonates the most famous Moon Cockroach Pop-Star, Hortense Benway. This is what happens to our hero Theora, a teenage punk-rock drummer who was out by the lake one day working on a science project, when she and her pesky little brother witness a submarine rising out the lake owned by the Ubermind Institute and operated by the famous scientists who publish bestselling books about their adventures. The Cavalcade of Loveliness Battle of the Bands, between the real Hortense Benway and her back-up punk-rock Band with No Name and the imposter Mr. Pinweed with his Big Band of Cactuses, is the grand finale to this fast-paced story that is chock-full of adventures and plot twists. This would be a good follow up for fans of Captain Underpants and other humorous books. It is fun and kids will get a laugh from this science fiction that is sillier than science would allow.

I've wanted to be on a game show and win money with the useless knowledge I know since I was 12. I sent post cards in every year from the 8th grade through all four years of high school for the JEOPARDY! TEEN TOURNAMENT. During my freshman year in college I sent over 30 postcards into JEOPARDY! for their College Tournament, elborately decorating many of them so they would stand out in the big wheel I thought they would be placed. I was one of the first people to flood the WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE lines when the show first came on the air back in 2000. I've gone to local contestant searches in St. Louis. But alas, my goal has yet to be achieved.

I picked up this book because Robert's desire to be on a show called "Instant Millionaire" was something I could really related with. In ROBERT AND THE INSTANT MILLIONAIRE SHOW Robert and his friend Paul (both about age 8) want to be contestants on a game show called "Instant Millionaire" so that they can win a million dollars and buy a new bike and an electric guitar. They spend a lot of their time memorizing books called Wierd and Wacky Facts. In fact, they've memorized every book in the series except the two they don't own, #11 & #23. Eventually Robert gets a call from the show and is told he can't participate because you have to be over 18 to be on the show. Robert then gets the bright idea of entering his teacher so that she can get on and he'll be one of her tela-friends. Along the way Robert and Paul do a project on the famous Galloping Gertie suspension bridge and Robert finds out that his Mom has a post card collection. I enjoyed the writing of this book because it is told from a perspective that 1st-4th graders can relate. However, I was disappointed by the ending. The message the book ends with seems like a good one: don't just dream, but do. However, the way the message is presented makes it seem like having goals and dreams and ambitions in life are bad. It kind of bothered me that there was no encouragement for Robert to pursue his goal later on in some fashion. Instead, because it was an impossibility at the time, the message seems to suggest that the dream should be given up altogether. I wished it was delivered a little different, perhaps with something like, "But even though Robert knew he couldn't be on 'Instant Millionaire' now, he was eager to learn because he was sure that one day he would."

This book also includes ROBERT AND THE THREE WISHES. ROBERT AND THE THREE WISHES leaves off almost exactly where ROBERT AND THE INSTANT MILLIONAIRE SHOW ended. Robert's teacher, Mrs. Bernthal, announces to the class that she recently received a phone call about being on "The Instant Millionaire Show." However, she cannot be a contestant because a family member works for the television station. The phone call has given her and idea and she decides that the class will have their own trivia contest of boys against girls. Robert makes a few "wishes" and surprisingly two of the things he wishes for come true. When he makes a third "wish" which appears to come true, he thinks he's been given special powers. But his friend Paul gets him back in line as the two drill the boys in a match of wits against the girls. Overall a somewhat-entertaining tale that 2nd and 3rd graders will probably enjoy the most.