‘Chicken Coop Caper’ is sequel to Christian-themed ‘Bash’ tale
Bash and the Chicken Coop Caper, second in a series of lively Christian-themed novels for middle readers by Warren Tribune columnist Burton Cole, begins with 11-year-old Raymond “Beamer” Boxby trying to dissuade his cousin, Sebastian “Bash” Hinglehobb, from tobogganing off the roof of his family farm’s chicken coop, having fitted up his sled with a pillowcase sail on a rake handle mast.
Remembering well when Bash tried to ride his bicycle off the barn roof with a bedsheet parachute, a story from 2013’s Bash and the Pirate Pig, Beamer finds Bash’s plan unwise, but the boys have cabin fever after a January blizzard and there’s little else to do. Foolhardy but devout Bash is looking for ways to find Galatians’ “fruit of the spirit,” and the appearance of a widow and her children in the neighborhood give the boys an opportunity to demonstrate kindness.
Beamer’s Christmas vacation continues with one funny disaster after another, like a simple cookie-baking session that collapses into chaos. There’s a mystery going on in the chicken coop, with footprints appearing and eggs disappearing. Beamer tries to connect with the widow’s daughter, consumed with grief about her father’s death.
Bash and the Chicken Coop Caper (210 pages, hardcover) costs $12.99 from B&H Kids. A third book, Bash and the Chocolate Milk Cows, is scheduled for spring.
‘The Pullman Porter’
The topics of Akron children’s author and philanthropist Vanita Oelschlager’s books vary from World War II history to same-sex marriage, poetry appreciation and understanding the sadness of miscarriage. A new book, The Pullman Porter: An American Journey, tells the story of the railroad porters who served generations of travelers.
Oelschlager begins her story after the Civil War when George Pullman, inventor of the sleeping car, hired former slaves to work for him. She describes their rigorous duties, impeccable appearance and struggle for better wages, including the 1937 organization of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
Doylestown artist Mike Blanc’s lustrous illustrations show the dignity of the porters as they perform their duties, and the long-ago luxury and allure of train travel.
While reading this book, the light bulb in my reading lamp burned out. Oops! I just dangled a participle. I’ll have to go back and re-read Don’t Dangle Your Participle, another book by Oelschlager. Using the author’s funny examples like “While riding his skateboard in the park, a deer almost ran into Lester,” illustrator Mike DeSantis shows a full-antlered buck wheeling down a path, knocking the cap off a startled boy as a chipmunk watches. The next pages show the corrected version, with Lester on the skateboard (wearing a helmet, as he should).
The Pullman Porter (46 pages, $8.95 in softcover) and Don’t Dangle Your Participle (42 pages, $15.95 in hardcover) are published by VanitaBooks.
‘R Is for Robot’
What happens when a lot of robots get together to build an alphabet? A lot of banging and clanging, as seen in R Is for Robot: A Noisy Alphabet, a colorful picture book by West Union illustrator Adam F. Watkins.
Fans of Wall-E will enjoy seeing the quirky robots rivet, pound, oil and weld the big letters, each with its own onomatopoeic effects (A is for “ahoogah,” coming from the horn of an eccentric little vehicle; a blob of grease goes “ooze” from a spigot) to help pre-readers learn the letter sounds.
R is for Robot (32 pages, hardcover) costs $16.99 from Price Stern Sloan.
Events
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights) — James Henke, a former curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, signs Marley Legend: An Illustrated Life of Bob Marley from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the “Tuesdays on Coventry” summer vendor village across the street from the bookstore.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road) — John Sladek talks about and signs his pictorial history Hockey in Cleveland, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (North Royalton branch, 14600 State Road) — Ben H. Winters, whose 2012 The Last Policeman won an Edgar Award as Best Paperback Original, talks about and signs his work, including the just-released World of Trouble, last in the Policeman trilogy, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Register at 440-237-3800.
Dover Public Library (525 N. Walnut St.) — Lester Horwitz talks about and signs The Longest Raid of the Civil War, about Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his unsuccessful July 1863 “Morgan’s Raid” invasion into Ohio, where he was defeated in Columbiana County, 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Barnes & Noble (198 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake) — Case Western Reserve University professor Brad Ricca, author of Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, The Creators of Superman, appears at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Barnes & Noble (28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere) — Cleveland author Brian McClellan signs The Crimson Campaign, second book in the Powder Mage trilogy that began with Promise of Blood, 1 p.m. Saturday.
Barnes & Noble (4015 Medina Road, Bath Township) — Walsh University student Mike Garcar signs Making Conservatism Cool: Strategies for Revamping the Right, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.