Books By Malinda Mitchell

About Malinda

Author Malinda Mitchell

Malinda Mitchell resides in Mississippi with her husband Alton, has four grown children, a fourteen-year-old son, and eight grandchildren. Malinda has been writing fiction for all ages for more than thirty-eight years. She began writing when her oldest child was two years old. When she wrote a story she would put it in a folder. Years later, when she bought a computer she published her stories. Malinda’s favorite interests are spending time with family and friends, writing, and still-life oil painting. Among her books and Amazon Shorts, Malinda was published in the 2008 summer and 2009 spring issues of Once Upon A Time Magazine.

BOOK REVIEW

STORIES FOR CHILDREN MAGAZINE

Book: Life With Willie, The Weeping Willow Tree

Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Wayne Walker

Can you imagine what life would be like if you lived in an old, run-down orphanage with a cruel matron? Henrietta and Eve, both twelve, reside with eight other orphans from ages two and up at the Wide Wings Orphanage in northern California operated by Miss Emma Stanton who is very mean and sometimes abusive. One day, Willie, a magic weeping willow tree who can move about, comes to the orphanage and opens his trunk for all ten of the Wide Wings children to enter and live with Millie, Jenny, and Marvin Whithers, two sisters and a brother whose parents had been killed in a car wreck near where Willie was located. Miss Millie is a teacher.

Without any children, Miss Stanton has to close the orphanage and leave. After a few years, Willie obtains the deed to Wide Wings and suggests that the now grown children return to the orphanage so that they can open it back up as a place to give other orphaned children a truly loving home. But what will happen when Miss Stanton hears about it and returns to get a job there? This story is certainly different but is well written and interesting to read. It has a beneficial message which will encourage children to make any changes that are needed to benefit themselves and also help them to develop concern for those who are less fortunate than they are. I believe that most children will enjoy it.

Book: Little Miss Dilly Dot

Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Wayne Walker

If you were a little kitten who lived with your family in an alley but then one day your family was gone and you were trying to find them, how would you treat the people whom you needed to ask about them? Dilly Dot, who had one silver spot on the tip of her tail, is a longhaired white alley kitten, the smallest of her litter. When she is two months old, she wanders away from her family to play with her friend Pan Pan Mouse, and while she is gone, a lady adopts her mother, brother, and sisters. Imagine Dilly Dot's surprise when she gets home and no one is there! She must find her family, and begins asking her other friends, such as Bug Eyes Jim and Tasteless the Rat, if they have seen them, but she is very rude to her friends. Will Dilly Dot ever find her mother and siblings?

There are four subsequent stories in this book. In one, Dilly Dot wanders off again, getting lost in the woods and must depend on a rabbit and an owl to rescue her. In the next, she wanders off still another time to visit her friends back in the alley and they all go to the fair where they encounter a number of problems. In the last two tales, she meets Fred Blue Jay who is entering a contest and then visits Hummingbird Hill where she finds a hummingbird named Small Feather who is as mean as she herself has been. The first edition of Little Miss Dilly Dot was reviewed at Stories for Children by Gayle Jacobson-Huset, currently the Fiction/Poetry Editor of SFC, who said, "Author Malinda Mitchell certainly has a gift of a strong 'voice' for all her characters--you will definitely enjoy getting to know them all.” This is quite true.

However, Virginia also noted, "Although this book was enjoyable, I was taken aback by the nastiness of the kitten every time she met somebody new. I could not guess author Malinda Mitchell's intent until the very end of the book as to why she wrote a book about a cute kitten with such a nasty temper. You'll just have to read the book yourself to figure out the purpose of this.” In this second edition, a set of questions has been added to the front of the book that will explain Dilly Dot's behavior and help children understand how she grows to maturity in each story. It is certainly true that Dilly Dot learns some important lessons, and thus with the questions and guidance from a parent or teacher, Little Miss Dilly Dot can be an adorable way for children to learn the importance of being polite to people, obedient to parents, and generally considerate of others.

 Book: Helper

Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Wayne Walker

What would you do if you were living in an abusive foster home and no one seemed to care or do anything about it? Almost sixteen-year-old Pamela Reager is in just such a situation. Her parents had been killed by a drunk driver when she was seven, and since then she had been staying with Ann and Jim Walls. Ann was mean, often hitting Pamela and the four younger children in her care. Jim was kind to her but would never do anything about his wife. Pamela longed to run away but stayed to help the other children. She did complain to her teacher, Mrs. Crowley, who contacted Child Protection Services. The sympathetic CPS worker, Cynthia Yates, could not find any proof of abuse but still managed to find ways to remove the younger children.

Once the four others were gone and Pamela turned sixteen, she was able to carry out her plan to run away. Having hidden all kinds of provisions in the barn, she takes the palomino horse whom she has named Helper and goes off on the far side of a steep mountain where she finds an old cabin. Her plan is to stay in isolation until she turns eighteen, but she discovers that the horse has many extraordinary gifts. Helper leads several other people into her life, such as a neighbor, Trenton Gill who is just graduating from high school, and Craig Bonswell, a six-year-old boy whose parents are killed in car wreck. How will these people affect Pamela's life, and what will she do when she turns eighteen?
     The first edition of Helper was reviewed at Stories for Children by Gayle Jacobson-Huset, currently the Fiction/Poetry Editor of SFC, who said, "It's a great read for teens and will hold their attention.” I certainly agree. The book has just the right combination of action and description so that the reader will not only want to keep turning the pages but also will be able to savor what's on the pages. There were several typos in the original book, so author Malinda Mitchell published a second edition that is much better than the first and was professionally edited. This book would be especially good to help young people who have been in abusive situations to know that there are help and hope as they see how Pamela overcomes her bitterness and anger to become a well-adjusted adult. Malinda says, "Even though she makes some questionable choices based on her experience as an abused child, she learns valuable lessons.” My only objection is that the print seems exceptionally small, but I really enjoyed the engaging story as well as the lifelike illustrations by Neal Wooten.

Book: Helper
Rating: 5 stars
By ReadersFavorite.com

See also http://readersfavorite.com/cat-71.htm?review=2862 for a great review by Readers Favorite.

Book: Miss Sugar Crumb’s Magic Kitchen
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker
STORIES FOR CHILDREN BOOK REVIEW

     Most fairy tales are set in some undetermined place and time, but what would it be like if a fairy tale was put in a modern setting?  Miss Sugar Crumb lives in a little yellow house surrounded by a white picket fence out in the country. She likes to plant flowers, bake pies, feed the animals that live in the woods near her house, and visit her neighbors, Jake and Emma Colworth, who are childless but very much want a baby. But why was a rabbit able to talk with Miss Sugar Crumb and tell her that hunters were trespassing on her property and the Colworth’s property? And when she went to ask the Colworths to put up more “No Trespassing” signs on their property, why did the green and pink tea cup which she took with her and accidentally left suddenly have the faces of a little boy and a little girl on it?
     Miss Sugar Crumb’s Magic Kitchen is a charming, fairy-tale like story, that children will adore, but the characters are pictured by the striking illustrations from Nora Tapp Franzese in as modern a fashion as you or I would be, perhaps making it appear more relevant or applicable to our time.  Miss Sugar Crumb seems initially to be unaware of the magic in her kitchen, but she likes helping the animals and doing good deeds for others. Maybe there is a metaphor here about how we may not always realize the sort of “magic” that we can work in the lives of people by our pleasant attitudes and acts of kindness.  Miss Sugar Crumb certainly provides a positive role model for youngsters, and I can’t think of a better reason to read a book. Author Malinda Mitchell has given us a pearl.
     Related website: www.authorsden.com/MalindaMitchell (author), www.tex-ware.com (publisher)

Book: Spencer the Spring Chicken and Other Stories
Language level: 2 (the common euphemisms “heck” and “gee” are each used a couple of times)
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Rating: 5 stars (EXCELLENT)
Reviewed by Wayne S. Walker

For more information e-mail homeschoolbookreview@gmail.com    

     Mitchell, Malinda.  Spencer the Spring Chicken and Other Stories (published in 2004 by Mirror Publishing; republished in 2009 by Tex Ware, Everett, WA).  How do you think a chicken who injures his wing would get around? A rooster named Spencer accidentally got his wing caught in some barbed wire. While it was healing, he came across a pile of old springs, put two on his feet, and started bouncing (get it--"spring chicken"?).  He got an idea to sell the springs to other animals and make a fortune, but when his friends Randy Raccoon, Jimmy Squirrel, and Mildred Milk Cow are all injured, he just gives them the springs. Spencer also finds a couple of orphaned red birds whom he adopts and decides to take to Red Bird Valley. About half the book is taken up with several chapters about the adventures of Spencer, Sonny, and Sissy.

     The second story is about Silly Earthworm who is always trying to find a new home for his family so that he might keep his wife Milly and their sixteen babies from being dug up as fishing bait, even though his friends all thought that he was silly.  In the third story, shy Willy Chipmunk meets Herman Airplane who was dreamed up by a little boy named Billy and made real by love so that he could fly.  But Herman was thrown in the junkyard by Billy, so Willy adopts him.   When the animals learn that humans are planning to build apartments on their land, Herman helps them find a new home and move to it.  Finally, we meet Whistles the Whistling Oak who, along with Mumbles Tortoise and Rudy Raccoon, helps the lost Lazy Lamb find his home and also learn how not to be lazy any more.

     Most everyone knows that a fable is a fictional story, often involving animals with human traits, which has a moral. The first thing that comes to mind when we hear the term is Aesop’s Fables, but others have written in this genre as well. Author Malinda Mitchell has created these charming fables with some memorable animal characters, adorably illustrated by Rosita Schandy and Neal Wooten, which children will enjoy reading and from which they can learn important lessons in the process. Spencer teaches us that helping others is much more profitable than making money.  Silly Earthworm presents a message of love in spite of the discouragement of others. Willie Chipmunk and Herman Airplane emphasize the value of friendship and respect.  And Whistles illustrates how that rewards are great when we are active and helping others. Two thumbs up for Spencer the Spring Chicken and Other Stories!

Last updated: 06/22/10 09:54 AM

 

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