The Jazzy series is about a little girl named Jazzy and the adventures she gets into. These picture books are meant for young children, perhaps those learning to read, and have bright illustrations which help move the story forward.

In Jazzy and Puppy we learn that Jazzy is a little quirky because she has a cat named Puppy. And Puppy follows Jazzy everywhere, until one day Jazzy can’t find Puppy, which makes her sad. Jazzy is much happier when she finds Puppy and learns that Puppy has had kittens!

In Jazzy Gets a Dog we find that not only does Jazzy have a cat named Puppy, but that she had two birds, Kit and Kat, and a goldfish named Goldie. But Jazzy wants a puppy to add to her menagerie. So she asks her mom and dad and they finally agree, so Jazzy gets a little white puppy who tugged on her dress and licked her face. The puppy is named Snowflake.

In Jazzy’s Lovely Christmas Jazzy is excited about Christmas and when she hears her mother talk about buying gifts for the people she loves, Jazzy wants to buy gifts for her loved ones, her pets. Jazzy has saved up five dollars, and she and her mother go to the pet store. Then Jazzy is sad because everything she wanted to buy is too expensive. Then her mother asks if she wants to help take care of her pets, so she cleans the birdcage and feeds her pets and gives them fresh water. Her mother then explains she is giving them the best gift of all, the gift of love.

Through the series, Ms. Ishani’s illustrations increase in vibrancy. I like bright colorful books for kids and find them appealing. Jazzy and Puppy starts the series and the colors are muted, but depict the action well. With each successive book the illustrations become stronger and more confident. While I love the illustrations Jazzy’s Lovely Christmas there are more words on the page and the words are bigger, so if you are looking for a book for beginning readers, this book requires more advanced reading skills. To check out these books and see whether they are the right gift for the children in your life:

Preview the books on Amazon.com

Four years ago while on vacation, I passed by one of those pottery painting places.  It was something I had never done before, and two close friends agreed to go inside with me.  We decided to each paint a platter and give all three to a friend to hang on their dining room wall.  My two friends painted abstract designs: swirls and dots and shapes and colors.  I painted a lake and a tree with mountains in the background.  My friends convinced me that I was pretty good at painting, so I made a trip to a craft store when I returned home.  I purchased some canvases, acrylic paint, and brushes, and a new hobby was born.

I only painted one 11 x14 painting that year, taking almost 6 months to meticulously add layers and layers of color and detail to it.  The following year I painted 4 paintings which  became birthday and Christmas gifts for family.  A coworker then commissioned me to do two paintings for her kitchen.  The next year I achieved eight various sized paintings which again became gifts for others.  Several hang in both my mother and sister’s homes today.  Over the past four years, painting became a very relaxing hobby for me in between my writing, and offered me a great sense of accomplishment.  So, when artist Gil Jawetz emailed me directly asking if I would be interested in reviewing a book of his art, I immediately said yes without even looking at the Lulu preview first.  And I can proudly say, I was not disappointed!

His book, Human(e) Beings, is a collections of paintings from three shows.  The first section is called “Blues”, and depicts themes of New Orleans musicians and jazz halls.  Although Jawetz paints with oil, his style is not too heavily detailed and does leave a lot of depiction up to the eyes of the viewer.  For instance, there is one painting called Preservation Hall which shows a small band made up of a piano player, a few brass players, and a percussionist in a small wooden room with a white light hanging over head.  The wooden planks making up the walls are just quick brush strokes of brown and tan.  The musicians’ legs and chairs fade away to silhouette, completely leaving it up to the eyes to know what shapes are there outside the light.  And yet, Jawetz’s attention to detail such as the shine of the light on their faces, or the drummer looking right at you, even a window in the background with a twinkle of light provide just enough substance to the painting to make you stop and commit it to memory.  I have.

The same goes for another painting of blues favorite Lead Belly.  Jawetz has not painted him with any instrument although the man could play about seven different ones from piano to guitar to accordion.  It is a simple bust painting of black and white for his tux, and yet the heavy shading and highlighting in the face are enough to show the life lines of this man and tell his story.  You don’t need to see the arm of a twelve string to know this man played the blues.

The second section is called “Big Dogs,” and presents 15 paintings of man’s best friend.  Each is a close up perspective from the dog’s point of view, and if you are an animal lover then every single one of these will bring a smile to your face.  Gil again focuses his detail on giving the dogs’ face superb attention.  The backgrounds are usually just a swirl of colors from green and blue to represent grass and sky, to just a whirl wind of tints of blue to depict night.  Gil used photographs of beloved pets for inspiration and the lively personalities of dogs definitely shines through.  My favorite in this section is of four dogs and a bird.  You can see this painting for yourself on Gil’s website.

The last section of the book, “Human(e) Beings,” brings humans and pets together.  None of these are traditional portraits of a person with a dog or cat posing for a photo.  From a lady in a red evening gown sleeping on a white mattress with a white dog lying next to her, to a dog and a tennis ball and only the leg of his owner showing, there is a nice balance of angles from both the human and the animal eye.  One painting is done completely in shades of white and blue and is of a lady and her dog lying on the sofa watching TV.  The television is not even in the painting, but the glow of the TV set on their faces is enough for the person looking at the painting to know exactly what is being depicted.

With the holidays fast approaching, I highly recommend this collection as a gift for the art enthusiast or animal lover.  If you are like me and appreciate brilliant art or photography, then Human(e) Beings would also make a nice coffee table book for your collection.  Visit Gil on the web to see more of his work or to contact him about commissioned pieces of work.

Soon after Patricia Halloff posted her query on the “Pick Me” tab, I emailed her and asked to review the PDF of her book based on the title alone. Interesting name for a book, no? One might think, “That could only be a POD book.”

True, it is a title you might find hard to pronounce. You might want to call it “Sissy puss” and then blush about it, roll your eyes, or laugh, but I can tell you now, this book is no joke. I would say Patricia Halloff’s book now ranks in the top five books of all I have read this year.

Outside of the 23 Lulu books I have read for this blog alone, I have probably read at least that many traditionally published books for my own pleasure. If you are an animal lover, even if you are not; if you have a beating heart that society hardens from time to time, and you yearn for some emotion to remind you just how fragile life really is sometimes, how life could be much worse for you, then I encourage you to sit and spend a night with this book. It is some of the most brilliant, heartfelt, poignant writing that I have read in some time.

The name of the book comes from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, a king whose punishment was to roll a large boulder up a hill endlessly, only to have to watch it roll back down. Doomed to repeat this process over and over again throughout eternity, the word sisyphean is often used to described a task that is unending, pointless, and repetitive. Now, think about those words for a moment and think about how perfect they are as descriptions of stray pets, cats and dogs left on the streets to fend for themselves. They fight for food and shelter, fending off prey and sickness, often running away from the hands of abusive owners. Yep, it’s a cruel world and the abuse is unending. Enter Sisypuss.

From page one, when Sisypuss is born to a sickly mother who is near death , we are shown a grim world with no hope in sight. The entire book is told from the point-of-view of Sisypuss the cat and his outlook on the sinister unforgiving world. Think of the skinny cat you’ve seen in the alley behind your house, or the animal shelter you pass every day on the way to work. Think of the animal testing facilities that we deny exist. Ms. Halloff leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the harsh reality of the way animals are treated in this country. It is very real. It is no Greek myth.

Being an animal lover myself and owning two cats, I have to admit this book is not the happy fairytale cliche I was probably expecting. It is, however, a wake up call that the treatment of animals is something we should be concerned about.  Those of you who may not like books with animals as the central characters, don’t stop reading now.

There are humans in this story, but their central existence as secondary characters only serves the purpose of showing the relationship between humans and animals, as pets, and the delicate boundaries between our world and theirs.  But again, these plot lines are no walk in the park.  Booley, Sisypuss’s main owner, is battling drug use.

There is an array of other characters, both human and animal, that will definitely keep the pages turning.  At times, Halloff’s vivid writing will leave a coppery taste in your mouth.  Your chest will hurt from your heart crying out.  You may even hang your head in shame for not doing anything to help our furry friends.  But above all this, you will come away from this book never once regretting the time you spent reading it.  You will learn something, and hopefully we’ll make change.   Bravo to Patricia Halloff because her clever and informative writing demands that change!