Simon & Schuster

Children's Bookwatch, April, 2005

Simon & Schuster

1230 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor

New York, NY 10020

1-800-223-2336 simonsayskids.com

Three titles are recommended leisure reads for picturebook enthusiasts seeking something different. Anne Bustard's Buddy: The Story Of Buddy Holly (0689866674, $16.95) reads like a story, but includes plenty of facts about the musician's life and inspirations. Kurt Cyrus' realistic drawings illustrates a tale for ages 5-9 about a Texas boy who found his love of guitar an early impetus for achievement. Tony Johnston's Chicken In The Kitchen (0689856415, $15.95) presents Eleanor Taylor's whimsical drawings as it tells of a funny restless chicken who flaps her way through the kitchen looking for interesting things to peck. A rollicking rhyme provides the fun. Gibbs Davis' Wackiest White House Pets (0439443733, $16.95) outlines some of the stranger pets of presidents, from a pet alligator in the East Room of the White House to two pet grizzly bears kept by Thomas Jefferson. Good reading skills required to absorb these true tales which read like stories with action and drama.