Snow Takes the Checker by Demi Knight Clark & Catty Wompus by Julie Howe

Recently, I received a few new children’s books to review and share ---

In Snow Takes the Checker! you will join Snow the Racehorse and her best friend Tuga (a racing turtle!) as they race to win! In the meantime, they’ll learn valuable lessons about the beauty of friendship, teamwork, and being ‘yourself’, no matter what. An adventure from start to finish, you’ll want to know who takes the checkered flag at the end!

Owner of Girl Friday PR + Marketing + Design, Demi Knight Clark has used the last 12 years in business as a "platform for the Womens Initiative in racing." Long known in male-dominated industries, she graduated from Ohio University in 1999 from the esteemed Scripps School of Journalism with honors.

Launched into the crazy life of the Dulles Technology Corridor "dot-com boom" of early 2000, she helped launch three startup companies to the world via viral grassroots marketing, public relations and media placement. After a detour to Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Georgia to chase her MFA in Interior Design, she started a career as marketing director for a regional SC/GA homebuilder (now K. Hovnanian Homes). Unafraid to be a "skirt on the jobsite," she continued to challenge the norms, rising to Director of Marketing & Interior Design at the world's largest homebuilder, D.R. Horton Homes in 2004.

After a successful 5-year career with the company, leading teams & projects plus launching 60+ communities for the homebuilder, Demi chose to venture out on her own in a "down economy." She started her own woman-focused/based PR firm, Girl Friday. In its infancy, she already has five major clients (and no free time!) - with her first major clients in the motorsports arena. Always challenging the "girl power" banner, she has two "chicks" of her own at home who fuel her fire - Maizie, 5, and Willa, 3. Demi makes her home in Fort Mill, South Carolina - a suburb of Charlotte, NC and the heart of motorsports. www.GirlFridayPR.com.

If your family is into any type of racing (NASCAR, dirt-track racing, horse racing, etc.), this book will be a big hit!  Children will appreciate the cute storyline about Snow and Tuga, while enjoying the simple, yet colorful, illustrations.  As an adult, I appreciated the strong message of friendship that was conveyed in this story – friendship is more important than winning a race!  As a homeschool mom, I also appreciated the addition of the word glossary at the end.  For those families who maybe aren’t familiar with the racing arena, this glossary will help.

More information about Snow the Racehorse and Snow Takes the Checker! (as well as other books in this series) can be found at Snow’s website.  This book is available at Amazon.com.

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In Catty Wompus, you’ll follow the story of a lonely girl as she learns a valuable lesson from a determined classmate.  This book is a timeless tale of what it means to be a friend.

Catty Wompus author, Julie Howe, has this to say about the book - “The story of Catty Wompus was inspired by a real life experience I had growing up in semi-rural Illinois that has always stuck with me. You know, one of those things you look back on and realize how much it taught you? I had a blast writing the story and bringing it from brain to paper with the help of Chason Matthams and his funky, groovy illustrations.”

I’m a sucker for a children’s book that is set to rhyme (this probably stems back to my early days of listening to my mom read Dr. Seuss books to me!) There’s just something super fun about reading a rhyming story, and Catty Wompus was no exception! I agree, quite highly I might add, with Ms. Howe’s description of the illustrations – they are definitely “funky” and “groovy”, not to mention quite colorful and kinda crazy!

Catty Wompus is a mean and hateful girl (your classic bully).  The story is told by one of the girls (Lucy Hope) who is a target of Catty’s bullying.  She decides to take matters into her own hands to “get back at Catty and put her in her place”; but her mom has another idea.  Lucy’s wise mother encourages her to befriend Catty and show her what’s important in life – not clothes or toys or money, but true friendship.

More information about Catty Wompus and the author can be found here.  This book is also available at Amazon.com.

NOTE: These books were given to me in exchange for my honest thoughts on them, and as part of the Parent Reviewers blog program. No other compensation was received.