30. The Littlest Elephant

30. The Littlest Elephant. Katherine Applegate. 2026. 36 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, picture book, animal fantasy]

First sentence: Nobody ever listens to the littlest elephant. And around here, the littlest elephant is me. When you're the littlest elephant, they call you things like "Buttercup" and "Ru-Ru" and "Twizzletrunk." Even though your name is Ruby.

Premise/plot: Ruby is the littlest elephant. But she's growing, growing, growing. Her new tusks are a sign of her growing up. Ruby is conflicted. She doesn't know if she wants to do the growing up. What if she wants to stay the littlest elephant. The book is about a celebration of her growing her. And Ruby doesn't want to do the remembering bit that is encouraged by the older, wiser elephants.

My thoughts: I liked this one well enough. I love the middle grade novels in this series. I do. I don't love the picture books as much. Well, that's not quite true. With this one, the audience is definitely older readers. Dare I say it's best for adult readers? That it is more a book for adults to appreciate? It is text heavy. I can't see the story appealing unless you've already read the middle grade novel(s). The themes are mature--not because of content but because they are deeper in a philosophical, reflective way. I liked it.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

March Reflections

This month I reviewed eighteen books.

Books reviewed at Becky's Book Reviews


26. Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury. HarperCollins. 1958/2006 edition. 268 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, science fiction; short stories; classic; audiobook]
27. The Lions' Run. Sara Pennypacker. 2026. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, j historical, mg historical, world war II]
28. To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee. 1960. 281 pages. [Source: Library][Audiobook, 5 stars, classic, coming of age]
29. Farmer Boy. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1933. 372 pages. [Source: Library]
[3 stars, audiobook, children's classic, historical fiction]

Books reviewed at Young Readers

13. Two Ballerinas and a Moose. James Preller. Illustrated by Abigail Burch. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [early reader, 4 stars]
14. Board Book: Let's Make Pizza. Jamie Oliver. Illustrated by Adrian Johnson. 2025. 14 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board book, cooking, food]
15. Board book: Let's Make Pancakes. Jamie Oliver. Illustrated by Adrian Johnson. 2025. 14 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board book, cooking, food]
16. Board book: Let's Make Pasta. Jamie Oliver. Illustrated by Adrian Johnson. 2025. 14 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board book, cooking, food]
17. Goodnight, Bruce. (Mother Bruce #10). Ryan Higgins. 2026. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, animal fantasy, bedtime book, 4 stars]
18. Lolly on the Ice. Sarah S. Brannen. 2025. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, confidence, ice skating]
19. Rumpelstiltskin. Mac Barnett. Illustrated by Carson Ellis. 2026. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, fantasy, fairy tale/folk tale]
20. Tiny Garden. Deborah Underwood. Illustrated by Jax Chow. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, picture book, gardening, nature]
21. The Future Book. Mac Barnett. Shawn Harris. 2026. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, humor, picture book]
22. Pizzasaurus. Tammi Sauer. Illustrated by Kyle Beckett. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars, animal fantasy, dinosaurs, picture book]

Books reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible


9. Taming Lady Temperance. Karen Witemeyer. 2026. 336 pages. [Source: Library] [historical fiction, historical romance, christian fiction, 4 stars]
10. The French Kitchen. Kristy Cambron. 2025. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy] [3 stars, historical fiction, Christian fiction]
11. Mists Over the Channel Islands. Sarah Sundin. 2026. 368 pages. [Source: Library] [world war II, historical fiction, historical romance, christian fiction, 5 stars]

Bibles reviewed at Operation Actually Read Bible

1. RSV Sovereign. God. 1977. Thomas Nelson. 1488 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, Bible review]

Yearly and Monthly Totals

Totals for 2026
Books Read in 2026	63
Pages Read in 2026	13443
January Totals
Books Read in January	21
Pages Read in January	5119
February Totals
Books read in February	24
Pages Read in February	4225
March Totals
Books read in March	18
Pages read in March	4099

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Century of Viewing, March

In March I watched twenty movies or shows.

My five star movies: Can't Buy Me Love, Steel Magnolias, or Clue.

My four and half star and four star movies:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Dark City
Live Free or Die Hard
Parkland
The Hunt for Red October
Dangerous Crossing
Mona Lisa Smile
The Brain from Planet Arous
Jurassic World Dominion
Shari & Lamb Chop
57 Seconds

My top five movies of ALL of 2026 are: Galaxy Quest, What About Bob, Clue, Ivanhoe, Music Man.


© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #13

This week I reviewed six picture books.

I barely watched anything. That's not true. I watched a LOT of Emily D. Baker. The Kouri Richens trial finished up and there was another shorter trial covered as well.

I reviewed Goodnight, Bruce. Lolly On the Ice. Rumpelstiltskin. Tiny Garden. The Future Book. Pizzasaurus.


Century of Viewing #13

1950s

• 1958 The Day the Sky Exploded. Or Explorded as the case may be). Italian science fiction. The audio was English. I'm assuming dubbed at some point. This meteor movie lacks intensity. Unless you are thrilled about a showdown over air conditioners. It's good the earth was saved because the air conditioner was turned back on. This movie was strange but not in a great way.

2000s

• 2005 Dawn Anna. A single mother facing a horrible brain disease finds romance and utter heartbreak as her daughter is one of the victims at Columbine High School. I didn't know what I was watching until I'd already committed a good deal of time to it. That aspect of the story is the last ten minutes maybe? last fifteen? So it doesn't dwell on it so much, but, it ends with that. IT is based on a true story. I think it was a made for television movie.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Week in Review #12

This week I reviewed one book. I read The French Kitchen by Kristy Cambron.

I am reading books. But they are LONG books, thick books, books that are taking me a good bit of time to read. I did check out some picture books a few days ago, so at the very least I should be able to read and review those next week.

Century of Viewing #12

1950s

• 1957 The Brain from Planet Arous If you love sci-fi with "horror" elements, then I highly recommend this film from the 1950s. It was silly and fun. The premise, MYSTERY MOUNTAIN is a dangerous, dangerous place. Two scientists--presumably friends--investigate strange readings of radiation that they can pinpoint from their lab to a specific spot on Mystery Mountain. They investigate...but one never returns...and one returns as another....because he has met THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS. The brain has TWO things on his mind. SALLY (whom he definitely, definitely "elated" by (his words) and world domination. Can the world be saved from this amorous power-loving alien????
• 1958 The Day the Sky Exploded. Italian science fiction. The audio was English. I'm assuming dubbed at some point. This meteor movie lacks intensity. Unless you are thrilled about a showdown over air conditioners. It's good the earth was saved because the air conditioner was turned back on. This movie was strange but not in a great way.

1960s

• 1967 Those Fantastic Flying Fools (Blast Off) Changing the name doesn't help this movie be more than one star. I think it was supposed to be a comedy, perhaps a slapstick comedy, but it's just a mess of a movie. Too many actors. Too little story. Not enough comedy. It isn't as simple as well, not funny enough to be a comedy it must be something else...like a drama or tragedy. But nope. It's a void. So bumbling fools are trying to get to the moon via a cannon. This makes The Great Race (1965) look intelligent. Neither movie is funny. Both are too long.
• 1968 Finian's Rainbow. WHAT is this movie?!?! Well, it's a long movie. It's a song and dance movie. It's got an amorous leprechaun. It's got several weird stories going on. It's extremely unique. I guess a one sentence description would be, "Be careful what you wish for." It hasn't been a great year for watching Fred Astaire movies. Though I suppose I'm glad enough I persevered through this one.

1980s

• 1988 The Bourne Identity. Two part made for television movie. IT had suspense, action, and romance. I definitely am glad I watched this one!!! It has been so long since I watched the newer Bourne Identity, but, this one was GOOD and according to the comments on YT faithful to the book (which I haven't read so I can't judge for myself).

2020s

• 2022 Jurassic World Dominion. I loved seeing some of the characters from the Jurassic Park series come back for this one. The story is dinosaur-packed. It's action-y. It's dinosaur-y. I liked it well enough.
• 2023 Shari & Lamb Chop A documentary film on Shari Lewis (and her wonderful, wonderful, wonderful puppets). IT was a good documentary. I wanted more, more, more of Lambchop. But it was fascinating to see her whole life and not just a small bit of it. Would recommend.

© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews