My daughter screamed for joy when she heard that Deena Cook and Cherie McIintosh had completed another book in the Pinky and Peanuts series. Your daughters will love these books too!

Pinky and Peanut: No Boys Allowed is the third book in a new paperback series for children. With 90 pages and great full-page black and white sketches throughout, this book has a bit of a mystery in it. Is the clubhouse different? Is someone else using the clubhouse and changing things around? Or did the girls just forget what they had moved out of the clubhouse? Then the girls decided to write a story for a contest. I won't spoil the ending for you, but this book ends with family harmony. I would estimate that it is at the third-grade reading level. The illustrations by Trina Scruggs really add character to the story and keep the interest of the young reader. There is also a website ( www.pinkyandpeanut.com ) where the children can view the characters and complete a few activities. Children can even email Pinky and Peanut.

The series was not developed specifically for homeschoolers, but the stories of friendship, sibling conflict, and writing appeal to 7 and 8-year-old girls and boys. It was great to read how the girls worked together to write a story for the contest. In the end, Scott was lonely for the company of his sister Peanut. I thought the authors did an excellent job of displaying how a boy might display his loneliness in typical behaviors that his sister didn't even notice. There is enough mischief on the parts of both the boys and the girls that both genders would appreciate the book.

This is the perfect series for a second or third-grade girl. My older son and daughter liked the book too. After we read the first two books in the series, I ran to the local big bookstore to find the books to give as books. When they told me that they didn't carry them, I was devastated! It is by far our favorite elementary series. This series is fun, easy to read (but not too easy), and wholesome. I am not the only one who really likes this series. Pinky and Peanut: No Boys Allowed was just chosen as the winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for 2011.

All I can say is, when is the fourth book coming out? We can't get enough of Pinky and Peanut!