As a sequel to Give the Dark my Love, Revis didn’t grasp this reader’s attention as much as with the first book. It focused on the politics of the story and less on character development. It was a slower read as the character’s ideas were repetitive. The romance of the entire story didn’t sit well because of what felt like a forced coupling. Characters who had different goals and beliefs were put together leaving this reader thinking it would never work out. Only the last part of the book was worth the time to read as there is an unexpected twist.
Category Archives: Reviewer’s Library Type
Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
In this sequel to “Anya and the Dragon,” thirteen-year old Anya is determined to bring her father home from war. She enlists her friend Ivan and the dragon Hakon to help in this fantastical story of adventure and magic. The book keeps a face pace, encountering elves, monsters, and a dangerous underground city. When they meet magical Lena, she turns Hakon into a human which both helps and hurts their quest. The book left me wondering if there will be a third book in the series.
A Pig, a Fox, and a Fox
A Pig, a Fox, and a Fox is by Jonathan Fenske and is part of the Penguin early readers series. This book is part of a collection of Pig and Fox books by Fenske. In this rhyming book Fox has a toy fox that looks just like him. He uses it to pull pranks on his friend Pig. In the first prank, Fox puts the fox on top of blocks and Pig, seeing his friend in peril, saves fox. He seems amused by the trick of it not being his real friend. In the second prank Pig seems less amused, and by the third chapter they are both done and put the toy away. Both Pig and Fox get frustrated and mad throughout the book with each other and the pranks that are being played. Fox gets progressively more and more injured with each prank and by the end end his injuries are a bit unsettling (black eye, bruises, a band-aid and scratches). The injuries and lack of kindness between friends didn’t make me want to read this book and had me questioning why it was necessary. I have read other Pig and Fox books and have found them funny, this book fell short.
Bunny will not Jump!
This book is part of a Ready to Read series that Jason Tharp writes and illustrates. All of these books use color coded speech bubbles to convey the character’s dialogue. This is great for emerging readers. As a Level 1 book, this book has mostly short sentences and easy to sound out words. In this book Bunny will not jump, despite him being a bunny and Big (a bear) giving it his all to persuade Bunny to jump. As the story moves along, Big and Bunny discover it is their differences that make Bunny not feel like jumping. Once they acknowledge they are different and that their differences give them different capabilities, they talk about its not what it looks like when you do it, it is whether or not you are having fun while doing it. This is a great message for kids!
One of the best things about Jason Tharp’s books is that he involves the reader. Children love that Big can SEE them and asks them to push buttons or shake the book to help the story move along. Despite this, this book is not one of my favorites in the collection. There are less interactive pieces to it and although I love the message, a bunny just refusing to jump is not as funny as the other books. Having said that, there is no doubt that kids will enjoy this book, especially if they know the characters from previous ones.
My First Puppy by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
The cover photo of five diverse six year olds with five diverse puppies will draw young readers into this book about owning their very first puppy.
The first nineteen pages alternate through the five joyful children interacting with their various puppies. Sniffing hands, putting on collars, walking on a leash, learning to sit and stay, providing food and fresh water, and cleaning up puppy meshes are some of the subjects written about in huge font short sentences. Then, the final eleven pages are meant to be shared with the child and an adult to get them on the same page with puppy care. ‘A Bed or Crate’, ‘Things to Cuddle’, ‘Sense of Smell’, ‘Choose a Name’,’ Walking on a Leash’, ‘Sit, Stay, and More!’, ‘Going Outside’, ‘Being Patient’, ‘Food and Water’, ‘Checkups’, ‘A Wagging Tail’, ‘Always Be Gentle’, and ‘Stay Safe’ are the topics to be discussed between the child and adult.
Jill Wachter’s minimalistic photos of puppy and child with her illustrated balls, collars, and other puppy items accentuate the corresponding text.
Happy Birthday, Puppy Pals! by Michael Olson
Fans of the Disney channel’s Puppy Dog Pals series will enjoy this retelling of Happy Birthday, Puppy Pals! from season one in 2017.
Puppy Pals Rolly and Bingo are excited about having a birthday. It never crosses their minds they should be giving each other a gift until their sister Hissy the cat brings it up. In the end, both Rolly and Bingo trade their favorite thing to get a present for their brother in true ‘Gift of the Magi’ fashion. This time though, Hissy trades her own things to get the puppies favorite things back.
Vee is for Valentine by Chelsea Beyl
Fans of the Disney channel’s Vampirina series will enjoy this retelling of Vee is for Valentine from season one in 2017.
Vampirina, or Vee for short, is part of a vampire family who has moved to Pennsylvania from Transylvania. This is their first Valentine’s Day. They have always celebrated Ghoulentine’s Day, in the past. Vee has made two sets of holiday cards to give out for the occasion. One set for her human friends at school and another different spookier set for her Transylvania friends and family at home. When one card from each set gets into the wrong grouping Vee must retrieve the spooky card from a classmate before it is opened.
“Loving our friends is what monsters do best… and what VALENTINE’S DAY is all about.”
Doc McStuffins- Brontosaurus Breath by Sheila Sweeny Higginson
Fans of the Disney channel’s Doc McStuffins series will enjoy this retelling of Brontosaurus Breath from season one in 2012. Written for beginning readers (Level Pre-1), there are pictographs inserted into the sentences of characters and their names.
Lambie and Bronty want to give their toy friends ‘cuddles’, but three sets of friends run away, while the last friend ‘passes out.’ It turns out Bronty has some salami stuck in his teeth from lunch causing bad breath. Doc McStuffins removes the salami and teaches Bronty how to brush his teeth. The toys “have a toothbrushing party!” when Bronty is afraid to use a toothbrush.
The Art of Saving the World
For the past 16 years, Hazel has been living with a small radius of her house that includes her school, a few stores, a mini-golf course, and one restaurant. Her town is not small, but if she goes outside of this radius, the universe literally begins to freak out. When she was born, a rift, or a tear into the universe, was formed. The rift acts up now and again spitting out things from other dimensions — trees, furniture, and not known to Hazel, other Hazels. The government had set up barns on their property to monitor the rift and government agents had become Hazel’s friends as they had to track her every move. But her 16th birthday is the flashpoint. The rift begins its meltdown on a whole new level. Hazel will meet her versions from other dimensions and will slowly learn her destiny in the process of saving her world from being entirely sucked into the rift. Corrine Duyvis’ incorporation of current coming of age issues into an out-of-this-world experience feels surprisingly authentic. Teens will appreciate Hazel’s struggle to be her true self, even if it is something she learns through the eyes of her other selves.
Bunny Will Not Be Quiet!
I don’t like it. It’s supposed to be a Level One early reader, but it’s got a lot more big words than the level two books I’ve read from the same series. It tries to invite interaction by telling the reader to give Bunny a high five or poke him on his elbow, but the story is kind of lame: Bear tells us that Bunny is noisy everywhere, they go to the library, Bunny is noisy there too, and then they go to a movie where they both get shushed by others in the audience for talking about how hard it is to be quiet.