Olive’s beloved Mr. Snuggles goes missing, and she is devastated. So of course, when she finds him again, she is relieved. But Mr. Snuggles is different somehow – cleaner, flufflier. . . .
It’s an imposter!!
This was delightful! Everything works – the simple text, the familiar scenario, Olive’s reactions to every development in the Snuggles situation, the artwork. This would be a hoot to read aloud. Highly recommend!
*♥♥♥♥♥ – Outstanding!
[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Tundra Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
When three aliens crash land on Earth, they find a kind and helpful community of humans.
This was cute! And not quite what I was expecting. The aliens have answers for all of the questions, insisting they are humans and from Europe. And the community where they crash doesn’t seem to care too much. They kindly chip in to help, even when the folks they help are different and unusual.
*♥♥♥½ – Good+
My husband is friends with the illustrator for this book, Danner Seyffer-Sprague of ConjureDustDesigns, and I found this at his booth at a cryptid convention this summer. As we already love – and own – a good bit of his art, I had to pick up this darling picture book.
There are 26 layouts of Mothman doing activities like flying on an AIRPLANE, meeting a BEE, and looking at COMICS in the book – and they are darling. The backmatter includes brief descriptions of Mothman and his cryptid friends featured in the book.
This would be a fun gift for your cryptid-loving – and art-loving – friends and family.
*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read
[The book originally scheduled for review today was NOT a good fit for me, so instead I’m going to share a brief review of a picture book I read in the bookstore earlier this summer.]
A little girl starts to suspect her new baby brother is a wizard because he enchants everyone he meets, interrupting her own magical little world.
This was OUTSTANDING! I was, of course, immediately drawn in by the purple cover with the darling illustration. But the set up of the magical story, where a charming little girl “enchants” her entire family only to be overthrown when a new baby joins the family, is an absolute delight! It’s clever and sweet.
This would make a lovely gift for a family expecting a second child, or for a story time with children who can identify with how a new baby changes family dynamics. Pair this with The New Small Person, which is another new sibling picture book I loved.
*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!
Here is the first review I ever posted here at The Neverending TBR.
It had been a few years since I blogged, and I was eager to find a place where I could talk about books since I wasn’t going to be in the classroom talking about them with students. Check it out!
[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Kids Can Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Arnold’s superhero family keeps waiting for him to get a super power of his own. In the mean time, he answers the phone at headquarters and takes down messages in his very neat penmanship.
When an emergency call comes in and all of the heroes are busy, Arnold dons a mask and cape to see if he can save the day. Arnold’s hero-ing may not look like what his family expects, but to the people he helps, he’s a super-ish hero!
DARLING! This is a such a fun story! This would be a great read-aloud. It has a fantastic message about heroic acts of everyday kindness and helpfulness. The illustrations are excellent. This is the sort of book kids will enjoy hearing, but will insist on exploring up close time and time again.
I think this would be perfect for classroom, story time, and bedtime reading. If your little reader(s) love(s) hero stories and/or you are looking to launch a discussion about kindness, helpfulness, or everyday heroes, be sure to give Arnold a try!
*♥♥♥♥♥=Outstanding!
[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Tundra Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
As a group of princesses celebrates being in a book about all tiaras, gowns, and glass slippers, they encounter a rival group of dinosaurs who believe the book is all about them.
This is darling! I enjoyed the split pages where each group convenes about the dilemma. Then they bring in the heavy hitters, which is my favorite part.
Things get silly for a moment, but in the end, the princesses and dinosaurs come to a delightful compromise.
This will be a fun read-aloud with a good message – that this is a book for everyone. But kids are definitely going to want a close up look at the fun illustrations, too, so be prepared for plenty of lap reading and read-to-self time.
*♥♥♥½= Good+
When I got to the end of 2018 and started looking ahead to the books I had read but hadn’t reviewed as well as the new books I wanted to read, I felt overwhelmed. I realized I have some reviews prepared that I am never going to get to. So, today I’m going to do a quick review of some of these books so I can feel caught up once again. So, here are some of the books I read in 2018 (and one from this January), but didn’t get to review until now.
Crunch the Shy Dinosaur – An adorable picture book where the dinosaur “reacts” to the reader. Simple text and a lot of fun. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½
The Dinosaur Expert – I love this whole series of books about a teacher, Mr. Tiffin, and his class. In this book, one of the girls is a dinosaur expert, but one of the boys laughs and questions if girls can even be paleontologists. Kimmy’s reaction to the comment is immediate withdrawal, but Mr. Tiffin, in his firm but quiet way, saves the day. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½
Princess Pulverizer: Grilled Cheese and Dragons – Princess Serena is nothing like her name, and she’d rather be training with the knights than the princesses. The King assigns her eight acts of service to complete before she can go to knight school. I didn’t find this one as funny as the author’s Magic Bone series, and Serena was a little abrasive for me in this first book, but I’m eager to see how she develops as she completes her Quest for Kindness. Rating: ♥♥♥
Monsters Beware! – The third graphic novel in the Chronicles of Claudette series about Claudette as she seeks out adventure and monsters and her friends just try to survive their encounters. I got a kick out of all of the books in this series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Mr. Gedrick and Me – A family suffering through grief is in desperate need of some intervention. Stanley fills out a web ad for a nanny, and his family gets more than they bargained for – and exactly what they need. This was absolutely delightful! I adored Stanley. This Mary Poppins-esque story is just light enough for a middle grade audience (3rd to 5th grade) while still introducing the topic of grief. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Crime Rib – Book 2 in the Food Lovers’ Village mystery series. A TV show is in town for the Annual Summer Food and Art Fair including the main event, a Grill Off. But the festivities take a dark turn after a hit-and-run and then a murder. I love the setting for this series and the characters. It’s been awhile since I read the first one, but I fell right back into things easily. This is a series I want to stick with in 2019. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Elementary, She Read – Book one in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series. Gemma runs the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in West London Cape Cod, and her best friend runs Mrs. Hudson’s Team Room next door. When a woman stashes something in the bookshop during a busy day and then dies, Gemma is on the case. I really enjoyed this one – Gemma is like Sherlock with a eidetic memory, which is handy for a sleuth but can be annoying in other settings. After reading two of these in a row, I did need a Gemma break. She can be a little abrasive, not unlike Sherlock. But the mysteries have been great fun, and I know I will get back to this series. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Snowspelled – I requested this book from the library as the author is a “friend” of mine on Goodreads, and we enjoy similar books. I loved this alternate fantasy world full of magic, but even more I loved the political shifts. In this world, the women are the politicians and decision makers and the men have magic. Add to that a strong main character who once had magic (a shake up in her culture) and then lost it, and an elf looking for trouble, and I was hooked. Frankly, the mystery/elf portion of the story was the weakest part for me, but the characters and the world and the relationships sucked me in completely. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Spellswept – After Snowspelled, I read the prequel, Spellswept, and it was even better! This story focuses on the sister-in-law from the first book who is dealing with the fall out of her attachment to this “unnatural” family. This book tells that story, and it was excellent! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Split Second – Book 1 in the King and Maxwell series. My husband and I watched – and enjoyed – the short-lived TV show based on this book series, so when he challenged me to read the first book, I was looking forward to it. This is longer than a lot of the books I read, but that just meant there was time for a TON of twists and turns in this mystery. I really enjoyed the characters, so I will be coming back to this series, too. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½
Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome – This reads like a non-fiction book – and it is stellar. I had to keep reminding myself that this is “nonfiction” backstory on a FICTIONAL series. I have already enjoyed the two books in the series – Lock In and Head On (4.5 stars – so good!); I didn’t need this backstory to understand and enjoy the world Scalzi developed for the series. But I’m so glad I have that backstory. It really added some things to the experience. And it made me want to re-read the books again. Rating: ♥♥♥♥½
[I received an electronic ARC/review copy of this book from Netgalley and Capstone in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Marvin the moose saves the day and becomes a woodland hero. And his best friend, Woody the beaver, helps Marvin highlight his new status. But soon Woody is feeling jealous and left out. And his attempts to get attention might get him a different sort of attention than what he was aiming for.
I enjoyed the illustrations in this one. This is exactly the sort of art I enjoy and the kind that would grab my attention as I walked past the book on a shelf. And the story is a classic dilemma. I think this would be great for use at home or at school to start conversations with kids about jealousy, feeling left out, and healthy vs unhealthy ways to get recognition or to stand out in the crowd.
