This book is geared towards children, introducing them to the world of art, and teaching them why art is so important. I love the approach here, and the simple way that the book leads the reader into a better understanding of beautiful art. It begins with a simple question, "What is art, and why is it important to each person?"

I love the philosophy in this book about how art can shape our experiences and our culture, connecting us to our past and reflecting our personal emotions. Art teaches us to focus on the things that are truly important in life; a baby's smile, that particular shade of blue in the sky, the powerful weight of a mountain, or a delicious fruit. The little things in life are the most important and enduring.

Art helps us to remember our past. Even preserving sad memories can give us hope for the future, and art teaches us that. Appreciating great art can give meaning to our lives and help us to explore our own emotions and thoughts in new ways.

This book includes famous works of art as examples of how to look at art, appreciate the details, understand the history, and make sense of your own experiences with art. I read through the pages and stared in complete awe at the gorgeous art from various centuries!

What an absolute delight! I was almost in tears by the end, because I was so moved by this lovely journey through the art world. Suddenly I'm inspired to visit a local art museum and look around me in a whole new way!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Marina and her father have just moved to a new underwater neighborhood, and Marina makes some new friends at school while her father researches rare fish in the area. Marina has to put up with a snobby girl at school, but she happily joins the Save the Sea Creatures club with her friends. However, Marina and her friends are frightened by a strange creature that is evidently destroying the local coral reef caves. They find some weird clues, but no one has sighted the creature. Can they solve the mystery before the damage gets worse?

I loved this cute book! The mermaid culture is wonderfully imaginative, and I thought it was so fun to learn about Marina and her friends. We also get some real life facts about interesting fish and conservation in the ocean. The mystery had me in complete suspense! I was puzzling and wondering, What is this big sea monster creature that is destroying the coral?

I love Marina's character. She is smart and courageous and she does not back down in the face of adversity. I loved her sweet relationship with her father. Their close family dynamic was really lovely to read about.

The black and white illustrations in this book are so cool! It really brings the story to life. I love the art style, and the unique designs for each mermaid character.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This book gives practical advice about dating and how to find and keep good relationships. There is advice about red flags to look for, boundaries to establish, expectations to manage, and how to have healthy communication with your dating partner.

Most of the advice is very common; things like... be honest, be yourself, know what you want, know what you have to offer, be trustworthy and trusting, be vulnerable when it is appropriate. It's nothing amazingly new or groundbreaking, but it is important to review these things and apply them to your dating life.

At the end of each chapter there are several little example stories of fictional people and their dating problems and how they resolved them. I think these are a great writing tool to help you visualize how this advice can actually be applied! A few of these stories include LGBTQ+ couples.

There is a chapter about sex and STDs that had some moral ideas that I did not agree with.

Overall, I found this book sort of bland.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

I am so impressed with this beautiful book of fairy tales! They are told in that traditional fairy tale style, and include some well-known favorites like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Hansel and Gretel" as well as a few lesser-known stories.
I especially liked "The Wild Swans" and "The Three Golden Hairs". I had never read "The Spirit in the Bottle" or "The Selfish Giant" before, and I enjoyed those very much as well. Each story is so enchanting!

The art style is so beautiful! The subtle colors and the delicate lines are absolutely lovely and magical! I love how little details in the background will catch your attention, and add meaning to the story. It's so delightful to see these stories come alive in the art work!

This is truly a special book, and it has a pretty yellow ribbon attached for a bookmark! The pages are glossy and smooth. I love the elegant endpapers, and the whole design of the book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

A child is mysteriously left at a girls boarding school. She has no memory of her past and is enrolled under a false name. Mr. Ellin takes it upon himself to find out about the girl's history, hoping to restore her to her family.

Charlotte Bronte wrote the first twenty pages, and then tragically passed away before she could finish this intriguing story. And a modern author, Clare Boylan, has tried to finish the book in Charlotte Bronte's style. I was not impressed.

I don't think anything about this reflects Charlotte Bronte's writing style. The tone feels much more modern. The story structure is not her style. The characters are not at all like Bronte's characters. The subject material takes a dark turn that I have never seen in a Bronte novel. (Trigger Warning: Sexual slavery and sexual violence)

I am so disappointed in this novel. I really tried to give it a chance, but it did not live up to the Bronte legacy. Even apart from the high expectations that I have from any book connected with the Bronte's, I just didn't like the story. Even standing on its own, this story isn't that great.

I liked the characters well enough. They are complex and interesting. But the subject material and the structure of the plot were not the best.

Charlie is a fabulous spy. She is hot on the trail of a stolen pair of underwear, fighting off evil goons and saving the world from the dastardly duo, Bogdon Boom and Greta Grimm. She parachutes from a crashing plane. She skis down a mountain at high speed. She outwits the bad guys, and does it all with style.

This book is so hilarious! I loved the funny plot and the exciting adventures. The rhyming text is so much fun to read out loud. I am very picky about rhyming text in picture books, but I was so happy with the rhythm and rhymes in this story. It really is delightful to read!

Charlie is suave and cool. She has all the latest spy gadgets, and she has all the spy skills needed to save the world. I just loved her character!

The illustrations are wonderful! I love the bright colors and angular style. There is a real energy on each page that sets the mood for each scene. It makes the story exciting! The art work brings the action to life.

This is such a special book! I can't wait to read this with my little nieces.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Tamen lives in the city, and has never seen the stars. There is too much light pollution to be able to see the night sky. Tamen's mother takes him to the country, where he discovers the beautiful constellations and the Milky Way. He sees nocturnal animals like owls and moths, and falls in love with the beauty of the stars.

This book was really sweet and meaningful. It highlights the importance of preserving some areas of our world where there are no artificial lights, so that our connection to the stars will never be lost.

I loved the peaceful and introspective style of the writing. Tamen is such a smart little guy, and I loved his journey of discovery, not just learning about the stars, but learning about his own role in the world.

The art style is a little bit too chaotic for me. I like art that has more definition. But I can understand that the artist was trying to create a dreamy mood in the wishy-washy coloring. I did really like the use of dark and light shadows to showcase the artificial lights glaring in the city and the softer moonlight in the countryside. The art is good, but it's not my favorite style.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This book explores beautiful architecture around the world. These are some lesser well-known buildings and structures that aren't as popular as the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben, but have been influential nonetheless.

I loved this cool book! It was so interesting to learn about these buildings, the architects who designed them, and the places where they were built. I like that the book doesn't just tell you about the building, but also about the history behind it and the culture of the country that influenced it.

The information is broken up into smaller paragraphs, making it very easy to read. I really liked the design of the two-page spreads for each building.

The illustrations are really cute! Every page is so bright and attractive. It's really fun to look carefully at the scenes and see little people walking around in the streets. I like the cartoony art style, but it doesn't always give a clear picture of what the building looks like in real life. It makes me want to look up photographs of these places and see what it actually looks like.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Copper reflects on the meaning of life as he faces challenges at his school. He befriends a poor classmate who is being teased and bullied, but that puts him in crosshairs as well. Somehow he must find the courage to stand with his friends, and find out what kind of person he really wants to be. Copper's uncle and mother give him good advice, but ultimately it is up to Copper to make his own decisions.

This book is told in two parts; the first is Copper's experiences at school and the second is his uncle's notes to him about philosophy and the underlying meaning behind everyday things. These two perspectives overlap in alternate chapters. First we read about something that happened to Copper and then his uncle writes to Copper about it, expounding on different moral and social ideas of why that particular experience was important and how it can help to shape Copper into a good person.

I'm not sure that I particularly liked that format. I think it is important to Copper's story to have the philosophical exploration, but I think those parts could have been condensed. Of course, if you consider that this book was originally intended to be a textbook, but they threw in a fictional story to make it more palatable for children, then those long passages about science, history, and art make more sense.

I didn't hate the format, but it was unexpected. It took me awhile to get used to it, and not see the uncle's chapters as an "interruption" to the main story. I would not advise skipping those portions of the book, since they are very important to Copper's character development. Also these universal themes have meaning for all of us, in any culture, in any era.

I just loved Copper! What a wonderful character arc! He goes through so much change and development through the story. He really grows up and begins to see his role in the world in a new way. He is smart and introspective, and I loved the way he shows so much kindness and generosity to others.

I loved Copper's relationships with his friends! Each of the friends have complex personalities, and the gradual way they all become friends is a really interesting story in itself. I loved discovering what brings them together into this close-knit group.

The writing style is a complete delight! It draws you into this small little world of Copper's home, his family, his school and his friends, but then we begin to see the bigger picture as Copper's world expands. The writing is simple and straightforward, yet powerful with vivid words that paint a scene for you. It's very emotional. I was laughing and crying at various points in the book.

I am so impressed with this beautiful book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Elephant has an abnormally long nose, but no one really minds... except Hippo. Elephant uses his long nose to help the other animals, but Hippo keeps reminding everyone that Elephant's nose is "not normal." One day Baby Hippo goes wandering toward the lake, and the animals rush to save Baby Hippo from the lake crocodiles. Is there a way that Elephant's long nose could help? Will Hippo ever stop teasing Elephant about his long nose?

I loved this sweet book! It has such positive messages of acceptance and love. Even if someone is different or "abnormal", they deserve our respect and kindness. And you never know, someday you might need their help.

I was especially impressed with the positive messages of forgiveness from Elephant himself. He never tries to retaliate or get revenge on Hippo. It's such a simple story, but this book has a powerful message!

And in addition, the story is hilariously funny! I loved seeing all the different ways that Elephant helps the other animals. It's really interesting and imaginative!

I love the cute art style! All the animal characters are so adorable. The illustrations are drawn in this fuzzy crayon style with bright colors. Every page is so attractive! I love the African savannah scenery in the background of each page.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.