The potty humor in this feel dated.  But for parents who do not like Captain Underpants, or other underwear books, this one might work better.  I still hate the Munsch Reader format. 

 

Cute Story – bad format. 

 

Another cute Fiona story.  This time she learns what school is and knows she really wants to go.  So, they create a zoo school and go about finding the best teachers. 

 

Cute story.  Fiona the baby hippo wants to see the new baby red panda.  However, the baby is across the zoo.  She Fiona and her friends hop a ride on the train.  This is what a beginning reader is supposed to be.  I think the level is a little hard to be labeled 1, but each publisher sets their own standards. 

 

Not Impressed.  The actual story is okay.  It seems a bit old fashioned, (like something I would have read in the 80’s) and a bit long for the level it states its is.  What is the worst part is all the front matter. There are pages and pages of things that explain the story or ask the reader to pay attention to something.  But this front matter is written at a higher level than the rest of the story.  Then it repeats again in the back matter with more stuff to do or look for, that does not match the reading level of the book.  It has the possibility to frustrate the reader before they actually get to the story. 

 

The same problems that exist in the other Munsch Readers exist here.  It’s like the author took a 30 year old book and tried to update it for modern kids, and it just does not work. 

 Once again, the front matter and the back matter are above the level the story is written at.  All this front matter should be moved to the back.  For this story, I didn’t really like the story.  Thomas needs to get in his snowsuit, but he fights with everyone, and gets adults to fight, just because he does not want to wear his snowsuit.  I think this is a bad message, and a bad example.  The cloths switching thing could be fun if done in a better way. 

 

The author has found the perfect way to explain rocket science that is easy for those beginning to read to understand.  The words are simple, and so are the illustrations, but that helps make a complicated subject, easy to learn.  It all works together quite well, and I hope the series continues. 

 

This is the second book in the Do you Know series of scientific easy readers by Chris Ferrie.  They are done to perfection.  They take complicated concepts and break it down to its finest points, then make it easy to digest for the earliest of readers. 

Hope Nation is a collection of essays, letters, and stories by popular YA authors seeking to either give others hope or show that hope can lead to better things.  It was put together in 2018 after the devesting break in American society with the election of Donald Trump.  It reminds people that things will get better eventually.  Some of my favorite stories were Libba Bray and her car accident, Angie Thomas talking about how worried she was for the release of the hate you give, or (I can not remember which author) talking about their immigrant experience and having to be told as a teenager to remember they are an immigrant.  This was not a book I set out with a purpose to read, other than to fill a challenge, but the idea of hope worked.  Listening to these stories made my day lighter and had me looking and fighting for a brighter and better future for myself and others.