This is a fun book about a being who has an extra-long tongue. I like how this book coincides with another of the Stone Arch Readers series. In this book, Snorp asks Moopy to teach him how to snowboard. But things don’t go well. The book is fun and kids will love it. Stone Arch Readers are known for being high lows meaning, highly interest, low reading level. While at a level three, this would be quite common with Step Into Reading level threes and a few others.  It’s for kids reading beyond sight words. One of the things I really love about Stone Arch is naming characters things that are not sight words that must be sounded out. It’s a great way to tell if kids are reading the pictures or reading the words. 

 

Moopy is on the beach, and all they want is to be left alone to enjoy the sun. But Ora is searching for gold and it happens to be under Moopy. Once again, these are fun stories that bring together characters from other books under the Stone Arch title. Kids will love the story and the fun and colorful illustrations. 

 

I like how this edition starts with facts about lobsters. Even a fact I didn’t know such as lobsters have clear blood. While the illustrations are still exactly like you would see another Stone Arch books that make kids want to pick them up, to me the story is a bit lackluster. The lobster is grumpy. We’re never given a reason. Starfish asked him why he’s grumpy and instead of getting an answer he just decides he’s not going to be grumpy anymore. There’s no lesson, there’s no why are you grumpy, there’s no looking at what brings about the action to begin with. That’s probably a bit much for an easy reader but I still wish it was there. 

 

This is a character has three claws. At first, I really liked the idea of this monster, and the reader is told right away that he’s smelly. His towns people can’t stand the smell so they come up with a job where he’ll be alone on a mountain, so nobody can smell him. Even Three Claws thinks he’ll be lonely. In this book they are ostracizing someone for being different and for that reason alone I do not like this title, and I wish it was not part of a series of books I love. 

 

Amelia Bedelia was a staple of my childhood. She was the lady who always got it wrong. But she got it wrong in a funny and lovable way. In this book the surprise shower is a wedding shower. Amelia still thinks it’s a shower with water. She’s asked to scale and ice to fish and covers them in chocolate. She’s asked to cut some fresh flowers and she chopped them up in a bowl. It’s a simple word misunderstanding that most kids would have if they didn’t know better. Well Amelia Bedelia is an adult in the book, she has the same qualities and misunderstandings as kids which makes her such a lasting character in our modern society. The story was quite lovely, but it’s a level two I Can Read book, and is more difficult than many other publishers level three and level for readers. 

 

This book was heavily unique. It brings to mind both the series the Last of Us, and the book Ring Shout. There are three different things happening within this book. First is the history project assigned to Raquel. She starts looking at the history of the Bronx fire, a 10-year period between 1970 and 1980 where multiple dwellings within the Bronx burned due to neglect and slums. Then you have the story of Raquel’s mother, who is in the hospital with some sort of mold or fungal disease that keeps her in quarantine. The third storyline is that of the game. This viral event is called the Eco game where one must get on a train at three in the morning, say a specific chant, and then stay on the train for an hour without running off. If you make it all the way through, you survive but are changed. However, if you exit the game early, the game claims you as one of their own. 

 

This all sounds crazy because it is, but it comes together to make an intriguing tale of life, death and how history affects modern society. Being an older reader, I remember slums and slumlord, but had never learned anything about this community that was destroyed. This is an area where segregation suppressed history. This book, while making one think “am I reading about zombies” also imbues a small bit of history that is not taught to modern children, that will have them racing to google to learn more. The writing is decent, but not superb, and the audiobook at times annoying. The publisher makes a big deal about this being a sapphic, horror tale, and while that is true, the sapphic part is an afterthought. This book is more about the role of severed because we’ve not lived it. 

 

Overall, this book was an interesting read and keeps one thinking. Was it a phenomenal read that will still be on library shelves in 20 years? Probably not, but for those looking for something different, for something to make you think, for something that takes a historical event, gives it a modern twist, and still gives fantasy horror, this is a great read. 

 

This was a very interesting read. At first it was a bit hard to understand and get into the story. Also, the print with incredibly small. In this, a young girl is a witch with no real magic but she’s trying to learn. Her aunt wants to do something special, and the rest of the coven won’t allow it.  So the aunt flies off the study on her own, leaving her niece to figure out what’s happened when she disappears. The niece walked into her aunt’s house, where a demon, or the devil had been summoned through the trial and error of a house pet. This book is both fun and emotional. The illustrations are an amazing adventure in pastel colors. Overall, the book really works, and I would like to see more books in the series. 

 

I really hate picture books that start with a forward or a message telling you ahead of time how great the book is going to be. Because nine times out of ten the book does not live up to the forward. In this book, Sally is alone and anxious and worried. To help with this, her parents build her a magical door that by opening, it will help change everything. Opening the door is symbolic of giving everything a chance.  Opening the door changes nothing, it just gives Sally a moment to see things differently. Overall, the book is nice, but feels more preachy than story related. I wanted to like it but it’s just OK. 

 

This is the story of Dave, a tribe member who gets cornered by a sabretooth tiger. The tiger is big and scary, but his tribe comes to his rescue. Dave learns that getting along with the members of his tribe, and being a good citizen, and helping out is the way to go. The book has a cadence and rhymes pretty well. Sometimes the cadence is a little choppy and the rhymes harsh, but the story is nice.  However, I’ve seen this topic done better. 

 

The best part of this book is the illustrations. You can tell they illustrations, but they are so close to true pictures.  It’s about looking at the bigger picture and not just the small things. The message is nice but the road to get there is long and drawn out. This book feels very self-published and not in a good way.  It might be possible to find this in a library, but it won’t be in a collection more than a handful of years.