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2.59k reviews by:
librarybonanza
Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Emotions: Sad
Familiar Experience: Being sick
Family: Mother and daughter
Identity of author: Hatian American
Whether sad or sick, mommy's comforting words, touches, and special attention help chase away the icky feelings. Although the text is short, the child engages in older activities such as card games and dominoes.
Emotions: Sad
Familiar Experience: Being sick
Family: Mother and daughter
Identity of author: Hatian American
Whether sad or sick, mommy's comforting words, touches, and special attention help chase away the icky feelings. Although the text is short, the child engages in older activities such as card games and dominoes.
Age: K-2nd grade
Animals: Forest, Zoo, Farm
Aliens abduct a variety of animals as the humans of Earth try to solve the mystery of why they did it. Told in the format of a breaking news cast (a familiar style of Biedrzycki), readers will have a great time reading aloud the distinct personalities of those being interviewed while the mystery keeps the listeners engaged until the silly reveal at the end.
Side note: The inside of the book cover, both at the beginning and the end, add to the storyline. As a library book with a taped down book jacket, this makes for an unfortunate cover up.
Animals: Forest, Zoo, Farm
Aliens abduct a variety of animals as the humans of Earth try to solve the mystery of why they did it. Told in the format of a breaking news cast (a familiar style of Biedrzycki), readers will have a great time reading aloud the distinct personalities of those being interviewed while the mystery keeps the listeners engaged until the silly reveal at the end.
Side note: The inside of the book cover, both at the beginning and the end, add to the storyline. As a library book with a taped down book jacket, this makes for an unfortunate cover up.
Age: K-3rd grade
Nature: Seeds
A lonely seed drops from the sky and into a classroom where it learns all about various botanical processes, all while wondering what kind of plant it will grow up to be. Treading the fiction/nonfiction line, Holub educates listeners with a generous amount of science vocabulary while keeping listeners engaged in the characters and storyline. Perfect for the classroom or for the vocabulary-hungry.
Nature: Seeds
A lonely seed drops from the sky and into a classroom where it learns all about various botanical processes, all while wondering what kind of plant it will grow up to be. Treading the fiction/nonfiction line, Holub educates listeners with a generous amount of science vocabulary while keeping listeners engaged in the characters and storyline. Perfect for the classroom or for the vocabulary-hungry.
Age: Toddler+
Holiday: Fourth of July
Just like pie, many things are for sharing: a book, a ball, a tree, too. The list goes on accompanied with intricate drawings of a group of children as they enjoy a summer day. One-two short sentences per page make this perfect for the young kids but detailed illustrations cater to all ages as they explore the various ways we can share. Simple yet extremely effective.
Holiday: Fourth of July
Just like pie, many things are for sharing: a book, a ball, a tree, too. The list goes on accompanied with intricate drawings of a group of children as they enjoy a summer day. One-two short sentences per page make this perfect for the young kids but detailed illustrations cater to all ages as they explore the various ways we can share. Simple yet extremely effective.
Age: K+
Animals: Giraffe
Emotions: Jealousy
Family: New baby
Everyone loves giraffe but when a happier, shinier, more agile balloon receives more adoration, Giraffe's jealousy overtakes his ability to be kind. In the end, he saves a whole bundle of giraffe balloons and receives praise for his effort.
Perfectly silly but best for an older audience who can laugh, not reel back in fright, at the horror-filled face of the boy after his balloon is popped.
A note at the end reveals that this book can be used for sibling rivalry: "For Winnie: who showed up one day and started hogging all the attention."
Animals: Giraffe
Emotions: Jealousy
Family: New baby
Everyone loves giraffe but when a happier, shinier, more agile balloon receives more adoration, Giraffe's jealousy overtakes his ability to be kind. In the end, he saves a whole bundle of giraffe balloons and receives praise for his effort.
Perfectly silly but best for an older audience who can laugh, not reel back in fright, at the horror-filled face of the boy after his balloon is popped.
A note at the end reveals that this book can be used for sibling rivalry: "For Winnie: who showed up one day and started hogging all the attention."
Age: Toddler-Preschool
Although we are far apart or may look different, we are all under the same sky as we share similar songs, games, and love. Interesting die cuts help to extend the audience age, and can even be used as an early reader.
Although we are far apart or may look different, we are all under the same sky as we share similar songs, games, and love. Interesting die cuts help to extend the audience age, and can even be used as an early reader.
Age: Preschool-1st grade
Toys: Dinosaur
A personable dinosaur experiences the anxiety of going to school as a show-and-tell toy without any talents, dance skills, or cool costumes. But when the audience encourages him to go as himself, we're left with a happy ending.
A fun read-aloud with strong parallels to a child's first-day experience.
Toys: Dinosaur
A personable dinosaur experiences the anxiety of going to school as a show-and-tell toy without any talents, dance skills, or cool costumes. But when the audience encourages him to go as himself, we're left with a happy ending.
A fun read-aloud with strong parallels to a child's first-day experience.
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Age: Preschool-2nd grade
A quiet reflection on the beauty of together time. However, this isn't verbally identified until the last page which left me frustrated--but children will probably be better apt to catch on earlier than I. One that children will be inclined to read again, now that they know the answer.
A quiet reflection on the beauty of together time. However, this isn't verbally identified until the last page which left me frustrated--but children will probably be better apt to catch on earlier than I. One that children will be inclined to read again, now that they know the answer.
First line: "Myths, my abuela used to say, are truths long forgotten by the world."
This book dives head first into action. In this forward momentum, there is no time for the main characters to doubt the fantastical world they uncover. Having just finished some rich, world-building adult fantasy, this was unsettling for me but will certainly be appealing for younger readers.
The female lead is problematic, falling into a young version of the manic pixie dream girl. She excels at everything she does, and she literally does everything. She is the captain of the cheerleading team, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and head of the debate team. She is the prettiest girl in school, an amateur sleuth, and is unafraid to take a stand against bullies. It even took her 10 minutes to make cookies from scratch and put them in the oven. TEN. MINUTES.
With a thesaurus propped up next to the author as he wrote, the writing is slathered in synonyms and similes that sometimes dont make sense and there are a lot of logical fallacies that may be grating to young fantasy/sci fi fanatics. For example, Charlie throws an anchor out of a speeding cart and it catches something but a half second later, it snaps "like a shoelace." Within that half second, he manages to shout, "It worked! It actually worked!" I encourage you to try and say that in a half second.
Finally, the true villain that Charlie must face isn't properly introduced until the last 20 pages which makes for a slightly lackluster defeat.
Aaaaall this being said, I'm totally going to finish this book because the subject material is desperately needed and is amazing. Much to the delight of latinx children, Calejo includes an incredible amount of Hispanic folklore (and provides an index for those that are unfamiliar with the names), and uses Spanish words throughout (with natural translations for those that dont speak Spanish). I just wonder if I'm letting my adult brain impinge on my ability to imagine a child enjoying the book.
This book dives head first into action. In this forward momentum, there is no time for the main characters to doubt the fantastical world they uncover. Having just finished some rich, world-building adult fantasy, this was unsettling for me but will certainly be appealing for younger readers.
The female lead is problematic, falling into a young version of the manic pixie dream girl. She excels at everything she does, and she literally does everything. She is the captain of the cheerleading team, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and head of the debate team. She is the prettiest girl in school, an amateur sleuth, and is unafraid to take a stand against bullies. It even took her 10 minutes to make cookies from scratch and put them in the oven. TEN. MINUTES.
With a thesaurus propped up next to the author as he wrote, the writing is slathered in synonyms and similes that sometimes dont make sense and there are a lot of logical fallacies that may be grating to young fantasy/sci fi fanatics. For example, Charlie throws an anchor out of a speeding cart and it catches something but a half second later, it snaps "like a shoelace." Within that half second, he manages to shout, "It worked! It actually worked!" I encourage you to try and say that in a half second.
Finally, the true villain that Charlie must face isn't properly introduced until the last 20 pages which makes for a slightly lackluster defeat.
Aaaaall this being said, I'm totally going to finish this book because the subject material is desperately needed and is amazing. Much to the delight of latinx children, Calejo includes an incredible amount of Hispanic folklore (and provides an index for those that are unfamiliar with the names), and uses Spanish words throughout (with natural translations for those that dont speak Spanish). I just wonder if I'm letting my adult brain impinge on my ability to imagine a child enjoying the book.
First line: "I must write this account, and when I have finished, I will burn it."
"Dolssa is a young gentlewoman with uncanny gifts, on the run from an obsessed friar determined to burn her as a heretic for the passion she refuses to tame. Botille is a wily and charismatic peasant, a matchmaker running a tavern with her two sisters in a tiny seaside town.
The year is 1241; the place, Provensa, what we now call Provence, France—a land still reeling from the bloody crusades waged there by the Catholic Church and its northern French armies.
When the matchmaker finds the mystic near death by a riverside, Botille takes Dolssa in and discovers the girl’s extraordinary healing power. But as the vengeful Friar Lucien hunts down his heretic, the two girls find themselves putting an entire village at the mercy of murderers."
A slow, rich read full of characterization that shares a unique discussion of holy women declared heretic by power-hungry men of the 13th century. The Passion of Dolssa provides another "ride or die" friendship story akin to Code Name Verity. And just to clear the water, Dolssa's passion is for Jesus, not Botille (and a tear is shed for a potential lesbian romance set in the High Middle Ages).
"Dolssa is a young gentlewoman with uncanny gifts, on the run from an obsessed friar determined to burn her as a heretic for the passion she refuses to tame. Botille is a wily and charismatic peasant, a matchmaker running a tavern with her two sisters in a tiny seaside town.
The year is 1241; the place, Provensa, what we now call Provence, France—a land still reeling from the bloody crusades waged there by the Catholic Church and its northern French armies.
When the matchmaker finds the mystic near death by a riverside, Botille takes Dolssa in and discovers the girl’s extraordinary healing power. But as the vengeful Friar Lucien hunts down his heretic, the two girls find themselves putting an entire village at the mercy of murderers."
A slow, rich read full of characterization that shares a unique discussion of holy women declared heretic by power-hungry men of the 13th century. The Passion of Dolssa provides another "ride or die" friendship story akin to Code Name Verity. And just to clear the water, Dolssa's passion is for Jesus, not Botille (and a tear is shed for a potential lesbian romance set in the High Middle Ages).