Despereaux Tilling is not your ordinary mouse. He's a tiny little thing with large eyes and fragile health. Also, he has human-like love for music, reading, and stories. This puts him in proximity to Princess Pea, the love of his life. Too bad that she's a human.

Roscuro is a rat that longs for light instead of darkness. This longing leads him to trouble that propels the story forward.

Miggery Sow, a young girl, has more dreams than wit. But that's not her fault. Her life has been such.

The castle's dungeon is a horrible place and the one where the action occurs. Of course, what happens and how is for you to read and find out. ;)

I chose this book for a reading prompt and must admit that I really enjoyed it. Yes, it's darker than the average children's story and has some violence too.

The underlying satire is what I loved the most. The touch of humor also borders on dark, but hey, it's really good. The author wants us to assume that the story is narrated by a mouse, and I did just that.

Though I'm still not a fan of these in real life, I don't mind their antics in the fictional world the least bit. Our hero is not hero material but proves himself to be one when the time comes.

He shows that it's okay to cry when scared, to feel afraid, and to be cautious of things. At the same time, he also shows the importance of taking a stand and being who you are (without harming others, of course).

To sum up, The Tale of Despereaux is a cute yet dark story that could lead to a lot of discussions and more imaginative tales.

4 Stars

Penny is a cute little pink piggy and the only one on the farm with four horses. She feels alone as she can’t join the horses in their daily activities or adventures. Penny tries different ways to become a horse but with no success.

The horses feel sad and tell her that they like her as a piggy. They include her in their activities, and Penny is happy spending time with her friends.

The watercolor illustrations are very good. Penny looks the cutest on all pages. The story comes with a moral for kids to accept their friends and to include them in their games.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and DartFrog Plus and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#PennytheHorseOfCourse #NetGalley

3.7 Stars

Oh, well, lol. Never thought I’d see crocodilians in a domesticated setting. The book is for littles who have learned alphabets and are trying to form words. There isn’t any story here except that the 26 baby gharials are a naughty bunch. Who’d have thought such scary reptiles would look so cute in colorful onesies!

As a fellow reviewer mentioned, gharials are crocodilians from the Indian subcontinent. The illustrations are pretty cool. I like how pastels and softer colors were used to make the reptiles seem friendlier to the kids. The overall color scheme worked well. Not surprising since the book won the Silver medal of the 2020 Key Colors Competition.

Oh, forgot to add that the alliterations made me chuckle throughout. Nice wordplay. ;)

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Clavis Publishing and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#ClavisPublishing #NetGalley

3.5 Stars

Go Out and Play has a lovely concept, showing kids the ways they can play outdoors and explore the world instead of using smartphones and electronic devices. The illustrations of the background are perfect! I love the color scheme and the warm, cozy feeling of nature flaunting her beauty.

However, the badger looked a little odd on some pages. I think the smile was off. The fox looked rather cute. The story is presented in a rhyming verse, which goes off-key at times. Maybe a more natural tone would have suited better.

To sum up, the book is pretty cute and has an important message for the kiddos if you don’t focus too much on the rhyme scheme.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Clavis Publishing and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#ClavisPublishing #NetGalley

4 Stars

Timothy ‘Sparrow’ Sperling misses his mother. He knows what to wish on a shooting star but falters and ends up asking for snow. Candela hasn’t seen snow in a long, long time. The folks are excited until it doesn’t stop snowing. Candela is covered with snow, so much that people have dug snow tunnels to move around.

Timothy knows needs to do something to save Candela. His uncle, Morris is already deep in despair about what happened in the past. The townsfolk blame Morris even though they are equally to blame for the ‘disaster’.

Timothy finds help from an unexpected source, and of course, it’s his beloved sparrows and a mysterious girl that show him the light. But life doesn’t go as planned, and Timothy needs to be very brave to pull off the job. Can the little kid save Candela from neverending snow?

The book is classified as middle-grade fiction and fits right in. It’s slightly dark and heavy with a few lighter moments. This isn’t a book you read for enjoyment, though magic realism works its magic rather well.

Themes such as conserving nature, ornithology, human greed, and righting the wrong play a prominent role in the book. The prose dips in and out to suit the changing moods. The ending is a little abrupt, though there’s an epilogue to give enough information for readers to imagine the rest.

The cover is beautiful, but there are no other illustrations inside. I so wish there was one for every chapter. The imagery is vivid, and having a few illustrations on the side would have made a lot of difference.

To sum up, Sparrow is a bittersweet book with valuable lessons for kids. But it is heavier than regular middle-grade fiction.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Diving Boy Books and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#NetGalley #Sparrow

3.5 Stars

The title tells you the story. Badger is bored, and so are his friends. They try different activities, things they usually like. But on that day, no activity seems fun or interesting. Then comes a mouse, and the animals get an idea to have fun and drive away boredom.

Kids are sure to relate to the story. They tend to get restless when nothing keeps them engaged. While there isn’t much depth to the story, the illustrations are beautiful. The backgrounds are done in pastels, and even the overall color scheme is lovely and soft on the eyes.

I only wish the text was bigger in size. The tiny text makes it hard to read when there’s enough blank space around.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and North South Books Inc. and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#BadgerisBored #NetGalley

4 Stars

Ava loves to paint in the park where bunnies play. One day, the ball ruins her painting, and Ava goes home feeling sad. Her mother and sister cheer her up with some cake. Ava decides to fix the painting and works on it. The next day, the bunnies come to apologize. Ava forgives them and shows how she fixed the painting.

The story is very simple but has an important moral lesson for little ones. The book doesn’t have illustrations but real pictures. It’s some kind of stop-motion animation set, I guess (another reviewer also mentioned the same).

Thankfully, they shared behind-the-scenes pictures at the end of the book. That helped me understand the concept. It’s rather cute (and a lot of work).

I received an ARC from NetGalley, Ninewise Publishing, and Consulting, LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#AvasTriumph #NetGalley

4 Stars

I requested the book because of the cover picture. It’s a little book for kiddos to learn alphabets and anatomy. The highlight of the book is the illustrations. Oh, my! I love the detailing and the expressions of the cute animals. The illustrations are full-page with text in nice, big letters.

The text rhymes too, though I didn’t focus too much on it. The illustrations held my attention from the first page to the last one. You won’t regret grabbing this copy for your kiddos.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, Well-Spoken Books, and Consulting, LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#TheresanNonYourNose #NetGalley

**Happy Publication Day**

4.2 Stars

One Liner: A compelling read about a girl’s determination to save her family.

Oklahoma, 1935: A fifteen-year-old Faith and her five-year-old sister Hope are on their way to California with their parents and brother. However, a black blizzard separates them from the parents. They somehow manage to reach California but realize that things have taken a turn for worse. Being black in a white country is always a risk.

After countless adventures, tricky situations, and nights with empty stomachs, the sisters seem to have found hope. But can they trust the woman to help them? Does she have a sinister plan for the sisters?

California, Present Time: Zoe has been a museum and art curator for almost all her life. She is no stranger to racism and prejudice. It’s no wonder that she plans an art exhibition to promote black and marginalized artists.

When her work brings her in touch with someone who shares an old picture, Zoe feels her world spinning beyond control. Grieving the loss of her child and marriage are no match for the sudden urge that fills her to trace her roots. Why did a child from the old photograph look exactly like her? How are the two of them related across generations?

With almost no trial to follow, Zoe stumbles ahead, guided by her determination and maybe a little help from the other world. Can Zoe find the truth of what happened all those decades ago? How will her discovery change her future?

In a world obsessed with documentation, I didn't want us to be erased due to lack of it.

How this resonated with me!

What I Like:

• Faith and Zoe are strong in their own way. That made both tracks equally good, though I liked the historical one a tad more.
• Family plays a vital role throughout the book. It's the central theme.
• The characters are quite realistic with strengths and weaknesses. I could understand their decisions to a great extent.
• The story deals with racism without being preachy or over the top. Not surprising since the book is by an African-American woman. Doesn’t get authentic than this.
• Religion plays multiple roles in the book. One, as a way to expose the ultra-orthodox rigidities, and another to support the lead characters when things go wrong.
• There’s some otherworldly stuff in the book. I wasn’t sure how it would work. However, it came together better than I expected. (Still, it’s not for everyone.)
• The second half of the epilogue was a pleasant surprise.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• The writing was heavy and slow in the first half. Even if it sets the stage, some adjectives and adverbs could go from the historical track.
• A few things seemed too coincidental towards the end. But I was ready to wrap up by then and didn’t mind the ease with which everything was streamlined and presented.

To sum up, The Dust Bowl Orphans is a poignant book with strong women whose love for their families is their biggest asset.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #TheDustBowl

3.2 Stars

*Minority opinion*

One Liner: Great premise; needed stronger world-building.

The Isle of Cadence and enchantments go hand in hand. The ‘folk’ are the spirits belonging to the sea, earth, and wind. They can help, save, or kill you, and you never know what they’ll do. The Isle is divided into the East and West, where enmity runs deeper than the river that flows between them.

Adaira is the Heiress of the East and the last of the Tamerlaine clan. Her people are suffering, and little girls started to go missing. Not knowing what to do, she sends for Jack, her childhood nemesis, to bring his harp and play for the ‘folk’.

Jack, the bard, has left Cadence and moved to the mainland ten years ago. He doesn’t want to go back to where he was hated and doubted for being illegitimate with no father’s name to back him. He visits Cadence with a firm intention to get back to his life as soon as possible. But when he and Adaira begin to work together, Jack realizes Cadence is more than his birthplace.

Torin is the guard of the east coast bound to the land by blood. He does his duty without remorse or doubt. But when a tragedy befalls, Torin has to choose between his past actions and his future. Sidra, his wife, is a warm, generous, skilled, and wonderful healer. But their relationship has its issues. Can the couple build a bond that keeps them together?

How do the four of them solve the mystery of the missing girls? What happens to the feud between the West and the East? What’s the price to pay for a better future?

What I Like:

• The element of magic is beautiful and interwoven into the storyline. The enchanted plaids, weapons, etc., are interesting.
• Torin and Sidra’s relationship arc is handled very well. It added a lot of emotional value to the book. Adaira and Jack’s arc doesn’t feel as good but is believable. For me, Torin and Sidra are the main characters of the book.
• The characters are pretty decent. None of them were boring, though there’s scope to add to the depth.
• The book says adult fantasy, but it can be read by (older) teens. They might enjoy it more than I did.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• The writing is slow. I was prepared for it when I saw a couple of reviewers mentioning it. Imagine reaching 50% of the book, and nothing major happens. It’s just a combination of smaller incidents.
• There could’ve been more tension between Adaira and Jack. While romance is not the main focus of the story, their relationship plays a vital role.
• The world-building could be better. We know it’s an enchanted land, but it doesn’t feel alive or compelling except when the ‘folk’ appear. The setting should be prominent in fantasy.
• The concept feels like historical fantasy. However, the writing is almost modern. It didn’t affect me much, but it might put off some readers.
• This is a big book (480 pages), and the writing meanders quite a bit. I didn’t know it was the first book in the series until a couple of days before I started reading (that part was updated later on GR).
• The ending, ugh, reminded me of Indian daily soaps.

Spoiler

The lead pair separates just before the leap (or the ending of book one), and then we have to wait and see how they’ll get back.

Not the kind I like at all!

To sum up, A River Enchanted has a beautiful premise but needed a more compelling setting and a crisper narration.

Thank you, NetGalley, HarperVoyager, and Harper CollinsUK, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

*****

P.S: I love the cover (the UK version, I think) I marked as my copy on GR. The other one is meh.