My dog is the best.

Review:

by Laurie Ann Thompson

Illustrated by Paul Schmid

This overly active boy manages to play with his sleepy lazy dog. He enumerates the things the dog can do, like roll over, play ball, or scare away monsters, but in the pictures all we can see the dog calmly laying while bearing the boy's games. The boy thinks his dog is SO special because all the things it can do! But what makes this dog really special is how it patiently loves this little, happy, loving boy.
The illustrations are cutely rounded, focused in the characters, without background.

Age range: 2 to 5 years old.

 

The Glass Gauntlet.

Review:

The Blood Guard #2

by Carter Roy

In the first book of this series Ronan discovered his mom is part of The Blood Guard, an ancient organization dedicated to protect the thirty-six pure souls. That's good. BUT on the other hand his father is the head of the Bend Siniester, which goal is to destroy the pure souls to have control of the world. That's not so good. I barely guess Ronan's mixed feelings.

Ronan's father is still looking for him while he with his friends Greta and Sammy, are being trained to become part of The Blood Guard.

To save the life of Flavia, a pure whose soul has been stolen by the Bend Siniester, the Guard need the Damascene 'Scope. To help find the scope, the three friends will be required of disguise and join a competition called The Glass Gauntlet tests, that won't be what it seemed to be... not at all. Although they will succeed, Ronan's father will discover a secret about Greta the group has been carefully protecting. Now they are on their way to find Mrs. Sustermann in an attempt to save Greta.

The Glass Gauntlet, like the first book in he series was a lot of action and fun. Some twists were unexpected, but all of them made sense. I still think the idea of protect the good and the right to keep the world in balance is great, and is again very well developed in this book. In addition now that the threesome Ronan-Greta-Sammy is well established, they relationship is something enjoyable to read about. They selflessly help and support each other, they take into account what the others think and want, and they have a lot of fun in the process.

I really like when books addressed to this age range put the focus of the characters in important things like friendship, commitment, personal growth, etc, and not merely in superfluous passing interests.
Age range: 9 to 13 years old.

THE GLASS GAUNTLET  is the second book in The Blood Guard series. Find the review of the first book here

I received this book through NetGalley.com in exchange for a honest review.

I don't like Koala.

Review:

by Sean Ferrel

Illustrations by Charles Santoso

Adam is so excited when he receives his present! He quickly unwraps it and there it is... Koala... Adam doesn't like Koala. Koala looks terrifying. Mom and dad insist in Adam sleep with Koala, and Adam insist in put Koala away.

But when something even more frightening appears, Koala will be all Adam needs to feel protected.

I have to say that I can empathize with Adams' parents. I have been there, pushing, insisting on a toy that will make bedtime easier. I am actually there right now! (The chocolate colored teddy bear failed. We are giving the purple dragon a try... so far without too much success...)

The story is finely illustrated in only a few light colors on a lot of white. I don't know how Santoso does it, but Koala looks terrifying at the beginning and friendly at the end without objectively changing too much!

Age range: 2 to 6 years old.

Where's Walrus?

Review:

by Stephen Savage

Walrus escapes from the zoo and the zookeeper goes behind him.

At every page we find Walrus hiding disguised in a different situation: in a fountain, among the firefighters, or dancing in a stage. It's funny that the only thing he uses to disguise himself is a hat!

Only when Walrus loses his hat the zookeeper sees him, just on time to enjoy his amazing skills as a diver.

Although I find this wordless book just fine, my kids loved it. Looking for Walrus at each page proved to be super entertaining for them. I should clarify that Walrus is at plain sight (you can see an example in the cover). It's not challenging to find him.
I found funny my 6 years-old son humming a typical "persecution" tune he probably heard from a cartoon while reading the book to himself.

Age range: 2 to 5 years old.

Original post: San.booklikes.com/post/1259225/where-s-walrus

A nest is noisy

Review:

by Dianna Hutts Aston

Illustrated by Sylvia Long

Did you know cave swiflets make their nests using only their saliva?
And that lampreys make their nest underwater using pebbles as tiny as an almond and as big as a golf ball? And that they carry the pebbles in their mouths?
Did you ever heard of a nest as big as 36 x 16 feet?
And what about the temperature of the nest determining the sex of the baby alligators?
This book is a perfect combination of science, animals and lovely illustrations. And when I say lovely, I mean it!

Age range: 6 to 12 years old.

Other books is the series we have read: A rock is lively

Red, a crayon's story.

Review:

by Michael Hall

Red was a crayon, but he wasn't very good at being a red crayon.
Despite his efforts, his parents and teacher help, and his grandparents advise, he just couldn't be a good red crayon. It took Red many disappointments and failures to realize it was nothing wrong with him. He just was blue. When he discovers he IS actually good at being Blue, everything looks easier and more pleasant, and it becomes obvious for everyone what a talented blue crayon he is.
What made Red a "loser" was that he couldn't meet OTHER crayons expectations. Everybody had something to say about what the reasons for Red's failures were, or the best way to make him finally catch on. But nobody took the time to see who really Red was.
I loved the detail of the story being told by Pencil, someone who knows Red, and even tried to help him at some point.
The goal of this book is to display in a funny way the importance of know our inner selves as a first step to excel in whatever is our gift. And also how unfair we are if we judge a turtle because of its skills to fly.

Age range:5 to 10 years old.

Charlie Bumpers vs. The Perfect Little Turkey

Review:

The fourth Charlie Bumpers' book

by Bill Harley

During Thanksgiving holiday Charlie's house will be crowded. Mom and Dad are a little stressed because of this. Charlie is expected to be a good host, and he know this is gonna be challenging. But when they ask Charlie to share his room with his cousin Chip, this is just plain insane!

Now Charlie has to write a personal definition of family for a school assignment. That could be so hard when your big brother teases you, your little sister bugs you, and you have to share your room for two days with the most annoying boy in the world! Charlie is really having problems feeling inspired... Family seems to be a big pain in the neck.

But all this difficult situations will be the opportunity for other surprisingly good ones to arise. His siblings will be a great support, his uncle a lot of fun, and the food delicious (not the Brussels sprouts, of course!)

Family can be complicated some times, but it's good to be surrounded by people you love.

Great story to read next Thanksgiving holiday!

Age range: 8 to 11 years old.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.