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I Explore Digging for Dinosaurs
Kate Daubney and Mike Goldsmith
Book
A collectible board book series with a non-fiction twist: toddlers have mini adventures and explore...
Descriptosaurus: Supporting Creative Writing for Ages 8-14
Book
Now in a fully updated third edition, Descriptosaurus is the first book for creative writing that is...
Reading by Right: Successful Strategies to Ensure Every Child Can Read to Succeed
Book
Reading is an essential life skill not only for an individual's development and life chances but for...
Words are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, with a Journal of a Writer's Week
Book
"Hard times are coming, when we'll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how...
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Endangered Species Superheroes in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Endangered Species Superheroes by Dakota Duncan is a graphic novel that was not quite what I was expecting. Going off of the title I was expecting the story to be about a group of people that used abilities of endangered animals to be superheroes. That is not quite what this book actually is about. The actual concept of the book is much more interesting than the classic superhero book.
Lindsay lives with her grandfather who owns The Smiling Sloth Wildlife Sanctuary. Lindsey loves helping out at the sanctuary and has a very close relationship with many of the animals that live there. At the sanctuary she assists in taking care of some of the animals by drawing their blood for tests, feeding them, and checking their vitals. Many of these animals at the sanctuary bave been hurt in some way by human carelessness. Lindsay and the animals at the sanctuary have a secret that doesn't come out until Lindsay is attacked by a thug hired by Mace Zogan.
Mace at one point was working with Lindsay's grandfather at the sanctuary. He was arrested at some point for poisoning a bunch of sloths on purpose. Mace breaks out of jail and decides to get his revenge on Lindsay's grandfather by going after Lindsay herself. Mace kidnaps Lindsay and takes her back to his Lab on an island. Mace admits that her was trying to chemically alter animals at his lab to make them more useful to humans. With some help from a few unlikely sources Lindsay gets rescued and Mace is arrested once again.
This book teaches readers about animals and the problems that humans are causing because of all the pollution and trash that we leave laying. At one point it talks about a beach clean-up and the importance of trying to get more people involved. While the book dose have the classic chemicals
creating superheros and bad guys pretending to be police officers it even offers helpful information during a kidnapping. Lindsay calls her grandfather and keeps her phone safely hidden in her backpack when Mace grabs her so that she is able to tell details about what is going on to her grandfather by talking to Mace.
What I liked best about this is that I was surprised to find that it was not Lindsay who had superpowers. The artwork is also bright amd simple enough that I do not think it would distract from the story yet would still be interesting to young readers. The information packed in this book was both a posititve and a negative for me. I didn't really like how the entire thing was so informative that the dialogue felt forced at times. There were multiple times when the flow of the story was disrupted by the addition of extra facts.
The target readers for this book are school aged children, mainly those in early middle school. Elementary students might enjoy this book as well but I feel like it might actually be a bit too long to hold the attention of younger elementary students. I rate this book 2 out of 4 because it felt a little too boring for a children's book with how informative the story was. At the same time some children tend to be very interested in anything that has to so with animals so it might be more interesting than I give it credit for.
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Lindsay lives with her grandfather who owns The Smiling Sloth Wildlife Sanctuary. Lindsey loves helping out at the sanctuary and has a very close relationship with many of the animals that live there. At the sanctuary she assists in taking care of some of the animals by drawing their blood for tests, feeding them, and checking their vitals. Many of these animals at the sanctuary bave been hurt in some way by human carelessness. Lindsay and the animals at the sanctuary have a secret that doesn't come out until Lindsay is attacked by a thug hired by Mace Zogan.
Mace at one point was working with Lindsay's grandfather at the sanctuary. He was arrested at some point for poisoning a bunch of sloths on purpose. Mace breaks out of jail and decides to get his revenge on Lindsay's grandfather by going after Lindsay herself. Mace kidnaps Lindsay and takes her back to his Lab on an island. Mace admits that her was trying to chemically alter animals at his lab to make them more useful to humans. With some help from a few unlikely sources Lindsay gets rescued and Mace is arrested once again.
This book teaches readers about animals and the problems that humans are causing because of all the pollution and trash that we leave laying. At one point it talks about a beach clean-up and the importance of trying to get more people involved. While the book dose have the classic chemicals
creating superheros and bad guys pretending to be police officers it even offers helpful information during a kidnapping. Lindsay calls her grandfather and keeps her phone safely hidden in her backpack when Mace grabs her so that she is able to tell details about what is going on to her grandfather by talking to Mace.
What I liked best about this is that I was surprised to find that it was not Lindsay who had superpowers. The artwork is also bright amd simple enough that I do not think it would distract from the story yet would still be interesting to young readers. The information packed in this book was both a posititve and a negative for me. I didn't really like how the entire thing was so informative that the dialogue felt forced at times. There were multiple times when the flow of the story was disrupted by the addition of extra facts.
The target readers for this book are school aged children, mainly those in early middle school. Elementary students might enjoy this book as well but I feel like it might actually be a bit too long to hold the attention of younger elementary students. I rate this book 2 out of 4 because it felt a little too boring for a children's book with how informative the story was. At the same time some children tend to be very interested in anything that has to so with animals so it might be more interesting than I give it credit for.
https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated In the Shadow of the Sun King (Darkness to Light, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
What a struggle! For over one-hundred pages, I slogged through mediocre writing, awkward and stilted dialogue, and then just as it's starting to get interesting, the author decides to stop and skip almost a year! Then the plot continues where it left off and plods on for the remainder of the book.
The heavy-handed use of religion is the least of it's problems, which should have at least have fit in better and not tossed like an oversight. I could not sympathize with any of the characters, the reader only got a cursory look at them, with Madeleine being worst of the lot (what a twit). The history is superficial and thrown in randomly; it rather reminded me of a children's book or show where they're being taught by an adult. Not to mention two years pass and there is no sense of it, we're just told in ten-twenty pages, not shown. That was an opportunity wasted right there and could have been the most interesting aspect of this novel. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN KING glossed over way too much and what remained was boring and stale.
Maybe the casual reader or more devout will enjoy it more, but I would have given up after fifty pages if I didn't have to review the sequel, A PRISONER AT VERSAILLES, and thought I <i>should</i> read this first. Hopefully, it will be much better because I'm really dreading it.
The heavy-handed use of religion is the least of it's problems, which should have at least have fit in better and not tossed like an oversight. I could not sympathize with any of the characters, the reader only got a cursory look at them, with Madeleine being worst of the lot (what a twit). The history is superficial and thrown in randomly; it rather reminded me of a children's book or show where they're being taught by an adult. Not to mention two years pass and there is no sense of it, we're just told in ten-twenty pages, not shown. That was an opportunity wasted right there and could have been the most interesting aspect of this novel. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN KING glossed over way too much and what remained was boring and stale.
Maybe the casual reader or more devout will enjoy it more, but I would have given up after fifty pages if I didn't have to review the sequel, A PRISONER AT VERSAILLES, and thought I <i>should</i> read this first. Hopefully, it will be much better because I'm really dreading it.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Great Shelby Holmes (The Great Shelby Holmes, #1) in Books
Jun 18, 2018
The Great Shelby Holmes by Elizabeth Eulberg was a wonderful story that I enjoyed. At the beginning of the story the reader is introduced to John Watson who recently moved with his mother to 221 Baker Street in Harlem, New York. John's parents recently divorced. John's mom finished her tour of duty as a military doctor and is recovering from a wound she received in Afghanistan. Mrs. Hudson, new landlady, introduced John to the girl, Shelby, who lives in apartment 221B. John is use to moving around and making friends easily as a military brat but this is the first non-Army post. John's mom selected an apartment to move to in order to be near her new john and a great school for John.
School has not started yet and John does not know anyone or his way around the neighborhood. However, with Shelby as his guide, John learns his way around town soon. He discovered that Shelby knows everyone in their area. Shelby is a talented child who solves mysteries around the neighborhood, but this is an annoyance to Detective Lestrade for the NYPD. John and Shelby friendship causes the reader to be pulled into the story. I could not turn the pages fast enough to find out the answers to my questions and the mysteries.
I give this book a 4 out 5 stars.
I received this book from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
School has not started yet and John does not know anyone or his way around the neighborhood. However, with Shelby as his guide, John learns his way around town soon. He discovered that Shelby knows everyone in their area. Shelby is a talented child who solves mysteries around the neighborhood, but this is an annoyance to Detective Lestrade for the NYPD. John and Shelby friendship causes the reader to be pulled into the story. I could not turn the pages fast enough to find out the answers to my questions and the mysteries.
I give this book a 4 out 5 stars.
I received this book from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody
Book
From the creators of the bestselling parodies We're Going on a Bar Hunt, The Very Hungover...
Memories of Heaven: Children's Astounding Recollections of the Time Before They Came to Earth
Wayne W. Dyer and Dianna Hicks-Garnes
1.0
Rate It
Book
Dr Wayne W. Dyer and co-author Dee Garnes had often talked about how the ones who know the most...
How to Fight a Dragon's Fury: Book 12
Book
The final book in the series that inspired the How to Train Your Dragon films. In this twelfth...