Search
Search results
Mayhawke (97 KP) rated The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey in Books
Feb 9, 2018
A good Christmas story without the mawkishness
I have nine children. I bought this book for the oldest two - over twenty years ago It is a beautiful book, wonderfully illustrated, with a great Christmas story: Jonathon Toomey - a cold and unfriendly man, since the loss of his wife and child takes in a homeless woman and her son in the middle of winter, with - for grown ups - a predictable outcome.
This story is not especially original, but it is the way in which it is told rather than the story itself that makes it stand out. I dislike sugary sentimentalism and one of the problems I have buying childrens books (particularly Xmas ones) is that the market is so over-loaded with 'sugar' that it's verging on a serious case of diabetes. This book is not sugary, nor even particularly sentimental. It tells a fine story, calmly and with dignity.
It has been a popular story with all the varied personalities in the family, which has to say something about breadth of appeal, and as it was re-issued in 2015 It seems to be weathering social change as well.
This story is not especially original, but it is the way in which it is told rather than the story itself that makes it stand out. I dislike sugary sentimentalism and one of the problems I have buying childrens books (particularly Xmas ones) is that the market is so over-loaded with 'sugar' that it's verging on a serious case of diabetes. This book is not sugary, nor even particularly sentimental. It tells a fine story, calmly and with dignity.
It has been a popular story with all the varied personalities in the family, which has to say something about breadth of appeal, and as it was re-issued in 2015 It seems to be weathering social change as well.
A World Full of Animal Stories: 50 favourite animal folk tales, myths and legends by Angela McAllister is a beautiful and interesting book of folktales and legends that celebrate animals and culture. These stories are brought to life as the reader travels the globe to Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe, Australia and Oceania.
It is a book full of cultural stories, with strong messages and wonderful illustrations. Familiar stories such as The Billy Goats Gruff, The Nightingale, and The Ugly Duckling are in the book so the reader will learn where those stories came from. In the contents guide it has each of the stories listed under the continent they belong to, with the country that relates to the story in brackets next to its title, which is useful for finding a specific story or learning about a certain region.
The stories are not long, which makes it perfect for bedtime stories. One story a night will give your child something to think and talk about. This would also would be great for the classroom, particularly when learning about different cultural stories and traditions.
I received an ARC of A World Full of Animal Stories from NetGalley via Quarto Publishing Group and Frances Lincoln Childrens.
It is a book full of cultural stories, with strong messages and wonderful illustrations. Familiar stories such as The Billy Goats Gruff, The Nightingale, and The Ugly Duckling are in the book so the reader will learn where those stories came from. In the contents guide it has each of the stories listed under the continent they belong to, with the country that relates to the story in brackets next to its title, which is useful for finding a specific story or learning about a certain region.
The stories are not long, which makes it perfect for bedtime stories. One story a night will give your child something to think and talk about. This would also would be great for the classroom, particularly when learning about different cultural stories and traditions.
I received an ARC of A World Full of Animal Stories from NetGalley via Quarto Publishing Group and Frances Lincoln Childrens.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated The Exact Location of Home in Books
Jun 18, 2018
The Exact Location of Home by Kate Messner is a story that will pull at the readers heart. In the story Zig and his friends spend a great deal of time together going to garage sales, skipping rocks, and just being together. When Zig gets a gps, they begin geocaching. But Zig hides a secret from his friends that has changed his entire world. As Zig grows, he finds support from an unexpected ally and gives support to a young boy, both facing similar circumstances as Zig.
Messner has given us a compassionate and necessary middle grade story about the reality of homelessness for many children today. This story has a unique premise with the geocaching theme and I love that while the main character is in 8th grade he will be relatable for students both much younger and much older than he is. I would love to get this book into the hands of all teachers and administrators who struggle to understand how difficult school can be for children without a stable home life, and who make well-intended but thoughtless comments about the homeless population.
I received this ARC from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Messner has given us a compassionate and necessary middle grade story about the reality of homelessness for many children today. This story has a unique premise with the geocaching theme and I love that while the main character is in 8th grade he will be relatable for students both much younger and much older than he is. I would love to get this book into the hands of all teachers and administrators who struggle to understand how difficult school can be for children without a stable home life, and who make well-intended but thoughtless comments about the homeless population.
I received this ARC from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and Bloomsbury USA Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Secret Garden in Books
Jul 1, 2019
A childrens classic
I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read or seen The Secret Garden. It passed me by as a child and I can understand why as i don't think the book lends itself to a younger reader with the language used. But as an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed this - all thanks to my Smashbomb secret Santa (book exchange).
This is one of the few stories with a child protagonist that I really enjoyed. Mainly because the child starts off as the usual stubborn stroppy brat, but the whole point of this story is to detail Mary's change in character. And boy does she change, and not only her but her cousin too. The character development in this book is brilliant, and whilst the plot itself is fairly basic but enjoyable, it's the characters that make this book. The writing itself is very good although not as good for younger readers as you'd expect. My only criticism is the Yorkshire characters. Whilst I'm used to the Yorkshire accent in reality, trying to read it in a book proves to be very trying and gets a little bit irritating after a while. Although it definitely does sound Yorkshire when you read it out!
Altogether a very good enjoyable and heartwarming read, that's also just about the right length for the plot.
This is one of the few stories with a child protagonist that I really enjoyed. Mainly because the child starts off as the usual stubborn stroppy brat, but the whole point of this story is to detail Mary's change in character. And boy does she change, and not only her but her cousin too. The character development in this book is brilliant, and whilst the plot itself is fairly basic but enjoyable, it's the characters that make this book. The writing itself is very good although not as good for younger readers as you'd expect. My only criticism is the Yorkshire characters. Whilst I'm used to the Yorkshire accent in reality, trying to read it in a book proves to be very trying and gets a little bit irritating after a while. Although it definitely does sound Yorkshire when you read it out!
Altogether a very good enjoyable and heartwarming read, that's also just about the right length for the plot.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Look for Ladybug in Plant City in Books
Jun 14, 2018
Look for Ladybug in Plant City by Katherina Manolessou is a beautiful book. The colors are vibrant and there’s so much to look at. My students enjoyed this book and wanted more of it. A lot of time could be spend going through a book like this since the detail details will most likely inspire children to ask questions about the content on the pages. Additionally, the little text segments on each page encourage to look for certain things, for example a picture of a pineapple or a taxi full of owls.
Daisy and Ladybug are really close, but Ladybug goes missing and this book is a story of finding Ladybug. Every two pages is a new part of the city, and in every part you have to find the Ladybug. However this can be challenging, as there are tons of things that looks similar to him or that are colored the same way.
The pages are delight to look at, you can see all sorts of things, and I just adore that the creatures are all colored in an abundance of colours. From pink to green, anything is possible in this story. The illustrator definitely did a wonderful job on the illustrations.
I received an ARC from Quarto Publishing Group and Frances Lincoln Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars based on the fact the book has an abrupt ending.
Daisy and Ladybug are really close, but Ladybug goes missing and this book is a story of finding Ladybug. Every two pages is a new part of the city, and in every part you have to find the Ladybug. However this can be challenging, as there are tons of things that looks similar to him or that are colored the same way.
The pages are delight to look at, you can see all sorts of things, and I just adore that the creatures are all colored in an abundance of colours. From pink to green, anything is possible in this story. The illustrator definitely did a wonderful job on the illustrations.
I received an ARC from Quarto Publishing Group and Frances Lincoln Childrens via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars based on the fact the book has an abrupt ending.
Ross (3282 KP) rated The Change 1: London: Orbital in Books
Nov 2, 2020
Intriguing but short
The world as we know it has pretty much ended. One day in the recent past, something appeared in the sky and anyone who saw it, or subsequent recordings of it, either died instantly or went mad gradually.
We meet Howard, who seems to have no memory prior to page 1 of the book, which serves nicely to give us an introduction to how the world changed in ... The Change. He assumes his name is Howard because it is written in the front page of a notebook he finds on his person.
He is moving around the M2 motorway that surrounds London, full of stationary cars (good to see some things didn't change when the world ended) and dead bodies, very reminiscent of early scenes in the Walking Dead.
He soon finds himself taken in by a biker gang who have made themselves a community in a former Welcome Break service station.
The community is attacked by an unusual monster and we follow him and his new best friend, Hubcap, as they try to survive.
The story is intriguing, but quite what happened with The Change, is barely touched on, and neither is Howard's strange amnesia and what he feels he needs to do (travel into London).
The action is exciting, the dialogue well written and the cast of bikers and hangers-on are well crafted. However, the book is so short and largely has no real plot as such, just a series of things happening, and the reader is left wanting more.
Not a childrens book as such, but safely young adult.
We meet Howard, who seems to have no memory prior to page 1 of the book, which serves nicely to give us an introduction to how the world changed in ... The Change. He assumes his name is Howard because it is written in the front page of a notebook he finds on his person.
He is moving around the M2 motorway that surrounds London, full of stationary cars (good to see some things didn't change when the world ended) and dead bodies, very reminiscent of early scenes in the Walking Dead.
He soon finds himself taken in by a biker gang who have made themselves a community in a former Welcome Break service station.
The community is attacked by an unusual monster and we follow him and his new best friend, Hubcap, as they try to survive.
The story is intriguing, but quite what happened with The Change, is barely touched on, and neither is Howard's strange amnesia and what he feels he needs to do (travel into London).
The action is exciting, the dialogue well written and the cast of bikers and hangers-on are well crafted. However, the book is so short and largely has no real plot as such, just a series of things happening, and the reader is left wanting more.
Not a childrens book as such, but safely young adult.
True story (5 more)
Quick read
Very humorous
Mark Sonna
Heart-warming anecdotes
"Where are they now" section
A true tale of how an American mom made a life in Mexico
Contains spoilers, click to show
A true tale of how an American mom moves from Illinois to Mexico with her two youngest sons in tow.
Lois Sonna (aka Batman) is tired of trying to be the kind of wife her husband expects her to be. She realizes this is not who she is and wishes to be free from the antiquated views of marriage and wifedom that her husband has.
She leaves her 4 children with her mother and heads for Mexico on Easter weekend and ends up securing a job and housing in Irapuato, Mexico.
She returns to the US to get her two youngest children and promptly heads back to Irapuato to move into their new apartment and report to work.
She soon discovers how different things are in Mexico from the battle to maintain more than 5 minutes of hot water, issues with plumbing, and the lack of American food choices to struggling to imbed some semblance of American culture in her childrens upbringing and making everything work out happily ever after in the end.
Due to unforseen (and not very well thought out) circumstances, she learns the Mexican ways of bribery and upcharging as well as taking advantage of the machismo culture of Mexico. This leads Lois to consider entering the world of smuggling goods from the US back into Mexico in order to make ends meet.
The memoir was written by Lois's oldest and only daughter, Linda Sonna, who recieved letters every week from her mother. The original manuscript was presented in letter form, but later changed to flow more like a story, with much of the writing taken verbatim directly from the letters.
This is a heart-warming, laugh out loud, and sometimes ridiculous story that can only be made sense of because it really happened.
Lois Sonna (aka Batman) is tired of trying to be the kind of wife her husband expects her to be. She realizes this is not who she is and wishes to be free from the antiquated views of marriage and wifedom that her husband has.
She leaves her 4 children with her mother and heads for Mexico on Easter weekend and ends up securing a job and housing in Irapuato, Mexico.
She returns to the US to get her two youngest children and promptly heads back to Irapuato to move into their new apartment and report to work.
She soon discovers how different things are in Mexico from the battle to maintain more than 5 minutes of hot water, issues with plumbing, and the lack of American food choices to struggling to imbed some semblance of American culture in her childrens upbringing and making everything work out happily ever after in the end.
Due to unforseen (and not very well thought out) circumstances, she learns the Mexican ways of bribery and upcharging as well as taking advantage of the machismo culture of Mexico. This leads Lois to consider entering the world of smuggling goods from the US back into Mexico in order to make ends meet.
The memoir was written by Lois's oldest and only daughter, Linda Sonna, who recieved letters every week from her mother. The original manuscript was presented in letter form, but later changed to flow more like a story, with much of the writing taken verbatim directly from the letters.
This is a heart-warming, laugh out loud, and sometimes ridiculous story that can only be made sense of because it really happened.
Lee (2222 KP) rated A Monster Calls (2016) in Movies
Jul 26, 2017
A Monster Calls is based on an idea by writer and activist Siobhan Dowd, who sadly died from cancer in 2007 before she could develop her story to print. Her ideas were developed into a book by Patrick Ness in 2011 and illustrated by Jim Kay where it went on to receive a number of childrens literary awards.
The story is set in a very dreary looking England and features a boy called Conor struggling to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer. His father is divorced from his mother and is living in the States with his new family. He’s bullied at school and he’s troubled by nightmares. And then he starts being visited at night by a monster who tells him 3 stories. It’s a bleak tale about the harshness of life, and I was kind of worried about how my 11 year old daughter might take to it when she said she wanted to see it with me.
J.A.Bayona, director of The Orphanage, handles the subject matter well, showing us how a child’s fantasy can make sense of the world and their feelings. The stories told by the monster occur over a number of days and are beautifully depicted in watercolour animation. Each one providing its own lesson to be learned in life. Liam Neeson is the monster, the large yew tree that Conor can see from his bedroom window, giving his best Aslan voice. Felicity Jones is the mother, gradually dying as each cancer drug fails. Sigourney Weaver is the grandmother who Conor reluctantly goes to stay with while his mother is receiving treatment.
The monster itself, the great yew tree, is a real triumph. Beautifully rendered and realistically interacting with its surroundings. When you consider the films meagre budget of 43 million dollars, it’s breathtaking what they’ve managed to achieve.
As expected, the movie really packs a punch with barely any humour or lightheartedness. There are times it’s a little too slow and gloomy, but it’s hard hitting thought provoking and intense. I don’t mind admitting that both me and my daughter found ourselves in tears towards the end too. Along with most of the cinema!
The story is set in a very dreary looking England and features a boy called Conor struggling to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer. His father is divorced from his mother and is living in the States with his new family. He’s bullied at school and he’s troubled by nightmares. And then he starts being visited at night by a monster who tells him 3 stories. It’s a bleak tale about the harshness of life, and I was kind of worried about how my 11 year old daughter might take to it when she said she wanted to see it with me.
J.A.Bayona, director of The Orphanage, handles the subject matter well, showing us how a child’s fantasy can make sense of the world and their feelings. The stories told by the monster occur over a number of days and are beautifully depicted in watercolour animation. Each one providing its own lesson to be learned in life. Liam Neeson is the monster, the large yew tree that Conor can see from his bedroom window, giving his best Aslan voice. Felicity Jones is the mother, gradually dying as each cancer drug fails. Sigourney Weaver is the grandmother who Conor reluctantly goes to stay with while his mother is receiving treatment.
The monster itself, the great yew tree, is a real triumph. Beautifully rendered and realistically interacting with its surroundings. When you consider the films meagre budget of 43 million dollars, it’s breathtaking what they’ve managed to achieve.
As expected, the movie really packs a punch with barely any humour or lightheartedness. There are times it’s a little too slow and gloomy, but it’s hard hitting thought provoking and intense. I don’t mind admitting that both me and my daughter found ourselves in tears towards the end too. Along with most of the cinema!
Saffy Alexandra (89 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Books
May 26, 2019
Don't be so sirius ...
As much as I say I can't choose one of the Harry Potter books as my favourite ... this one possibly takes the biscuit! The humour, the mystery and of course the introduction of two of my (everyones?) favourite characters: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
The way Rowling manages to make us all panic and worry for Harry the entire way through the book to end up actually rooting for the 'bad guy' is probably one of her many talents (no spoilers but read the last book people).
The introduction of the Dementors who are supposed to 'protect' the school and pupils was chilling - no pun intended - and the actual meaning of them for Rowling's own depression was a real interesting twist to these 'childrens' books. Just adding more and more layers to these fabulous books. Introducing a concept such as 'depression' to young readers is a very difficult thing to do and Rowling achieves this with grace and tact. Introducing something as big as depression to young readers, she has managed to crack through the metaphorical glass roof in the way of mental health. Showing children that any person (Wizard or Muggle) can be effected by depression but there are ways to help combat it is something that is done beautifully in this book.
One of the main things I loved about this book was that she made a werewolf, in which horror has made us fear and distrust, into a character we all root for and adore. His backstory of how he has been mistreated by society and basically pushed to one side is respondent to what has happened to certain people in our society. Again, these are meant to be children's books - Rowling manages to put these points across in such a informative but almost gentle way for children to understand without directly shoving it down their throats. I believe in this way Rowling has managed to help the readers who grew up with these books understand the issues in our society and has helped people grow up to want to help end the stigma attached to certain groups and help make equality in our society.
Not bad for children's book.
The way Rowling manages to make us all panic and worry for Harry the entire way through the book to end up actually rooting for the 'bad guy' is probably one of her many talents (no spoilers but read the last book people).
The introduction of the Dementors who are supposed to 'protect' the school and pupils was chilling - no pun intended - and the actual meaning of them for Rowling's own depression was a real interesting twist to these 'childrens' books. Just adding more and more layers to these fabulous books. Introducing a concept such as 'depression' to young readers is a very difficult thing to do and Rowling achieves this with grace and tact. Introducing something as big as depression to young readers, she has managed to crack through the metaphorical glass roof in the way of mental health. Showing children that any person (Wizard or Muggle) can be effected by depression but there are ways to help combat it is something that is done beautifully in this book.
One of the main things I loved about this book was that she made a werewolf, in which horror has made us fear and distrust, into a character we all root for and adore. His backstory of how he has been mistreated by society and basically pushed to one side is respondent to what has happened to certain people in our society. Again, these are meant to be children's books - Rowling manages to put these points across in such a informative but almost gentle way for children to understand without directly shoving it down their throats. I believe in this way Rowling has managed to help the readers who grew up with these books understand the issues in our society and has helped people grow up to want to help end the stigma attached to certain groups and help make equality in our society.
Not bad for children's book.
