Children’s Books – Page 2 – Looking For a Good Book

October 18, 2021

WILLODEEN – Katherine Applegate

Eleven year old Willodeen was adopted by two older women after her family died in a fire. Willodeen is a little … ‘different’ compared to other children her age. She has no friends (not human, anyway) and she loves nature – understanding more about the natural world than most adults. Willodeen has a special affection Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Nature, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

September 27, 2021

DEAD WEDNESDAY – Jerry Spinelli

‘Worm’ Tarnauer is an 8th grader who prefers to stay out of sight and lets his best friend, Eddie (arguably the most popular guy in school), be the leader in all things school and social life. The one day all 8th graders look forward to is “Dead Wednesday” – a day in which all 8th Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, Young Adult

September 13, 2021

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO – Carlo Collodi

It should be no surprise that I, a book reviewer/blogger, grew up in a house with plenty of books. We had a special children’s bookshelf, built by my grandfather, and on it I remember four very specific books. These were all hardcovers and quite old. They were Anderson’s Fairy Tales, The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, The War to Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews

March 22, 2021

THE STARS OF WHISTLING RIDGE – Cindy Baldwin

Ivy Mae Bloom’s goal is to find her ‘forever home.’ At thirteen (well, almost thirteen), Ivy wishes the magic of a place to settle on her and her mom so that they can stop the constant moving. Ivy’s mother is a fallen star who travels the globe to fix the magic that surrounds everything. Even Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, YA

5 Stars, Children’s Books, Middle Grade, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

March 15, 2021

LUCY IN THE SKY – graphic novel

I was not sure what to make of this book – going back and forth from liking the book, to not liking the book, and back to liking it again. The book is a coming-of-age story of Lucy, a middle school student. Like middle school students all over the world, she’s going through a lot Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized, YA

Children’s Books, Graphic Novels, Music, YA

January 25, 2021

A TEST OF COURAGE – Justina Ireland

I am all in favor of anything that will get school-aged kids to read. Books based on a popular television or movie franchise are a great way to get kids reading, and is there any better franchise out there right now than the Disney-owned Star Wars series? There’s a new space station about to be Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, YA

Children’s Books, Entertainment, science fiction, YA

December 23, 2020

THE REINDEER GIRL – Holly Webb

How do you write a Christmas story for children that isn’t really a Christmas story? Write about reindeer, a little girl, and a country that we often think of as being in a perpetual Christmas look – Norway. Lotta is a little girl who is traveling to Norway to spend time with her grandparents and Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews

December 22, 2020

GONE TO THE WOODS – Gary Paulsen

I almost missed reading books by Gary Paulsen. His books came out well after I would have been interested in reading his kind of adventure stories, and my children had interests in other themes and genres. Fortunately there was a teacher or two who required my children (and their classmates) to read Hatchet – and I often Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, OTHER

5 Stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, non-fiction, Reviews

December 18, 2020

INTO THE DARK – Claudia Gray

Padawan Reath Silas has a lot to learn, and he’d really prefer to stay at the Jedi temple on Coruscant to keep studying, but as a padawan, he’s at the mercy of the Jedi and they’ve determined that he has to visit an un-(or under-)developed area farther out. But the trip goes awry when a galactic-wide Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

December 11, 2020

THE THIEF OF WORLDS – Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville has a new book?! This is big news! Why haven’t I seen this on CNN or Bloomberg TV (I’m pretty sure I know why it wasn’t on Fox)? Hurricane is a twelve-year-old boy who got his name because he was born during a hurricane. Perhaps it was that birth, but beyond the name, Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

December 8, 2020

SEEKING AN AURORA – Elizabeth Pulford

A father wakes his child late at night and together they get dressed to go outside, walk through frosty fields with the child watching quietly, wondering where they might be going, until the father stops and they quietly share the wonder of looking at an owl the beautiful aurora borealis. For those of us who’ve Continue reading

Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Picture books, Reviews

November 16, 2020

THE REMARKABLE INVENTIONS OF WALTER MORTINSON – Quinn Sosna-Spear

Young Walter Mortinson is an inventor. Perhaps more mad-scientist than genius inventor when you consider that some of his inventions include animating a dead rabbit. Needless to say, Walter Mortinson doesn’t have a lot of friends at school. No one else seems interested in what he is able to invent. And to add to what Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, Young Adult