Just a note

 Hi friends

This is just a heads up. I'm taking a little break this week while I'm away on an adventure. I'll see you in May when we'll talk The One And Only Ivan, Mother's Day, Star Wars, and many, many books. See you soon.

Picture books for everyone

 

I Like This Color by Liz Goulet Dubois

This book is a bit more simple than I typically feature in this segment but frankly, I like this book. The plot is quite simple - Duck and Cluck disagree about what color they should paint a wall. They express their opinions loudly and increasingly aggressively, ultimately resulting in the colors combining into a swirl that neither one expected. The writing is simple and easy to follow. The art is also fairly simple though the characters are quite expressive. And best of all, we have an excellent use of sound effects. Some of the best sound words I've seen used in a picture book in a while. It's not a deep story but it is a lot of fun and would make an excellent read-aloud. 

More information: I Like This Color releases May 1.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions

 

The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions by Anna Goldfield

 This book has solid curiosity appeal for young readers. It's the same drive that leads us to read the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe it or Not. This book has a similar tone, focusing more on factoids than an in depth exploration of any one topic. Reading it reminded me of books like It's Disgusting and We Ate It. The reader won't learn much from this volume, necessarily, but it might encourage further reading on a topic.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Making Friends With Monsters

 

Title: Making Friends With Monsters

Author: Sandra L Rostirolla

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Lolo's Light by Liz Garton Scanlon

                      Rain Rising by Courtne Comrie 

Rating: 

 

an honest look and big ideas for a middle grade audience

Summary (provided by publisher): Why does everything have to be so complicated? Why? Monsters! That’s why! They stick their scungy little noses into everything.

Twelve-year-old Sam learns this lesson the hard way. His fact-finding mission about Monsters starts off with the best of intensions. He just wants to help his older brother, Ben. After a terrible accident awakens his own Monster, Sam’s behaviour starts causing problems with everyone, including the girl he loves. He discovers the family secret that caused Ben’s downward spiral and realizes that someone else also has a Monster. And the hideous beast did something really bad.

If Sam is to get through this mess, he needs to find a way to make friends with his Monster before the ravenous beast turns around and swallows him whole. 

My opinion: Most middle grade fiction does not approach such big ideas with such such straightforward, brutal honesty. There is no delicate dancing around the desperation and depression involved here, the high stress levels and destruction of relationships and the situation devolves and the drought continues. This family gets hit with one bad thing after another and can see no way out of the increasingly deep hole. It's a brutally honest book which means it is likely to be too much for some young readers. It's a book I would want to discuss with a kid after they read it to make sure they were able to deal with the realities it discusses. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Garden markers

 We are in active garden planning and preparation mode around here. The seeds are purchased and some of the seedlings are started in the greenhouse. As we prepare the big garden plot I'm trying to keep myself organized. Part of that this year includes marking exactly where I've planted some of my seeds. I'm trying out some garden markers for the first time. But I hate spending money unnecessarily so I thought I'd reuse something we already had. And one thing we have in abundance is used canning jar lids. A little rubbing alcohol takes the permanent marker labels off of the lids and preps them for reuse.

I relabeled them for garden use with marker and a little paint pen for decoration.

 

Listen with me

The One and Only Ivan and The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
 

What's this? Another audio post immediately after the last one? Bear with me, because this is an extra special, double audio book post. In anticipation of the release of The One and Only Ruby on May 2, I am rereading The One and Only Ivan for the second or third time and reading The One and Only Bob for the first time. I'll be posting about all three books on May 2. Read along with me if you can.

Listen with me

 Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

Pop stars and secret agents combine surprisingly well in this thriller by Marie Lu. It helps that both Winter and Sydney are complex characters. Winter is not your typical self-centered oblivious star. He's making up for a lifetime of feeling inadequate. Sydney is harboring secrets of her own and won't let herself get close to anyone. Throw the pair into an intense situation with implications that could be world altering and you have a fast-paced, action oriented story with a little bit of pathos behind it. While the writing can fall into cliche at moments (especially in fight scenes where there are many references to shocks and starbursts of pain, to light leaving a person's eyes) the pacing is spot-on and the ending is quite satisfying. It's not especially deep but makes for an exciting listen.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley