book review

Book Review: Guess How Much I Love You

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Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Guess How Much I Love You: Deluxe Book and Toy Gift Set
by Sam McBratney, Anita Jeram (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare take turns trying to demonstrate how much they love each other. The little hare stretches out his little arms and says I love you this much! But then the big hare stretches out their arms a lot wider and says I love you THIS much! No matter what little hare does, they can’t hop higher, or stretch taller, or say anything to show their love, without the big hare saying something bigger and higher and taller. Finally, they say their love reaches all the way to the moon, and the big hare adds “to the moon and back”.

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Book Review: An Unexpected Apprentice

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An Unexpected Apprentice by Jody Lynn Nye

An Unexpected Apprentice (Tildi Summerbee, #1)
by Jody Lynn Nye (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Tildi lives a simple life on the farm with her brothers in the land of the smallfolk. But when her brothers are all killed by monsters, the council says that a woman cannot manage a farm by herself, and they say they will force Tildi to get married. So she runs away and travels out into the world of the humans, centaurs, and elves. Before her brother died, he had applied to become an apprentice to a famous wizard, so Tildi dresses up like a boy and takes the letter of apprentice as her own. But first, she has to get to the city where the wizard lives.

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Book Review: Jane and the Waterloo Map

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Jane and the Waterloo Map by Stephanie Barron

Jane and the Waterloo Map (Jane Austen Mysteries, #13)
by Stephanie Barron

4 out of 5 stars

Jane is invited to the palace of the Prince Regent to visit his library. She is “delighted” that the Prince Regent has “granted her the honor” of dedicating her next book to him, even though she secretly despises the Prince Regent for his selfishly lavish lifestyle. While Jane is visiting the library, a military man stumbles in, foaming at the mouth and evidently poisoned. Before he dies, he manages to whisper two words to Jane, “Waterloo Map”. Jane begins to investigate what the poor man could have meant, and why he would have been poisoned in the Prince Regent’s own house.

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Book Review: We the Sea Turtles

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We the Sea Turtles by Michelle Kadarusman

We the Sea Turtles
by  Michelle Kadarusman (Goodreads Author)

2 out of 5 stars

This collection of short stories follows different children around the world who encounter sea turtles in some way. Each child is inspired by the turtles to live their life with courage and be true to themselves.

I enjoyed the basic stories, but I got so annoyed with the constant preaching about the environment that I DNF’d the book at page 103. It was even more annoying because some of the things the characters were saying about the environment and pollution and carbon footprints are only theories, not fact. So it was weird that they were talking about climate change, but not giving all the facts.

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Book Review: Out of the Valley of Horses

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Out of the Valley of Horses by Wendy Orr

Out of the Valley of Horses
by Wendy Orr (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Honey and her family went on a road trip and discovered a hidden valley where a herd of wild horses live. Once they cross the river to enter the valley, they can never find the bridge again, and must live in the valley for the next seven years. Honey and her little brother, Rumi, grow up riding the wild horses, planting crops and fishing for food, and enjoying an idyllic life of peace. But when danger threatens their family, Honey must trust the horses to show them the way out of the valley when the time is right.

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3 Picture Books from Pajama Press

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The Only Lonely Fairy by Lana Button

The Only Lonely Fairy
by Lana Button (Goodreads Author), Peggy Collins (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Leah wants to play fairies, but none of the other children seem to want to play with her. They have their own friends to play other things. Leah is so busy feeling sorry for herself and being upset about her loneliness, that she doesn’t even notice that Allie likes fairies too. When she finally stops being so dramatic about being lonely, Leah looks around and discovers that there are plenty of friends to play with.

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8 Picture Books from Tiger Tales

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Strong by Clara Anganuzzi

Strong
by Clara Anganuzzi

5 out of 5 stars

Most dragons are bold and ferocious, breathing fire and looking scary. But Maurice is quiet and gentle. He loves to arrange flowers and take care of plants. He thinks he will never be able to fit in or be accepted by the other dragons, until his brother goes missing. Only Maurice has the special knowledge and courage to find his brother and show all the other dragons that he has his own type of strength.

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Our World Series from Barefoot Books

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Our World by Maree McCarthy Yoelu

Our World: Australia
by Maree McCarthy Yoelu

5 out of 5 stars

An Australian family have a perfect day fishing, playing at the beach, grilling out, and playing cricket! In the evening, they visit a food booth to eat traditional food. They fall asleep listening to the kookaburras laughing in the trees.

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Book Review: S. Ship of Theseus

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Ship of Theseus by J.J. Abrams

Ship of Theseus
by J.J. Abrams, Doug Dorst (Goodreads Author), V.M. Straka (Attributed Author)

1 out of 5 stars

This book within a book shows handwritten notes in the margins from Jen and Eric as they read the book text, speculating about the mystery surrounding the author. The main text of Ship of Theseus is the story of a man with amnesia who is shanghaied aboard a strange ship where time seems to move differently than on land. The sailors all have their mouths sewn shut and are unable to speak. The man discovers a vast plot that spans many years, where he becomes an agent trying to stop an evil warlord. Jen and Eric believe that the author, Straka, wrote the story as an allegory to represent certain world leaders and powerful businessmen, hoping to expose their evil deeds. As they get closer to the dangerous truth, they also becomes closer to each other.

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Book Review: Jo and Laurie

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Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl

Jo & Laurie
by Margaret Stohl (Goodreads Author), Melissa de la Cruz (Goodreads Author)

2 out of 5 stars

In this alternate reality of Little Women, Jo March has just published her first novel and the publishers are clamoring for more stories about Jo and her sisters. They want Jo to write about the sisters meeting young men and getting married. But Jo isn’t even sure how her real life is going or what she wants from life, so how can she write about the fates of all her sisters? Jo and Laurie have always been best friends, but writing her next book brings up some emotional questions between the two of them and their relationship starts to change.

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