book review

Picture Book Review: Happy

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Happy by Mies van Hout

Happy
by Mies van Hout

5 of 5 stars

Each page of this book features a fish who embodies an emotion. There are startled fish, bored fish, angry fish, delighted fish, and jealous fish. Each one is drawn in a different color, with very expressive body language and facial expressions. The curious fish is drawn with yellow scales with wide eyes. The nervous fish has wavy lines and a wobbly frown. The amazed fish is bright orange with a mouth wide open in astonishment! The sad fish is a deep blue with sleepy eyes and drooping fins. The furious fish is shouting in vibrant red and purple. Whether proud, loving, or confused, these fish reflect strong emotions!

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Picture Book Review: Percy’s Perfect Friend

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Percy's Perfect Friend by Lana Button

Percy’s Perfect Friend
by Lana Button (Goodreads Author), Peggy Collins (Illustrator)

5 of 5 stars

Percy is the new kid at school. He feels very lonely until he befriends a cat toy and names her Miss Petticomb. But the moment he turns his back, another child takes Miss Petticomb away. Percy searches around the room until he finds Miss Petticomb being forced to “eat” delicious plastic cake at a tea party. Percy tries to rescue Miss Petticomb, but the other children insist that the tea party is to celebrate the cat’s birthday. Percy gets up the courage to join the tea party and make some new friends.

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Board Books from Tiger Tales

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Noisy ABC by Beth Hamilton

Noisy ABC: A noisy introduction to first words (My First)
by Beth Hamilton, Tiger Tales (Compiler)

5 out of 5 stars

This ABC board book has sound buttons to push for a recording of a woman’s voice saying, “B is for Ball” or “Z is for Zipper”. Each page is full of colorful photos of animals and objects that begin with the letters of the alphabet.

This is such a cute book! I think that little kids will be excited that they can learn their ABCs and enjoy this book on their own. Kids will be delighted to be “reading” a book by themselves without help!

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Book Review: The Dark is Rising

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The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

The Dark Is Rising (The Dark is Rising, #2)
by Susan Cooper (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Will Stanton is the seventh son of a seventh son. On his 11th birthday, he discovers that he is an Old One, a special race of people who are endowed with magical abilities so that they can protect humanity from the Dark. Will is trained in his new abilities by Merriman Lyon (the modern Merlin). Will is sent on a quest through time to retrieve the Signs, which will help the Light to keep back the Dark Rider.

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Book Review: Scurry

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Scurry by Mac Smith

Scurry
by Mac Smith

4 out of 5 stars

A little mouse named Wix is scouting through an abandoned human neighborhood, looking for food for his colony of mice. Back home at the colony, Pict cares for her ailing father, and worries that some of the mice might be planning some kind of betrayal against the council. While Wix faces danger outside from cats and other predators, Pict wonders if there is also danger from within the colony.

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Book Review: C.S. Lewis A Life Inspired

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C.S. Lewis by Christopher Gordon

C.S. Lewis: A Life Inspired
by Christopher Gordon, Wyatt North

4 out of 5 stars

This biography follows the life of C.S. Lewis from his childhood to his death. It focuses on how his experiences led to his belief in God. He learned to value reason and think things through very carefully, analyzing every angle, and this led him to realize that the only rational explanation for the universe is the God of Christianity.

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Book Review: Christian Mythmakers

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Christian Mythmakers by Rolland Hein

Christian Mythmakers: C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Dante Alighieri, John Bunyan, Walter Wangerin, Robert Siegel, and Hannah Hurnard
by Rolland Hein,

5 out of 5 stars

Through the centuries, there have been Christian writers who have captured the essence of mythology to reveal spiritual truths. Their stories spark a new level of awareness in our imaginations and deeply touch our hearts. Through these Christian myths, we understand ourselves and our relationship with God in a new light.

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Three Picture Books from Candlewick Press

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How Old is a Whale?: Animal Life Spans from the Mayfly to the Immortal Jellyfish
by Lily Murray (Goodreads Author), Jesse Hodgson

4 of 5 stars

In this book we learn about the lifespans of different animals. Their habitats, their diet, and their life cycle all play a part in how they live a short or long time. We start with the mayfly, which only lives for a few minutes, and go all the way to the immortal jellyfish, which appears to be able to regenerate itself over and over.

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Book Review: World’s Worst Time Machine

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World's Worst Time Machine by Dustin Brady

World’s Worst Time Machine (Volume 1)
by Dustin Brady, Dave Bardin (Illustrator)

4 of 5 stars

At the garage sale of a famous scientist, Liam finds a box labeled, “World’s Worst Time Machine”, and decides to try it out. He slaps together a few wires, sticks an old-fashioned telephone onto it, hooks up half an ink-jet printer, fastens it all together with duct tape, and plugs it in. His friend Elsa warns him not to mess with time travel, but Liam is too excited to listen. And of course, disaster strikes! He gets mixed up with the wrong Thomas Edison, a dastardly gang of gangsters, and a mysteriously dangerous bronze dog statue. But through all his adventures with time, it becomes apparent that Elsa is hiding some secret knowledge of her own.

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Classic Book Review: The Way We Live Now

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The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

The Way We Live Now
by Anthony Trollope

5 of 5 stars

Corruption and vice are rampant among the upper classes in 1870s London, and the lower classes aren’t much better. Lady Carbury schemes to get her son married to the wealthiest heiress in London, Miss Melmotte. It doesn’t seem to matter that her son, Sir Felix, is a selfish rascal with no heart. Mr. Melmotte flaunts his wealth and uses it to manipulate his way into politics, throwing lavish parties and befriending dukes. The only two who have some higher morals are Roger Carbury (Lady Carbury’s cousin) and Hetta Carbury (Lady Carbury’s daughter). They two believe in honesty and chivalry while the rest of society has degenerated into power-hungry, money-mad libertines.

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