Picture Book Review: The Most Wonderful Gift in the World

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The Most Wonderful Gift in the World by Mireia Olilvé Obradors

The Most Wonderful Gift in the World
by Mireia Olilvé Obradors, Angus Yuen-Killick (translator), Anastasia Wessex (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

A little mouse tries to find the perfect gift for their mother. They roll a pine cone to their home, but all the pine nuts fall out. They pick a beautiful flower, but the petals fall off. They bring a lovely bird’s feather, but the wind blows it away. Finally, the little mouse thinks they have found the perfect gift, but their mother reminds them that the best gift of all is the family love that they share.

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Book Review: Time for Haiku

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Time for Haiku by Josep Santaeulàlia

Time for Haiku: Four Seasons of Poems
by Josep Santaeulàlia, Lawrence Schimel (Translator), Luciano Lozano (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

This beautiful book of poetry features one or two haiku poems on each page, organized by the seasons of nature starting with the Autumn. Each page is illustrated with minimalistic but powerful artwork that deepens the meaning of each poem.

In the section for Autumn, we reflect on the falling leaves and a slow snail that leaves a trail behind. The colder weather means we will open up the forgotten sock drawer and find our warmest thick socks to wear.

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Coloring Book: Inklings

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Inklings by Johanna Basford

Inklings: A Pocket-Sized Inky Coloring Book
by Johanna Basford

5 out of 5 stars

This coloring book is really cute! It has whimsical designs to color and much thicker paper than regular coloring books, so that you could use ink or marker. However, despite the thicker paper, the book warns that the ink might bleed through the paper, so there is a blank test page at the end specifically for testing your ink or marker to see if it bleeds through.
Despite the name of the book, the author has a little page of coloring tips at the beginning, saying that she prefers to use colored pencils.

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Book Review: The Ring of Five

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The Ring of Five by Eoin McNamee

The Ring of Five
by Eoin McNamee

3 out of 5 stars

Danny ends up at Wilsons Academy, a school for spies in another Lower World. They work to stop an army of Cherbs from invading the Upper World of humans. Danny makes friends among the spy cadets of the academy. Les is a thief with wings. Dixie can teleport anywhere she can see her way through. And Vandra has special healing powers. Together they learn all the skills they need to spy on the evil Ring of Five who control the Cherb army, but the most essential skill for any spy is the art of betrayal.

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Book Review: The Talisman

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The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott Bart

The Talisman
by Sir Walter Scott

5 out of 5 stars

King Richard the Lionheart is on a Crusade to the Holy Land when he falls ill with a fever. A month-long truce is called between the armies, and Richard’s European allies use the time to plot against him. A poor Scottish knight, Sir Kenneth, goes on a short pilgrimage to visit the holy hermit of a nearby mountain range with secret messages from the European council to Saladin, the leader of the Muslim army. On the way Sir Kenneth meets a lone Arabian warrior, and after a brief skirmish, they agree to travel together as worthy opponents. Sir Kenneth arrives at the hermitage and sees a strange and holy sight that changes the destiny of his life.

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Book Review: The School for Good and Evil

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The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, #1)
by Soman Chainani (Goodreads Author),Iacopo Bruno (Illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

Sophie and Agatha are kidnapped and taken to the School for Good and Evil where villains and princesses are trained to follow their own fairy tales. Beautiful Sophie is put in the school for evil to train as a witch, and brooding Agatha is placed in the school for good to become a princess. At first, the girls think they must have been mistakenly placed in the wrong schools, but they gradually realize that the magic can see into their innermost hearts. The girls refuse to conform to the school’s training, insisting that good and evil can be friends, but are they right? Can Sophie and Agatha continue to be friends when everything in the fairy tale world is pushing them apart?

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Book Review: DragonLight

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DragonLight by Donita K. Paul

DragonLight (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #5)
by Donita K. Paul

Kale and Bardon are excited to join their friends Regidor and Gilda on a quest to search for the lost meech dragon colony in the North. But they are dismayed to hear reports of a religious faction perverting the truth of God and forcing people to adhere to rigid rules, stealing their property, and infiltrating the government. When they are attacked by small black dragons, they know something deeper is happening, and an old legend might be awakening. As they continue to search for the meech dragon colony, they hope to find answers to these mysteries that will help to defeat their enemies.

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Book Review: Hide and Seek History: The Vikings

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Hide and Seek History by Harriet Evans

Hide and Seek History: The Vikings: With More Than 80 Flaps!
by Harriet Evans (Author), Chaaya Prabhat (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

In this book we learn about the unique culture of the ancient Vikings. We learn how far they travelled to trade with other countries, how their government functioned, their roles in everyday life, and their famous prowess in battle. There are sections about religious rites, legendary Norse gods, their weapons and combat strategies, and their social structure.

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Book Review: How Do Hurricanes Have an Eye?

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How Do Hurricanes Have an Eye? by Lisa Spencer

How Do Hurricanes Have an Eye?: A Book About Natural Disasters
by Lisa Spencer, Srimalie Bassani (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

This book examines all different types of natural disasters, including hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, earthquakes, floods, and drought. We learn how these disasters start and how they are named and rated in scales that measure their destructive forces.

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Book Review: Games Wizards Play

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Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane

Games Wizards Play (Young Wizards, #10)
by Diane Duane 

4 out of 5 stars

Kit and Nita are invited to be mentors to a young wizard presenting a new spell design at the Wizards Invitational Competition. But their mentee, Penn, is a flamboyant jerk and they find it difficult to be patient with him.
Dairine is mentoring a shy Indian wizard, Mehrnaz, who has a brilliant design for a spell to stop earthquakes, but Mehrnaz has very low self-esteem due to her overbearing family. Dairine encourages her to have self-confidence, but Dairine is distracted with her own problems trying to locate her missing friend, Roshaun.

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