Book Review: Insectorama

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Insectorama by Lisa Voisard

Insectorama: The Marvelous World of Insects
by Lisa Voisard (Illustrator), Jeffrey K. Butt (Translator)

3 out of 5 stars

This book about insects will teach you all about how insects are different from other creatures, and how to spot them in the wild. We learn the different body parts of insects, the different categories of insects, and how they feed. We learn about their habitats, how they build their nests, and how they develop from eggs to larvae to an adult insect that will bite or sting you.

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Book Review: All About Flags

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All About Flags! by Robin Jacobs

All About Flags!
by Robin Jacobs

5 out of 5 stars

The history of flags is fascinating! As countries interacted and their cultures blended together or grew apart through hundreds of years, their national flags were designed to represent those connections. Different symbols and colors on flags represent specific places, religious beliefs, ethnic heritage, or special moments in history that influenced each nation.

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Book Review: Britannica’s Encyclopedia Infographica

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Britannica's Encyclopedia Infographica by Valentina D’Efilippo

Britannica’s Encyclopedia Infographica: 1,000s of Facts & Figures―about Earth, space, animals, the body, technology & more―Revealed in Pictures
by Valentina D’Efilippo, Valentina D’Efilippo (Illustrator), Conrad Quilty-Harper, Britannica Group Britannica Group

3 out of 5 stars

This book is full of beautiful illustrations and eye-catching graphics with thousands of facts about space, earth, humans, and animals. We learn about space travel and black holes. We learn about volcanoes and how we can track wind and weather patterns. We can read about the neurons in our brains and the global economy. The fastest cars, the oldest instruments, the greatest athletes, the biggest wars, the tallest trees – you can learn about it all in this book!

However, I have to wonder just how much of this book is true, and how much is just guess-work and theories. The book does not always make it clear which factoids are theories and which are backed up by empirical data.

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Book Review: The Souls of Flowers

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The Souls of Flowers by Pavlína Kourková

The Souls of Flowers (Large Encyclopedias)
by Pavlína Kourková

5 out of 5 stars

These beautiful portraits of flowers make you really stop to appreciate the delicate beauty of each petal. You can see the details of the stem and pollen and blossoms in a new way. This whole book is so enchanting! Each lovely page is a reminder of how precious creation is. I love that each flower looks both vulnerable and soft, but also strong in its own delicate way.

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Book Review: Kane Chronicles The Throne of Fire

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The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles, #2)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Sadie and Carter Kane have started recruiting new magicians to their cause to restore the balance between the Egyptian gods. They have a whole school of kids and teens who want to learn Egyptian magic, but will it be enough to fight the coming battle against chaos? The school can only hold off the magicians from the House of Life while Sadie and Carter go on a dangerous quest to awaken the ancient sun god Ra. They get help from a dwarf god to find three magic scrolls that will awaken Ra. Sadie gets closer to one of the students her own age, and Carter is desperate to find Zia, who has been hidden away by a powerful enchantment.

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Picture Book Review: As Brave As a Lion

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As Brave as a Lion by Erika Meza

As Brave as a Lion
by Erika Meza

5 out of 5 stars

A little girl is sometimes scared, but her lion helps her to be brave. They are always together through everything. The little girl goes to a new playground and climbs up the highest slide she has ever seen. The lion climbs up with her. But when they get to the top, they are BOTH scared! It looks too high! How will they ever find the courage to get down? They give each other courage because they are together!

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Picture Book Review: Betty and the Mysterious Visitor

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Betty and the Mysterious Visitor by Anne Twist

Betty and the Mysterious Visitor
by Anne Twist, Emily Sutton (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Betty loves to visit her grandmother in the country. They get to work in the community garden and harvest berries to make jam. But one morning they discover that something has destroyed part of the garden, digging up the grass and flowers and plants. Betty stays up late to spy out her window and she sees a badger digging up the garden looking for food. Betty comes up with a plan to scare off the badger and save the garden!

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Book Review: Dragonology

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Dragonology by Ernest Drake

Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons (Ologies, #1)
by Ernest Drake, Dugald A. Steer, Wayne Anderson (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator),\ Helen Ward (Illustrator), Douglas Carrel (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Researching dragons is a rewarding field of work. We learn about the different types of dragons, how they breathe fire, how baby dragons are hatched, and various magic spells to subdue dragons. There are even “samples” of the membrane of a dragon wing, their shed skin, and dragondust. We learn about ancient legends of dragons from all over the world, their habitats and what they eat. There are diagrams of the dragons skeletal and muscle structure, as well as the venom reservoir and spark pouch that allows them to create flames. Dragons have their own language and writing system. They love riddles, so there is a special section of the book about finding the answers to ancient riddles.

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Picture Book Review: Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop

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Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop by Jamie Michalak

Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop: A Tiny Treasure Hunt
by Jamie Michalak (Goodreads Author), Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Dakota the mouse receives a letter from her cousin Julien begging for her help to find a lost book. Dakota follows the clues to a bookstore in Paris. She must search diligently to find each clue along the way that leads her to the secret book. But when she reaches the end of her search, the book is not at all what she expected.

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Picture Book Review: Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion

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Moving the Millers' Minnie Moore Mine Mansion by Dave Eggers

Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion: A True Story
by Dave Eggers, Júlia Sardà (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

In the 1870s, a silver mine was established in Idaho when a dog chasing a gopher starting digging a hole and found silver in the ground. A man named Minnie Moore sold the silver mine to Henry Miller, making it Miller’s Minnie Moore Mine. Henry Miller built a beautiful mansion for his wife and son.

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