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Comic Review: Heart and Brain: Body Language

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Heart and Brain by The Awkward Yeti
Heart and Brain: Body Language: An Awkward Yeti Collection
by The Awkward Yeti, Nick Seluk (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

Bwahahaha! So funny! So wonderful! I just love the hilarious antics of Heart and Brain. Each little comic is full of laughter and wit. And I love how even the Eyes, the Tongue, the Gallbladder, the Gut and Stomach, all play a part in the nonsense. The artwork is vibrant and fun, and each little panel brings something entertaining.
Love it!
The best thing about this comic is that the humor is clean and appropriate for all ages.

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Picture Book Review: Is a Worry Worrying You?

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Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff
Is a Worry Worrying You? 
by Ferida Wolff, Harriet May Savitz, Marie Letourneau (Goodreads Author)(Illustrations)

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

This is such a fun and hilarious book about dealing with anxiety and learning not to worry. I love how the more serious advice is interspersed with funny examples. The advice includes simple things like activities to take your mind off your worries, and encouragement to face your worry and see if it really makes sense.
The silly examples include things like, If you are worried about a hundred elephants coming over for tea, but you don’t have any teabags, then offer them lemonade instead!

The cute illustrations make the book so fun to read, and really enhance the advice given.
Above all, this book encourages children to talk about their anxiety with a friend, and share their worries with parents, so that those fears lose their power over you. Continue reading →

Book Review: Winter Holiday

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Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome
Winter Holiday (Swallows and Amazons, #4) 
by Arthur Ransome


5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
The Swallows and Amazons are planning a Polar Expedition to the north end of the lake, along with their new friends, Dick and Dorothea. While waiting for the lake to freeze over so they can skate, the explorers spend their time building an “igloo”, climbing the fells to “Greenland”, and sailing the “Fram” through the polar ice. But when it comes time for the great Polar Expedition, a snowstorm threatens to ruin all their plans, and only the intrepid Swallows and Amazons can make it through to the North Pole!

I loved reading this for the second time just as much as the first! I am so in love with the delightful Dick and Dorothea, especially because they are not at all nautical like the Swallows. The D’s have to learn how to tie knots and build campfires, but they have their own strengths too, and their own useful knowledge that makes the Swallows and Amazons appreciate them as friends.

I love the Dorothea is constantly writing stories in her head, and I love that Dick gets so focused on whatever sciencey thing he is analyzing that he forgets all about everything else. Best of all, they fit in well with the rest of the crew, while still retaining their own original personalities.

Brilliant writing, wonderful setting, and lovable characters!

Book Review: The Blue Castle

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The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle 
by L.M. Montgomery

“Valancy lives a drab life with her overbearing mother and prying aunt. Then a shocking diagnosis from Dr. Trent prompts her to make a fresh start. For the first time, she does and says exactly what she feels. As she expands her limited horizons, Valancy undergoes a transformation, discovering a new world of love and happiness.” -GoodReads Description

 5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

One of my top three favorite of Montgomery’s books!! And just as delightful reading it for the 4th or 5th time. Every time I read it, I find something new and lovely.

I admire Valancy so much for breaking free of her fear, and crafting a new life for herself despite the terrible opposition. I don’t think I appreciated her courage so much when I was young, but now that I’ve had my own experiences with breaking free, I get so much more from this story. She really is a remarkable character!

As always with Montgomery’s books, the writing is wholesome and fresh and beautiful. The countryside is described with light and shadow like a painter’s brush of colors and shades, so that you really feel as though your soul entered into the landscape of the story. In this book especially, the countryside is important to the story since our characters are very sensitive to the beauties of nature.

Book Review: Death on the Lizard

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Death on the Lizard by Robin Paige
Death on the Lizard (Kathryn Ardleigh, #12) 
by Robin Paige

3 out of 5 stars

Charles and Kate are visiting Cornwall to take a tour of Marconi’s wireless telegraph station. There are spies and saboteurs who want to steal the latest wireless technology, and Charles is asked to look into the mysterious deaths of two of Marconi’s employees. Meanwhile, Kate is trying to comfort a friend whose daughter drowned months before, and she finds out that the child’s death may have some connection to the spies sneaking around the countryside.

The plot is slow in the beginning, but picks up with a little more action towards the end. I wanted more character development in this one, but I did enjoy some of the character arcs. It just felt like there could have been a deeper story there, and it wasn’t as thoughtful as it might have been.  Continue reading →

Book Review: Peter Duck

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Peter Duck by Arthur Ransome
Peter Duck: A Treasure Hunt in the Caribbees (Swallows and Amazons, #3) 
by Arthur Ransome
5 out of 5 stars


The Swallows and Amazons are preparing for a peaceful sail down the Channel, with Captain Flint and their new Able-Seaman Peter Duck, when they are followed and attacked by real life pirates! The pirate captain, Black Jake, is determined to kidnap Peter Duck, who knows the location of a long-lost treasure, buried on Crab Island in the Caribbean Sea. Only the brave Swallows and Amazons, with all their sailing know-how, can bring their ship safely across the Atlantic to search for buried treasure with the evil pirates at their heels.

Just as wonderful reading it the second or third time! There is so much action and adventure, I couldn’t put it down! I love how the story guides you gradually from the everyday business of the ship into the fantastical plot twists, so that you barely notice that the story has taken a wild turn at the end. It all seems so perfectly plausible by the time you get there. Truly brilliant story-telling!

As always, I am completely in love with each and every character! The Walker family are so close to my heart, and the Amazon girls are deliciously full of moxie.
Continue reading →

Book Review: Aunt Jane’s Nieces at Work

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Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work by Edith Van Dyne
Aunt Jane’s Nieces at Work (Aunt Jane’s Nieces, #4) 
by Edith Van Dyne (Pseudonym), L. Frank Baum


3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
In this fourth book in the series, Kenneth is getting involved in politics and is sadly losing the election to become a State Representative. The three nieces decide to help him in his campaign, and they fight against dirty politicians, ignorant country voters, and shady political dealings that threaten to overwhelm the campaign. Along the way, they befriend the country people, and help a farmer to find his missing daughter.

I get bored with politics, so I didn’t especially enjoy the plot, but I liked how the mysteries were surprising and interesting. I loved how the girls help Kenneth to set up a rally that throws their opponent’s arguments out the door, how they discover the underhanded political deals, and they aid in solving the mystery of the missing farmer’s daughter. Continue reading →

Graphic Novel Review: The Scarlet Rose

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Scarlet Rose #1 by Patricia Lyfoung

Scarlet Rose #1 
by Patricia Lyfoung
2 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


Maud’s father is murdered by an assassin looking for a book containing the secret to a great treasure. Maud swears to avenge her father’s death, and wants to join a bandit named the Fox, who steals from the rich to give to the poor. Maud has to move in with her aristocratic grandfather, who only wants to control her and force her to marry a nobleman. Maud becomes the masked Scarlet Rose, and works on her fencing skills so she can become a highway bandit, and get one step closer to her father’s killer.

The plot is predictable and full of Robin Hood tropes. The characters are boring and obvious. The writing is blah. The artwork is okay, but nothing special. It’s not horrible, but it’s not good either. I’ve read worse, but I’ve also read much better.
Continue reading →

Book Review: The Tea Dragon Society

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The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill
The Tea Dragon Society 
by Katie O’Neill


3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
In this graphic novel, Greta’s mother is teaching her to be a blacksmith, but Greta is distracted when she befriends a tea-shop owner with a pet tea dragon. As Greta learns to care for the tea dragons, she befriends a whole new group of people in the society dedicated to protecting their tea dragons, and brewing the delicious tea leaves harvested from their horns. But will Greta ever return to her blacksmithing lessons, or have a tea dragon of her own?

I love the whimsical artwork! The colors and lines are soft and sweet. I thought the plot was adorable and lovely. The little tea dragon creatures are the cutest thing ever created! But there were some confusing things about this book that make it difficult to review.

My main problem is that there is a homosexual couple in this book. One of them is a human and the other is some kind of furry llama-looking guy with a long tail. I did not appreciate this kind of political/philosophical posturing in an otherwise lovely children’s book about dragons.
Continue reading →

Book Review: Red Riding Hood

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Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Red Riding Hood 
by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright (Goodreads Author), David Leslie Johnson, Catherine Hardwicke (Introduction by)
1 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

Valerie’s sister is killed by the horrible Wolf. Valerie has to choose to marry the rich young blacksmith, or run away with her childhood friend, Peter, who is an outcast.
I’m DNFing this stupidity. Boring. Instalove of the worst kind. Mediocre writing. Rotten characters. Bleh.
I got to page 88, and had to quit. When they agree to run away together after having only exchanged about twenty words and one moonlit horseback ride, I’m done with this nonsense.

It also annoyed me that the girls run off in the middle of the night to the boys’ camp to flirt with them. What was the point of that whole scene?