Board Book Reviews: Zoom Rainforest Adventure and Dinosaur Adventure

Zoom: Rainforest Adventure
by Susan Hayes, Susanna Rumiz (Illustrations)
5 out of 5 stars

Lin goes on an adventure through the rainforest, meeting all kinds of animals, and seeing amazing plants and foliage. She canoes down the Amazon river, hikes through the jungle, and sets up a camp near a beautiful waterfall.

I love the clever die-cut openings in this book! The illustrations are so colorful and vibrant, and each opening reveals something on the next page. I love all the little details in the background of each scene. When I was reading this with my little 3-year-old niece, she kept pointing out butterflies and monkeys in the background.

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Board Book Reviews: Count on Me 123, and A Caravan of Camels

Posted by LuminousLibro

Count On Me 123
by J.B. Frank (Goodreads Author)
5 out of 5 stars

This board book explores the different types of people that you can always count on. Firefighters, doctors, teachers, grandparents, friends: all these people will be there to help you when you need them. We count down from 10 as the book shows us people working, teaching, and healing.

What a sweet book!!! It’s just so adorable and meaningful to hear about the sweet siblings helping each other, and the moms and dads taking care of their children. I think it’s cool that the book ends by saying that you can also count on yourself, and there is a little mirror on the last page.

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Board Book Review: Farm Train

Posted by LuminousLibro

Farm Train
by Susanna Covelli
5 out of 5 stars

This board book folds out to be 56″ long! The reader learns the sounds for each animal on the train. There are sheep, bees, horses, cats, frogs, bunnies, and mice, and a bunch more! And of course, the farmer’s tractor pulls the train along and “goes vroom vroom.”

This is such a cute book! I just love the adorable illustrations and sweet animal characters. It’s colorful and full of interesting little details in the background of each scene.

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Classic Review: Mystery of the Blue Train

Posted by LuminousLibro

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

The Mystery of the Blue Train (Hercule Poirot, #6)
by Agatha Christie
4 out of 5 stars

Poirot is traveling on the blue train when one of the passengers is murdered and a famous ruby called the Heart of Fire is stolen. There are several mysterious clues in the case that only the great Hercule Poirot can bring to light.

Poirot really is one of my favorite detectives! He definitely shines in this book, and I love the way that he is so protective of the innocent victims. He is wonderfully shrewd. His strong temperament pulls the story forward. Even if he is just having tea with some friends, every word takes on a special meaning when Poirot is part of the conversation!

I love the complex characters in this book! There is a lot of focus on unraveling their personalities and there are so many good scenes where they interact and react to one another. I just love the way each person has their own vivid and memorable personality.

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Spanish Books Giveaway!

Posted by LuminousLibro

Don’t forget to enter the Spanish Candlewick Book Giveaway at Rafflecopter!
There are two different prize packs for board books and for picture books in Spanish!
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/37d98da110/?

1900-1950 Readathon TBR and Recs

Posted by LuminousLibro

1900-1950 Readathon Katie at Books and Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCu0QEvzt0k&t=678s
Agatha Christie 2021 Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I9911MDRPI&t=52s
Emily of New Moon Trilogy Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4MC0UWW_BU
C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy Readalong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kJ7Rlma0ZY&t=40s

Books Mentioned:
1984 by George Orwell: https://amzn.to/3aZwAxi
That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis: https://amzn.to/3eYpb2z
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie: https://amzn.to/3epokJj
Aunt Jane’s Nieces by L. Frank Baum: (FREE for Kindle) https://amzn.to/3nO1ZYN

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Classic Book Review: Early Days

Posted by LuminousLibro

Early Days
by Miss Read
3 out of 5 stars

The author tells the story of her own childhood growing up in London and then later in the country. She describes her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, and the little joys and sorrows of her childhood. There is a lot of interesting description about the 1910s, how people lived, how their homes were organized, how they cooked and cleaned and dressed.

In the second half of the book, she goes to a new school which she loves. She makes new friends and discovers the beauties of the countryside. This began a life-long love of nature for the author. There are many descriptions of favorite plants and animals and country fairs.

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Classic Book Review: Perelandra

Posted by LuminousLibro

Perelandra (Space Trilogy, #2)
by C.S. Lewis
4 out of 5 stars
In this second book of the trilogy, Ransom travels to another alien planet at the request of Maleldil. This time he goes to Perelandra (Venus), and encounters a new race of aliens, who are struggling with the same temptations from the Evil One that Adam and Eve fell victim to in our own world. Ransom must battle against the Evil Presence in order to protect the innocent new society that is just beginning to form.

I love the imaginative world-building in this book! There are so many different settings and alien animals and weird plants. Perelandra is such a strange planet with a perpetually cloudy sky and rolling islands that float on the seas. And even when you are more than halfway through the book, and you think you’ve seen all the scenery and met all the animals that Perelandra could possibly have, then there are still more mysteries and wildlife and extreme mountains and rivers to be explored.

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