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Board Book Review: Wild Week

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Wild Week by Teresa Porcella
Wild Week
by Teresa Porcella

4 out of 5 stars


Each of the animals are doing something different each day. “On Monday, the hen lays an egg… On Tuesday, the shark cuddles a pillow in the living room.” The koala likes to draw, the panda wears a scarf to stay warm, a bird builds a nest, and the skunk combs his hair. They all wait for Sunday when they can play together all day long!

The best thing about this book are the flaps that open up to reveal the animals doing their activities around the house. It’s so much fun to open the flaps and peek into the wild house where these animals are living.

I like the illustrations okay, but I feel like the animals’ eyeballs are staring at me. Their eyes are just so big and bulging. It weirds me out. I do like the colors and the general art style though. I like the design of each scene and some of them are funny and clever, like having a shark chilling on a chair in the living room. How does a shark SIT in a chair? It’s silly and hilarious! Continue reading →

Board Book Review: Mummy, What’s in Your Tummy?

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Mummy, What's in Your Tummy? by Bernardita Romero
Mummy, What’s in Your Tummy?
by Bernardita Romero

5 out of 5 stars

This board board is so sweet and adorable! A child wonders what could be growing inside their mother’s tummy for 9 months. Is it a watermelon, a bunny rabbit, or a penguin? Is it a lion or crocodile, an elephant or a mouse?

The rhyming text is well-written and has a nice flow to it. The illustrations are bright, and I like the clarity of the artwork. I can’t stand when picture book are cluttered with too much stuff on each page, but this book is wonderfully clear and clean, putting the focus on the main characters that matter.

I love the heart-felt and emotional storyline, all about family connections and building relationships. Even before the baby sister is born, she can hear her older sibling singing to her and reacts by moving in the womb. “It dances and wiggles when I sing. It must be a very special thing.”
I love that this book shows a relationship already being established with the unborn child. So sweet!
Continue reading →

Board Book Review: The Wolf and the Fly

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The Wolf and the Fly by Antje Damm
The Wolf and the Fly
by Antje Damm

5 out of 5 stars

This board book is adorable! A hungry wolf eats up some of his toys and animals because he is so hungry. But the reader has to guess what he has eaten based on what toy or animal is missing from the page. As he gobbles up each item, the reader has to search the page to see what is missing from the previous page.

This is such a fun way to get children thinking critically and noticing the details. It also stretches their memory capabilities, and helps them to predict what will come next based on the previous pattern. Plus it’s just fun!

I loved the cartoony illustrations and the funny wolf character. He’s such a cute little guy!

Continue reading →

Non Fiction Book Review: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

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The Autobiography and Other Writings by Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography and Other Writings
by Benjamin Franklin

3 out of 5 stars

This is an interesting look at Benjamin Franklin’s life. The first part is his autobiography, which he never finished. It tells mostly of his early life and his beginnings in the printing business. Then there are collections of his letters, scientific writings, and political writing. These are divided by topic, with short explanations from the editor giving general information surrounding those letters or publications. It shows his work as a scientist and inventor, his gradual assent into public life as a statesman and politician, and his personal life as a husband and father and his personal relationships.

I found it very interesting and readable, and I loved seeing how meticulous and sensible Franklin was in ordering and organizing his life. He had some excellent ideas and some crazy ideas. He was a person always searching and wondering and puzzling through the mysteries of life. He must have had a terrific amount of energy, since he often writes about diligence and industry. He was a rare personality.

I enjoyed this close look into American history!

Book Review: Jane and the Genius of the Place

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Jane and the Genius of the Place by Stephanie Barron
Jane and the Genius of the Place (Jane Austen Mysteries, #4)
by Stephanie Barron

3 out of 5 stars


Jane Austen is visiting her brother and sister-in-law at Godmersham Park, when a mysterious lady is murdered at the Canterbury Races. As Justice of the Peace, Jane’s brother, Edward, must investigate the murder, and Jane is all eagerness to help solve the puzzle.

I really liked this story and the history behind it. There is quite a lot of real history woven into the story with Jane’s family and her acquaintances, but of course the murder mystery and Jane’s involvement in the investigation are entirely fictional.

The best part of this book is the close look at Jane’s day to day interactions with her family, her nieces and nephews, and especially her sister Cassandra. It’s fun to imagine what their family dynamic might have been like. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Telling

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The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Telling
by Ursula K. Le Guin

2 out of 5 stars


Sutty is an Observer visiting an alien planet to escape the political and religious unrest on Earth. But she arrives at a planet in the middle of their own religious upheaval where the old religions are illegal, and only small pockets of people in the countryside practice their beliefs in secret.

I DNF’d this book after page 63, because I was upset at the themes and attitudes behind the moral worldview of this book. Sutty is homosexual, and I didn’t like how that was approached and handled in this book. Continue reading →

Book Review: Down the Rabbit Hole

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Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams
Down the Rabbit Hole (Echo Falls, #1)
by Peter Abrahams

1 out of 5 stars


Ingrid solves a murder mystery while auditioning to be Alice in a theater play of “Alice in Wonderland”.

I did not enjoy this book. There is profanity, under-age drinking, under-age gun usage, and domestic violence. Ugh.

The writing style is full of fragments. I don’t mind a fragmented sentence every once in a while for emphasis or to draw the reader’s attention to something specific. Sometimes there is a pacing that needs a fragment or a run-on sentence to achieve a kind of pattern in the narrative, but this was just excessive. So many fragments that it got really tiresome.
Continue reading →

Non Fiction Review: Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey

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Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey by Fiona Carnarvon
Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey
by Fiona Carnarvon

4 out of 5 stars


In 1922, Catherine married Lord Porchester, and eventually became the Countess of Carnarvon, and Highclere Castle was her home. This book follows the family living at Highclere, and their neighbors and staff, through the roaring 1920’s and the devastation of WWII. During this time, Highclere Castle was used as a children’s nursery school for children fleeing the bombs in London.

I loved the mixture of history and personal anecdotes in this book. The book is completely non-fiction, but the writing feels like fiction because it pulls you into the story.

I was expecting to skim through most of this, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it extremely interesting and readable. I didn’t skim any of it, and I truly felt connected to the beautiful history and the Carnarvon family. Continue reading →