Book Review: Eliza and the Hobgoblins

Fairy Door Diaries by Megan McDonald

Fairy Door Diaries: Eliza and the Hobgoblins
byMegan McDonald, Lenny Wen(Illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

Eliza is supposed to be doing her chores and cleaning her room, but she slips through the fairy door into Goblin Land. At first, the magical land appears to be deserted, but when Eliza looks through a hob stone (a magical stone with a hole in the middle), she sees hobgoblins dancing and prancing about everywhere! The hobgoblins love to play tricks, so when Eliza wishes for her room to be magically cleaned, they swarm all over her room making more messes! Eliza begs them to stop, but the hobgoblins just laugh and play. Can Eliza find something the hobgoblins love more than playing tricks, something that might convince them to stop?

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Book Reviews: Unicornia #6-7

Unicornia by Ana Punset

Unicornia: Rainbow Roller Skates
byAna Punset, Diana Vicedo(Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Claudia, Sara, and Pippa are on their way to the Unicorn Show, but they can’t agree on how to get there. Claudia wants to take her flying roller skates. Sara wants to take the bus, and Pippa wants to use a teleportation potion. The three friends can’t agree, so they separate and go their own ways. Claudia’s flying roller skates are very difficult to control, and her friends have trouble with their modes of transport too. Can the friends find each other again and make it to the Unicorn Show on time?

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Book Review: Pia in the Forest

Pia in the Forest by David Bruggink

Pia in the Forest
by David Bruggink

1 out of 5 stars

Pia has trouble listening and obeying what she is told. She gets distracted and does whatever she wants. When her father tells her “no candy”, Pia goes in the kitchen and sneakily eats some sprinkles. When her father finds her with sprinkles on her face, there are no consequences and no reprimand. The father just ignores her disobedience.

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Book Review: One Mad Cat and the Missing Book

One Mad Cat and the Missing Book by Vicky Fang

One Mad Cat and the Missing Book
by Vicky Fang (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Cat is always irritated and angry! But she does love her friends. When her friend Hedgehog is upset over a missing book, Cat decides to investigate. She searches high and low, following the clues, and eventually finds the missing book in an unexpected place.

This little picture book is so cute! I love how Cat is so grumpy all the time, but she has a good heart. The illustrations are simple, but I really liked the minimalist designs. Each page is so colorful, and I think the artwork does a good job of bringing the reader into the emotions of the story.

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Book Review: Kenny and the Dragon

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

Kenny & the Dragon
by Tony DiTerlizzi

5 out of 5 stars

Kenny is dismayed to discover that there is a fire-breathing dragon in the back field of their sheep farm. But when he confronts the dragon, he finds that the dragon is kind and gentle. They become friends through talking about books and history and art. But the townsfolk have called for the king to send his best knight to kill the dragon! Can Kenny save his new friend when no one seems willing to listen?

I loved this book so much! The whole story is so charming and whimsical! I loved the adorable characters, and the writing is utterly enchanting in every chapter. 

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Book Review: The Boggart

The Boggart by Susan Cooper

The Boggart
by Susan Cooper 

5 out of 5 stars

The Boggart loves to play tricks on people in his ancient castle in Scotland. When their father inherits the castle, siblings Emily and Jessup are delighted with everything in Scotland. But after their visit, the Boggart accidentally hitches a ride back home with them to Canada inside a roll-top desk. He finds it difficult to adjust to modern life, and the children have to figure out why a mischievous ancient spirit is making trouble in their home.

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Book Reviews: Samantha Mysteries

The Curse of Ravenscourt by Sarah Masters Buckey

The Curse of Ravenscourt: A Samantha Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)
by Sarah Masters Buckey,\ Jean Paul Tibbles (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Samantha and her adopted sister Nelly go with Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia to live in an apartment in New York for a few weeks. The Ravenscourt Apartments are the height of luxury in the big city, but everything keeps going wrong in the building. The furnace breaks down, rats get into the walls, and a service elevator breaks and falls down the shaft. Some people think that the owner, Mr. Raven, must be cursed because he is such a harsh landlord to poor tenants in other buildings that he owns. Samantha and Nelly begin to investigate the strange occurrences around the building, determined to prove that the curse it not real, and someone must be targeting Mr. Raven.

Clue in the Castle Tower by Sarah Masters Buckey

Clue in the Castle Tower (American Girl Samantha Mysteries #4)
by Sarah Masters Buckey (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Samantha and Nelly are touring through England with Grandmary and the Admiral. They visit an old friend of the Admiral’s who lives in a grand manor house with a ruined castle on the grounds. There are rumors of a ghost in the manor, but Samantha and Nelly don’t believe in ghosts. However, when it’s discovered that some rare books have been stolen, they begin to wonder if someone has been using the ghost as a smokescreen for crime. The girls befriend two mischievous boys who live in the manor, and together they start to investigate the thefts.

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Book Review: The Steps Up the Chimney

The Steps Up the Chimney by William Corlett

The Steps Up the Chimney
by William Corlett

3 out of 5 stars

William, Mary, and Alice visit their uncle Jack at Christmas in the ancient Golden House in Wales. Uncle Jack lives with his girlfriend Phoebe, and they are having a baby together, but they think it is “old-fashioned and hypocritical” to get married. The children notice some odd behavior from animals in the forest surrounding the Golden House, and they meet a Magician who says they must be tested before they will be ready to help him. William notices that there are footholds to climb up inside the massive chimney in the oldest part of the house, and their adventures lead them into magic and danger.

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Book Reviews: The Postman from Space Series

The Postman from Space by Guillaume Perreault

The Postman from Space
by Guillaume Perreault (Goodreads Author), Françoise Bui (Translator)

4 out of 5 stars

Bob is just an ordinary postman delivering mail in space. He likes his boring routine. But one day his boss orders him to take a new mail route and he runs into trouble at every stop! Gone are his predictable days and safe routines, and Bob is thrown into every kind of wild situation and difficult delivery imaginable! He delivers a package to a planet inhabited by dogs and they chase him and take his lunch. One difficult customer refuses to sign for their package until Bob draws them a picture of a sheep. One little old lady has such a messy and chaotic planet that Bob is hit with flying debris caught in the gravitational field. Bob hates his new route, until he realizes that maybe he has just made some new friends.

The Postman from Space by Guillaume Perreault

The Postman from Space: Biker Bandits
by Guillaume Perreault (Goodreads Author), François Bui (Translator)

4 out of 5 stars

Bob is just an ordinary postman delivering mail in space. He likes his familiar routine. But one day his boss orders him to take on a new trainee, and they only have one letter to deliver… to a king! When they take a detour on their delivery route, the Biker Bandits get wind that the king is receiving an important letter and they track down Bob to steal the letter! Along the way, Bob and his trainee, Marcelle, pick up a hitchhiker who was stranded on an asteroid, but Bob doesn’t trust the hitchhiker. Could they be in even more trouble if the Biker Bandits catch up to them?!

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Book Review: Midnight Mayhem

Midnight Mayhem by Christina Uss

Midnight Mayhem
by Christina Uss (Goodreads Author)

2.5 out of 5 stars

Kaz is the victim of a fluke that makes him unable to sleep, not one wink. He is bored to death all night long while his family is sleeping. When he meets another boy, Floyd, at a sleep clinic, they take off on midnight shenanigans all around the city, hoping their parents won’t find out and they won’t get in trouble.
Floyd takes animals from cages in the lab at the clinic, but he always brings them back. However, they lose two valuable owls from the lab, they get stuck on the roof of Philadelphia Hall and lie to the firemen who rescue them, and they knock down an airplane replica in a museum. Wherever Floyd goes, trouble follows! Kaz starts to think that maybe they should find more safe ways to beat the boredom.

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