Picture Book Review: Let’s Celebrate Korean New Year

Let's Celebrate Korean New Year! by Michelle W. Park

Let’s Celebrate Korean New Year!
by  Michelle W. Park, Hyewon Yum (illustrator)

Two sisters get ready for the Korean New Year. They put on traditional dresses, and make delicious mandoo pork dumplings. Everything must be ready before their family all arrive to celebrate. The sisters get everything ready for the Yutnori game and make special greeting cards for their grandparents. But they forgot to write a special poem to share with the family! Quickly, the two sisters put their heads together and write a poem. When they recite the poem for the family, everyone claps in delight and they all celebrate their favorite traditions together.

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Book Review: Beastly Bones

Beastly Bones by William  Ritter

Beastly Bones (Jackaby, #2)
by  William Ritter (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Abigail Rook has a job as an assistant to free-lance detective Jackaby. Jackaby has a rare gift as a seer. He can see magical residue and detect magical creatures that are otherwise invisible. Jackaby and Miss Rook are called out to the country to investigate a murder at a dig site where some kind of prehistoric bones have been discovered. Miss Rook is eager to visit the country, since her friend Charlie has been stationed there as a policeman, but she wonders if she can balance her career and romance.

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Three Book Reviews from Nosy Crow

This is NOT a Polar Bear! by Barry Timms

This is NOT a Polar Bear! (This is NOT a…, 3)
by  Barry Timms, Ged Adamson (illustrator)

A child befriends a wonderful creature, but be warned… it’s NOT a polar bear. It’s a roller skating bear, a viola-playing bear, a bumper cars, skiing, train driving bear. This bear can do acrobatic dives into the pool. You can play with puppets together, blow bubbles, eat jiggly desserts together, and he might even save you from a fire-breathing dragon. You could go to space, research important books, dance to disco music, and you might even find buried treasure. But this bear is NOT a polar bear. You will have to think up a good name for your bear.

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Non Fiction Reviews from Nosy Crow

Everything You Know About Sharks Is Wrong! by Nick Crumpton

Everything You Know About Sharks Is Wrong! (Everything You Know About… Is Wrong, 3)
by  Nick Crumpton, Gavin Scott (Illustrator)

Do sharks kill a lot of people? Are sharks always really big? Do sharks have no predators who eat them? Do all sharks live in shallow seas? Do all sharks lay eggs? Are sharks dumb? Do sharks die if they stop swimming? This book gives you all the answers about everything you have heard about sharks.

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Book Reviews: Princess Minna #1-2

The Unicorn Mix-Up by Kirsty Applebaum

The Unicorn Mix-Up (Princess Minna, #1)
by  Kirsty Applebaum (Goodreads Author), Sahar Haghgoo (Illustrator)

Princess Minna barely sleeps at night, and she knows something must be wrong with the kingdom. Princess Minna has some very special skills; she is good at taming unicorns, and kissing frogs, and fighting dragons. She goes out into the kingdom and finds that there is a unicorn emergency! A wild unicorn is trampling through the town. Princess Minna is so tired from getting no sleep that she gets all mixed up, and tries to fight the unicorn instead of tame it! When she is called on to kiss a frog, she gets mixed up and tries to tame the frog instead. What will happen if she sees a ferocious dragon? Will she try to kiss the dragon instead of fight it?

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Picture Books: Yikes! Discovery Series

What Dwells in the Deep by Kelly Ward-Wills

What Dwells in the Deep (Yikes! Discovery Series)
by  Kelly Ward-Wills, Steve James (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

We dive deeper and deeper into the ocean, and the further we go, we discover more and more weird creatures. First we follow a leatherback sea turtle that can dive further than any other turtles. Then we see giant oarfish “as long as a school bus”, and a little vampire squid, and a goblin shark whose jaws jut out from its body. Diving really deep we encounter a sperm whale that is hunting for giant squid. We see anglerfish with its lightbulb glowing off its forehead, and little dumbo octopus, and finally a snailfish. All these creatures have adapted to live in the deepest parts of the ocean!

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Picture Book: Close Up and Far Out

Close Up and Far Out by Mary Auld

Close Up and Far Out
by  Mary Auld, Adria Meserve (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Two great scientists in history have looked close up in microscopes or far out into space with telescopes. In this book we learn about Galileo and van Leeuwenhoek who developed their own lenses to make new scientific discoveries. Their discoveries were not always well received in their time, but they kept on learning and trying new experiments.

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Book Review: Wild Wind

Wild Wind by Temple Bailey

Wild Wind
by Temple Bailey

4 out of 5 stars

Jacqueline is planning her wedding to her darling Christopher, but then the war comes. While he is at war, Jacqueline stays with her sister Mary, helping to care for her nieces and baby nephew. After the war is over, Mary needs Jacqueline more than ever. Christopher wants to be married at once, but Jacqueline feels that she must do her duty to her sister and nieces and nephew, so they agree to lengthen their engagement while Christopher goes to India on business. But can their love remain constant through all this time?

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Book Review: Patricia

Patricia by Grace Livingston Hill

Patricia
by Grace Livingston Hill

5 out of 5 stars

Patricia grows up admiring a boy at her school, John Worth. He is kind and patient and serious. She meets his family and realizes that he comes from a devoutly Christian home and that is the source of his goodness and strength. She begins to search for God as well, and studies the Bible.
Patricia’s mother only cares about social engagements with rich people, and tries to encourage Patricia into a courtship with their neighbor Thorny, a wealthy socialite with a drunken temper. Patricia prays that God will help her to find her path in life between what she truly values and what her mother pressures her to do.

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Book Review: The Thirteenth Child

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic, #1)
by  Patricia C. Wrede (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Eff is a twin and the thirteenth child in her family. Her twin brother, Lan, is supposed to have great good luck and magical power because he is the seventh son and their father is also a seventh son, making Lan a double-seventh son, a powerful combination in magical numerology. But the thirteenth child is supposed to be a curse and full of bad luck and evil tendencies. Eff is discriminated against by the magical community, but her family and her twin brother stick up for her. When the family moves to the very edge of the frontier in the American West, Lan and Eff will face challenges and their magic will be tested to the utmost.

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