review

Book Review: The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio

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The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by Lloyd Alexander

The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
by  Lloyd Alexander

3 out of 5 stars

Carlo finds an ancient map to a long-forgotten treasure and sets out on a journey into faraway lands to search for the fortune. Baksheesh offers to work as his servant and guide him from the coast into the inland city and beyond through the desert. They are also joined by Shira, a girl running away from slavers, trying to return to her home in the mountains. Their caravan is attacked by bandits, and they get lost in the desert. Carlo is mistaken for a foreign prince and held for ransom. Through all their adventures, Carlo wonders if the treasure is even real or worth all this trouble.

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Picture Book Review: Surprise

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Surprise by Mies van Hout

Surprise
by  Mies van Hout

5 out of 5 stars

Birds wait in anticipation until the little eggs can hatch. Then the parent birds care for their little ones and comfort them and encourage them. They listen and tease and enjoy their time together cherishing one another. Eventually the little birds learn to fly away on their own, and the parents must let them go.

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Book Review: This is My Treehouse

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This Is My Treehouse by Guillaume Guéraud

This Is My Treehouse
by Guillaume Guéraud

5 out of 5 stars

A child with a vivid imagination has wild adventures in their treehouse. They pretend to be a pirate and the treehouse is their ship. They enjoy watching the rain from inside the treehouse. They pretend the treehouse is a helicopter or a fairy tale palace. They pretend to be a monster hunter or a scientist who can talk to giant bugs. They read books and eat their snacks and find peace in their daydreams.

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Picture Book Review: Miro/ I Look

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Miro / I Look by Gavin Bishop

Miro / I Look (English and Spanish Edition)
by Gavin Bishop

5 out of 5 stars

This board book has English and Spanish words side by side to teach small children to identify the parts of the face and different objects. We learn about ears, nose, and eyes, chin, hair, and eyebrows, etc… We learn about spots, stripes, and all the colors. We learn the words for various toys and objects like eyeglasses and keys.

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Picture Book Review: Barnaby the Runaway Sheep

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Barnaby the Runaway Sheep by Maria Antonia

Barnaby the Runaway Sheep: A Parable of the Lost Sheep
by  Maria Antonia (Goodreads Author), Sayani Mukherjee (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Barnaby is afraid of getting his wool sheared off, so he runs away from the farm. While Barnaby lives out in the wild, his wool gets longer and longer until he can barely see or move around. He gets homesick for his shepherds, and he misses their gentle care. The shepherds find Barnaby cowering in a cave and they take him home. Barnaby discovers that the shears don’t hurt at all, and he feels so much lighter without all that wool weighing him down.

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Book Review: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

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Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
by Jessica Day George

4 out of 5 stars

When the woodcutter’s daughter is born into a large family, her mother is so disappointed at having yet another girl that she refuses to give the child a name. The girl is simply called “the pika” (which means “girl”) or referred to as “the lass”. When she is grown, a mysterious polar bear comes to their cottage and begs her to live in his ice palace for a year. Knowing that he must be under some kind of enchantment, the lass agrees to go with him. She is sure that she can break the curse he is under, and she investigates the mysteries of the ice palace. But every time she asks the servants questions, she is putting herself and them in danger.

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Book Review: Thinking in Watercolor

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Thinking in Watercolor by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

Thinking in Watercolor: A Daily Practice to Unlock Your Creativity & Discover Your Inner Artist
by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

4 out of 5 stars

This book takes you through simple steps to build your skills with watercolor. Starting with what type of paper and brushes to buy, and then moving on to the intensity and value of the paint colors, you will learn how to blend and build texture as you paint.

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Book Review: Archenemies

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Archenemies by Marissa Meyer

Archenemies (Renegades, #2)
by Marissa Meyer 

3.5 out of 5 stars
Nova is a spy for the Anarchists. She has infiltrated the Renegade headquarters, pretending to be one of them so that she can plot against them. But Nova’s loyalties are divided as she finds herself more and more involved with Adrian, a young superhero whose two dads are the leaders of the Renegades. In this second book of the series, Nova is starting to really feel the pressure of her double life as the violence in the city escalates.

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Book Review: Chasing Redbird

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Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech

Chasing Redbird
by Sharon Creech, Marc Burckhardt Illustrator

1.5 out of 5 stars
Zinnia blames herself for her aunt’s death, because she scared her aunt with a snake resulting in a medical episode that ended with her death. Zinnia decides to follow an old overgrown trail up in the hills and uncover the markers along the trail as penance. Zinnia’s uncle begins to lose his mind after his wife’s death. He insists that he can see her up in the hills, and he spends most of his days chasing her ghost. Zinnia’s little brother also insists that can see his aunt’s ghost around the farm.

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Book Review: Alice Eclair Spy Extraordinaire: A Recipe for Trouble

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Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire by Sarah Todd Taylor

Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire: A Recipe for Trouble (Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire!, 1)
by Sarah Todd Taylor 

3.5 out of 5 stars
13-year-old Alice has been receiving mysterious coded instructions to do some spy work. In 1930s Paris, Alice knows that spies are always at work to protect France and counteract other foreign spies. Her own uncle was a spy until his death, and he taught her all about codes and ciphers. Alice receives a mission to board the famous Sapphire Express and steal some papers from a foreign spy. She is hired as a pastry chef on the luxurious train and begins to observe all the wealthy first-class passengers very carefully, looking for any suspicious behavior. Everyone is a suspect, but after some strange clues are revealed, Alice begins to wonder what is really going on aboard the Sapphire Express.

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