Review: Adelaide and the Cosmic Rescue Squad by Zoe Twitt

About the Book

It’s Halloween, and Adelaide and her friends are going trick-or-treating. As it gets dark, Adelaide’s stomach begins to hurt and her heart starts beating faster. Suddenly, a tiny witchlet named Zara appears in a golden bubble with some good advice for Adelaide and her friends: She tells them to imagine themselves inside a glittering golden bubble. She shows them how to spread the golden light all around, to help others who are also scared of the dark.

Review

Beautifully illustrated, complemented with a sweet tale that will make your Halloween fun. Loved how Adelaide and the Cosmic Rescue Squad came together to do something wonderful. It had such a sweet takeaway. When you work together, great things can happen.

Ages 3-7

Pages: 32

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Review: Frankie's Fishy Feelings by Quincy Kadin

About the Book

Frankie’s Fishy Feelings follows Frankie, a young shark nervous about his first day of “kindersharken”. Frankie is enrolled in therapy and learns coping mechanisms such as counting his fingers: Thumb, index, middle, ring, little.

The book is filled with quirky illustrations by Adhemas Batista, a self-taught Designer/Creative Director & Digital Artist. At the end of the story, there is a section titled Frankie’s Anxiety Toolbox. There are a number of tools and coping mechanisms kids can use when they start to feel anxious. Quincy is excited to share her story and teach other kids like her that it’s alright to ask for help when they need it.

Review

Inspired by her own experience that she had with anxiety, Frankie's Fishy Feelings is a book that helps kids who go through anxiety and how to manage the things you want to do.

A beautifully illustrated book that introduces us to a young shark named Frankie. As nervousness overwhelms her anticipating her first day of “kindersharken”, she finds herself going through the motions trying to suppress her state of being.. As she makes a new friend, meets her teacher and goes on with her day, those anxious feelings come back. Unsure of what to do, her mother enrolls her in therapy and she is given tools to help manage her stress anxiety to resume the activities in her life to enjoy.

Overall, I thought the book has a nice message that will encourage and help those who are going through something similar. It’s refreshing to see this young author using her personal experience to help younger kids not feel alone. Taking this subject and creating this book makes it relatable to their level. It also leaves a great takeaway for the kids in similar situations to know that it’s ok to ask for help when they need it.

Pages: 32

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Review: The World's Longest Sock by Juliann Law

About the Book

Experience the world’s fiercest knitting competition in this lively book about community, cooperation, and two knitters who are determined to create the world’s longest sock.

In Chile, Nana Nina starts knitting a sock and forgets to stop, and soon it's won the world record for "Longest Sock”! When Chuck, a lonely lumberman in New Zealand who also happens to be knitting a very long sock, sees Nina’s news on the TV, he is determined to beat her world record. And he does! Thus begins a battle of the knittest to see who can hold onto the world record—for good. The world takes sides: Team Nina or Team Chuck. But will all the pressure cause them to unravel? This yarn about a competition out of control will charm the socks off readers of all ages and knitting abilities.

Review

What a wonderful book about two people who wouldn't give up but realizing they won more from what they gained in their life than their competition. Their fun journey was exciting and the anticipation to see what the outcome would be keeps you wanting to read more. .A great takeaway is realizing what’s important in life but most importantly having the support of family and friends can inspire you to make anything possible.

Overall, the warm, beautiful illustrations that complement this good read that will leave you feeling good. This book was a fun way to introduce knitting to kids.

Pages: 32

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Audiobook Review: The House on Sunrise Lagoon: Marina in the Middle by Nicole Melleby

About the Book

Return to Sunrise Lagoon in this warmhearted sequel, which finds anxious middle child Marina making waves on her journey to trusting herself.

If you want to get to know Marina Ali-O'Connor, you need to know three things:

One, despite her name, Marina is secretly afraid of the water.

Two, she wanted to be one of the Oldest Siblings, but is stuck smack dab in the middle.

Three, she's pretty certain she's the Extra Ali-O'Connor kid—the forgotten one.

When Boom, a budding filmmaker exactly Marina's age, moves in across the lagoon, she decides that Marina's quest to become someone's favorite Ali-O'Connor would make a perfect documentary. But when each plan goes a little bit wrong, Marina begins to wonder if she'll ever feel like she belongs, or if she'll always be lost in the middle.

Review

I’ve really enjoyed the series. The narrator does such a great job with the inflection of the different characters. It’s been easy to follow along to distinguish each character from their unique characteristics and personalities.

This is the second book in the series. We get to know the middle child, Marina. For those kids in the middle, they can truly relate to her insecurities and finding herself within a big family.You know that feeling of being forgotten, wishing you were different to stand out more. That quest to find a sense of belonging and to be someone’s favorite. What’s interesting is that we find out something about Marina that’s surprising considering where they are. Some really wonderful lessons and wisdom she gains through her journey.

Overall, another wonderful book in the series.

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Review: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? by Paula Faris and Illustrated by Bhagya Madanasinghe

About the Book

Inspire children to dream not just about a future career, but also about the kind of person they want to become with this empowering picture book from Emmy Award–winning journalist, best-selling author, founder of CARRY Media, and mother of three, Paula Faris.

Career Day is looming, and Lina has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up. Should she become a nurse? An engineer? A journalist? A professional athlete? There are too many options! When her mom suggests she ask herself a few key questions, Lina begins to realize who she grows up to be is more important than what she ends up doing.

In a world that places so much emphasis on what we do, Paula Faris—who stepped out of her own role as an award-winning journalist—is passionate about encouraging kids to consider instead who they want to be. In this beautifully illustrated book, Paula shares this empowering message with young readers and gives parents tools to foster their child’s unique gifts and interests and focus them on the things that matter.

Join Lina on her journey as she discovers that character counts and who you are is more important than what you do.

Review

What a beautiful book! Not just for the colorful and vibrant illustrations but what the message children can take away from it. Often children are asked about their future aspirations but rarely consider who they want to be. So much is put on the occupation or the aspiration but who you are as a person, is just as or more important than the actual job.

When Lina was put on the spot, she didn’t have the answer anyone expected. Her peers actually laughed at her. The thing that I loved about this moment was, it didn’t discourage or take anything away from her. Bruised momentarily but that inspired her to seek the answers and learn how to lean on her family and friends for help. This inspired her to find the answers she was looking for. I love her intuitive curiosity and her willingness to seek answers from her friends and family.

Great takeaway not only from her perspective and influence from her family and friends but also for parents to help their children think beyond just wanting to be whatever. There is a wonderful note from the author as well an exercise to get them started when seeking the answer to that question.

Pages 32

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Review: BrindleFox by John Sandford

Book Summary

Immerse yourself in a world reminiscent of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale with this gorgeously illustrated story about a reclusive fox, a mysterious tree, and the life-giving power of friendship.

BrindleFox refuses to be a friend, so he has no friends. He never lets anyone into his home, so he doesn’t bother to clean it. Moss and ivy weave through his furniture, and weeds and grasses grow on his floors and in his drawers. One morning, he discovers something unexpected—a tree has begun sprouting from his back. Unphased by this development, he continues on with his life, and the tree continues to grow. One day, a strange heron appears in his tree. Furious, BrindleFox attempts to drive the intruder away and finds himself stunned by something he doesn’t understand—a selfless act of kindness from a fearless new friend.

Brilliantly illustrated, BrindleFox touches on themes of sadness, loneliness, self-care, and the redeeming power of friendship in simple ways that children will intuitively understand. Little ones will be welcomed into a world brimming with hidden wonders and memorable characters that they will want to revisit time and time again.

Review

The summary of the book captures of heart of what it's about. The beauty of the experience is another. There's something special about this book. Perhaps, it reminds me of the wonderful books that I got to experience when I was a kid. There's a quote on the back of the book that just speaks volumes. It says, “To have a friend, one must be a friend.”

You know, amazing things come from a full heart. There's a great takeaway from this book. The fox was a tough person to be around. He didn't like people nor have conversation with them. He didn't have any friends and just kept to himself. That existence can harden a person. There was nothing welcoming or warm about him until his interaction with the heron. This simple act of kindness changed the trajectory of his life. No matter how dark, that heron saw light that allowed himself to push through his wall to embrace her kindness. It was through this moment with the tree on his back that he needed someone and that heron came into his life for a reason. Sometimes people just need someone to come into their lives to show them that there is a tomorrow where the sun will shine bright.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were beautiful and it complemented that wonderful story. Such a great takeaway how the power of friendship and unconditional kindness can make someone's life better.

Pages: 32

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