Two books that found their way to my reading pile recently were one of my least favorite reads this year (so far), and the other was one that helped take out a lot of my “it’s an icky world out there” feelings away.
As I said, I think Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (Camp Nowhere #1) by Lea Taddonio and illustrator Michelle Lamoreaux is one of my least favorite reads this year. I borrowed these statements from other reviewers.
* “combine the idea of a comic and a picture book.”
* (took) “2 minutes to read the entire book and I was expecting a full blown graphic novel…”
This is a book that has no meat, just potatoes. Which is great, but it really needed gravy, butter, and meat. If all four in the series had been combined in one book it would have been better. This one installment has the overall feeling of being the first chapter of a longer book. It might be meant for the early and/or struggling reader, who wants a higher concept but needs an easier read, but it was missing too much to really consider itself a full story. This is a short story you find in a “spooky book for kids” where the cliffhanger ending works. But it’s set up as a full, fleshed out story that would have a beginning, middle and end.
I am assuming the single book style is to help the younger/struggling reader. But this could still have been accomplished with each book being a chapter and not the short chapters that are in the book. The cliffhanger ending I don’t see catching readers’ attention. The artwork is fun, combining the graphic novel, picture book and illustrated novel formats. They support the story without being overwhelming. 
PAWS: Priya Puts Herself First by Nathan Fairbairn and MSASSYK (Michele Assarasakorn) as the illustrator. This the third installment in a series of graphic novels for the aged 8 to 10 group. But it also could go younger, depending on the reader. And while I did enjoy the first volumes, they were not OMG Best Books Ever. However, now I do want to read volume four, Paws: Hazel Has Her Hands Full, out mid January 2025.
The overall feel is that it is fun. We have four friends this round dealing with growing up. They need to deal with personal space, helping each other, listening, responsibilities, social media and moving across town. They try to work together, work by themselves and eventually realize how to make it work. The younger reader will be “oh will things be okay?” While you, the adult, know that things work out. It is a fun series, read in order and just enjoy growing up in a modern way with an old school feeling.
There is representation with the girls being of color, one uses a wheelchair, and various family dynamics. Plus, it is set in Canada, and I don’t know about you, but I always think that Canadian set books have a slightly different, more innocent feeling, especially for that 8 to young 12 crowd.