Paul and His Ukulele by Robert Broder
The story to Paul and His Ukulele was, eh. I was thinking, “Okay, but now what?” Robert Broder made a quaint story of a fox named Paul, and the journey his takes to grow up. He meets many people along the way, enjoys dense woods, deserts, and more. Even when he sets up a shop and meets Clementine I was, okay, nice, but not my kind of ukulele tune. When I realized the author is the same as Crow and Snow, I realized that they […]
Teeny Houdini V01 The Disappearing Act: by Katrina Moore
My review for Teeny Houdini V01 The Disappearing Act: kids will enjoy this second to young third grade read. However, the character attitudes might be a turn off for adults. I could add that Katrina Moore is the author of the book and Zoe Si adds the black and white illustrations. That was 51 words. Only 200 to go. I will also add that this book is about a girl named Bessie. She has a wonderful but conveniently only speaks Chinese, grandmother. Gramma has a […]
Roots by Tara O'Connor
Roots deals with the interesting concept of well, Roots: the roots that are our family’s history, finding our place to finally set them down, and dying our hair. This graphic novel is a sweet peek at Tara O’Connor after her divorce. Which of course, was not sweet, but even in the more somber moments, there is always a glimmer of hope. As the reader I had the feeling of reading her diary as Tara takes us through the journey of lost love and trying to […]
Friends Are Friends, Forever by Dane Liu
Gong hei fat choy! Sun Leen Fai Lo! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year! It is 2022 and the Year of the Water Tiger. Most January and sometimes even February babies can be born on a cusp of a year, like I was. Therefore, since I enjoy celebrating, I use both Year of the Tiger and Year of the Rabbit as “My Years.” And this year is my “official” Lunar Year and 2023 my “official” Western Year! But regardless of the year, I love […]
New Year (a Lunar New Year Book for Kids) by Mei Zihan
New Year (a Lunar New Year Book for Kids) has a mature theme. Even the description of this book from the publisher uses words that set the tone of the book. It says it is a “moving…cride Coeur” and “dislocation is countered by acceptance…” and “Chinese diaspora.” Huh? I just wanted a nice book about the Chinese New Year. I mean, it is a nice book that Mei Zihan has created, but well over the head of most picture book readers. I went farther along […]
Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
While gorgeously illustrated, Eyes That Speak to the Stars is a repeat of the companion book Eyes That Kiss in the Corners also by Joanna Ho and Dung Ho. However, that is not to say it is not as delightful as the first book, but I was looking for something slightly different. The story starts off with an innocent drawing by a school friend, has our narrator questioning how people see him, and how he sees himself. The picture looks nothing like him. But through […]
