Just the Right Cake by Christina Tosi
Just the Right Cake by Christina Tosi starts off like any other cake book. It is raining so it is the perfect day to bake a cake. But if you ask Phil, he will tell you it would be a good day to bake a cake even if it was sunny. You see, Phil loves baking with his mom and dad. But today is different. It is just him and his mom. But even though the cake is made like they always did, something is […]
Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School by Carrie Finison
I am not always a fan of “the turtle or tortoise or snail comes in last because they are slow” stories. (I still cringe at the end scene in Monsters University where the snail-monster-student gets to class after the year has ended.) Now, I do not necessarily want them to be first, (Tortoise and the Hair is great, just not all the time), I want to see other animals have the distinction of being last, or the slow one. I mean, we all have a […]
Hilo Volume Five: Then Everything Went Wrong by Judd Winick
Do You Remember the Summer Before? (Black Sand Beach, #2) by Richard Fairgray
Sequels are interesting. Sometimes they are better than the first book, and sometimes not even close. And when you get to book five in a series, sometimes you are more excited than you could imagine and other times you are thinking it is time to stop helping my uncle the logger keep his job and save a tree or two. Hilo Volume Five: Then Everything Went Wrong by Judd Winick is a mix of the above. This volume is a “middle of the story” story. […]
Arithmechicks Add Up: A Math Story by Ann Marie Stephens
Arithmechicks Take Away: A Math Story by Ann Marie Stephens
If you want a book about math, you need to find Arithmechicks Add Up: A Math Story and Arithmechicks Take Away: A Math Story. Now, these are not just your “one plus one” or “two minus one” stories. A lot is going on allowing them to be fairly busy. Therefore, while the format and the images are for the younger group, the older (up to first grade, maybe low second) can read as well. There is much to the text and some concepts (which are […]
Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh
Some of my usual dislikes in a story are in Thirsty Mermaids: the drinking to excess, the odd characters that are less than intelligent about common sense, not getting punished for events like stealing, and every character is conveniently “other.” However, in Kat Leyh’s graphic novel, they are pluses. I can forgive the stealing as the guy they stole from seemed like a jerk. I can accept the drinking because it is necessary to push these characters forward. Would I like to have seen less […]
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 […]
