Books | Daddy Mojo

The Nature of our National Parks, a go-to guide for kids to planning a trip

An attorney friend of mine is visiting as many United States national parks as possible. There are 63 of them, and I think his family has visited about 50 of them. The Nature of our National Parks is a children’s illustrated reference book that inspires the wanderlust in any age. The book isn’t automatically intended for children, it’s just that we group illustrated books with children. In this book’s case that’s not entirely accurate because The Nature of our National Parks also includes a handful of photographs from the places in question. Whichever way you approach the book, you’ll develop a case of the arm-chair traveler. Another effect is that you’ll start scheming a manner in which you can write a book exploring these 63 parks so that you can write them off as a work expense too, which could be what my attorney friend is doing.

The Nature of our National Parks includes every U.S. national park, some of its flora and fauna and corner-to-corner illustrations to motivate your visit.

Oh the places you’ll want to go

Sleepless is fiction that elementary kids want to, and are able to, read

“OK, I’ll read Sleepless; it’s from the author that wrote book our class read”, said our 14-year old. This was the process for us assigning, or him choosing the next book he’d read. Sleepless is by Gordon Korman, an author whose name is synonymous with big kid books in elementary school. I didn’t question the youth as to which Kormon book his class read. Go to any elementary school library, and if it’s a chapter book without illustrations, there’s a good chance he wrote it. He’s the kidlit version of James Patterson, and Sleepless is the first book that I’ve read from Gordon Korman.

What’s surprising about Sleepless is how utterly readable it is. Elementary-aged readers won’t think twice about the chapters because the vocabulary is 100% in their wheelhouse.

I see why this author is the skeleton Key

The Declaration Decoded effortlessly explains the document for ages 10 & up

The Declaration Decoded: A Guide to the Document that Inspired Our Nation implies that everyone who reads it will be a citizen of the United States. Imply and infer are tricky concepts to master, aren’t they? We’ve read other books that explained the Declaration of Independence, but those books are aimed at young audiences. This is all a bit ironic because the shape of The Declaration Decoded is smaller and more rectangular. Its more compact, hand-held package that seemingly aims at a younger demographic. Young and younger are all relative, aren’t they?

Through its format and writing, The Declaration Decoded: A Guide to the Document that Inspired our Nation makes learning fun and effortless.

make history fun, and something I can understand. Hold my drink.

Unfunny Bunny is about a kid finding his personality and his ‘true’ self

I had to re-read The Unfunny Bunny to see if my adult brain missed something. Ah, I did miss a small nuance. It happens on the first two pages. That fact was certainly comforting, to an extent. I was expecting great things from Unfunny Bunny. It’s from Kenan Thompson and Bryan Tucker, two SNL veterans. Thompson has been a face on SNL for decades, in addition to dozens of voice-over and movie roles, whereas Tucker is a 16-time Emmy-nominated writer for the show. Adults have seen Thompson in something that they’ve liked, and that fact will bring a large amount of goodwill towards the book.

Unfunny Bunny will produce laughs from the kids, but needs a little adult help to get the point of the book across.

Star power. cute-ish book. what’s not to like?

How a Bear Became a Book, a perfect book on partners, production and Pooh

A book doesn’t have arms. It can’t hug you. How a Bear Became a Book: The Collaborations That Created Winnie-the-Pooh does have the aura of a comforting hug. It’s the smell of a kitchen after Snickerdoodles have just been made. The very subtle off-kilter letters in the book’s title evoke a playful nature. This aspect is magnified by the translucent bear running across the pages of a book, whose words are jumbled, incomplete, and utterly Pooh-esque.

How This Was Made meets classic children’s literature in How a Bear Became a Book: The Collaboration That Created Winnie-the-Pooh that’s as entertaining as it is educational, without trying to be the latter.

You won’t say “oh bother” while reading this book

Winnie-the-Pooh: 100th Anniversary Edition, a bit aged, still as awesome

I thought it was a velvet cover. But no, the cover to Winnie-the-Pooh: 100^th Anniversary (Winnie-the-Pooh; The House at Pooh Corner) (The Winnie-the-Pooh Collection) is a flocked cover. Flocking is a process where short fibers are glued to a surface and feels like velvet, but it is much cheaper. If the question was, how do make reading Winnie-the-Pooh more adorable, the answer would certainly be to provide it with a flocked cover.

Winnie-the-Pooh: 100th Anniversary Edition brims with life, energy, fun and doesn’t look a day over 100.

Pooh sticks at dawn!

Piece Out uses action, perspective and imagination to make it awesome

Homophones make for great elementary school comedy, in addition to dad jokes. Piece Out takes that homophone madness, adds a splash of early 90s slang, some Toy Story, and everyday things that kids will understand and laugh at. The frustration of a missing puzzle piece or someone’s favorite piece or character for family game night will provide a lifetime of memories. “You always had to be the car” or “I wanted to be red for the longest time” are just a couple of things people will remember from their youth.

Piece Out is so much better than I expected-and I expected it to be good. It’s a funny, action-based illustrated book that uses scale and perspective to its benefit.

Toy story meets die hard, kind of…, but it’s still awesome

Are You Snuggly? is good, silly board book fun with a big vocabulary

Snuggly is one of those adjectives that couples in the early phases of their relationships, as well as, parents to kids under two can earnestly use. It is a very appropriate adjective that correctly describes its intention. The ability to be seen as cuddling up with is a rare commodity. Are You Snuggly? is a playful board book that goes through a handful of animals and the very descriptive, and uncommon words used to describe them.

Are You Snuggly? is board book silliness that’s well constructed, with lots of cute animals asking simple questions.

chew on the pages, it’s all board book good