Daddy Mojo

Jorvik Calling, a Star Riders joint for equine adventure girls

Is your StarFam calling out to you? If you don’t have a girl aged 8-17 then “StarFam” Star Stable or Jorvik could be a foreign language. It was for us, and then I dug into it and found out that the game has been massively popular since 2012 as a safe, online gaming opportunity for girls that weaves in horses, adventure and magical elements. In short, it’s a gaming juggernaut where 98% of its players are girls who now have the opportunity to read about the four friends and the magical realm of Jorvik.

Starfam rejoice, the books are finally here

The Queen Bee and Me happily flies to its own beat

What’s the only currency that’s priceless one year and worthless the next? If you guessed the Venezuelan Bolivar you’re wrong. It’s popularity. To some teens popularity is the only thing that matters one year, until they get to the next year and realize that it’s all a John Hughes movie. The Queen Bee and Me by Gillian McDunn is a book that upper elementary through lower high school readers will take to like a Carpenter bee to the wood on my back porch.

Great, mGLIT on friendship, yourself and bees

The Amelia Six is sequel-worthy realistic fiction mystery for 9 and up

Sleepers, they’re not just for movies that fly under the radar. It’s summertime and just like the sleeper film that critics hadn’t heard of, it’s the literary sleeper for us, The Amelia Six. It’s like that expectations vs. reality meme that has your quarantine self-haircut envisioned as Kelly Kapowski, but it turns out to be more Joe Dirt. To be clear, in this case The Amelia Six was Tiffani Thiessen that actually looked like Kelly Kapowski.

Fun, mystery and more fun for readers 9 and up

Friday Night WrestleFest knows how you end the day with kids

The tickle party takes on many forms. I don’t know when that magical age ends because our children are eight and ten, which is apparently the prime wrestling or tickle party demographic. Friday Night WrestleFest by J.F. Fox with illustrations by Micah Player knows exactly what happens during these festivals of wrestling and laughter.

get yr tickle party on in book form for ages 3-6

All age comic books for June 10

It’s new comic book day and there are only a couple things for young readers this week. Disney people will love Moana: The Story of the Movie in Comics as well as, Disney Princess: Follow Your Heart. DC Comics has Batman: The Adventures Continue, this is a six issue mini-series and the first issue is here now. If you loved Batman: The Animated Series then this will be right up your alley. That comic book was an awesome all age comic book that had wit, action and Batman charm, plus it was great for young readers.

If you’ve looking for something new this week check out Science Comics at your local comic book store. These graphic novels are on :01 First Second and present science or non-fiction topics in ways that are educational and fun for those in upper elementary and up.

There are a couple great all age comic books this week-visit your local store for more!

A Game of Fox & Squirrels, dances between fantasy and drama

At first glance A Game of Fox & Squirrels could look like a story that’s akin to Jumanji. There is a board game, some fanciful, talking animals and a couple of pre-teen and teen girls. All of these elements exist, but the crux of A Game of Fox & Squirrels is rooted in drama. As long as middle school readers are looking for a well written book that’s steeped in allegory, with the very real topic of abuse, then they’ll enjoy it.

Between fantasy, growing up and acceptance

Jules Vs. The Ocean, summertime tale on trying and not giving up

It’s the giant toilet flushing. It’s out to get me. Either one of those, or some other thought that just happened due to the weather, tide or my mood was what I thought about the ocean when I was a kid. Tide pools were a different story, my relationship with them has always been pleasant, but that ocean. That’s the subject of Jules Vs. The Ocean, an illustrated book by Jessie Sima.

The ocean’s call can be cruel, this book nails how a 5 YO sees it

You Matter, aptly named and needed anytime

With the exception of holiday books, authors probably can’t assign when their books come out. Keep in mind I have very little idea exactly how the publishing industry works in regards to its relationship with their creators. I doubt that’s it’s some literary cabal that intentionally pulls the strings of interest for readers around the globe. Prove me wrong; show me the secret handshake or the watermark that’s discretely placed in every book. Realizing that is not the case, it’s all the more amazing that You Matter by author/artist Christian Robinson has been released now. It’s a timeless book that would feel at home if it were released in 1968, 1984, 2002 or 2011, but is all the more relevant now.

Come for the art, stay for the message-enjoy it all