Children's book reviews, all age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
Jazzy is a witch who likes to ride bicycles. She likes to ride real bicycles. These are the pedal-powered bicycles that depend on centripetal force for their turns and are 100% reliant on people to move forward. Jazzy is also a lot like most kids in elementary school. Friend Fiasco is the second book in the Jazzy the Witch series and is just the charming, low-key, comfort reading that kids in mid through upper-elementary school want to read.
It could’ve begun as a side comment, or maybe even a dare. Write a book that has an action backbone, with the heart and emotive lessons that are age-appropriate, and entertaining, for upper-elementary and mglit audiences, with a moth as the main character. A moth. That flighty, lightweight, seemingly pointless creature who is hopelessly attracted to light and the punchline to a classic Norm Macdonald joke and its nemesis, Gregory Illininivich. Author Katherine Orton heard this sidebar, slipped into her moth exoskeleton, said hold this light and created The Traitor Moth. This is the first in the Moon Realm fantasy book series that lives in the world of eight through twelve-year-old, reading-because-it’s-awesome space.
What makes a kid want to read? The answer to that breaks down due to their age and sex. Girls tend to read much quicker and advance at younger ages. Boys are apparently made of snips, snails, puppy dog tails and fart jokes or gas euphemisms. The Snowman Code is one of the cutest chapter books for elementary age kids we’ve read this year. Not only is it a good book, it’s one that will be effortless to read for children in elementary school. These are the readers who are able to graduate to chapter books, but might need a nudge to boost their confidence to get to books that look like The Snowman Code.
Don’t think about The Contest from Seinfeld, don’t think about The Contest from Seinfeld. Nay you 90’s fans of quality television this is The Christmas Contest. It’s a book that’s been too long dormant on my to-do shelf, but is now seeing the top of my desk and ready for its close-up. And…I feel an initial pang of regret because its hook, if you’re down with Advent, is very logical and addictive. Side note: worst headline ever.
For people of a certain generation, Coco emblazoned The Day of the Dead and its significance to Mexican people and those of Latino heritage. In addition to being a fabulously told story, it’s a well-made movie and introduced a large about of people to the customs behind the holiday. This Moment is Special: A Dia de Muestros Story is an illustrated book that channels the same spirit and has a twist.
Children are not stupid. When they see illustrated books they’re able to tell the simpler ones from those that entertain at a more cerebral level. And just because something is not at a stupid level doesn’t mean that it’s relegated to the tucked-away lands of fancy pants books. There’s a place where clever, sublime illustrated books live. Those who have an old-soul, new-world sensibilities, intelligence and a timeless characteristic that allows the book to feel ‘new’, regardless of when it comes out. Matthew Forsythe lives there and turns out hauntingly charming illustrated books that are as endearing as they are creepy and weird. Aggie and the Ghost joins Pokko and the Drum, and Mina for a hat trick of illustrated book storytelling magic.
It would be glib to talk about this book around Halloween and have a zombie doing the narrating. Granted that could certainly draw in more curious readers than the actual topic about All About Brains. It’s an illustrated book that looks at brains the way that early to upper-elementary can relate to, if they wanted to read a book about neurodivergence. Woah, easy there elementary school reader, do you mean that this is a fun book about the very broad field of neurodiverse kids? In a way, that is correct, All About Brains takes a macro look at some of the differences in that field. It starts with a young girl as she starts her day with medicine and her younger sibling asking to have some of her medicine that helps ease her ‘brain sparkles’.
We didn’t read the first or second illustrated book in the Mousetronaut series. Having read Moustronaut Saves the World, it’s not necessary. One of the main Mousetronauts, Meteor has been to space before. That fact is referenced more than a couple of times in the book. He’s been to space before and has just the knowledge set to save Earth from the asteroid on a collision course with the planet. Thankfully, the flight director of the James Webb Space Telescope has a big plan that is dependent on little astronauts.
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