adventure – One Chapter

The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

When I saw this book at the library, I was so excited! A picture book of the Wild Robot, yes!! Now, I can share the Wild Robot with my grandchildren! I hoped they loved it.

They absolutely loved this book and so did I. The illustrations are so frickin’ cute and perfect! Opening the book, we see a ship in a horrible storm. A wild, dark storm has caused a white crate from the ship’s deck to fall into the ocean. On the next page, the storm has ended, and the crate has floated close to an island. The land is lush with life and full of activity.

There are forest animals everywhere, birds are in sky, animals are swimming in the ocean, a waterfall curtain is in the distance and there are birds circling the white crate. Roz pops out of the box and well, this is where she belongs.

The island is dangerous and wild so Roz must learn to adapt to her new surroundings. Roz is a smart robot, so she studies everything around her and begins to fit right in.

She even discovers an orphaned goose egg which she decides to adopt and soon, she is a proud mother. Brightbill and Roz make a great pair, but Brightbill is a bird, and he must migrate with all the other birds.

Leaving Roz behind is a sad turn in this story. My grandkids had all kinds of questions about what Roz would do with Brightbill there and who would take care of Brightbill when he flew away.

As we continued with this story, they loved the ending and wanted to read it again. YES! I can’t wait till they get older and we can read the chapter books together.

We loved this book – from the illustrations to the condensed version of the story. Such a wonderful story and yes, I really want to get this one for myself. 5 stars for sure!!

Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise

5 stars Children’s Picture Books

We loved Knight Owl and now, we get to experience Early Bird! Early Bird wants to be like Knight Owl but ……it’s complicated. No one can ever be like Knight Owl. Knight Owl is Captain of the Knight Night Watch. He has the night shift guarding the castle while others are sleeping plus he’s an owl. Early Bird is a bird; hence, he sleeps at night and he’s very noisy!

Knight Owl does teach Early Bird what he does during the Knight Night Watch in the afternoon but as the day turns to night, Early Bird falls asleep. When the sun rises, Early Bird arises and he’s ready for this new day, but Knight Owl is tired from working all night and he’s ready for bed.

After a few days of training and Early Bird’s overzealous behavior, Knight Owl can’t handle him any longer. He tells Early Bird that he has had enough, and he needs to “PLEASE, GO AWAY!” Broken hearted, Early Bird heads out into the forest outside the castle walls (sad picture). Knight Owl starts to have second thoughts and begins to worry about him. Knight Owl heads out to look for him. Now they are both outside the castle walls! Goodness!! They hear a sound and that’s not a good one!!

There’s an illustration of glowing eyes; owl is standing all alone with wolves starting to close in around him. What ?!?!

Yes, it’s that good! Check it out and the other books with Knight Owl.

The Monster in the Lake by Leo Timmers

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Three ducks want to go to the lake but the mallard is worried about the monster. His friends say there is nothing to that story. When Mallard looks under the water at the lake he sees a huge monster fish. The monster fish smiles at him, and Mallard follows him under the water. Mallard finds at the bottom of the lake a huge party of monster fishes and Mallard has a good time down there. Mallards’ three friends are still swimming up above and don’t really notice that Mallard is gone until later. When they realize that Mallard is gone that are scared that he was taken by a monster until Mallard tells them that there’s no monster in the lake. Yet, as Mallard walks off on dry land, all the monsters from down below are making their way onland, happy smiling monsters.

Funny, cute story. The illustrations are amazing! It’s a simple story with few words but the story is good and has a good message. 5 stars

The Teacher of Nomad Land: A Story of World War II

5 stars Middle School

The apple never falls far from the tree. Another cover love title for me and I’m so glad I picked this book up. He was once a blackboard teacher with the nomads, and now, he is dead. An accident leaves Babak (age 13) and Sana (age 8) orphaned and the tribe without a teacher.

Its 1941 and we’re in Iran. Their father has just passed away, and the siblings are waiting for their aunt to pick them up. The children’s life is turned upside down when their aunt informs them of the new lifestyle that awaits them. I loved how Babak secretly kept an eye on his sister and how both of them tried to hide the reality of their lives from one another. They had dreams and even when other individuals were attempting to smash their dreams, they kept reaching for them.

Deciding to find the nomads, they set off, to make a life for themselves. They needed a safe haven, and they knew the nomads could provide that, but what could they offer in return? Their father had set the foundation and now, the siblings decided to follow in his footsteps. They would attempt to become the nomad’s teacher.

They hit a few snags along the way, including meeting Ben. The relationship with Ben provides the sibling strength and growth within themselves and strengthens the bond between them. I liked Ben as a character; he played his part well and was beneficial to the dynamics of the book.

A great book. The author’s notes at the end of the book are definitely worth reading as they’re informative, covering different topics addressed in the book: alliances, alphabet, territories, and language barriers.

“Never give up on your dreams, no matter how painful and difficult your journey is.” (Lisa).

How Will I Get To School This Year? by Jerry Pallotta

5 stars Children’s Picture book

My grandson is addicted to Who Will Win? Series so I found this book at the library which is also written by the same author. With a fun, lively storyline, the story is about a girl who doesn’t want to take the smelly school bus this year. She took it last year and she’s thinking she wants something different this year so….what about a giant mosquito, a bald eagle, a hammerhead shark, a pride of lions, or the list goes on with a wide variety of animals.

Each two-page spread tells what animal she would take and what that animal would do and has a bright, colorful illustration of her on that mode of transportation.

It’s a fun and entertaining book for all ages. What does she decide to ride this year to school?

Read the book and find out. My only clue is that she has more fun when travelling with her friends so she needs something her friends can ride on too. 5 stars

Top 10 Spooky Mysteries: You Wouldn’t Want to Know About! by Fiona MacDonald

3 stars Children’s Nonfiction

I do like a good mystery, and spooky, yes that would make it extra special. This children’s nonfiction caught my attention at the library. This is a slim book consisting of only 32 pages. Those pages include 3 pages of introductions, two pages for the index and table of contents, and two pages for the glossary. In between all of that you have 10 pages of what the author believes are the Top 10 Worse Spooky Mysteries You Wouldn’t Want To Know About!

A mystery is a problem that hasn’t been solved yet inside this book each of the mysteries the author explains, they contain a “probable explanation printed upside down” on the pages of that mystery. As a reader, you’re supposed to try to solve the mystery before reading the upside “probable explanation.”

So let the countdown begin! Each of the two-page spread mysteries feature some vital statistics on the mystery: the name, place, date, the mystery, why you don’t want to know about it, and it’s “probable explanation.” The rest of the two pages are filled with information and illustrations. There are numerous paragraphs with separate titles describing the mysteries accompanying illustrations which are cartoon in nature. The illustrations take up about a third of the space on these pages.

From aliens to Curse of Tutankhamum to Mary Celeste to Dyatlov Pass incident, these mysteries cover ones that everyone should be familiar with and some that are not. I was surprised at the ones that made the list, and I welcomed reading something that I was not that familiar with.

After reading a short paragraph on the spooky mystery, I would read the vital statistics as that is how the book flowed for each of the mysteries. The supporting information followed as I read, and I was not a fan of how that additional information was presented on the pages. I tried different ways to read this information, but this information just felt disjointed, like some of the FYI Facts that someone had just plastered on the pages. I thought they did a great job with the various sizes and font types that were used on the pages, as they set the different sections of the information off from one another. I have mixed feelings about the illustrations that were used. They did a great job in creating the cartoon art for each of the mysteries but I’m not sure if humorous cartoon art was appropriate for this book. Again, this is just my own thoughts and preference. I give this book 3 stars as I was expecting to love this book but I didn’t.

The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers

3.5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Ha! This is a cute story about a dictionary who wanted to be more than just a book consisting of some words from A to Z. You have to be introduced to Dictionary, who wanted his own story. Dictionary knows that other books consist of words created using words found inside the Dictionary so why can’t Dictionary have his own story created inside his own pages. I know it sounds confusing, but it is true.

As Dictionary thought about why she didn’t have a story inside her pages, a hungry Alligator started to creep across her pages. No, this Alligator did not stay in the A section of Dictionary, he was moving through the pages, sniffing and looking for something Delicious when he spotted a Donut in the D section. Donut is not wanting to become Alligator’s next meal, so off Donut goes, rolling through the pages.

Dictionary is thrilled that a story has now been started in her pages as the pair makes their way to the M section. A Ghost scares the group when they are stopped by the Moon. They have quite an adventure as they make their way through the alphabet. Dictionary wanted a story, and she is definitely getting one, as the story becomes more twisted and exciting along the way.

The concept behind the book was interesting and I liked how the author put the story together. The illustrations with Dictionary coming to life and later watching the story unfold with Dictionary’s words falling off the pages provided a great visual and was entertaining. The thick cardstock paper was also a great touch. I did have a hard time reading some of the cursive writing that was used in the text. I liked that they used a unique type of text font for most of the story, but I think this font was a bit too hard to read. I thought the story had a bit of nonsense in it, but I think it was supposed to, this added to the humor of the book. It was a different kind of story, one I had to read a few times to fully appreciate. 3.5 stars

The Froggies Do NOT Want to Sleep by Adam Gustavson

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

How funny! The frogs don’t want to sleep as they’re too busy hopping, practicing their accordions, riding unicycles, dressing up, taming ferocious beasts, and numerous other things.

I loved the vocabulary in this book – not too large but enough to spark the minds of the young children reading this book. “Tame ferocious beasties, jousting like knights, zipping through galaxies, fizzy soda, alien life-forms, jelly-headed, pillowy-clouds,” see, just reading those words makes you want to read this book.

Now for the illustrations, they’re adorable and full of life. With colors that pop, the frogs are full of energy moving from activity-to-activity until they just can’t keep their eyes open. 5 stars

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson

4.5 stars Fiction

It’s the BIG one! Located in Hawaii, there are 2 volcanoes who have the scientists’ nervous. Mauna Loa is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world and Mauna Kea, a volcano which hasn’t erupted in over 4,000 years. The tremors have begun and now, they’re starting to intensify. Fear begins to take root, but horror takes ahold of those who really know the truth. The truth of what an eruption could mean to those in Hawaii and those around the world when the earth unleashes its blazing inferno.

I liked the little twists on this volcano disaster, and I liked how no one wanted to or took responsibility for how these problems came about. How did the canisters get placed at the base of Mauna Kea and how did so many of them got there, these are questions no one wants to answer, or so they claim. Add to this, the integrity of the containers and their content, I felt on edge reading this book. The containers themselves were a huge concern but when you add in a volcanic eruption on top of that literally on top of that, you have…… craziness!! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and I swear I could have been watching a movie as the story fell out of the pages of the book.

Talk about intense, I couldn’t put this book down as I needed to know how they were going to stop a volcano and safely do something, anything with those containers at the base of Mauna Kea. They had to do something as they couldn’t kill millions of people, could they??

An action-packed book with loads of drama and tension. There were quite a few characters and there was quite a lot of dialogue between them. The book was predictable at times and that was okay with me. I thought the authors did a good job with researching the details in the book and making the book feel realistic. I feel this would make a fantastic movie. 4.5 stars as sometimes I felt the points repeated over and over again.

Eagle Drums by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson

4 stars Middle School Fantasy/Mythology

Can he, do it? Will he have the same fate as his brothers? Told in prose, I found myself reading this book slower than I typically read a book because I found that the book was loaded with power words. There is nothing wrong with using such language, but I found myself reading slower and deciphering the story. So instead of some authors stating, they sat around the fire, this book would state, they were “lounging near the fire.” The image between these two statements is totally different. I enjoyed this journey, and the imaginary used as the boy makes his way to the mountain to find food.

When the young boy encounters the eagle Savik, he learns of the fate of his siblings, and I knew immediately that he is smarter than his brothers, but will he make it back home safely when his journey with Savik is completed. There is much to learn and remember as Savik tries to explain it all to his young warrior. I think of the responsibility this young man has and how his life has changed as he makes his way with Savik. This was an interesting read. 4 stars