animals – Page 6 – One Chapter

Global by Eoin Colfer

5 stars YA Graphic Novel

Two different stories told from opposite ends of the world grip the reader as they learn that the connecting factor linking them together is global warming. While some individuals claim that global change and global warming are just fictious, Yuki and Sami lives are living proof that it’s happening, and its effect is very real.

From “here” Sami is a fisherman, like his grandfather in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean. The sea is once again pushing its way onto the banks of his village. The seawall is crumbling, and the houses will once again have to be moved more inland. Land is becoming scarce as the ocean claims everything around them. Fishing is their livelihood, their means of existence. The water that was once their friend has now become their enemy as a constant struggle occurs as they struggle to bring home enough fish to earn a paycheck and the ocean tries to claim their home. Just when Sami and his grandfather thought that they had caught the “big one” and their luck had changed, they realized that the water was not their only problem.

From “there” Yuki, his dog Lockjaw live with her parents inside the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. With the warmer winters, the snow and sea ice are melting rapidly creating issues for the residents and the bears who rely on it. With less ice, the bears are moving into the residential areas to forge for their food. Yuki doesn’t like how the town addresses this issue, so she takes it upon herself to find a better solution. Bundled against the cold winter landscape, fourteen-year-old Yuki sets off with Lockjaw for the answer.

As Sami and Yuki shared their stories, their stories felt real. The details and the emotions that were expressed felt heartfelt and sincere. The illustrations in this graphic novel were terrific! You could feel the tension, frustration, and excitement within each text box. The colors used helped create this dramatic storyline and it was hard book to put down.

I enjoyed the extra text pages at the back of the book as they helped explain the idea behind the book and about global warming. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion of this book.

What’s Inside a Bird’s Nest by Rachel Ignotofsky

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction

Wowza! This is a fantastic resource. Packed with lots of interesting and educational information, this book is a true gem. If you’re looking for specific information or just want to read about birds, this book is one that you should definitely pick up. A reader-friendly treasure, this nonfiction book speaks to the reader, pumping out information about these feathered friends from many different topics including but not limited to: their relationships, habitats, their anatomy, and it even covers all the different names of the feathers on their bodies.

I liked how the book laid out the information on the pages and how they used different fonts within the pages. There is a large selection of realistic birds drawn on the pages (with the bird’s name written beside it) and the book has a great flow to it. What might you learn:

How important the chalaza is to an egg.

The difference between an altricial and a precocial.

How do birds stay safe and communicate.

What are contour and flight feathers and their purpose.

Migration patterns for 6 different birds – did you know that 40% of birds migrate?

That birds have a special sense within them that helps them navigate.

What you can do to help birds.

I really enjoyed this book and think this is a fantastic book. This is one book that will be read repeatedly as there’s lots of information inside it. 5 stars

Luigi, The Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten by Michelle Knudsen

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Awe, how sweet. What a warm, loving story about a spider and a human. Betty had always wanted a kitten so when she came across the very unusual-looking kitten in her living room she was very happy to welcome him into her home. Naming him Luigi, she immediately set about making him comfortable, starting with a nice breakfast. Meanwhile, the hairy, eight-legged spider knows the truth, he’s not a kitten. Betty does such an amazing job caring for Luigi that he starts enjoying his new life and he decides that he’s going to pretend that he’s a kitten.

He likes the meals that Betty makes, the bed that she created for him, and he likes playing and hanging out with her. Life with Betty is good.

Had Betty lived a secluded life, this charade could have continued but Betty has company come over to the house. Excited to share Luigi with her friends, you can imagine the reaction from her friends.

What a cute story as Betty adopts the spider into her life. The love and care that she gives him, and his response is sweet. I loved how he accepted all the changes and enjoyed them so much that he wanted to adopt them. When the other humans made an appearance, Luigi became nervous as he was worried how this would change his life and it did, but as the ending of the book shows, sometimes things work out for everyone. 5 stars

One Little Leaf by Molly Littleboy

5 stars Children’s Board Book – Nonfiction

There’s lots to explore and learn in this book for children and adults. Each two-page spread carries a theme from leaves to senses, to seeds and lots more. The pages are packed with information relating to those individual themes but also on these pages are many tabs on cutout items, that are to be lifted which contain more information to read.

On the Magic of Leaves pages, there are 15 different leaves featured from cedar, yew, horse chestnut, redwood, elder, oak, aspen and many others. On the fir, sycamore, and linden leaves, there are cut-outs for fingers to hook the cut-outs of these leaves so that you can lift them open to read more about how special leaves are. I liked that most of the two-page spreads have 4 or more tabs to open.

Did you know:

“Just one tree trunk can make 10,000 sheets of paper. Tiny pieces of wood are mixed with water to create pulp, which is pressed through a paper machine. We also use these tiny pieces of wood to make toilet paper.”

“Leaves have skeletons, just like humans!”

“Sap is a sticky liquid that helps carry water and nutrients from the soil to every part of the tree- just like blood does in our bodies.”

Great illustrations make this a great resource. I liked the variety of text fonts used in the book and I enjoyed all the different varieties of species that they included and how they also identified them in the book. The use of color and the attention to detail in the illustrations was wonderful. This is a great book for young children interested in nature and for those who are just learning about it. 5 stars

That Egg is Mine! by Liz Goulet Dubois

4.5 stars Children’s Reader

Whose egg, is it? This beautiful blue egg with white spots could be either Duck’s or Cluck’s because these friends each lay eggs and they both have these beautiful blue markings on them.

Duck and Cluck each give an account of why the egg is theirs but it’s when the egg hatches open, the friends truly find out who really owns the egg. A big surprise for both Duck and Cluck.

It’s a combination of a graphic novel and picture book as some pages are made up of text boxes and others are not. This makes for a great book for a young reader with simple text and large print. The illustrations are colorful, they complement the text, and readers can reference them to tell the story. I liked how Duck trusted Cluck to look at the egg but when Cluck took off carrying the egg, the frantic look on Duck’s face said it all. Later, as the egg cracks open, the faces on the friends as they stare at the new baby are comical and the ending is funny. I think this is a great book on solving problems and listening. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Kids and Liz Goulet Dubois for an arc copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest opinion. 4.5 stars

Walter’s Wonderful Web by Tim Hopgood

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Walter just wants his spider webs to look just like his friends. His webs are always wibbly-wobbly and when the wind blows, they blow away while his friends webs are perfect, and they can withstand any wind condition. It’s not that Walter doesn’t try because boy, does he try! Walter construct web after web, creating this shape and that shape but when the wind blows, they all come tumbling down. Ahhh!

Finally, Walter decides to put all of the shapes that he has created into one huge web creating a masterpiece and it’s amazing! Circles, triangles, rectangles, squares, and diamonds are woven into this beautiful work of art, but will it be strong enough for the wind?

What a fun, entertaining story about a determined spider and how he tries to solve his problem. I enjoyed how he used all the different shapes to construct his webs and how he continued to create the webs until he got the right combination. Walter is a big black spider, and you can see him smiling and his disappointment throughout the book.

In Walter’s final masterpiece, I had my grandson try to find all the different shapes Walter incorporated which was fun. Cute story and educational too. 5 stars

I Love You Like a Pig by Mac Brown

2 stars Children’s Picture Book

Really? I enjoy Mac Barnett books, I really do but this one, I don’t know what I just read. It’s supposed to be about “mapcap ways we love one another” but “I’m lucky like a window,” and “You’re funny like a fossil,” just didn’t convey crazy ways that people love one another to me. As I looked at the illustrations, they helped tell the story, but the examples used in this book weren’t wacky ideas that I believe that kids would love and appreciate. I’m not a fan of this book. 2 stars

Dogtown by Katherine Applegate

4.5 stars Children’s Chapter/Middle School

Welcome to Dogtown, a shelter for all abandoned dogs. Whether you are a four-legged fluffy fur ball, a three-legged survivor, or a robot dog, this was the place for you. Chance really should have been at home with his owners but unfortunately, he finds himself at Dogtown. As Chance tells us about his touching journey from a loving home to living inside a cage at Dogtown, you can feel his emotions and confusion. I felt a fire within Chance that I hoped he would use to help himself, as much as he was using it to help the others that were around him. He definitely deserved it.

Metal Head was a unique robot dog at Dogtown. Metal Head looked different than other robot dogs and I liked that about him. I was hoping that by being different it would work to his advantage and not work against him. In a place like Dogtown, everyone is eyeing for the same prize. Metal Head had the perfect home until one day his owner didn’t think he was perfect anymore.

All dogs have dreams of finding a forever home, even robot dogs. And so it is….Metal Head was chosen. Was it because he was a robot dog? A unique robot dog? Was it because he was located in the basement? Or did it have something to do with the book, Green Eggs and Ham that brought Metal Head and Quinn together. A withdrawn child, Quinn grabs the book out of the basket, trots down the basement steps, sits beside Metal Head and the two of them enjoy the book together, day-after-day-after-day. This could have been it! This match might have been destiny but then, one day, it all ended.

With determination, a group of friends search for their happily-ever-after for they know that it’s out there somewhere. This is a cute, entertaining adventure that will have you smiling and grabbing the tissues. With short chapters, the story moves quickly with simple illustrations that complement the text. I can’t wait for more adventures at Dogtown. 4.5 stars

“After the seventh time though. Metal Head began slowing down. Management had forgotten to charge him. He was saying the words slower and slower and s.l.o.w.e.r.”

“I wasn’t just a lame dog to them now. I was a dog who could read and had a mouse as a friend. A book and a friend…..what could be better than that?”

Coyote Queen by Jessica Vitalis

5 stars Middle School/ YA Fiction

There’s something about these stories that draws me in repeatedly. Fud and his mother lived with Larry in his trailer. Fud doesn’t know much about her father except that he returned to Spain after learning her mother was pregnant with Fud. Mom thought their life would be better with Larry and I guess if living with fear and anxiety is better, then she is right.

See, mom tries to be the perfect woman for Larry, but nothing makes him happy. He’s demanding, he likes to yell, and he likes his drink. Fud tries to block out the yelling but sometimes it gets to be so loud. Fud is worried about their future with Larry, but her mother doesn’t see it that way. Larry has been physical with her mother, yet Fud doesn’t understand why her mother keeps hanging onto Larry, doesn’t she see the danger that lies up ahead? Larry was a boxing champion and he’s a big talker about his days in the ring. He’s determined that he’s headed back into the ring. Those dreams are suddenly taken away and Larry pulls a massive, defeated boat into the yard.

Larry new plans are to rehaul this shipwreck. He plans to create a new houseboat for his new family and set sail. Warning lights immediately go off inside Fud! This cannot be happening! Out on a boat, in the open waters, alone with mom and Larry, this sounds like a horrible situation! Can’t mom see this? Fud starts to calculate how long it will take Larry to overhaul this boat and what she can do to prevent them from boarding it.

Meanwhile, new neighbors move in, and Leigh seems like a nice girl which is too bad. Fud knows that Ava will add her to her posse the minute she walks into the school. It’s a shame too as Fud needs a friend. It’s surprising how much Fud and Leigh have in common and how well they get along, considering Ava influence on Leigh. Leigh ends up being the branch that Fud needs when she mentions a pageant with a cash payout as the prize. If Fud could only win that pageant, it just might be their ticket to freedom. Their ticket away from Larry.

I enjoyed how realistic this book felt and how quickly the story moved along. Great relationships and the dramatics between the characters created powerful connections with the characters that made me feel like I was part of the story. Leigh was a neutral character when she arrived, and I liked how she tried to fit in. Leigh saw individuals for who they were, even though others were trying to influence her. Fud wanted/needed a friend yet when she found Leigh, she was reluctant to really embrace her. I feared the day that Larry would finish his boat and what that would entail and as Leigh and Fud’s pageant day crept closer, these days seemed to be on a collision course. There were a lot of factors playing into Fud’s future and as the pages of this book started to dwindle, I just didn’t expect this book to end the way that it did. Such a powerful story about status, acceptance, family, friendship, poverty, and abuse. 5 stars

“To Leigh, this was plain old hair cream. To me, it was friendship in a bottle.”

My Dog and I by Luca Tortolini

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

I really liked this book. One of my grandsons thought this book was funny and the other one didn’t quite understand the humor of it. They’re both 4 years old. From the title, you think that you’ll be reading a story about a dog, and you will be, but the illustrations are of a brown bear. A big brown bear! The little girl calls it a dog and there’s no explanation why she thinks this bear is actually a dog so as a reader, you figure it out.

She’s always wanted a dog. One day while out at the park, she sees something over by the trees and decides that the scared and lost animal should go home with her. She has finally found the dog that she has always wanted! She immediately commits to taking care of it. I love how she does everything that she can to show her love to her dog. She builds him a house, feeds him, plays with him, and she even makes sure that he’s not someone else’s dog. Wait? How can he be someone else’s dog when her dog is actually a big brown bear!

Yes, I kid you not! She’s excited that she finally found a dog but it’s not a dog at all. This “dog” is a huge bear that she rides on and is almost twice the size she is. As she walks him and takes him throughout the town, people gasp and stare at them. I had to wonder if anyone was going to mention to her that he was a bear but nope, nothing was said.

She loves her new “dog” and she seems very happy until the day that he disappears. She’s overcome with sadness now but her “dog” never came back.

Again, she returns to the park to play, and she hears something in the shrub. Could it be? Holy moly! She finds another scared and lost animal. This time, it’s not a dog but she loves it just the same. So sweet and funny! The illustrations are bright, and the text is easy. I highly recommend you pick this one up! 5+ stars from me