Tag: children’s

Book Review

Moon Reads: Monster Movie!

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Monster Movie! by Chuck Wendig

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

This was a bargain book found in Forbidden Planet that my partner suggested and added to my pile of books to buy, a gamble trusting that I would enjoy it.

Ethan is afraid of a lot of things, almost everything except certain constants in his life. Mostly what he likes is being able to be in control of the variables and to have predictability, and he doesn't like complex emotions, the more stable and predictable and not scary, the better. 

And thankfully he has two best friends who complement him and don't mind that is scared of so much, and that usually accommodate for him. But when the entire class gets invited to watch an apparently rare almost impossible to find horror movie at the house of the most popular boy int he school, his friends insist he should join them. But "scariest movie ever" does not  sound at all like something Ethan will enjoy, but he debates this over and over, and while he debates this, the movie turns out to be a monster and Ethan is the lucky one to escape amongst his classmates who were watching it. 

At first he only wants to escape and forget it, but as the monster starts wreaking havoc in his little town, Ethan realises he may be the only one who can stop it and get his friends back. 

Now this was pure chaos and havoc, and craziness. Ethan has a lot to confront and a lot to decide as monsters coming out of a scary movie and stealing everyone's heads is not the ideal scenario for him to shine. But he really cares about his friends and he wants to fit in a little bit better. But as he tries to find a way to stay alive and not fall victim to the monster and also a way to try to recover his friends, he realises everyone can be scared of things, and that doing it scared is possible, even if it is scary. 

For me this was a funny read, and I liked how Ethan solves and saves the day on it, it was a nice twist that fit into who he is and also helped him grow into himself, and gave him a little bit more courage to be himself, even if it doesn't automatically make him brave and courageous (which I actually liked, he is still Ethan at the end of the book, and still scared, but maybe less things scare him now). 

One other thing it covers is that we all have value, and passion and our projects, and that if we like something we don't have to give it up to fit in, and maybe that thing might be a strength, even if some people may not see it that way. It was an good framing of how things aren't always perfect or how times change and also that at the end of the day we all want to succeed, are afraid to fail and that anxiety is a painful companion that sometimes has to take the back seat and let us exist.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star

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Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star by Laura Noakes. Illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino.

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

I knew Laura was writing a book for a while and that the main character would have EDS, which in between having been in an instagram pod with her for a long time and also having EDS myself, this was a necessary purchase and read. 

I read it a while ago, I am just a mood reviewer and this is my blog, so I more or less come and write my reviews when I finally feel like it, and apparently today is one of those days when I feel like writing about myself while I review a book. 

Cosima can only remember the Home for Unfortunate Girls (therefore why she is called Unfortunate), all she knows is she was dropped up as a baby, and that who her parents are/were seems a bit of a secret. The Home for Unfortunate Girls is a school/orphanage for children who are disabled or deemed different, and it is more or less obligatory that if your child falls under this category, then they gotta be here. 

But for Cosima, this is home, even if it doesn't treat them amazingly well and there's always some weird schemes going on between the Home's manager/matron and the benefactors, that involve the children working a bit too hard. Luckily, Cosima has made good friends here (Pearl, Mary and Diya) and what they enjoy a lot (particularly Cosima) is running mini heists where they obtain cakes, biscuits and other sweet goods for the themselves and to share with the rest of the children. 

Now, Cosima is here because she has EDS, and her knee dislocates often alongside her joints giving her trouble, so she uses various walking assistance to move as needed dependent on how she's feeling that day. This was a nice thing to see throughout the whole book as her disability is ever present (and as much as it is part of the plot, it is not the main plot nor does it work as plot tool exclusively) and therefore it shows how it displays in a dynamic way. 

As someone with EDS, it was just nice to read a book that was pretty mcuh my experiences. As a kid, playing games that involved "pulling" could cause dislocations easily (to the point my parents and myself became experts and pushing my elbow or shoulder back) so I had to be mindful of what I did. I have always adapted to it and didn't know how dynamic it really was becuase in my family this was all considered relatively normal. EDS is a hereditary condition, so it wasn't anything "new" or any different quirks to the ones the whole family had. It was actually really amusing when I got my formal diagnosis and then suddenly almost every single family member started questioning their quirks and reframing them into this context and suddenly the diagnosis made even more sense "what do you mean x is a symptom? I've always been able to do that and also this 15 other things that fit the criteria and that as a family we thought were totally normal". Great conversation to ahve. 

Anyway, I have gone off topic, but the above does have something to do with Cosima's heist, and the fact she desperately wants to find out who her parents are/were as she holds hope that her father is still alive. So when she finds out that Lord Francis Fitzroy wants to adopt them, she plots the biggest heist ever as she is not convinced about this and wants some truth and the money to bu their freedom. 

During her heist which was fun and amusing to read, and very clever and creative, Cosima inches closer and closer to finding the truth about her family and maybe understanding her condition better. 

Honestly if you have EDS or a similar disability, this is a must read with good representation and own voices, but even if you do not, it is a wonderful read, funny and quirky and just very sweet, and it depicts dynamic disabilities really well.
Book Review

Moon Reads: Mort the Meek and the Raven’s Revenge

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Mort the Meek and the Ravens’ Revenge

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection. 

Mort lives in Brutalia, where violence is the norm everywhere. People just love brawls and getting into fights and scrambles as part of their normal life, well, everyone except Mort. He would like to live his life peacefully, or as close as he can, which makes him seem meek and weak to the rest of the people in Brutalia. 

The problem happens when his uncle who is the lead executioner for the executions (a past time of the King and Queen) dies and therefore Mort inherits his position. To make it even more complicated, his first execution is to be his best friend. So Mort has a full week to try to find a way out of violence and to save his friend, while at the same time trying to ensure his peaceful ways. 

The overall artwork and illustrations are really funny, and the ravens add a bit of a conversation at the start of the chapters, which was fun even if they are ravenous ravens. We also have the author play a lot with the fourth wall and break it or playful try to pull the readers further into this world and what Mort is experiencing. 

I do have to highlight that one thing that made this lose part of its rating and be so low and it is that it does the whole "the villains are evil... and fat" which wasn't necessary at all. They were evil enough without having to comment on their body or make them be fat as if that was part of what added to them villainous. 

The rest of it was actually fun, with lots of clever and creative ways to change the viewpoints of violence into something different and finding ways to bend the rules and somehow still be as peaceful as he can.

The main thing I remember about it is that it was fun to read, quite an easy quick read and the art made it even better, so it's still a nice little book and while I was looking it up for this post, I realised there's a few sequels, so I am gonna go see if I can get a hold of them and add a review for them too in the future (not like I don't have a long list of books to read, but maybe the library might have them?)
Book Review

Moon Reads: Glam & Beardy Volume I

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The Very Serious Diary of Glam & Beardy Volume I by Ruby Clyde & Rachel WD. Illustrated by Vincent Batignole.

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

I love good middle grade series. Some of my favourite have been Diary of an Accidental Witch, The Boy Who Grew Dragons or Tales of the Chocolate Heart. So when Little Tiger had this up for review and request, I had to try it to fill my middle grade craving for a good series.

Glam & Beardy do not disappoint at all.

We start by getting to know Glam who is the last child of the Glamour family and is hoping to get the most glamorous familiar, since all kids get one around her age, except her. Hers just doesn’t seem to come at all. We get to know her family and that the kingdom has several “families” with different skills, like glamour or wisdom or strength.

It is also not common but not a bad thing if your familiar is from a different family (like Glam’s mum, who was born into Wisdom but has a glam familiar). Glam gets sad that she can’t find a familiar, and she’s not very glamorous, until she does meet her familiar Beardy, who is definitely a not glamorous familiar, but even worse, they’re not a defined skills from the kingdom, so Glam is convinced she has the wrong familiar.

This leads to an adventure to try to find a way to find the right familiar for Glam and the right kid for Beardy.

One of the things I really liked was that Glam’s family isn’t absent, on the contrary they are there for her even if she doesn’t always believe it or actually feel like it. I love stories where the parents/family are supportive and part of the story and not just absent or there for plot points.

There was also a lot about friendship, belonging and about skills, and the nice thing is that Glam is very much interested in history and anthropology rather than glamour, but still tries to be as glamorous as she can.

It was super cute to read, the illustrations are spot on and really fun, and there’s a lot f the world and story yet to find out, so I am very curious for the next volume. If you enjoyed any of the series I mentioned above, this is a must read for sure!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Rune The Tale of a Thousand Faces

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Rune: The Tale of a Thousand Faces by Carlos Sánchez

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Last year I saw this book in the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize selection and decided to read it since it looked interesting.

The first thing I will say is that it has deaf representation and the “made up language” is based on sign language, which was suer interesting to have in a graphic novel and I enjoyed this.

Our story follows Chiri and her best friend Dai, they both live in an orphanage next to a deep dark forest. While they scavenge for ingredinets for Chiri to make a new culinary experiment, they get plunged into a secret kingdom called Puddin’. This kingdom is suffering under the Thousand Faces Monster, from which Chiri and Dai will try to help the kingdom and defeat the monster.

As all graphic novel’s for kids in a magicla secret kingdom, this one follows a series of small quests and puts our friends to the test, and we get to meet some allies to help. And the artwork for it was delightful, alongisde the fact that the secret kingdom has a lot of focus on food and magic, which is perfect for Chiri and Dai, even if Dai is not as brave as Chiri. But it is a cute read and I can understand why this was selected as a nominee for the prize. It was a delight to read and it was quite fun.

Book Review

Moon Reads – The Bakery Dragon

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The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Apparently we are on a theme of reviews being quite cosy. I think partly this is because the world is being a little bit too much and we need reassurance, a safety blanket and cosy books are perfect for this.

The Bakery Dragon was actually initially an illustration Devin Elle made and then this inspired her to write a little book story about a dragon who longs for a different kind of treasure.

I think the overall story is super cute with our little dragon, Ember, finding that a hoard of gold and treasure isn’t really motivating and then while wandering around the town they see a little bakery window and find it so enticing. I honestly fully understand the dragon, I find the bakery windows and looking at bread and pastries super tasty and exciting and I just always end up wanting to go in and buy something and taste it (specially if you add the nice smell of the bread, yum!).

Anyway, bread turns out to be the perfect hoard and treasure for Ember, who is curious and wants to learn how bread is made. The baker then shows Ember how to make bread and Ember learns that sharing bread and making bread and having others enjoy it is very rewarding and a treasure in itself.

I am a fan of Devin Elle’s artwork so it is not a surprise that I loved a book about a little dragon that loves bread and that expands on her illustration work and dedicates itself to bread and cute little dragons. This book is like a bread version of The Tea Dragon Society hitting all the stops in cuteness, food appreciation and dragons.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Firelight Apprentice

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The Firelight Apprentice by Bree Paulsen

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

The Firelight Apprentice follows sisters Ada and Safi in a city that is powered by magic and recovering from a devastating war. Ada is the responsible sister making sure things work out and they are alive, but she can see Safi is developing powers of magic and knows that her sister could benefit from becoming an apprentice to a magician, but she also wants to keep her sister safe and near.

Still she decides to let her sister join a group a travelling magicians who offer to take her on as an apprentice as they see hSafi’s powers and what could be. Safi of course id delighted to be learning and developing her magic, but there are still forces of darkness lurking, particularly a lich that is power hungry and ready to steal it from those that have magic.

I’ve loved Bree’s other books and so had preordered this one, not sure why it took me forever to actually upload the review, but it was a good read. It wasn’t the same as the Garlic series, but it still had these interesting conflict of growth and what happens as you grow and who becomes your friends and allies, and how to make that work for you being yourself.

The magical world was super interesting as was the magic that exists, I feel a little like it is the same world where Garlic and the Vampire happen but maybe a different much civilised area since this is a city. Still, it was a nice addition to the collection and a good read.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Narwhal’s Sweet Tooth

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Narwhal’s Sweet Tooth by Ben Clanton

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Every time I see there’s a new Narhwal and Jelly book I am very happy for it.

The series is very funny and cute and perfect for little ones. The artwork feels a bit like drawn with a crayon and it is so fun. Narwhal is always so peppy even when bad things happen.

In this one, Narwhal’s “horn” which is actually a tooth starts seeing the effects of having too many sweet things and ahs a crack, which hurts Narwhal, and so JElly and Narwhal go around trying to figure out how to fix it and cheer Narwhal up.

As always, sheaningans, waffles and lots of fun happen and this was very cute, with some interesting facts about Narwhal horns/tooth.

I just want to know what happens next, because Jelly seems to have softened a lot now that they’re good friends with Narwhal.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Diary of an Acidental Witch – Magic Ever After

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Diary of an Acidental Witch – Magic Ever After

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

For some chaotic reason (I think health and house move) I had not posted my review for this entry into one of my favourite middle grade series!

Diary of an Accidental Witch follows Bea who moves into a new village with her dad who studies the weather, and the weather here is all funky, but it may have to do with the magical school nearby rather than just natural phenomenon.

Bea ends up going to witch school and turns out she is a witch, so we follow her shenanigans through a series of books (I have reviewed all of them and I love them so much!). Magic Ever After is what looks to be the last of the series. This is the one bad thing of this book, that it is the last so far and I am heartbroken!

Bea’s ready for magical plans over the school holidays and then she realises her dad is obsessed with trying to do magic, and Taffy is being too serious and thinking hard. So Bea is here to help her Dad and Taffy with their not so secret wedding. She then has extra secrets to keep, magic to teach, and a party to plan full of magic, chaos happens, but also, it is a very sweet book.

I enjoyed the relationships showing up and the friendship and everyone pulling up to help make this memorable, including Bea still panicking about things and her dad’s chaos happening, but in the end the wedding is so cute and very much in line with the chaos of the family.

Very cute, a nice “ending” for the series and with lots of potential for picking back up if they ever do!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Mission Impossib-hole

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Agent Harrier: Mission Impossib-hole by Ben Sanders

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

I am absolutely loving Agent Harrier (you should read my review of the previous one: You Only Spy Twice). And in case this wasn’t clear this was a requested book from the list the publisher sends (I love Little Tiger Books, they are awesome!), which they kindly sent me, and I love their books, here is my review.

Agent Harrier is a chaotic secret agent who somehow is very good and bad at his job and yet he always saves the day. The art is hilarious and breaks the fourth wall in funny ways and makes terrific use of the full page spread to play with the story and add to it. This is part of what makes the series so good, the art is spot on to the story.

There seems to be a lot fo holes going on in this third book, and not just any kind of holes, but PLOT holes, which are not helping the story go too well! They keep transferring Agent Harrier through various stories and realms to try to find the culprit behind all the holes that are interrupting this mission.

As always, it made me laugh and giggle and I felt it was too short but thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend you read all three books if you haven’t yet!