Tag: cute

Book Review

Moon Reads: Fox & Rabbit

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Fox & Rabbit and Fox & Rabbit Make Believe by Beth Ferry and Gergely Dudas

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

Series: Fox & Rabbit, first two volumes

Read before: No

Ownership: Found the first in Forbidden Planet, could not resist, read it ordered the second one and third.

This was an impulse buy because it had a fox and a rabbit on the cover and they are the main characters, plus they are relatively small books and easy to read. What can I say? In the same line of comics like Jelly & Narwhal, we have Fox and Rabbit who are best friends and have adventures together.

The very first one has a few episodes of stories of them having adventures and it also introduces us to other friends like the robin who is always thinking about food. I really loved the robin. Or the turtle that is always late and asking what they have missed. But overall the adventures are wholesome and sweet, and they just were a nice pause and lovely to read.

The second book picks up a little after the first and is all about using your imagination and having adventures in a variety of ways which was adorable, a bit more “fast” paced than the first book but still good.

As much as they are simple books and easy to read, they are good at touching on confidence, friendship and how to navigate certain situations, so it was lovely to read, plus I accidentally shared this with my best friend and there was a chapter that was perfect for our friendship so it felt particularly fated to be a good book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Yuzu the Pet Vet (Vol 1 & 2)

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Yuzu the Pet Vet Volumes 1 and 2 by Mingo Ito

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

Read before: No

Series: Yuzu the Pet Vet

Ownership: Bought it on a shopping trip to London because they looked cute.

Yuzu the Pet Vet starts quite slow, with Yuzu having to move to live with her uncle since her mum is sick and in hospital, but her uncle is a vet and she has to help a little with the animals. But the catch si that she is afraid of animals. However, as you read, the little adventures mean that Yuzu starts paying more attention to the animals and gains confidence.

Each volume was a bunch of short stories, each focused on a visitor to the vet and how Yuzu helps, but it also overall includes more plot like her adapting to her new life, a new school, and dealing with her feelings of how to cope with having her mum being sick in the hospital and not being able to see her much, or feeling it is difficult to see her and not wanting to. They also encourage taking good care of animals and loving your pets, alongside learning from each interaction between the owners of the specific pet and the pet, and it is very cute.

The art style is adorable and the animals are always very cute, and the stories are soft and very child-friendly while at the same time dealing with hard topics at times like illness, death and other challenges but also fear and nicer things like making friends or gaining confidence.

Overall, a nice manga to read with children or to give to children to enjoy on their own. Very soft and lovely, but may cause people to want a pet and to want to be involved more with animals.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Payback’s a Witch

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Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought for myself

This book was slightly outside of my usual reads, but it sounded like a good change from those usual reads. And I am glad I did.

In Payback’s a Witch you meet Emmy who is on her way back to her home town where magic is real and she is about to venture into her past. She is convinced she left Thistle Grove for good and she has a great life where she is, but the pull of magic and the memories will do a number on her. And it is not only that but the chance to gain revenge on Gareth Blackmoore, the heir to the most powerful magical family in town.

She pairs up with her best friend Linden, and also with Talia, both also heirs to the other magical families, and when they realise they all want to get that sweet revenge, chaos turns interesting.

The book overall was really sassy and with awesome witchy vibes. It leans heavily on cliches, and preconceptions of magic types, but then it turns them don’t their head at times or adds an interesting spin on it to make it its own thing and it was so nice to read. It felt a little like one does when you read a cosy murder mystery, even if there was no murder or mystery in this book particularly. And there is some romance happening here and there, alongside a lot of self-discovery and loads of revenge and payback.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and then even had to share it with friends because it left a good fluffy feel and the revenge and payback vibes were awesome, alongside some of the discoveries in the story. If you like witchy vibes, friendship, romance, and a fun adventure of a contest happening in the background, then this is the book for you.

Subscription Boxes

Moon Hauls: Magical Level-Up! Yume Twins

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Subscription box: YumeTwins

Theme/Month: Magical Level-Up!, November 2021

Ownership: One off purchase since I really enjoy the contents but it becomes too much for me on a monthly basis. I am not as cutesy and cuddly as the box is, so I pick and choose the ones I cannot resist.

Yume Twins is a monthly subscription box focused on the kawaii and cute of life. It is focused on fandoms and makes sure to include a lot of items from a variety of them. They are a favourite and you can see reviews of their boxes from even as far back as 2018 because they are always good quality.

So after the Magical Girl theme tempted me too much and I couldn’t resist it, here are the contents of it:

  • Underneath everything, there is a small blanket from Sakura CardCaptor, it is relatively small but it fits comfortably over a lap or to warm your feet.
  • Sailor Moon set of cards
  • Ghibli stationery set which is cute
  • Tiny round Sanrio figurine, you got a random one from a selection of potential options.
  • Coffin of notes, at first it surprised me and felt odd but I think they are cute and in a nice little tin.
  • A squishable super soft magical cat pillow which I adore

As usual, the cutness of this wins a lot and I am very happy with everything that came in the box. No complaints, so if you’re into cute boxes, this is a lovely one. Shipping is fast, and reliable.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Fire Fox

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The Fire Fox by Alexandra Page and Stef Murphy

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Preordered because it was my kind of book.

Book with foxes? Check! Book with a little bit of grief? Check! Illustrated? Check!

The Fire Fox is a lovely book with soft dreamy artwork that fits the story, and it is a lovely heartwarming, hope inspiring story. The story is about Freya and her mum going to a little cabin in the woods to get away since her dad has passed. This has made the colour leak a little away from their lives. But then Freya meets a magical fox in the snow that she befriends and follows into the forest. The trek around the area and is just beautiful to read, and I recommend it as a good night story, or to talk about grief and hope.

I also really like that it is inspired in the concept of fire foxes that spark the Northern Lights, which is a cute concept and I ended up reading up on that too.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Gustavo The Shy Ghost

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Gustavo The Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago

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

Read Before: No

Ownership: Bought for myself

Happy Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead)! I had to post this today since it fits perfectly with the day and the book. Gustavo is a shy little ghost who loves playing the violin. He is very good at doing all the ghostly things that ghosts do: walking through walls, haunting objects, making objects fly and glowing in the dark.

But he is shy and he finds it very hard to make friends, or queueing to buy “eye” scream (love the pun, honestly), so as the Day of the Dead comes near, he decides to be brave and do something to deal with this.

The artwork is adorable, the little Mexican details all over the place and the illustrations made my heart warm and fond, and it was such a lovely sweet story about being spooky, making friends, and being a little courage. And even though it is not focused on Day of the Dead as the main theme, the spooky topic, the shyness, everything made this little adorable book a winner in my heart, and I loved it.

Absolutely recommend as a lovely spooky season gift, or read out loud book to share with children, it may be good for talking about not just Halloween but other countries and their specific traditions.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Diary of an Accidental Witch

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Diary of an Accidental Witch by Perdita and Honor Cargill. Illustrated by Katie Saunders.

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

Read Before: No

Ownership: Copy gifted by the publisher once it was requested from the newsletter.

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.

We’re into October and I felt like Diary of an Accidental Witch is one of those books that is great for this season.

Bea Black has just moved into Little Spellshire with her very distracted father who is a weather scientist, and there has been a mixup on which school she should be going to! Instead of going to the Academy school, she ends up enrolled at The Spellshire School for Extraordinary Arts, and well, you can definitely say they are extraordinary!

And of course, the whole book is written as Bea’s journal where she records the start of her journaling and her move to this place alongside her new school adventures.

From funny quirky remarks about being alone and having no friends or maybe just the one, to how to navigate odd homework assignments, tripping over brooms, being assigned frog duty and then learning you can actually do spells, or ride a broom [without tripping anymore]. The illustrations on the book make this amazing, and even better than it already is, with the fun adventures making it through the pages, and all that magic showing up in the words, and the adventures.

If you like young witches having adventures, or young ordinary not a magical child at all that may or not actually have magical powers in a cute and fun way, this is the book for you.

Book Review

Moon Reads: 44 Tiny Chefs

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44 Tiny Chefs by Sylvia Bishop and Ashley King

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Copy provided for review upon request by the publisher

Series: 44 tiny…

Disclaimer that even though I got gifted a copy of the book but the publisher, I would’ve still reviewed it because I enjoy the series and it is on my radar all the time.

Look, I’ve been a fan of the tiny pygmy mice and Betsy and her family since the first book, 44 Tiny Secrets, and every time there’s a new one I am just utterly excited to read it. So far we learned about the pygmy mice and that they can play the piano, but then we also learned they can be marvellous acrobats since they were trained by someone that was in the circus, Betsy’s grandma.

44 Tiny Chefs now looks at Betsy’s dad and his new hobby, baking! So when the opportunity to open a bakery presents itself, the family is super happy as they have been filled too much with all the baking that has been trialled and done. And then, some interesting parts happen and they get invited to host a royal gala, but can they actually cook for so many people successfully and not fail for the Queen?

Honestly, the whole book was funny, I could imagine the distress, the confusion and all the over the sweetness of it and of course, I love the family Betsy has and the adventures they get into, and the cute little mice.

I can recommend this if you want cute musical, baking and animal shenanigans, and a family that isn’t absent for most of the book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Tails of Magicat

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Tails of Magicat by magicatchoo

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

Read before: Not as a book.

Ownership: Backed on Kickstarter

Spoiler free review: No

I had read some of Tails of Magicat before on Tapas and when the kickstarter popped up I knew I wanted it. It did take a long time to get it, but the quality of the book is absolutely stunning. The paper is thick and gorgeous, the book is full colour and it is a chonky one. And obviously the art is extremely cute.

It mostly follows the story of a little cat as he learns magic, makes new friends and explores the forest, plus slowly grows up. It is ADORABLE and made me both smile, and laugh and be emotional and the story is varied. For example, he goes hunting and makes frineds with a frog, and then he makes friends with his bullies and things like that.

Magicat lives with his grandma who cooks delicious meals and is the elder in magic to him, so she teaches him too. This means we get illustrated recipes throughout the books. The first one is just for carrots, but as the story goes through it gets more complex and with fancier recipes, including bear claws and a roast. Each of the recipes also features as part of the story so your mouth is already watering by the time you get to read the full recipe and then it even shows variations and ideas to make it more of your own at the end.

Honestly, it was a slow joy to read this one and it cheered me up plus it made me want to cook a lot too. I want to make those bear claws soon. I can highly recommend it, and if you’re interested in a cute black cat learning magic and making friends and taking care of his community, then you can buy it here.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Luna Loves World Book Day

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Luna Loves World Book Day by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers

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

Read before: No

Ownership: Bought myself

Every year I browse the selection of books that will be available for “World Book Day”. The UK celebrates it in March which confuses me but apparently there are reasons for it, and I don’t need to get into an essay about them. Still, I browse books and saw this one which caught my curiosity and bought it.

I ahve to say the artwork is what wins in this book for sure. There are a lot of unicorns and cuteness. Sweet illustrations make Luna feel more alive and her story be what it is, you barely need the words to understand it. Which is why I was a bit meh about the words, the story feels a bit like it was written to fit and therefore wasn’t as well prepared as other books.

Now I have not read other books in this series, so not sure if that is the style of them, but I read enough children’s books to feel one that is a bit odd and just doesn’t capture the attention with the words. That was a shame because the story is about a little girl excited for dressing up but things keep going worng until thankfully she still manages to enjoy the day and love it as much as she can. That is in itself a sweet story and it was beautifully illsutrated.