Whew!
This post is coming late!
I had all intentions of getting up early in the morning and doing it,
but, let’s be honest.
I have never been that kind of person.
Though I always think I will be.
I’ve tried to be that way for so many years…
I can remember doing it with homework in elementary school!
ANYWAY, this was a better reading week.
17 books.
Singe Singe wanted pictures again, so here you go,
with the bulk of the review from goodreads.
(minus the Haiku Review. You’ll have to go there for that!)
Bake Sale by Sara Varon:
This book is really cute.
First, I love that a cupcake and an eggplant are best friends.
Also, it’s a good little primer about where to sell stuff if you do have a bake sale!
(Cupcake is a good marketer!)
The recipes are fun too and it’s a good tale of friendship.
I like that Eggplant and Cupcake are, well, to me, grown-ups, but still so cute.
Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks:
I thought this graphic novel was perfect for young adults.
The story is pretty simple but also pretty complex at the same time.
It’s basically about relationships between friends, ex-friends, brothers, sisters, the like.
I liked the illustration style too.
Very cool read.
Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit by Jarrett J. Krosoczka:
Ok, we all know I love Lunch Lady.
But did you know I also love bake sales?
I always made cupcakes for them, even when I was little.
I once made calculator buttons on cupcakes for a French project.
ANYWAY
This book is great.
I really appreciate how the end leads into the next one a little bit, a little teaser if you will…that’s cool!
Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle by Christopher Ford:
I thought this graphic novel was really cool!
I know the Odyssey, so this story is so funny knowing what it’s a parody of!
I laughed out lout many many times. The characters are so great too!
It’s amazing what can be done just with stick people.
I liked the perspective and backgrounds in the illustrations too.
That being said, sometimes I wished it wasn’t just stick figures!
Or maybe I wanted a bit of color too, not just black and white.
Either way, it was a really fun read and can’t wait to read the next one!
Explorer: The Mystery Boxes:
I thought this was really fun.
I liked how the theme of a magic box was carried out by different artists.
A fun read.
Something like Normal by Trish Doller:
Wow.
What a good book.
A realistic look at life after being in war, and how home feels after that.
About friends and second chances and family relationships…about everything.
This book felt like such a slice of life story, and really made me wonder: how many similar stories are out there in the world? So many soldiers returning home must be working through the same things.
I liked Travis. I liked the romance with Harper.
And I liked that it was a short window into his life.
It was brief but it was enough to take away what we needed.
I read this one straight through.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews:
I really liked that Greg was an honest character. He tried to do what was right by him, and always be honest, and he wasn’t sure what he wanted sometimes, but HE IS A TEENAGER! So that explains it.
I had friends like Greg and Earl.
I don’t now, but they were fun when I had them!
And I like how this feels like it could have really happened…no fairy tale ending.
I like the twist at the end of why he is writing the book to begin with.
It was funny too.
Sometimes awkward funny.
Sometimes dumb funny.
But always funny funny.
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to NOT reading by Tommy Greenwald:
Really funny, really realistic, really awesome!
I dare anyone to not like this book.
Seriously.
I dare you.
Charlie Joe is such a good character.
I identified with him immediately because he has a double first name (or at least goes by his first and middle name…)
As a double named wonder, I liked that.
And I really like how his stance on reading only changes very little. (I’m thinking the pitching moment..)
and that he sticks to his guns. He’s gonna try to get out of reading no matter what.
The illustrations are great.
Can’t wait to read the next one!
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein:
Wow.
What a great book.
The story is written so well, and draws you right in.
The friendship is true, heartbreaking, and it feels like we’ve all had friends like these two are friends.
Just read it.
That’s all I can say.
Lady Hahn and her Seven Friends by Yumi Heo:
What a good introduction to sewing.
Any time household objects are given a voice, I’m in!
The illustrations are very clever too; not straying too far from the actual appearance of the tool but giving it a life too!
Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold by Deloris Jordan and Barry Root:
I liked this book, really, I did.
I thought it showed how Michael followed his dream,
but, somehow, I just didn’t get sucked in.
I didn’t feel close to it in the way that I wanted to.
It was still a good story, but I felt a little removed. I don’t know why.
The illustrations are awesome and I like how it shows a CHILD gearing up for a dream. I think it’s very important to let children know that they can work up to their dream.
SkippyJon Jones Cirque de Ole by Judy Schachner:
Skippito flying through the air!
What is there not to love!
I really loved how we got to hear a little more from the three little kitties in in this one too (his sisters!)
Crafty Chloe by Kelly DiPucchio and Heather Ross:
I thought this book was super sweet.
As a girl like Crafty Chloe when I was younger, I had to appreciate it!
I like how it felt like a long story and a short story at the same time.
The pacing was great and the illustrations are really fun.
Great story!
Little White Duck: A childhood in China by Na Liu and Andreas Vera Martinez:
I very much enjoyed all the separate stories
and how they wove into the big one of the author’s childhood.
I think, as children, we have these memories,
these small stories that somehow build up a childhood.
And, in this case, it’s an interesting view of China, because, as the author says,
that China doesn’t really exist anymore.
The illustrations are amazing and I love the texture…
I want to touch each page that’s how real they feel.
Penny and her Doll by Kevin Henkes:
Kevin Henkes always illustrates everything so wonderfully that this could just be a wordless book and I’d be happy.
But the story is what makes it so sweet.
It feels like an accomplishment when you finish the book, too.
There’s multiple small chapters, easy to read sentences, and the subject of finding the perfect name for a doll is right on with children.
Can’t wait to read up on some more of Penny’s adventures!
Jimmy the Greatest! by Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng:
I really liked this book.
It shows another culture: how they live, how they are different from “the mainland.”
It shows a boy who is following his dream and researching about it and working very hard.
And it shows that, sometimes, it’s best to cultivate that dream at home.
The illustrations are fun and funky too.
And he loves libraries 🙂
And the last one, my favorite! Eric, I remember you asking about this one on facebook… It’s pure awesome, you have to check it out!!
1-2-3 peas by Keith Baker:
What a fun way to count!
The illustrations of the numbers are really textured, and it’s fun to count the peas in each of the illustrations and see what they’re doing.
The 100 page is AWESOME…there are 100 peas and they are each holding up a flag with a number, making them easier to count, because, you KNOW you want to count all 100 of them!
This book and LMNOPeas would be the best baby shower gift ever!
Whew!
Like I said, a good week for books!
Doin’ good so far, but I don’t like to see my lead slipping! I like being ahead!
This weekend should be fun!
My outdoor laser tag brother and I are going to do THE TOUGH MUDDER!
That 11 mile obstacle course race.
We’re headin’ down to San Diego for it.
I think Singe Singe is going to run it with me!
We’ll see how that turns out 🙂
We’re riding back on the way home…a six hour or so ride.
I’m thinking about bringing a book and reading it aloud to him.
We’ll see how that turns out too 🙂
What are you all reading?
I’m hoping for a more picture book week this upcoming week!
Enthusiastically yours,
KE and SS
I went to the library this week and 1-2-3 PEAS was still checked out! I might have to put a hold on it. Keith Baker’s birthday is next month – St. Patty’s Day. We celebrated a couple of years ago with LMNO Peas. It sounds like this book would be awesome to read this year!
Good luck with the TOUGH MUDDER! Take some pics!