A Voice for the Spirit Bears is a gorgeous children’s book about courage and persistence, looking at the life of David Simon Jackson. As a young boy, Simon stuttered. He preferred to keep to himself, and not talk around others. Classmates would bully him over it. So Simon ended up reading a lot, and his […]
Noah Gets Naked by Xanna Eve Chown Noah Gets Naked by Xanna Eve Chown is a very short collection calling attention to some of the more unusual myths of the Old Testament not usually talked about. Most of these stories were familiar to me. Still funny, though. Most amusing was the notion that the only […]
The Water Tower Club follows Darryl Coombs back to Grotin, the town of his childhood, and a past he’d hope to erase from memory. His younger sister Libby has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder. With Libby not talking, Darryl has to play amature private detective. His searches dredge up all his miserable […]
Physical Sciences: Light by Mary Lindeen Light is part of the Physical Sciences series for young readers by Mary Lindeen. Children learn about light, and the ways it is formed, as well as different types of light. Light can be used for many things too. As a way of helping us see, and helping animals […]
This is a Whoopsie! by Andrew Cangelose, illustrated by Josh Shipley This is a Whoopsie! by Andrew Cangelose/illustrated by Josh Shipley follows Whoopsie and Bird, who are going to tell us all about moose. But Whoopsie is a clumsy moose and keeps falling down. It’s the one thing Whoopsie is really good at. She suggests […]
The Blissful Land: Vol 1 by Ichimon Izumi is a lovely tale about a young Tibetan doctor. Khang Zhipa is following in his father’s footsteps, learning to be a healer. His is a sensitive soul, and he hates seeing people in pain. One day, Khang Zhipa gets the surprise of his life, when his betrothed […]
War of Storms by Erica Cameron is book three of the Ryogan Chronicles, and sees an end to the war with Varan and his fellow bobasu. Khya, still growing in strength from the susuji, is determined to draw Varan and the former Mireseh out, that they might pay justice for the lies they have told, […]
Jaclyn and the Beanstalk by Mary Ting turned the tale of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ on its head. Jaclyn lives with her mum and dad on their isolated farm. She knows how to wield a sword, thanks to her father. When he, and several companions, set out to take care of some monsters terrorising the […]
1000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich 1000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich is a delightful compendium of important works through history. This volume is arranged alphabetically by author. There are some exceptions to this, such as religious texts, and those works for which we don’t know the […]
Emotional Explorers by Maria Mercé Conangla & Jaume Soler Emotional Explorers by Maria Mercé Conangla & Jaume Soler works to help children learn to become attuned to their emotions, and to work with them in beneficial ways. They introduce the ideas of being an ’emotional explorer’ and of ’emotional ecology’. There are five chapters, each […]