By Ali Benjamin
Realistic Fiction – Young Adult
My Synopsis
When Susy’s best friend dies, it causes her to undergo a series of grief-induced reactions. She stops talking, hunts for answers, relives all her regrets, deals with loads of guilt, and gets angry at those around her. In her hunt for answers, she becomes oddly obsessed with jellyfish as a possible cause of her friend’s drowning, hence the book title.
a Picture Book By Cathy Camper Illustrated b Kenard Pak (published 2020)
First, let me just note that it’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed a picture book. I read so many, it gets tricky deciding which to review and why. So I’ve come up with a new format and will review if/when I feel like it. I stopped looking for rhyme or reason to which I select for review. My latest haul had loads of winter themed stories so there may be several of those to come. But today we’ll start with this one for no particular reason at all.
SUMMARY:
Lina takes a trip across the city to see her grandmother on a quiet snowy day.
By Amy Wilson
Fantasy – Fairy Tales / Middle-Grade
Well, hello, hello. My first book review in who knows how long? Of course, I’m the only one who noticed I neglected my blog for all of 2021. Blogs, journals, manuscripts, health, housework – yeah, many things got pushed aside last year. No one cares why and I don’t care to share my reasons; let us pretend they were good reasons and leave it at that. Let us also hope I don’t do it again this year. If anyone is reading this, feel free to drop a comment below about the first book you completed in 2022, what your goals are this year, or what your dog’s name is. You can also just read my short little book review; that’s fine as well.
My Synopsis.
Owl is a young girl who finds out her father is Jack Frost. Finding out the truth led to other mysteries and trouble. If she’s not careful with her new powers, she could ruin a lot more than her friendship with her best friend Malory and her mother’s trust.
by Andrea Zuill
Humor – Picture Book
My Synopsis:
Homer the dog gets an invitation to go to Wolf Camp for a week and he absolutely MUST go!
Why I Picked This Book:
I was watching Julie Hedlund‘s mini-lessons that she was offering to 12×12 members. (I highly recommend all of her lessons if you’re new to writing picture books.) She talked about this book briefly while teaching, and I quickly wrote it down knowing it was one I had to own.
What Was Disappointing:
Absolutely nothing. Which is saying a lot since my expectations were pretty high.
Why I Kept Reading:
Ok so maybe this format I use for book reviews doesn’t really fit for Picture Books. But there are picture books that although I finish, it’s only because I know the end is near, not necessarily because I’m intrigued and need to find out what happens. With this book, I was simply enjoying every page, every page turn, every image, and every word.
Take Away:
This book is certainly a great example of humourous Picture Books, but even more. It has fantastic scene changes, great page turns, and super fun illustrations. The reason Julie used it as an example was to discuss character changes and arcs. The goal of wanting to be a wolf and how he feels about being a wolf at the end are just fantastic.
Final Thoughts:
As a dog trainer and groomer some dog stories make me cringe. I don’t see the humor in most dog books because I tend to take things too seriously. I see issues with some dog behavior and worry owners will think it’s acceptable or even cute. I know picture books are harmless but being submerged in dog behavior and how they learn, I cannot help how I feel. This book however is perfection. I won’t dive into my theories of dogs being dogs or the methodology of the team I work with, but I will say this book could almost be an advertisement for one of our programs: Farm Dog. So kudos to Andrea Zuill for making me laugh and smile and fall in love with this book. If I’ve reread it as many times as I have, kids will certainly enjoy this one over and over again.
Post-Script:
I hope Pixie and Rex stay in touch with Homer.
Goodreads Monday is a great way to talk about a book from your TBR list. Originally started by Lauren’s Page Turners, most people do these weekly, (such as Confessions of a YA Reader who partakes in several fun blog themes) I prefer to do mine monthly and this month I chose something a little different from my norm.
It’s been a while since a picture book was in my Goodreads Monday. This recent 2020 release certainly made me chuckle when I saw the title. It went immediately on my TBR list. Here’s the Goodreads blurb:
Ronan the Librarian by sister duo Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie and illustrator Victoria Maderna
INGRID E FABER 