Nina Soni: Sister Fixer

Nina Soni: Sister Fixer (Book 2 in a series) by Kashmira Sheth; Illustrations by Jenn Kocsmiersky 144 pages

Readers are first introduced to Nina, a slightly forgetful nine year old, in “Nina Soni: Former Best Friend.” I was drawn to Nina because she is so organized; she loves to make lists!

In this second adventure, Nina is having problems with her six-year-old sister, Kavita. Kavita is e-m-b-a-r-r-a-s-s-i-n-g-l-y weird. She likes to sing, at the top of her lungs. It doesn’t matter if she knows the words or not; she makes up those that she doesn’t. Plus she makes up songs that are even more annoying…about anything. 

Nina’s plan is to come up with something that will stop Kavita from singing about anything and everything.  However, Nina is distracted by the constant rain and the big pile of dirt in their neighbor’s yard.  

Using STEAM (without knowing it, of course), Nina wants to use the dirt as part of an engineering project. Nina decides to dam up the small puddle and make a lake!

Donning their rain gear, the girls head outside. The rain is pouring through a downspout. What they don’t understand is the dammed water has to go somewhere…and OMG! A disaster is narrowly avoided. 

As in the first book, word pronunciation pull-out boxes are used. These are great to introduce new words to young readers. 

I wasn’t as enthralled with this book as I was the first one. The singing went on way to long, making several pages seem redundant. There didn’t seem to be as much depth as the first book offered. Therefore, “Nina Soni: Sister Fixer” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Royal Rabbits of London: The Hunt for the Golden Carrot

The Royal Rabbits of London: The Hunt for the Golden Carrot (Book 4 in the series) by Santa Montefiore & Simon Sebag Montefiore 230 pages

It’s late summer in London. Deep below Buckingham Palace, our favorite fictional bunny, Shylo Tawny-Tail, is happy with his role as a Royal Rabbit. The Royal Rabbits are a secret group of specially trained rabbits whose mission it is to guard the Royal Family…on the QT of course!

As the story opens, it’s a special day for Shylo. He gets to go his home warren for a visit; he hasn’t been home since the spring!  He is sooooooooo excited! And while he has had many grand adventures, he misses his mom and his siblings. After packing and saying his so longs, Shylo hops aboard the underground Rabbit Rail bound for the English countryside.  

But when he arrives, he quickly realizes that something fishy is going on.  All the other rabbits are mesmerized by a mysterious named Harlequin. Shylo, with his outsider’s perspective, sees that Harlequin has developed a cult-like following. I was reminded of Jim Jones, Charles Manson and others who have convinced followers into blind obedience.

Harlequin is after the Golden Carrot, which, according to ancient legend, will give him complete power of all humans and animals. All Shylo’s siblings and his old friends are digging up the countryside, looking for the valuable artifact. More and more rabbits come to the farm to look for the Golden Carrot.  But when the search turns deadly, Shylo must use all his resources to figure out exactly what Harlequin is trying to do. 

Shylo calls on all his hometown friends and his Royal Rabbit colleagues and even some of bad guys he has recently encountered to help him solve the mystery.  It was fun to see all the characters from the previous three stories. The appearance of these characters may signal the end of the series—it has that feeling.

The Royal Rabbits of London: The Hunt for the Golden Carrot receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Zoey & Sassafras: Bips and Roses

Zoey & Sassafras: Bips and Roses (Book 8 in the series) by Asia Citro; illustrations by Marion Lindsay  96 Pages

My step-granddaughters, especially the five-year-old, love this series about a girl who loves science!  That alone makes my heart sing.

Zoey and her cat, Sassafras, eagerly await the next time the doorbell rings in the barn because that means that a magical creature that lives in the woods behind their home needs help!  Today was their lucky day---the doorbell rang. Well, they hate that there is a problem, but they love to solve problems. When they open the door, there stands Pip, a talking frog whom Zoey’s mother first befriended years and years ago.

Pip tells them that the hippogriff babies are in danger! Magical grasshopper have swarmed through the forest and eaten almost all the roses.  The hippogriff babies need the magical roses. On the roses leaves, bips, or tiny bugs that are as cute as a button, become the hippogriff babies’ first food, which helps them grow their wings.

Pip, Zoey and Sassafras must come up with a way to restore the rosebushes so that the hippogriff doesn’t become extinct.

I was a little disappointed in this book. It didn’t seem to have many experiments at the end of the story as in the previous stories, and the story seemed rushed---not as fleshed out as the previous books. Still, it was filled with magical creatures, science and animals. Therefore, Zoey & Sassafras: Bips and Roses receive 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Gobbledy

Gobbledy by Lis Anna-Langston   232 pages

Okay, fellow readers, “Gobbledy” is the must-read book of the 2020 holiday season (or any holiday season for that matter)!  It has all the magic and wonder that is missing this year.  The tag line really says it all: “Gobbledy is a fun-filled holiday story that adds up to two brothers, three friends, unlimited jars of peanut butter, a ketchup factory, and one little alien far, far from home.”

Things have been out of sorts for the last six months at the Duckworth home. Nothing seems right since Mom died. Dad does his best, but as the Christmas (or Kissmas, as they call it) approaches, there seems to be less merry and bright than ever.

Eleven-year-old Dexter, his best friend and next door neighbor, Fiona (Fi for short) are working on their science projects that are due on the last day of school before Winter Break. As the novel opens, Fi spots something very interesting on the camera that she installed in the forest. When they reach the spot, they find tiny, cream-colored mushroom that sparkle with lights that float above them. They are growing in a circle around a golden, shimmering rock. Dexter reaches for it, but the mushrooms shock him, as if they are standing guard.

While in his backpack, the rock turns into a small creature, the size of a cricket. Only problem is, it keeps growing until reaches the size of a two-year-old.  And it makes the most horrific noises.

The little creature looks like a mash-up of a cat, a rat, and a rabbit. The illustrations are adorable. The first time I saw Gobbledy, I was in in love. He was given the name because he eats everything…everything, but has a penchant for peanut butter.

Dexter, Fi and joined by Dexter’s eight-and-a-half-year-old brother, Dougal, try to figure out what to do with him. In the meantime, they must hide the creature from the boys’ dad.  Gobbledy is obsessed with a Pet Rock and an empty milk bottle and rarely goes anywhere without them, which makes it more difficult to conceal him.

At times hilarious, at times heart-breaking, readers will love this E.T. meets ALF meets the movie, “A Christmas Story.”  

Gobbledy receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Royal Rabbits of London (Books 2 and 3 in the series)

 The Royal Rabbits of London (Book 2 and 3 in the Series) by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag Montefiore  

Book 2: Escape From the Tower    224 pages

Book 3: The Great Diamond Chase    212 pages

Escape From the Tower

When last we saw Shylo Tawny-Tail, a shy country bunny, he had just helped the Royal Rabbits of London save the Queen from a most humiliating experience, devised by the evil Ratzis.  The RRL’s were so grateful and impressed that he was made a member of the secret society, complete with their badge imprinted on his paw.

The Ratzis (the grossest rats that ever lived) have a new scheme in mind. This time they want to embarrass the Royal Family and the President and First Lady of the United States in front of the entire world and ruin the relationship the two countries share!  Ohhhh those nasty creatures! They have uncovered the President’s biggest secret and plan to expose it during a televised State Dinner.

Readers learn more about the Ratzis, especially Papa Ratzi who controls this revolting gang of very large, very stinky two hundred rats. No one has ever seen him and he communicates via hologram texts.  

Can Shylo and the rest of the RRL’s save the two countries, especially the United States, from becoming the world’s laughingstock?  Surely Shylo can…thanks to the RRL’s motto: “Anything in the world is possible---by will and by luck, with a moist carrot, a wet nose, and a slice of mad courage!”

A fun little book that chapter book readers will surely enjoy.

The Royal Rabbits of London: Escape From the Tower gets 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Great Diamond Chase

Oh! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Little Shylo Tawny-Tail has fallen asleep while on guard duty. He was supposed to be guarding the palace, but he alarms wake him, and he knows he’s in big trouble. Lots of things could have gone wrong, but the worst case scenario has happened: Someone has stolen the Siberian Diamond, the most valuable diamond in the world! The Queen is beside herself, crying almost hysterically!

The Royal Rabbits of London are already on the case, having herd the alarms deep in The Grand Burrow beneath the Buckingham Palace.

Shylo learns that the diamond was found in Russia 132 years ago by a peasant. It was sent to Catherine the Great.  One hundred years later, legend has it that the diamond was lost in a bet the Tsar had with his cousin, the King of England.

And worse, the RRL’s learn that the minks are town, more than likely to steal the magnificent jewel. And it gets even more complicated: the Ratzis want in on the action---they want to steal it for themselves and then there is Amura, the white Siberian tiger. What the heck is she up too?

How will the RRL’s find the diamond and return it to its rightful place in the palace’s Diamond Room.  Readers are offered the opportunity to learn about the rabbits that make up the Royal Rabbit’s. Sometimes I got a little confused on who was who, but the authors did a great job in detailing the idiosyncrasies of each rabbit.

Kids ages 8-12 or grades 3-7 will love this tale!

The Royal Rabbits of London: The Great Diamond Chase gets 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Collasping Kingdom (Book 3 in The Land Without Color series)

The Collasping Kingdom (Book 3 in The Land Without Color series)  by Benjamin Ellefson;  illustrated by Kevin Cannon  162 pages

This is the final book in “The Land Without Color” seris, and I have really enjoyed the series. It is highly imaginative and quite unique.

In this episode, all the color is missing from the Kingdom. There are no fruits and vegetables that give the people their color; I found this an intersting way that the author gives parents to explain to their children the importance of eating their fruits and veggies.

Brandon has gone to Grandpa Alvin’s house only to discover two things: Grandpa appears to be missing and there are giant holes in his basement. Brandon barely escapes the collapsing ground around him.  In addition, Officer Reed is still trying to locate Alvin and arrest him on truancy charges.

Brandon begins to investigate why there are suddenly whole neighborhoods and blocks, seeming along with many other who appear to be missing, collapsing into giant holes. It’s all Brandon can do to stay one step of the giant holes.

He makes his way back to school and enlists his best friend’s help to determine what is happening.  Along the way, the boys are aided by a giant eagle and encounter soldiers riding spiders, the return pf the Snakes, and the two princesses they met in Books 1 and 2.

While I enjoyed the read, I felt that Book 3 was the weakest. It was more tell than show. It felt like the author was tired of the Kingdoma and ready to move on to something else. I could be wrong, but the story didn’t have the edge-of-your-seat-vibe that the others had. Therefore, “’The Collasping Kingdom’ (Book 3 in ‘The Land Without Color’ series)”  receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs (Zoey and Sassafras Book #6)

Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs (Zoey and Sassafras Book #6) by Asia Citro, Illustrations by Marion Lindsay  96 pages

In this episode, Zoey and her best friend, her cat, Sassafras, learn about bacteria. The story opens with Zoey and her mom making homemade yogurt. The look on Sassafras’s face when Zoey stirs some store-bought yogurt into some warm milk is s cute. She may like yogurt, but there’s no way that stuff is touching her tongue.

Suddenly, the science project they are working on is interrupted by an earthquake!  A big one! The shaking got worse before it eased. Then the magic doorbell rings. Mom stays behind to clean up the mess while Zoey and Sassafras run to the barn. As she opens the barn door, Zoey encounters a huge, rainbow hoof.  Her eyes travel up, up, up and up until she sees a rainbow mane and a shiny golden head, all attached to a ginormous horse.

The horse, a magic horse don’t forget, says to Zoey, “HELLO. I HAVE OW. GIRL HELP? The unicorn, whose name is Tiny because it’s a baby unicorn, is hurt. To help him, Zoey and her mom must figure which bacteria is causing the infection on Tiny’s leg. They conduct experiments in to determine what the best course of action should be.

Unfortunately, it seems to take forever for the bacteria to grow, leaving poor Tiny in pain.  That’s the part I didn’t like and why  why “Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs” receivs 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Great Sugar War

The Great Sugar War (The Land without Color Book 2) by Benjamin Ellefson; illustrated by Kevin   168 pages

In this second book in The Land Without Color series, Brandon finds himself in lots of trouble. He has defied his teacher, stating that the history she is teaching about the Great Grayness” is wrong, and he can prove it.

He is sent to the Principal’s Office, but instead sneaks out of school to prove his point. He runs to Grandpa Alvin’s house, but when he arrives, the house is empty. When the doorbell rings, Brandon knows he has been caught by Officer Reed, the school’s truant officer.  He manages to elide Officer Reed and heads toward the Color Factory.

One inside, Brandon finds the remains of the infamous General Droww clutching a book titled “The Great Sugar War.”  Brandon sits down to read and is soon immersed in his great-great-grandfather Otto’s adventure.

Otto is on a sea voyage, trying to make his way home. Instead he comes upon a sea battle and rescues the General, who begs Otto to help him defeat the Kingdom of Shapes.

What follows is a highly imaginative action and adventure story where the Kingdom of Color is up against the Kingdom of Shapes, where soldiers are created from sugar bubbles that form on the Earth’s surface and where giant grasshoppers are unwilling participants in the great war. Nice surprise at the end.

 “The Great Sugar War” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Land Without Color

The Land Without Color by Benjamin Ellefson; illustrations by Kevin Cannon   168 pages

I tried to find the email where the author contacted me about reviewing his three-book series, “The Land Without Color.” The first book’s title is the same as the series. When it first arrived, I saw that the main character (who turns out to be Alvin) was African-American and that the title referred to race. I was so wrong!  This is a highly imaginative tale that was a lot of fun to read.

When the gang wants to go fishing, leaders Brandon and Steven needs something to cut the string that they will use as poles. Since Grandpa Alvin lived close by the pond, the gang of about six to eight kids jump on their bicycles and race over…as boys are wont to do.

Grandpa pulls a small Swiss Army knife from his pocket, a knife that he has had since he turned twelve. Grandpa Alvin tells that Brandon that the knife was given to him by Brandon’s great-great-grandfather Otto and it “saved my life many times.”

Then the story switches to Alvin’s twelfth birthday. His parents take him to visit Grandpa Otto. Grandpa Otto gives him the knife as a present. While Alvin is waiting to go home, he starts to chew a stick of never-popping gum his parents gave him earlier in the day.

As he begins to blow a bubble, it grows, and grows, and grows, and grows. It really is never-popping and soon the giant bubble begins to float, taking Alvin with it. Once he manages to land, he doesn’t recognize the place. Nothing looks familiar and it’s colorless. Everything is gray. Everything!

As he begins to explore, he runs into a small snag, but it’s how he meets a talking squirrel named Permiella, Permy for short, and learns that he has landed in the Kingdom of Color. Permy tells him how the color from the land has been stolen. Alvin decides that is unacceptable and vows to restore color to the kingdom.  And off they go on their grand adventure, meeting a charming little rat named Ronaldo, “battle man-eating plants, outsmart the bumbling Crimson Guards, cross the Sugar Desert, overcome the two-headed dragon, and find the color-stealing goblins.” The story is a lot of fun.

The story is framed with Brandon and his pals, which was totally unnecessary. For that reason, “The Land Without Color,” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Abigail Adams; Pirate of the Caribbean

Abigail Adams: Pirate of the Caribbean  (Mixed-Up History # 2) by Steve Sheinkin   160 pages 

Not sure why either the author or the publisher changed the name of the this series (it was originally Time Twisters), but it’s the same format, which I really like. I think that kids are gonna eat up learning about history in this manner.

Abigail Adams, our second First Lady, agrees with the start of Book 1, Abraham Lincoln. Why should they continue to do the same thing boring thing forever and forever. She had always dreamed of becoming a pirate, and after Lincoln’s successful adventure, she leaps out of Washington City and to the Caribbean.

Abby and Doc are back as the protagonists who must fix history and get Abigail back to the President’s House.

Author Sheinkin does a wonderful job in teaching kids about the Adams’ family, the pirate life, and the women who were pirates in only 160 pages. He also includes an epilogue that lets readers know what was true and what was false.

 The one thing that I was not crazy about was that there was really very little about Abigail after the first few chapters. Once she made the leap, the story was more about Anne Bonny and Mary Read, well-known female pirates. Although I learned something new, I was disappointed in the lack of Abigail’s history. Therefore, Abigiail Adams: Pirate of the Caribbean  receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler

Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler (Time Twisters #1) by Steve Sheinkin    160 pages

I’ve been obsessed with Abraham Lincoln and his family since I was a kid; I can’t get enough of him and his wife, Mary Todd.

In this delightfully imagined work, the fourth graders in Ms. Maybee’s class hate history. “It’s BORING!” Step-siblings Abby and Doc, especially Doc, are the loudest opponents of history. When Lincoln hear how much all the kids don’t like history, he decides to teach them a lesson.

Thanks to time travel Lincoln shows up in current time to teach them a lesson. He’s decided that he won’t go back to Springfield, Illinois, to win the 1860 presidential election, but instead, he wants to pursue a different dream: that of becoming a pro wrestler. Wrestling was much, much different in the 1860s than it is today, and thankfully, Sheinkin doesn’t delve into that. But that means that history is broken if Lincoln pursues his dream

It’s up to Abby and Doc to get him back to Springfield and fix history. As they learn about Lincoln and his life, they experience life in the 1860s and unwittingly learn about our greatest president ever.

At the end of the book, Sheinkin adds a chapter that tells what aspects of the story are true and what are not.  I think that young readers will enjoy history in this manner, and without meaning to, learn something. Even I learned something! Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Zoey & Sassafras: Monsters and Mold

Zoey & Sassafras: Monsters and Mold by Asia Citro, illustrated by Marion Lindsay  96 pages

This is the second book in the Zoey and Sassafras series..

Ever since Zoey and her cat, Sassafras, helped a baby dragon she named Marshmallow, she has been waiting for the magic doorbell to ring. In the meantime, Zoey is experimenting with mold, how it grows in various conditions.

It’s the perfect setup when the doorbell finally rings. Poor Gorp has an embarrassing problem: his fur is moldy. He’s tried everything he knows to do and has taken all the advice he’s been giving, but nothing works. He’s heard the stories in the forest that Zoey can cure so he has come to her for help.

In addition to the moldy fur, which is a source of bullying from other forest creatures, the annual Monster Ball is in just a few days. Gorp has never been, but he wants so badly to go. Sassafras reminds Zoey to put on her Thinking googles and try to help him.

Using scientific methods to conduct and collect the data, Zoey does her best to help Gorp. 

There seemed to be a lot more science in this episode than in the first one. The book is geared toward ages 6-10 in grades 1-5. I worried that may be it was a little too advanced, so that is why Zoey & Sassafras: Monsters and Mold receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Zoey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows

Zoey & Sassafras: Dragons andMarshmallows by Asia Citro, illustrated by Marion Lindsay        96 pages

In this first book in the series, readers meet Zoey and her cat, Sassafras. Zoey seems to me to be approximately six or seven years old. She loves science and animals. She has a pair of Thinking Goggles that help her solve problems. Sassafras is her constant companion and BFF.

Zoey is a little worried about her mom going to a conference for a week. But in her mom’s office, she discovers a glowing photo of a purple frog! It turns out that since her mom was her age, magical creatures have been coming to their bar when they need help. Mom thought she was the only one who could see the frog, who talks and told her his name was Pip. But Zoey must have inherited her abilities as well as her curiosity and compassion.

After her mom tells her about the doorbell and what happens when it rings, Zoey and Sassafras are eager to get to work. When they answer, they see a “shimmery blue tail disappear into the forest.” Looking around, Zoey spots a green baby dragon who doesn’t feel well. She ascertains that because he breathes fire, he must be hungry. 

Using her journal and her Thinking Goggles, Zoey comes up with an experiment that should help the little creature, whom she ultimately names Marshmallow.

I like the science, the strong girl role, and the glossary in the back to help kids understand some of the terms used in the story. “Easy-to-read language and illustrations on nearly every page make this series perfect for a wide range of ages.”

Zoey & Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows receive 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The War That Saved My Life

The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 316 pages

Ada is a young girl living with her mother and little brother in a one room apartment in London, and it's only months before England enters WWII.  The plan is to send many of the children of London away to the countryside, with the expectation that the city will be bombed by Germany.  But for Ada, this means that her brother will be sent away- not her.  Why?  Because she has never been allowed outside the apartment due to having a clubfoot that her mother says made her unlovable and evil and she would only disgust anyone who met her.

Record scratch.

Yikes- reading children's books with prominent child abuse, both mental and physical, is not something I enjoy doing.  But I will say this- the abuse is never, ever treated as a convenient plot point, or something that some fresh air in the country fixes; it's treated like the wound that it is- one that will never go away, but with the right kind of love, can become a scar one day.

I found myself raging alongside Ada at her mother, society and the world, but also frustrated with her for continuing to love her mother, and then frustrated at myself for victim-shaming a make-believe character.  It's a children's book, and one that I really feel could enter the canon of classics, but I did not find it easy to read. And I think I mean that in a really good way.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library, by Chris Grabenstein, 304 pages

If you are a bonafide library geek like myself, and I have to assume you are if you are reading this post, then you might enjoy this book.  This work of juvenile fiction is about a group of middle schoolers who have been invited to spend opening night at the new, pretty fantastic library in town.  What they don't realize is that they are part of a bigger game and contest, to discover a secret exit from the library.  The winner(s) will be made quite famous, and some of the kids are more ruthless than the others to win.  Using their wits, love of learning, and teamwork, they discover a few things about libraries, reading, and friendship.  If you are well-versed in children's literature, you may either really enjoy this, or get frustrated from finding so many parts of it /characters annoyingly close to those of other books.