Tag: book review

Sparks! Kids Book Review – Great for reluctant readers!

Our newest book review comes as a request from my 8-year-old daughter. She picked up this book, Sparks!, at the library and has re-read it at least 6 times so far! Like lots of kids, she is drawn to graphic novels more than chapter books and this is one of her favorites. This book would make a great gift for kids who love cats and/or humor.

Sparks! Kids Book Review

Sparks! is a fun graphic novel about two cats who save the day while inside a mechanical dog costume. One cat is an indoor only cat who is scared to go outside and the other is an adventurous outdoor cat. You can check it out here at our affiliate link: https://amzn.to/32gjs1m.

The cats make a great team and, of course, are aided in their quest by a walking, talking litter box which provides some additional humor of the potty sort which delights elementary age children everywhere. Seriously, I overheard my daughter reading something to her younger sister about a porta-potty party, which she found especially hilarious.

While this book might be a bit different in concept, it has everything an 8 – 10 year old loves: animals, humor, aliens, great visuals and perilous situations where the cats are always saving the day. The humor is age appropriate, my daughter specifically loves the parts with the dance parties. She loved the small twist at the end and ran to show me. I won’t show you though, no spoilers! We will for sure be checking out the second book in the series as soon as it comes out!

After reading this book and getting my daughters’ input, I checked out out the reviews on Amazon. The reviewers said the same thing – this book is great for reluctant readers and kids who love cats and animals. By the way, this book is getting all 5 star reviews! Pick a copy up for the fun-loving child in your life today!

Find the first book here: https://amzn.to/32gjs1m
Find the second book here: https://amzn.to/39NOBLW

Check out our other book reviews!
The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel Review
Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl

February 19, 2020
The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel Review!

80’s & 90’s kids rejoice, The Baby-Sitters Club books are back as graphic novels. Our kids now get to experience the babysitting antics of the club in their own way and I, for one, am super excited about it. I loved The Baby-Sitters Club books as a girl, the entire series is in a box in my basement. I’m just waiting for my girls to be old enough to finally read them. I mean, look at this picture!

Just look at this collection! Memories, right?

But, before I could get them out, my daughter saw one of the new graphic novels at her school book fair and asked me to get it for her. Of course, I couldn’t say no! She started reading #6 in the series, Kristy’s Big Day, and didn’t want to put it down. Direct quote from my 8-year-old: “Mom, can you get me the rest of these books, I love them!” She also loves how the girls work together to problem-solve and the funny situations the girls get into while babysitting.

From what I could see, the characters are still there and the graphic novels retain their original friendships and humor. So, I am more than happy to get the rest of the set for my daughter.

Get The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels today, find them using our affiliate links below.

Kristy’s Big Day #6- https://amzn.to/30xpeuy
Kristy’s Great Idea #1 – https://amzn.to/369FPpD
Box Set Books 1-7 – https://amzn.to/30xpFVI

Also, check our these other graphic novels and books we reviewed.

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl
Lumberjanes
Misfit City

January 18, 2020
Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl

(I know the title of this graphic novel lists Mighty Jack first, but given that the girls and I read Zita long before Jack came around, I prefer to think of this as Zita’s book. Just sayin’.)

We’ve been reading Zita the Spacegirl in our house for years at this point, and author and artist Ben Hatke’s work appealed to our girls from the moment I brought her first book home. As I hate giving away too much information about a story (I’m looking at you, lengthy movie trailers that spoil everything), I’ll simply say that our girls found Zita’s original trilogy of graphic novels to be just the right combination of adventure and suspense, with a little heart-tugging thrown in for good measure. Zita’s was the kind of kids’ story that, once you finished it, you wish you could forget the entire thing just so you could read it all over again with a fresh brain. Her original story wraps up really nicely, which is a tough thing to do in any genre, but regardless, we were sorry to see it end. Like most fans, we hoped for – someday – just a little bit more. Just one more tale, perhaps.

That’s what made it so great to have her pop up in Jack’s latest adventures. Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl is a great combination of storylines; Jack’s is a fantastical take on the beanstalk mythos, while Zita’s is one of intergalactic adventure, and the story of their meeting and consequent quest to save Earth is told as only Ben Hatke can tell it. This book has the same combination of emotions – the real heart of Hatke’s stuff – that made his work on both Zita and Jack so great. We enjoyed Jack’s first two graphic novels – Mighty Jack, and then Mighty Jack and the Goblin King – and while I might be a far cry from the intended demographic, I was honestly happy to bring home another tale starring Zita, even if she was sharing the spotlight.

I know this writeup is a little vague, but I really want to avoid giving anything away. Suffice it to say, fans of Zita will see a lot of familiar faces in this book, and fans of Jack will see the wrapping-up of his overall storyline. It felt good to see them both back in action. And it felt good to see our girls’ faces when they saw that Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl was going to be the Books at Bedtime selection for the next several nights.

Please, pick up some work by Ben Hatke. Start with Zita, read Jack, and then read this latest offering starring both titular characters. I really don’t think you will be disappointed.

Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl: https://amzn.to/2ncsg7Q
Zita the Spacegirl: https://amzn.to/2mkBwGR

*affiliate links

September 27, 2019
We Love Lumberjanes! Great Girl Power Graphic Novels.

Lumberjanes

The title says it all – we have loved reading Lumberjanes!

My daughters are enamored with this series, which focuses on a group of girls who attend a Girl Scout-like summer camp, only to find themselves immersed in supernatural adventures and mysteries. When we got our hands on the first volume, we were excited to read it, and it has yet to disappoint.

The main characters – April, Mal, Ripley, Jo, and Molly – each have a distinct personality, as well as their own strengths and struggles, and every adventure requires them to ultimately work as team in order to succeed. Naturally, they tend to discover things about themselves, develop new survival or mystical skills, and learn to support one another throughout the process, all things which add to the rich storytelling. In addition, each story tends to contain just a little danger, a touch of original or classic mythology, and new material that builds upon the series’ mythos. Even when stories wrap up neatly, you tend to be left wondering what new obstacles the girls from Roanoke Cabin will face in their next adventure. My youngest daughter likes the fact that the girls work as a team, while my oldest loves the humor of the series. As for me, I gravitate toward the supernatural and paranormal aspects of the series, and the variety of personalities the writers have cultivated in both the main and supporting characters (Bear Woman is cantankerous, but tends to be one of my favorites).

Over the course of a number of Books at Bedtime sessions, we read the first ten volumes, each of which collects several issues of the series. The creative team does change over the course of the series, which sometimes took adjusting on our parts (we would read one volume, becoming accustomed to one writing or artistic style, only to find this had changed in the next volume). However, while the series may have its ups and downs (depending on what you’re looking for, storywise), there were never any disappointments or stories that the girls felt were uninteresting. Each volume we finished left us wanting to pick up the next one (we already have the next volume on the way).

Highly recommended (for kids and adults, alike). Pick up some Lumberjanes the next chance you get!

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August 23, 2019
Misfit City: An 80’s-Style Adventure

Our nighttime ritual – books at bedtime – is something our kids look forward to, and it’s always great when we find something that really appeals to the whole family. Since everyone in the house has a penchant for a little mystery, some adventure, and a dash of humor, this made the first two volumes of the BOOM! Studios series Misfit City a perfect fit. Just a heads up, you may need to leave a few small parts out when reading to young children.

Misfit City Vol. 1 – Get it here: https://amzn.to/2HK87Od
Misfit City Vol. 2 – Get it here: https://amzn.to/2HMb159

Set in fictional Cannon Cove, Misfit City follows four friends – Macy, Wilder, Karma, and Dot – as they pursue the long-lost treasure of the infamous pirate, Black Mary. Cannon Cove, famous for being the filming location of a cult classic movie titled The Gloomies, is replete with just enough tourists, snobby teens, and bad weather to make you root for the girls when they yearn for something that will liven things up. Naturally, when they stumble onto Black Mary’s treasure map, the girls find a bit more than they bargained for.

Before they know it, the group – along with their trusty dog, Pippin – are hot on the trail of pirate gold, just barely staying a step ahead of a series of ne’er-do-wells with the exact same goal. In between solving riddles, escaping villains, and dodging traps, the girls learn how to work together, trust their own strengths, and avoid the most wicked obstacle in all of childhood: the interference of parents.

Given that my wife and I are children of the 80’s, we loved that The Gloomies was a take on The Goonies, while Cannon Cove served as a stand-in for the film location of Astoria, Oregon. Alas, neither of our childhoods ever consisted of a real-life Goonies adventure, so it was great to relive that same kind of action through this series. It was just as much fun watching our girls soak up the world of Misfit City, much as we did with our own era’s books and movies.

In all fairness, we did hit a couple of minor trouble spots while reading that we had to gloss over as they were a little too mature for the ages of our children (6 & 8) so look out for that as you read, but events never became too scary, the main characters are all strong and capable, and the combo of treasure hunts, pirates, kids, and cliffhangers had our girls hooked from the very start. It’s a great series – and well worth checking out. Our girls’ only disappointment is that they have to wait for Volume 3!

*affiliate links

May 30, 2019