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24th February 2022
Thursday, 24 February 2022
News on 24th February 2022
Friday, 18 February 2022
Book Review: "It's OK to Be a Puppy" by Tom Murdoch
Kindle edition:
Hardback edition:
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know what I'm about to say, right? If this is the first review of mine that you've read, then I usually say that every book starts off with all five of the stars stuck firmly in place and that I'm always hopeful that they will still be stuck equally firmly in place when I close the back cover.
What a gorgeous cover! Simple, cute and makes me hopeful that the words are equally wonderful!
Oooh! I'm loving the simple, affectionate words and rhyme on the first page of the story! I wonder if it'll be the same rhythm on every page or if different pages have different tempo's (wrong word, but I don't know the right one, sorry)?
The second page was a bit weird... it seemed to go from talking about one specific dog ("you") on the first page, then on the second page it's suddenly about a nameless few puppies which might confuse young readers. The third page is back to the specific dog again... it's confusing the mid-lifer, so the intended audience would be getting fidgetty and frustrated already unfortunately.
The fourth page is talking about the specific dog again, so hopefully it'll stay like that throughout the rest of the book.
The fifth page gently teaches loyalty and is still, thankfully, about that one dog again.
The next couple of pages are cute and cuddlesome, but is jumping around again, which could confuse the young audience, so the fifth star is decidedly wobbly now, unfortunately.
Putting my qualified and experienced childcarer hat on here, the children are taught phonetically for several years and "cuh's" doesn't rhyme with "please" in any way, so unfortunately the first star is wobbling off.
The last page is an adorable end... some of the words have been troublesome to read due to the font choice though, unfortunately.
Overall a very cute and well-thought-out book... it could just have done with a few little changes is all.
Thursday, 17 February 2022
Book Review: "Perfectly Weird, Perfectly You: A Scientific Guide to Growing Up" by Camilla Pang
Kindle Edition:
Audiobook:
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
If you've read any of my more recent book reviews, you'll already know how I start 'em all, right? If, however, this is the first of my reviews that you've read then I'll just quickly start off by saying that all the books I read and review start off with the full 5 stars and I'm forever hopeful that they will all still be set in concrete when I close back cover.
I also wanna say that this book seems a bit techy for those families who can't afford to buy Kindles or Audible memberships 'cos there ain't a paperback version at the time I'm writing this review!
I'm also hopeful that this is the book I was desperate for as a child but couldn't find in any bookshop or library!
Let's get on with reading and reviewing now, shall we?
The cover is weird enough to be scientific in an approachable way, so I'm hoping that the book will be written in a similar style.
Ooh! The author has a diagnosis that explains the word choices for the title! I wonder if the book will be about that or puberty or both?
Oh dear, like with all the other books I've read and reviewed, a star is coming off for using the title of a magasine and also a toy and now a singer, so we're already down to 4 stars :-(
I'm wondering if some of the word choices are maybe too mature for the audience (8-11 year olds)?
I love the idea of keeping a diary - I certainly did for many many years and now I've got a blog that I use to record things as they happen as well as totally venting about things that make me angry or frustrated because I don't feel able to put them into words that come out of my mouth and end up supporting friends when the reality is that I'm the one in desperate need of support right then! I couldn't be without my blog any more - it's the only way to get things out of my head at times!
Oh dear, the author has sworn so the second star is looking wobbly. It's a traditionally published book though, so I hope the publisher has read this book and decided to let the trademarks, names and swearing through rather than just hitting the approval button without reading past the first 10 pages!
I love how the author has handled their explaination of discrimination and explained it so gently! This is a good book, other than those few niggly things that have forced me to remove that star.
The author has ended the book as wonderfully as she's handled the rest of it... it gives this mid life-er a warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest so I hope her intended audience gain as much from this book as I have!
Wednesday, 16 February 2022
News on 16th February 2022
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16th February 2022
Monday, 14 February 2022
Book Review: "Max Counts to a Million" by Jeremy Williams
⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
If you've read any of my other book reviews over the last little while, you'll already know that every book I read starts off just like this - letting you know that the book starts off with 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they'll still be firmly in place by the time I finish reading the book and put the final full stop in this review.
Oooh! It seems to be written in the first person, so it'll be interesting to see how the author handles things that other characters may be thinking but not actually saying!
I've somehow got up to page 26 without writing another word to this review and I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm up to the bit where Dad is trying to explain about the start of the pandemic and even though he's a doctor, he seems to be struggling to explain it to his 8-year-old son.
Oh dear, at page 33 there's a swear word in the first sentence of the page which I would have let go if this was a teen book, but it's aimed at 7-9 year olds so I can't let that go without knocking a star off, which is a huge pity but it's what I've done with other books, so it's only right and fair that I do it with this one too.
And now there is talk about big brand (to children) chocolates and sweets, so, like with previous books and reviews, that's the second star coming off too... you might be able to overlook the swearing and trademark used potentially without permission, I just have never been able to. Page 47 and a well known toy brand is used too... it's almost like the author has done his research into certain bits but doesn't realise that using brand names without written permission is, I think, illegal and could get into serious hot water over it! The first 32 pages were fantastic, but I've had to knock two stars off in only 14 pages unfortunately.
Up to chapter 12 now and we're back to the awesomness of the first 30-odd pages and I soo wish that it was still a 5 star book, but my sense of fairness is being strong about the removals, just like it has with previous books.
Just finished chapter 17 and it's still an incredible book and I soo wish all those 5 stars were firmly glued in place... if you can overlook my niggles and sense of fairness then it's definitely 5 stars and a must-read by everyone... but I think it's definitely for the younger age-group, purely because of the age of the main character and children not usually reading about characters younger than them.
OMG! Poor Grandad! I hope he'll be OK! It's a children's story, so he has to be, right?
What a great end to the book! A definite must read for 7-8 year olds but even adults might enjoy and learn from this book... especially about the number 7 and never giving up lol
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