A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Books for Children

The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Mary Cohen brings us the story of a very determined youngster in The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug.  The question throughout is… can Hillary stay focused?  Can she exhibit the skills she needs to achieve her hearts desire? What does this first book in a series tell us about Hillary?  Can young readers learn from her?

The adventures of hillary the little ladybug

What I am Reviewing

The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug is the first in a series of 13 books entitled The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug.   In this first book Hillary expresses her desire to one day be queen.  To be queen she’ll have to exhibit certain characteristics.   Therefore, in this first book we see her working on those needed skills. 

From the press release: The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug, from the creative team of authors Mary Cohen and Elisabeth Revel, illustrator/photographer William Dandurand, and illustrator Gary Revel Jr., tells the story of an exceptionally gifted ladybug who does well in school and dreams of becoming Queen of Ladybug Land. One day, as she is flying to school, she is taught a valuable life lesson when a Praying Mantis begins to target her classmates. 

This book runs at 58 pages, and is published by Jongleur Books.  My review is for Ascot Media.

 

What do you get?

You’ll find yourself with a easy chapter book. Children up to about grade 2 will enjoy Hillary’s story.   8 short chapters fill out the 58 pages.  Young children will enjoy the suspense and simple language.

Very similarly to Fly Patrol you’ll find the art work utilizes a blend of original illustrations and photography. The illustrations are one dimensional showing limited expressions.  A primary-based colour scheme means it’s easy to identify characters. 

Sometimes the story was a little predictable, and the overuse of commas was a little off-putting. Irregardless, this is a good story.  You’ll find its well-suited for young readers. The short chapters making it ideal for early readers. 

In fact it is great to see the focus of Little Hillary.  Hillary is very determined to pursue her goals.  She will not allow herself to be side-tracked.

Add it to your shelves?

The Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug is actually a fun little book with a great premise.  I had fun following the story of Hillary. 

I admittedly, struggled with the editing. A good grammar editor understanding proper punctuation could make this short book better. Despite this, if I saw it in the library I would not be unhappy about picking it up.  🙂 

For homeschooling purposes, this short book would fit in with a careers day. A way to jump-start looking at skills needed for future endeavors. Additionally useful in a character quality study. 

Fly Patrol

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Fly Patrol) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Flies against people, isn’t it the everlasting battle?   But do flies flight against other flies?  Can a female fly help her patrol win the day?  In Fly Patrol, Danduand and Revel bring us into their world as flies battle humans for food. 

Fly Patrol

From the Press Release: Fly Patrol,from author, photographer and illustrator William Dandurand, and author Gary Revel, shares the story of an elite squadron of flies that serves to protect innocent flies looking for food. The flies must be protected not only from humans, but also from a mysterious intruder-fly. When Commander Ace is injured in battle, a young cadet named Sargent Hot Sauce must prove herself by assuming command of the Fly Patrol during the heat of battle. The war will continue and will never end until humans share their food with the flies. 

Reviewed for Ascot media. 

What do you get

You’ll discover full colour images done by Gary Revel.  Photographs are used as backdrops to the characters.  They help add some depth to the story.  The characters themselves are flat and simply drawn.

The text is very simple.  It could have used a bit of editing to make the story more cohesive.  Sometimes it seemed like sentence structure could have been improved. Not being a grammar major, I couldn’t always pinpoint why the sentences didn’t read well.  

Discovering the flies have two major enemies…. the humans with their rock salt and being a major source of food, along with the horse flies who attack them unprovoked. 

You’ll learn about the need for good team work, females in leadership, helpfulness, persistence, and careful decision making. 

Should this be on your shelves

This is a very disjointed feeling book.  Nothing really seems connected.  It’s a book where characters are there and things happen but you don’t really understand why.  It leaves you feeling like you read an incoherent story.  It just didn’t quite make sense. 

In someways Fly Patrol kinda feels like when a young child is telling you story and it kinda jumps around a bit.  Is it worth reading?  It’s one I might borrow from the library.  🙂 

What is Love

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (What is Love) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

Have you ever struggled with the meaning of love, asking yourself, What is love?   Mac Barnet asks this question in a fable-like picture book.  Today I would like to tell you all about it.   It’s actually more difficult to define endearment, adoration, warmth or passion than one might think.  It’s no small wonder that this young fellow struggled so.  

what is love

What I am reviewing

ChronicleKids put together a 44-page picture book for children 3-5 years old.  Author Mac Barnett asks this not so simple question “what is love?” and through the experiences of one young boy we see love described by a wide variety of sources.  Illustrated by Carson Ellis we see bright colours throughout.   I am reviewing on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

What is love, seeing the details

A young boy asks gramma, what is love?  Gramma simply says “I can’t answer that.”   She advises him to head into the world, and see what he discovers. Carson Ellis uses a wide colour palette as he envisions this young fellow’s journey. They are presented using gouache on watercolor paper.

In his journey, he meets a wide variety of people, each with a different answer to his question.  Some of those answers seemed contradictory.  However will he discover the answer?  (I won’t tell you this). 🙂

what is love

You will find the font easy to read.  It is in black against a cream coloured page.  The things people enjoy in a larger font, their explanations and the seekers response in a regular font. 

I’m not surprised that this young person doesn’t understand that different things that people adore.  It’s outside of his experience and life. 

What do I think?

So I read Mac Barnet’s tome, and I thought it cleverly well-done.  I love how the author shows what this strong emotion/feeling is from different perspectives.  But those perspectives were always selfish.  One person’s need or desire or want is summed up as love.

I think, as a faith-based reviewer, that this would be a fantastic book to introduce what love really is. 

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  This comes from 1 John 4.   Love is so much more than what we need or appreciate in the moment. 

I also find it fantastic the sheer variety in colour, occupations, lifestyles, cultures etc displayed throughout.  You’ll see women carpenters, red-bearded fishermen, dark-coloured soldiers, women farmers, male poets and more.  Devotion for different things is expressed world-wide. 

Other books on this topic that you might enjoy are:

Does a Bulldozer Have a Butt?

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Does a Bulldozer Have a Butt?) through Raincoast Books.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂 

So, Does a Bulldozer have a butt?  is a hard review for me to write.  I got it and thought, I have to review this?  What am I to do?  I want to honour the author and their efforts, and yet… this book is too odd for words.  BUT then I got to thinking about it. This picture book has an audience.  My son went through a stage where Captain Underpants was a huge favourite, so…odd ball books with their own humour have an appeal.  AND I love, just love, the attention and focus of Dad engaging in a protracted conversation with his son.   THAT is fantastic for sure!

Check out what I am reviewing

Does a Bulldozer Have a Butt? is the most recent book written by Derick Wilder.   It’s been described as a mix between Green Eggs and Ham and Everyone Poops.  It’s a humour-filled conversation between a boy and his dad.  K-Fai Steele provides full colour illustrations, cleverly drawing butts in many unique objects.  A 40 page picture book published by Chronicle Books written for children 3-5 years old. 

I am reviewing on behalf of Raincoast books, and I received a hardcover book with a dustcover. 

Learning more about Does A Bulldozer Have a Butt?

I absolutely adore the images of this dad talking with his boy.  Here they are, just going about their day having a funny, silly conversation about what may, or may not, have a butt. Bushes, babies, trees, birds and who knows what else might pop into this young fellow’s head. 

I love dad’s creativity in answering his boy. 

The lad’s question is always in bold font, the dad’s answers immediately following. 

The creative answers of dad always find a way to sorta rhyme.   Draw One/Straw One, side by side/they all died, along with his bootie/quite a cutie for example.

I have to admit, it’s not really my cup of tea, but it might be a fun read with children. The suggested age range should not be 3-5 years, but more like 5-7 years.  I really don’t think 3 year old would get the humour and it might lead to awkward questions.  But a wee bit older… they would see the humour and might come up with fun items themselves. Thereby challenging their adults to come up with their own unique answers.  THAT would be fun!  🙂 

K-Fai Steele does an excellent job of bringing the story to life.  Isn’t the wide range of colour fantastic?  And the multi-culturalism is wonderful along with a wide-range of activities. 

Add it to your shelves?

Honestly I have mixed thoughts about Does A Bulldozer have a butt?   On the one hand I love that dad is fully committed to this conversation with his son.  The lad asking questions and dad being creative with the answers.  Love that aspect.  Totally want every parent to be that engaged with their children. 

But on the other hand… asking if a bulldozer has a butt, or a crayon or an ice cream sundae…. just seems to push the conversation too far.  Don’t like that. 

Then again… I can see young boys having a hoot and coming up with their own ideas of what may, or may not, have a butt and just laughing away. This is good.  As I mentioned earlier, my son loved Captain Underpants for a while, and if you like this, you might like King of the Mole People. 

So totally a mixed opinion.  Are their some children who would love it?  Yep.  Would some parents go.. this is too stupid for words?  For sure. Would there be a middle ground?  Most definitely.  So make up your own mind, I’ve tried giving you a balanced review.  

Bee Scared

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Bee Scared) through Ascot Media.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Bees are in trouble!   Richard Faith tries to alert young readers to their plight in his new picture book Bee Scared.  Through careful story telling and potential problem solving, Mr. Faith hopes to encourage young people to help be part of the solution.  How can we help these small members of our world thrive again? 

Bee Scared

What I am Reviewing

Bee Scared, is an Old Doc Turtle adventure from author Richard Faith.   This picture book follows the Queen and her community of family and friends as they try to find a solution to a rather scary problem.   They come up with a rather creative solution, but I have to admit, it didn’t really seem like a solution to me. 🙂   Makes me wonder if young children reading it will think of it as a solution or realize that more work needs to be done. 

Can your young reader think of any ways to help Auntie Bee save the honeybees?   Will their eyes be opened up to the need to protect the vulnerable insects among us?

I was supposed to get a paperback copy sent to me but that somehow disappeared so I’ll be reviewing a PDF copy of this softcover picture book.  Bee Scared is the first in a series Old Doc Turtle Adventures.  29 pages of full colour illustrated by Todd Hobin. It brought to mind the bumble bees I dealt with this summer. 

Digging Deeper

You’ll find the text has been helpfully placed on a screen of white to make it easier to read.  The lyrics are provided in rhyming meter.  The rhyme is not consistent, sometimes being alternative lines and other times being rhyming couplets.    Either way, it makes for easy reading for all ages. 

Artist Todd Hobin provides not quite realistic bee hives, going for the cartoon model rather than the more natural bee hives in trees or in man-made hives.   I love how he filled each page with colour while providing white space for the text.  The natural colours throughout fit well into the lives of bees and their world. 

A solution was provided….the flight of the bumblebee dance… which I’m not quite sure was a good solution.  And I’m not so sure the message was clear that MORE and BETTER solutions need to be found for the honey bee crisis.   But I did find the solution funny to think of the dance being used. 🙂   Would be a great way to introduce this music to young children though, don’t you think? 

I love this closing page with old Mr. Turtle’s call to action.  Can we find ways to help the honey bees?   How can we (young and old) make the honey bees safe again?   We need these pollinators so we musn’t let them disappear! 

Bee Scared, should you get it?

I think Mr. Faith makes a decent stab at helping to alert young readers to the honey bee crisis.  Is Bee Scared the complete answer?  Of course not, it’s a picture book for children!  But it will help. 

The pictures fit the story.  The bees recognize the problem, and they want to live safely.  I love the closing where he calls young readers to action.  Save the bees!  Think on ways to help these tiny creatures if you can. 

Hedgehog’s Home for Winter

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Hedgehog’s Home for Winter) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Oh my…. I like this book!  🙂   Hedgehog’s Home for Winter is a look into seasonal change and how animals live through the winter. So if you are looking for a way to help your littles (or even introduce some olders) understand how animals survive the winter… this book will help.  Hedgehog has much to learn, and so we can learn with him! 

hedgehog's home for winter

Learning about Hedgehog’s Home for Winter

Clever Publishing has put together this lovely book entitled Hedgehog’s Home for Winter.  This hardcover book was written by Elena Ulyeva.   And boy, it’s a cute book, while being educational!   You’ll find the animals are rather anthropomorphized but it suits the style of the book.  It provides talking points, at least it would for me, asking children if they really thought wild mice slept in bed like people.  🙂 

The Illustrations are provided by Daria Parkhaeva, she has illustrated both of the Hedgehog books.  You’ll find lots of colours, with about 1/2 the 32 pages done in full colour.  The other half make good use of white space, showing action as Hedgehog moves from friend to friend. Children up to grade two will enjoy the excellent depiction of the various animals and the natural use of colour. 

I love hedgehog’s heart desire.  He wants to help his friends!   Birds, fish, bear, squirrel and more.   He takes the time to check in on all them.  Itsn’t that thoughtfulness a wonderful thing to see? 

You’ll find the font a great size to read sitting down in a comfy couch with child at your side, or reading with a large group of children gathered round.  There are authomatic stopping points as you walk with hedgehog checking on his friends.  Who might he go to next, what might he find?   Do you think he’ll check on a toad or a bird next?   Why don’t we find out together? 

Should it be yours?

Learning about how animals make it through the winter is an important part of nature studies.  Hedgehog’s home for winter is a good introductory book into learning about their survival skills.   Since Hedgehog is the main character it makes me think this is European based (no wild hedgehogs in Canada at least!)  🙂  So it might also be a good introduction to learning a bit about European wildlife.   I never knew that hedgehogs hiberate! 

This is a wonderfully illustrated book with tons of talking points, and a hedgehog showing compassion to others. Well worth reading whether looking at animal survival skills or character development.  It’s must have been hard for a hibernating hedgehog to stay awake and then run all over the forest checking in on his friends.   But because he cared… we got to learn about how his friends manage the cold.  A good premise for a book yes? 

Mr. Sunnyside – Imagination!

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Mr. Sunnyside – Imagination!) through Ascot Media Group.  Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.

Do your children complain about being bored? Would you like them to learn the power of imagination?  CK Gregory’s book Mr. Sunnyside – Imagination might be just what they need. 

Mr. Sunnyside Imagination

What I am Reviewing

CK Gregory’s family is Canadian hailing from Quebec and Ontario.   In Mr. Sunnyside, Imagination Mr. Gregory encourages children to explore their imagination.  Published by Gatekeeper press, this review copy was forwarded by Ascot Media Group. This picture book is geared toward young children up to 11 years of age (though I think it’s better suited to up to about 5).  34 pages long with illustrator Stephanie Richoll bringing CK Gregory’s imagination to life. 

Looking Deeper in the Mr. Sunnyside, Imagination

Stephanie Richoll does an excellent job of bringing Mr. Sunnyside – Imagination! to life.  She starts this 34 page book off in grey scale.  It fits because the day has a rather blah start to it.  A boy with nothing to do after recovering from illness.  Mom says No to outside play in the rain. 

As the story progresses you’ll see the greyscale turn to full colour.   It was rather neat to see the progression.

The text is large and easy to read, written conversationally. Easy to follow, at times a bit repetitive.  It didn’t always sound realistic, but more like an adult trying to sound like a child. 

Should it be on your shelves

  Mr. Sunnyside Imagination just doesn’t have enough to it to be a store purchase.  It would be one to happily pick up from the library or a yard sale. 

Why?  It just doesn’t have enough to it.   We get a lad who has plenty of toys to play with but doesn’t want to.  An ‘egg’ shows up that says “toys are meant to be played with” and “use your imagination” and that’s the summation of the story. 

We don’t see him really using his imagination beyond that he can see an egg that no one else can and pretends to go flying for just a moment.  The lack of depth had me wondering what the point of this book was.  I guess I just wanted more and there are books out there that give the more.Â