Book Review: Kobee Manatee by Robert Scott Thayer

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

It looks like my son caught the nasty stomach bug that plagued my husband and myself all last week. So I figured since he has a sick day home today that I'd read him a few books. I was excited to see this book as I have always been a manatee lover. Ever since middle school I was fascinated with them and even dabbled with the idea of being a marine biologist because of them. I collected books, stuffed animals, glass figurines...well just about anything that had a manatee. While I no longer collect manatees I'm still fascinated by these gentle creatures.

Kobee Manatee is the story of a manatee leaving the chilly waters of Massachusetts to head home to the warmer Florida waters for the winter. Along the way he makes friends with a hermit crab and a seahorse. The three new friends have an adventure on their way south.

I loved this book. The illustrations were absolutely adorable and the story was one that my son was easily able to follow. Through out the book facts are interspersed. I'm glad that they were included as an aside. It didn't over complicate the story making it easier for readers with shorter attention spans. Yet the facts are there for those who want to learn more or those who are a good with sitting through the facts. I read a few of the smaller facts to my son but skipped reading the longer ones to him. Because of his learning disability I knew not to push it too much and found that reading only a few was perfect for him personally. I did go back and read them for myself and each one was fascinating and corresponded with what was currently happening in the book.

My son loved this book. He loves the color blue and was focused on the gorgeous saturation of colors especially blue. He loved Kobee and loved the journey he and his friends made. His favorite part was when Pablo was looking for a new shell.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries by Vanita Oelschlager

I received a review copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This is not the first time I have reviewed a book by Vanita Oelschlager but this one was by far my favorite so far.

This wonderfully illustrated book is all about idioms or those phrases we use that have nothing to do with their meanings such as "two peas in a pod", "life is a bowl full of cherries", or "cold turkey". This is a very hard concept to teach to children but this book does a fairly good job at giving examples.

This was still a little too over my son's head but he still really enjoyed the book. His favorite being "one bad apple". The book was simple enough for him to follow along even if he didn't get what exactly an idiom is. We both enjoyed the illustrations and he asked me to read it to him again.

I would give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Comic Book Review: The Last Christmas by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I finished this comic last week but due to a stomach virus and the holiday madness I'm just now finally able to put up my review.

Have you ever wondered what would happen to Santa and his dear elves in the event of the Apocalypse? Well the sick minds of Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn have. What came about is a hilariously dark comic fit only for those with the sickest of sick humors.

The Apocalypse has arrived and Santa goes on a bender after the death of his beloved Mrs. Clause. After turning his back on Christmas forever the earth is filled with nothing but evil. Save one lone boy who still believes in the magic of Santa. Can he make Santa believe in Christmas again? Can the world recover after the apocalypse?

Ok I LOVED this comic. But be warned this is not a comic for everyone. You have to have an extremely sick and twisted sense of humor to get and love this comic. Fortunately (or should that be unfortuantely?) I'm one of those people who just gets it. One of my favorite moments is a nod to Star Wars. Sick and twisted there were so many moments I found myself laughing out loud that my hubby kept asking me what was so funny. I finally had to let him read the comic as well. He is just as sick and twisted as me because he found it hilarious as well.

So if you are not weak of stomach, thin of skin and love sick twisted humor than this is the comic for you! I give this a solid 5 out of 5 stars for my final read of 2013!

Book Review: Magic Words

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was super excited when I saw this book. The cover alone drew me in. I love mythologies and traditional stories from other cultures so I just knew I had to read this one. Let me first say that the drawings are absolutely amazing! The colors are so rich and there is so much happening that I could spend so much time just looking at them.

The story is rather simple and is about a time when animals and people could talk to each other and could shift into one or the other. It is a very simple translation of an Inuit ancient oral tradition. I think that is perfect for younger readers or those who are delayed like my son.

My son LOVED the pictures in this and kept asking me to scroll back and forth on my ereader to show him the ones he really loved. That right there is a winner for me!

I give this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars!

Book Review: Cast Iron Cooking With Sisters on the Fly by Irene Rawlings

I recieved this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Due to my abscense from blogging I am just now getting around to catching up on posting my netgalley reviews.

I was excited when I saw this cookbook. I love cooking with my cast iron pan. So I was rather disappointed when I saw just how many recipes there were that had nothing to do with cast iron cooking. I did like the layout of the book and pictures that accompanied the recipes.

The book has does a good job with giving the throw together food and cook it over a fire feel  that reminds me of the very few times I have been out camping.  It has some interesting recipes, though there were a number I honestly do not ever see me making. I enjoyed browsing through it and spent some extra time in the cocktail section (though I don't drink much in the way of alcohol). I'm still scratching my head on what cocktails have to do with cast iron.

Over all it was a decent book and was fun to flip through. I don't see it being a permanent fixture on my shelf but I can see how people who enjoy country recipes would want to read and try so many of the recipes. It wasn't a bad book but I don't think it was personally a book for a Jersey Girl like me.

I give the book 3 stars.

Book Review: A Child's Good Morning Book by Margaret Wise Brown Illustrated by Karen Katz

A few years back my mother in law bought this book for my son. At that time he wasn't much into reading and would not sit still. Fortunately, over time he has mellowed out and has really taken to being read to. While this book is meant for children younger than my son who is six due to his learning disabilities this is still in the right reading range for him. For most other children this is good for 4 and under.

A very simple book with just the right amount of words. It is not overly complicated so it is easy for children to follow. But what really makes this book are the illustrations by Karen Katz. They are bright beautiful pictures. They have a patchwork quilt quality to them and the little toddlers that are depicted could not be more adorable.

My son really enjoys this book. When asked to pick a book last night for me to read to him this was the one that he picked. I will definately keep an eye out for more books illustrated by Karen Katz as I truly loved her artistic style.

I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Book to Movie Challenge 2014

Book to Movie Challenge: The Sequel

 Hosted by doingdeweydecimal

Although there will be a wrap-up post for the 2013 challenge later, I’d like to thank everyone who participated for making this challenge such fun that I can’t wait to host it again next year. Plus, can you believe all of the movies based on books that came out this year?! Doing this challenge, I’ve been amazed at the number of book to movie adaptations there are and I’ve loved seeing some great books brought to life on screen.

Like last year, the rules are simple and few. I’ll post a linky where you can share your reviews, but this thing works on the honor system. If you want to challenge yourself to only watch movies coming out this year or to make sure you always read the book and watch the movie during 2014, that’s great. But I won’t hold you to it  Personally, I usually count two hours of a TV show as enough to call it watched since that’s about as long as most movies. Again though, this challenge is all about having fun, so it’s really up to you.

To enter, just click through to the linky at the bottom of this post and link to a post on your blog mentioning the challenge and the challenge level you’re attempting. You can change challenge levels at any time and the challenge levels are the same as last year:

Movie Fan - read 3 books and watch their movies
Movie Devotee - read 6 books and watch their movies
Movie Lover - read 9 books and watch their movies
Movie Aficionado - read 12 books and watch their movies
Movie Auteur - read 24 books and watch their movies

This year, I’ve decided to make this a little more fun by adding a giveaway at some point during the year (NOT contingent on progress in the challenge), as well as a few read-a-longs (The Maze Runner in September anyone?). Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. Add an e-mail to the linky if you want my quarterly check-in posts e-mailed to you. Otherwise, feel free to put gibberish in that spot since inlinkz won’t let you leave it blank. Happy reading and watching!

Enter Here

Picture Credits: background photo from lusi, font source here, some design using this site


I am going to go for Movie aficionado which is 12 books and movies. That's one a month!