Category: Book Reviews

Book Review & Giveaway: The Princess and the Pony By Kate Beaton

A few weeks ago a review request came across my mailbox and I was too curious to pass it up. It had “Princess” in the title, but thankfully I had heard rumors of this book and I am always searching for “princess books” that break the mold. Kate Beaton’s new book doesn’t even come close to fitting any supposed mold. The word “princess” is merely a title for our little heroine and plays very little role in the plot of the story. Beaton has created a story about Vikings, birthday presents, ponies, and perceptions that will make you laugh, warm your heart, and remind you of no other princess book you’ve seen before. Take a look at The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton, 2015.

Continue reading “Book Review & Giveaway: The Princess and the Pony By Kate Beaton” →

Caryn10 Comments

Let’s Read Superhero Books, Part 1: The Princess In Black By Hale & Pham

Today I am excited to share some books that fall in the superhero genre of books, perfect for those Marvel-loving readers. The class I am working with in the South Bronx is full of superhero fans, but most of them only follow the famous characters like Spider-Man and Batman and Wonder Woman. So for one of our recent reading hours, I pulled together a pile of books that all had superhero themes. We read another chapter book, but this one is much shorter and full of illustrations as well, making it possible for us to read the whole thing within our hour as well as a couple short picture books. I’m going to split up my review again so that I can share details about the chapter book in Part 1 and in Part 2 I will share all the picture books we read as well as a few suggestions for other books that we ran out of time for.

Continue reading “Let’s Read Superhero Books, Part 1: The Princess In Black By Hale & Pham” →

Caryn2 Comments

Let’s Read A Pile Of Dragon Books, Part 1

Excuse the somewhat oddball post here. I recently finished leading an after-school class/storytime of sorts in the South Bronx. It was a five week experiment group that was equally exciting and exhausting. It was a test run to see what kind of thing we could come up and what would work. I chose a dragon theme that included a chapter book to read a couple chapters from each week, and also picture books to supplement for a little storytime each week. I want to try and share snapshots of the time as it is about reading, completely took over my time recently, and might tickle the fancy of those dragon lovers out there. In this first part, I’ll tell you about the chapter book we read and the activities we ended up doing around it. In the second part, hopefully coming this week as well, I will share the dragon picture books we read and loved.

Continue reading “Let’s Read A Pile Of Dragon Books, Part 1” →

Caryn8 Comments

Book Review: This is New York By M. Sasek

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and while I’m all about wearing green for any occasion, I’m actually celebrating another special, personal holiday. This marks our year anniversary of living in NYC! Oh, how things have changed in that year. I thought it appropriate to celebrate an old book that still rings true and delights in the city. Originally printed in 1960, M. Sasek’s fabulous look at New York was reprinted in 2003 with some updated statistics. It is a beautiful look at the big and small, up and down, packed amazingness of the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. This is New York by M. Sasek, 1960/2003.

Continue reading “Book Review: This is New York By M. Sasek” →

Caryn1 Comment

Book Review: Kuma-Kuma Chan, The Little Bear By Kazue Takahashi

Have you met Kuma-Kuma Chan yet? We are quite smitten with this little bear and his simple, adorable book. His story was originally published in Japan in 2001, but he has finally made his way over to the U.S. thanks to Museyon. He is a little bear that keeps quite busy and will delight every reader with this charming look at what a day in his life might possibly look like. Meet Kuma-Kuma Chan, The Little Bear by Kazue Takahashi, 2014.

Continue reading “Book Review: Kuma-Kuma Chan, The Little Bear By Kazue Takahashi” →

Caryn7 Comments