*Review* Farty Pants by Eric Geron

 

Genre: Children's 3-7 years

Published: December 19, 2023

Pages: 24

He farts! She farts! We all fart—but why? Combining science and history with humor, Farty Pants explains it all—complete with all-new fun-loving monster illustrations and hidden buttons that trigger ten unique fart sounds.

Were farts always taboo? Did kings and queens fart? Is there a difference between baby and grandpa farts? Learn all of this and more with facts that cover their loudness and speed, as well as how farts work differently in water, space, and beyond! 

Press the buttons to explore a world of fart sounds, including a mummy fart, a musical fart, a baseball fart, and more. Each sound relates to a humorous fact on the same page. You and the kids in your life will have a gas learning crazy fart facts, including:
 

• The average person farts 14 times a day!
• Philosopher Pythagoras believed you could accidentally fart out your soul.
• The longest verified fart was by Bernard Clemmens of London: 2 minutes and 42 seconds!
• Farts can travel at 10 feet per second (over 3 meters per second).

Who knew farts could be so educational? Farty Pants is sure to be a hit with any child who loves to talk about farting (pretty much every kid)!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This didn't feel much like a story, but more of a fact book, but the facts are all about farts. And what little boy or girl wouldn't love a book of fart facts? Because I'm actually a 12 year old boy trapped in the body of a 41 year old woman, I was also rather amused by this book. And I learned some things. 

The illustrations were very colorful, bright and fun, helping to show what the facts were explaining. And for a children's book, you can never go wrong using fun colorful monsters to get your message across. 

Overall I give Farty Pants 4.2967 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Eric Geron is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. 

Based in South London, Dean Gray completed a BA (hons) in Graphic Design at Leeds Art University before working as a creative designer for an illustration agency. He now works as a freelance illustrator bringing life to children's books for publishing clients such as Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Hachette, Quarto, and Macmillan. He has a character-driven approach to his work, is passionate about storytelling and loves creating characters or new worlds that someone can have an emotional connection with. Dean takes a lot of inspiration from watching films, animation, browsing book shops, and travel.

*Review* When Oceans Rise by Robin Alvarez

 

Genre: YA Folklore

Published: May 1, 2024

Pages: 338

Submerged in a toxic relationship and disconnected from everyone, she turns to the sea to decide her fate. Its decision? Toss her to the sea witch.

Malaya is cursed. In her family, every girl’s first love ends in death after falling for someone evil. Good thing Malaya’s dream guy isn’t monstrous.
Except the curse is real and preventing Malaya from noticing how much he has gaslit and isolated her until she can’t be saved. With no other options, the sea witch is the only one to help her.
Bartering her voice for a new life where she and her abusive boyfriend never met, Malaya accidentally swaps places with an alternate timeline version of herself who didn't make her mistakes. As she tries to undo the switch, the sea witch uses Malaya’s voice to unleash Filipino monsters into the worlds.
Can a champion, an alternate timeline sister, and Malaya fight these beasts and stop the sea witch before she destroys both timelines?

I received the audiobook version of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

Early on in this story, I thought that I was getting a Little Mermaid retelling. And although it eventually became clear it's not really that, it still had a similar vibe to it for me. And even though they aren't connected, this story actually made me relate more to King Triton for the first time ever. 

As the parent of a teenage daughter, I really struggled to relate to Malaya and her choices, because so many of them are things I strive to protect my child from. But a part of me does remember being a teenager making questionable choices of my own, so I do understand how she got there. And I was happy when she saw what was going on in her relationship and tried to get away from it. 

I'm not very familiar with Filipino mythology, so that aspect of the story was really intriguing to me. I cannot speak to its accuracy though. 

Overall I give When Oceans Rise 4.0732 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Robin Alvarez is the author of the #1 New Release When Oceans Rise. She is the editor and author of OwlCrate's anthologies: The Darkset Chronicles. Emotive characters, monsters, and a multiracial perspective are hallmarks of her work. While she's spent the majority of her life in beach towns, having almost drowned several times, she currently resides in a desert where the waters are less likely to kill her.Robin's work has been featured on EpicReads, the New Orleans Review, OwlCrate, ABC, NBC, and CBS news affiliates.

*Review* Jake the Growling Dog by Samantha Shannon

 

Genre: Children's 2-8 years

Published: May 19, 2019

Pages: 15

Jake’s voice has a different sound.
Other critters won’t come around.
But he is sweet and only wants to play.
Will others start to see him that way?

Looking for kids books about Feelings, Diversity, Kindness, and Friendship?

Jake the Growling Dog is a fun-loving tale about kindness, acceptance, friendship, and diversity.
Author and licensed school counselor, Samantha Shannon, and Illustrator and art educator, Kerrie Joyce, spotlight Jake, who is different from the other dogs and critters. With a little help and understanding, the others learn to love Jake despite his differences. This timely children's book about feelings, friendship, dogs, kindness, and diversity is packed with tons of fun, while also educating our little ones about friendship and how to be kind to others.

Follow Jake, a sweet, kind, and misunderstood dog as he tries to make friends despite his differences.
Meet forest critters of all kinds while getting to know Jake. Jake loves to swim, hike, and play, but when he realizes he's lonely a true friend comes to his aid. Soon others find friendship and understanding filling this tale with heart and hope.

Interactive, Colorful, and Fun kids book about dogs!

Follow along with Jake's adorable story while enjoying beautiful interactive illustrations. Each spread includes a seek and find and counting activity for the four Kindness Critters, colors to spot and learn, and cute characters to make them giggle.

Includes a loving-kindness and mindfulness activity for families, counselors, and schools

Along with Jake's story, this picture book also includes a loving-kindness activity to promote character education, mindfulness, and gratitude. The activity is for families, schools, and counselors to reduce stress and bring families closer together while encouraging acts of kindness, forgiveness, and gratitude.

A Positive Story to Promote Empathy

Jake's story encourages children to be kind, appreciate nature, find the good in all things with the power of gratitude, and to accept others who are different from them in a subtle, sweet, and impactful way.

Ages and Grades

While many kids ages 6-8 will be able to read this story on their own or with assistance, parents and grandparents will enjoy reading the story to baby, making it the perfect baby shower gift. Pre-teens to adults will also appreciate the illustrations, story, and the kindness activity to do as a family or in schools and counseling offices.

The Perfect Gift

Need a gift for a baby shower or birthday party? Jake the Growling Dog is the perfect gift for the mother-to-be, a child's birthday party, holiday's, and graduations. Plus, the ebook is FREE when you buy a print version.

Social-Emotional Learning Resource for Elementary School & Family Counselors, Social Workers, Elementary Teachers, and Families

Jake's children's book about kindness, friendship, and accepting others offers gentle teachings that has been integrated into multiple school counseling programs in districts across the United States.

An ongoing series with heart and interactive fun for families, kids, and schools!

Don't miss the other books in the Jake's series! Each book will focus on social-emotional topics, include seek and find critters, adorable furry friends, and activities for the whole family.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a story about a dog who growls all the time, and because he is always growling, no one wants to hang out with him so he is really quite lonely. But the most confusing part of that is that he growls even when he's happy, but the other animals don't know that those are happy growls and just assume that he is a very scary dog. Then one day a squirrel helps him to make some friends because she sees that he's not as angry and scary as he seems. 

The story was a good one for teaching that looks can be deceiving. Because Jake looked and sounded angry when he wasn't, and sometimes the people we encounter in the wild also look and sound angry when they're really not. I'd be okay reading this book a few times at least. The illustrations were very colorful and bright. 

Overall I give Jake the Growling Dog 3.6922 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Samantha Shannon is a best-selling author and licensed educational counselor who uses her background in education, love for nature and animals, and experience aiding in the emotional social development of children to create fun and impactful books. Samantha has also published multiple books under her pen name, Parker Sinclair, in the fantasy and YA genres. Visit: parkersinclair.net & jakethegrowlingdog.com for more information or find all books on Amazon and IngramSpark. Samantha's love for creatures great and small has led her to incorporate animals in all of the books, from eagles to cheetahs! Throughout her life, Samantha's family has always included a dog, and they've always been more than pets. They were fur-brothers, sisters, and babies. When Samantha had her first child in 2009, she wanted to write a picture book based on her sister's dog, Jake. While visiting her sister in the Pacific Northwest, Samantha realized that Jake growled all the time. He growled while playing frisbee, getting an ear rub, running, and even when he was sleeping! Despite his unusual choice of noisemaking, Jake is a sweet dog, which makes him the perfect character for a children's picture book. With Samantha's background in educational counseling, Jake's first story includes a character education & loving-kindness activity for families, schools, & counselors. Jake's story speaks to all of us about accepting, and appreciating, the differences in others--both caring attitudes we need in our diverse and beautiful world.

*Review* From the Moon I Watched Her by Emily English Medley

 

Genre: Literary Fiction

Published: January 19, 2021

Pages: 322

Named by BuzzFeed as one of Winter 2021's Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Books and Top 10 New Books To Add To Your Reading List!

It’s hot, Texas, and the year 1977. Jimmy Carter is in office.

The Walters are a good, churchgoing family who stand for holiness, purity, grace, and Christian love. Except when they don't.

Family patriarch and fanatic preacher, Victor Black, knows many things for sure, including the fact that abortion is murder and should be punishable by death—a position he defends live in a televised debate. Black’s youngest granddaughter, Stephanie Walters, sits in the front row wearing her frilly Sunday dress, listening carefully to every word.

But it doesn't take long for cracks to appear in the Walters upstanding family façade. Stephanie's mother, Lily, begins telling unsettling stories about having a baby who died, and her story keeps changing. It’s clear Lily has a secret—one that righteous Victor Black would kill her for if he knew. This family secret burns more than the lies . . .

From the Moon I Watched Her is a coming-of-age tale about the skeletons that lurk under church pews and the little girl who goes looking for and finds them. Amid the dark and quirky terrain of camp revivals, burning crosses, and public shunnings, one child from the Southern Churches of Christ cries out.

I received the audiobook version of this through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

I have read several memoirs lately that focus on different religious groups and the way children tend to face abuse in them. This book felt like those memoirs. It starts when the main character is young and the language and speech patterns make it very clear that she's young. The speech patterns get progressively more refined as the main character ages, which really helped to show that time passage. The narration for this aspect of the story was superb. 

This story mostly makes me mad because Stephanie should have been able to expect her parents to protect her from harm, but their religion made that excessively complicated. I believe aspects of their religion also led to the sexual abuse that was portrayed, although it was far less severe than in some of the memoirs I've read lately. If that is a trigger for you, be warned it exists in some detail in this book. 

Overall I give From the Moon I Watched Her 3.8653 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Emily English Medley, MSN, APRN, FNP-C is a debut author from Houston. She has published several short articles in local newspapers and has one magazine article to her credit. She is a member of The Writers League of Texas and The Houston Writer's Guild.

*Review* Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr by Sara Khan

 

Genre: Children's 5-10 years

Published: February 6, 2024

Pages: 48

Join Raya and her mama and aba as they enjoy iftar, bake Ramadan cookies, do good deeds around their community and visit the mosque.

Raya is celebrating Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with her family and inviting you along to learn more! It’s a time full of fun activities and celebrations, and a great opportunity to get closer to Allah.

Learn about this special time as Raya makes Ramadan mubarak cards for her friends and has her hands decorated with henna!

And when the month of Ramadan is over, Raya, her mama and aba, aunts, uncles and cousins have a magical Eid celebration, playing games, opening presents and eating delicious food.

This bright and engaging picture book is the perfect way to introduce little ones to Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Author Sara Khan brings the celebrations to life, drawing on her own experiences with her daughter, also named Raya! This book also offers fun activities that parents and children can do together in the lead-up to the celebration, such as making a pop-up card and cookies. A fun fact file and colorful quiz follow the story, giving kids the opportunity to learn more about Allah, worship and the lunar calendar.

Part of the Celebrations & Festivals series, you are invited into a family's celebrations as you explore the magic and excitement of religious festivals around the world.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

I unfortunately don't have a good review for this book, because my version of it seemed to be missing most of the story. Like there were boxes where words were clearly supposed to be, but no words. Which is not very helpful for a review copy of a book. There was some great information at the end of the book about Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr that I could read, so I still learned some things from this book, but I didn't get from it what I was supposed to. 

The illustrations were bold, bright, and colorful, and I'm pretty sure I got to see all of them. In spite of the fact that I couldn't read most of the story, I'm still going to rate it 3.7934 out of 5 stars, based on the assumption that the story was as informative as the final few pages that I could read. - Katie 

Amazon

Sara Khan is an international bestselling Author and Art Director of Islamic Board Books for Toddlers and Young Children (Kube Publishing). She is a Linguist and Qualified Translator with a First-class BA (hons) in Linguistics and Arabic as well as a MA in Translation & Interpreting Studies. As part of her undergraduate degree, Sara lived in Amman, Jordan with her husband Naveed, where they spent their time studying Arabic at the University of Jordan Language Centre. Following the birth of her wonderful little girl Raya, Sara decided to build upon her academic career and her own personal experience to help fill the gap which exists when presenting Islam to young children in a way that is suitable for their age group. 

Nadiyah Suyatna is an illustrator and comic artist based in Bandung, Indonesia. She’s passionate about visual storytelling as a medium to tell stories through a different lens. Her work mainly revolves around identities, cultures, and other issues she cares about, wrapped with her personal touch and vibrant colors. 

*Review* Snow Place for Murder by Diane Kelly

 

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Published: October 24, 2023

Pages: 298

The third in the charming and engrossing Mountain Lodge mystery series by Diane Kelly, in Snow Place for Murder, the weather at the Mountaintop Lodge is truly frightful…

International resort developer Nigel Goodwin has traveled all the way from London, England to Misty Murphy’s little corner of North Carolina and bought out the Mountaintop Lodge for the week prior to Christmas. Their intention? To pitch an exclusive new resort concept to wealthy American investors.

But locals are at odds over the idea, and when a group comes to the lodge to express their worries to Mr. Goodwin and the potential investors, a blizzard hits Beech Mountain. Like the weather outside, things quickly get frosty, and Misty has to call local police to intervene. Handyman Rocky Crowder plows the lodge’s drive and, in an attempt to regain a jovial holiday atmosphere, smooths the snow pile into a makeshift sledding hill for the guests to enjoy.

Misty’s boys have finished their exams and are “home” from college for the winter break, planning to spend most of their time snowboarding at the ski resort. While taking a few runs down Rocky’s sledding hill, they discover a funny-looking, nose-shaped rock. Only it’s not a rock. It’s the frozen nose of Nigel Goodwin, who’s found dead and buried under the mound of snow.

Who put the developer on ice and why?

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

When I requested this book, I was just looking for non-romance holiday stories to fill out my 12 Books of Christmas challenge, but the cat on the cover really drew me in. Unfortunately, this is a cozy mystery and I apparently struggle to love cozy mysteries. 

In this story, I can understand why Misty is invested in trying to figure out who killed Nigel Goodwin, because it happened at her hotel. She very clearly has a vested interest in solving the murder, so it doesn't affect her hotel's reputation and reviews. And since she has access to all of the suspects hotel rooms throughout the day...This was at least a plausible set-up for an amateur sleuth to have more success than the detectives.

My problem is that I didn't feel invested in the outcome one way or the other. Nigel was awful and I didn't care that he was dead, so I definitely didn't care if justice was served. 

Overall I give Snow Place for Murder 3.4721 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Diane Kelly is a former state assistant attorney general and tax advisor who spent much of her career fighting, or inadvertently working for, white-collar criminals. She is also a proud graduate of the Citizens Police Academy of Mansfield, Texas. Diane combines her fascination with crime and her love of animals in her stories, which include the Paw Enforcement series, the House-Flipper Mysteries, and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries. Diane now lives in North Carolina, where she spends her days catering to her demanding cats or walking her dogs in the region’s beautiful woods.

*Review* Lucas the Spy Cat by Samantha Shannon

 

Genre: Children's 0-12 years

Published: November 25, 2022

Pages: 45

No one knows where Lucas goes each night,
but we think he might be a superhero or a spy.
What happens when we do some spying of our own?
Will we finally find out what he does away from home?

Lucas is no ordinary cat!

Though the family suspects, they don't truly know where it is their cat Lucas really goes. He walks out the door at night, with a gravely meow "good-bye", and doesn't come home till the morning light. Lucas' family is determined to find out where their cat goes and what he does, so they attach a spy camera to Lucas' collar, hoping to find out the truth about his secret identity.

Mysteries & Capers

Wherever he goes and whatever he does, his family is sure that Lucas and his forest pals are solving mysteries of all shapes and sizes!

Children will love following along with Lucas and his pals as they keep their neighborhood safe a sound. Who will they save next, or what mystery will they solve? The mysteries will be surprising and, best of all, fun! Join the fun as some animals need rescuing, while others need a friend or learn how to dance.

Superheroes and Superfans

Kids will love becoming superfans by picking out their favorite colorful characters in Lucas' first tale, part of the award-winning, Jake the Growling Dog children's picture book series. These superheroes and spies help other forest creatures and neighbors with feats of strength, wit, problem-solving, giving a hand (or paw), and showing kindness to all creatures, great and small.

For the Love of all Critters!

Do you have a little one who loves animals of all kinds? Lucas' books highlight all sorts of animals kids love, including bugs, frogs, snakes, bats, deer, raccoons, opossums, owls, cats, dogs, turtles, and many more! Your children will have a hard time deciding who their favorite is, and they can even create their own in the activity pages.

Looking for Ways to Boost Creativity & Imagination?

Lucas and his friends love telling stories, but they also want their young readers to create their own fun. After the fun-loving story, kids and families will enjoy a hide-and-seek page, making their superhero or spy, learning about ways to encourage creativity and imagination, writing a mystery, and much more! Don't forget to visit jakethegrowlingdog.com for more additional coloring pages and activities.

Beautifully Illustrated

Lucas the Spy Cat lives in a colorful, magical neighborhood where animals help each other save the day. Young readers will enjoy colorful pages full of exciting critters like owls, bats, deer, dogs, cats, snakes, frogs, and more, all in a natural forest setting under the moonlight. Each page is beaming with bright colors, which kids will love.

Perfect Gifts for Home, Classroom, and Offices

Licensed educational counselor and top-selling children's book author Samantha Shannon builds upon her world for Jake the Growling Dog with a new spin-off book for Lucas the Spy Cat. While this fun-loving book is full of humor and colorful capers, it also includes activities and conversation starters that are sure to spark creativity and imagination in your kiddos and students. Perfect for children readers ages 4-10 or Pre-K-5th grade, but babies and toddlers will love the cute, colorful pictures, finding lighten bugs and other hidden critters, and being read this charming story.

(American, children's picture book Author, Samantha Shannon, is not the UK-based, fantasy author, Samantha Shannon).

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a story about a young girl who imagines the hijinks her cat gets up to at night, like cats do, and because she's so curious to see what's really going on, she gets a spy camera and attaches it to his collar. But cats are smart, yo, and he noticed the spy camera right away and blocked all the most important shots, so we still don't really know what he did all night long. Although we have some more concrete suspicions now. 

This was a fun story that sort of rhymed, but the cadence was off at times, and that kind of bugs me. Either rhyme with good cadence, or don't rhyme. Pick one. I did enjoy seeing what Lucas got up to at night, as much as we were allowed to see at least, and being a cat lover, I would absolutely read this book multiple times and probably gaslight children into believing that cats really do this. The illustrations were very fun and whimsical. 

Overall I give Lucas the Spy Cat 3.9579 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Samantha Shannon is a top-selling, American children's book author and licensed educational counselor known for her Jake the Growling Dog picture book series (and not the UK-based fantasy author, Samantha Shannon, of The Bone Season series). Ms. Shannon uses her background in education, love for nature and animals, and experience aiding in the healthy social-emotional development of children to create fun and impactful books.With Samantha's background in educational counseling, Jake's stories focus on fun while also including important socio-emotional and character topics such as: friendship, kindness, mindfulness, diversity & inclusion, gratitude, sharing, disability awareness & loving-kindness and more. Each story includes fun and impactful activities for children, families, schools, & counselors centering on pure childhood fun, the topics touched on in the book, and encouraging creativity and imagination. Jake's stories speak to all of us about accepting, and appreciating, the differences in others--both caring attitudes we need in our diverse and beautiful world.When Samantha had her first child in 2009, she wanted to write a picture book based on her sister's dog, Jake. While visiting her sister in the Pacific Northwest, Samantha realized that Jake growled all the time. He growled while playing frisbee, getting an ear rub, running, and even when he was sleeping! Despite his unusual choice of noisemaking, Jake is a sweet dog, which makes him the perfect character for a children's picture book.Samantha's love for creatures great and small has led her to incorporate animals in all of the books- from eagles to cheetahs! Throughout her life, Samantha's family has always included a dog, and they've always been more than pets. They were fur-brothers, sisters, and babies.