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beccabookshelf's reviews
52 reviews
Best, First and Last by Amy T. Matthews
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
☆ 5 Stars - 9.86 CAWPILE
I think this is a major contender for my top read of 2024, surprisingly since it has to compete with every book I've read so far and it's currently the end of November.
Amy T. Matthews does an incredible job of capturing the differing perspectives of our three generations of women and gives them each a complex personality that has it's own strengths and flaws. These women love each other deeply but aren't without their arguments and secrets, which slowly unfold as they tackle a trek up to Macchu Picchu. At the same time as they physically tackle their hike, they are also battling their own inner struggles with grief, and the highs and lows of both familial and romantic relationships.
Through this book we mostly follow the perspective of Heather, the youngest of our three characters. I found her extremely relatable as a current day woman who acknowledges mental health and the impacts our upraising has on our own habits and relationships.
Her mother Sandra is one of our other main characters though tends to take a backseat in terms of perspective shift, we only see things from her POV once (if I recall correctly) and her role tends to be as a bridge between her daughter and mother and as a source of conflict due to the current state of her affairs. We often reference Sandra in relation to how others see her and reflect on her current situation, rather than actually hearing it from her and really getting to know her character. This wasn't a down fall in my opinion though as I was more interested in Heather and Bonnie's story arcs.
Bonnie is the other character we follow in this book and I was absolutely enthralled with her chapters. Matthew's has captured such a range of characters in what feels like such an authentic way, and reading Bon's perspective really felt like chatting to my grandmother and hearing stories of her life.
I don't want to go too far into the plot to avoid spoilers but this book just made me feel so strongly and I really enjoyed every moment reading it.
This book was given to me as an eARC from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in return for my honest review.
I think this is a major contender for my top read of 2024, surprisingly since it has to compete with every book I've read so far and it's currently the end of November.
Amy T. Matthews does an incredible job of capturing the differing perspectives of our three generations of women and gives them each a complex personality that has it's own strengths and flaws. These women love each other deeply but aren't without their arguments and secrets, which slowly unfold as they tackle a trek up to Macchu Picchu. At the same time as they physically tackle their hike, they are also battling their own inner struggles with grief, and the highs and lows of both familial and romantic relationships.
Through this book we mostly follow the perspective of Heather, the youngest of our three characters. I found her extremely relatable as a current day woman who acknowledges mental health and the impacts our upraising has on our own habits and relationships.
Her mother Sandra is one of our other main characters though tends to take a backseat in terms of perspective shift, we only see things from her POV once (if I recall correctly) and her role tends to be as a bridge between her daughter and mother and as a source of conflict due to the current state of her affairs. We often reference Sandra in relation to how others see her and reflect on her current situation, rather than actually hearing it from her and really getting to know her character. This wasn't a down fall in my opinion though as I was more interested in Heather and Bonnie's story arcs.
Bonnie is the other character we follow in this book and I was absolutely enthralled with her chapters. Matthew's has captured such a range of characters in what feels like such an authentic way, and reading Bon's perspective really felt like chatting to my grandmother and hearing stories of her life.
I don't want to go too far into the plot to avoid spoilers but this book just made me feel so strongly and I really enjoyed every moment reading it.
This book was given to me as an eARC from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in return for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Birtle and the Purple Turtles by Tara J. Hannon, Tara J. Hannon
4.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars
'[It's funny] because you said fuzzy butt, not because you have a fuzzy butt.'
[b:Birtle and the Purple Turtles|176440310|Birtle and the Purple Turtles (Volume 1)|Tara J. Hannon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686494182l/176440310._SY75_.jpg|183064542] was a very cute and silly story that I feel young readers (6+) would enjoy. The story shared positive messages about friendship, differences, and being true to yourself. The topics addressed in this book could easily be used as a starting point for further discussions with children surrounding diversity, and how you don't need to look the same as your friends/family in order to have things in common. The turtle puns and tappies throughout always brought a little smirk to my face as I read. Art style was very cartoony, not my favourite style but I believe children will love it. The mostly purple colour scheme was a great way to compliment and contrast Teeny's orange hue.
Children's Fiction, Graphic Novel
80 pages, 3 chapters
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
'[It's funny] because you said fuzzy butt, not because you have a fuzzy butt.'
[b:Birtle and the Purple Turtles|176440310|Birtle and the Purple Turtles (Volume 1)|Tara J. Hannon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686494182l/176440310._SY75_.jpg|183064542] was a very cute and silly story that I feel young readers (6+) would enjoy. The story shared positive messages about friendship, differences, and being true to yourself. The topics addressed in this book could easily be used as a starting point for further discussions with children surrounding diversity, and how you don't need to look the same as your friends/family in order to have things in common. The turtle puns and tappies throughout always brought a little smirk to my face as I read. Art style was very cartoony, not my favourite style but I believe children will love it. The mostly purple colour scheme was a great way to compliment and contrast Teeny's orange hue.
Children's Fiction, Graphic Novel
80 pages, 3 chapters
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Asha and the Toymaker by Sakshi Mangal
2.0
Asha’s father sells hand crafted wooden toys in order to pay for her to go to school, however he is worried as hasn’t been able to sell as much as he wants to. Asha wants to help her father despite him wanting her to focus on her studies instead. She sneaks into his workshop and uses her paints to decorate his toys so that they are more beautiful than the other toys in the marketplace. At first her father is upset with her, however children soon surround him trying to buy the beautiful toys. He then asks Asha to paint all his toys from now on, as long as her homework is done.
I liked getting a chance to see more of Indian culture through this book, the art is very cute though not my favourite kind of style. We see a range of handcrafted toys such as cars, rocking horses, damaru, lakdi ki kathi, and dolls. There is a diverse range of characters in the artwork, different ages, ethnicities, and abilities. The Blue City is a gorgeous backdrop to this story. I liked the story overall, however I don’t quite love the messages it gives to young children. The idea of utilising your skills to help others is great, however I think her choosing to ignore her father’s wishes and go and paint on his creations in his studio was a poor choice. While reading with a child an adult would need to be talking about making the right choices throughout in order to combat this. Some children would potentially take the message the wrong way and choose to ruin other peoples creations because they thought their idea was better. This might’ve been better if Asha had proposed her idea to her father that he agreed, or she would have convinced him otherwise, rather than go against his wishes.
AGE: 5+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Art, Family,
DETAILS: 40 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I liked getting a chance to see more of Indian culture through this book, the art is very cute though not my favourite kind of style. We see a range of handcrafted toys such as cars, rocking horses, damaru, lakdi ki kathi, and dolls. There is a diverse range of characters in the artwork, different ages, ethnicities, and abilities. The Blue City is a gorgeous backdrop to this story. I liked the story overall, however I don’t quite love the messages it gives to young children. The idea of utilising your skills to help others is great, however I think her choosing to ignore her father’s wishes and go and paint on his creations in his studio was a poor choice. While reading with a child an adult would need to be talking about making the right choices throughout in order to combat this. Some children would potentially take the message the wrong way and choose to ruin other peoples creations because they thought their idea was better. This might’ve been better if Asha had proposed her idea to her father that he agreed, or she would have convinced him otherwise, rather than go against his wishes.
AGE: 5+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Art, Family,
DETAILS: 40 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Chasing Stars by Meg Gaertner, Meg Gaertner
3.0
Chasing Stars is part of Harbor’s Hi-Lo book range, aimed at children 10+ but written at a 7+ reading level. It follows 12 year old Libby through the growing pains of significant changes in her life.
I didn’t really enjoy this book, to me it felt like there was never ending stress in Libby’s life with very little reward or respite between instances to push me to keep reading rather than feel disheartened. The clashing between her and Erica was realistic as siblings, however I would’ve liked to see a few more moments where we would get glimpses of their friendship. Libby was constantly trying to prove how adult she was as she felt like Erica was drifting away from her childhood, and I would’ve liked to have seen some moments where it paid off, such as when babysitting. There was a range of diverse characters within this book however it feels quite forced and almost tokenistic when every character’s ethnicity or sexuality is mentioned. We could have done without the two fathers being mentioned.
Cover is cute, however I don’t like the clashing art style between the hands and the background. The version I received was an eBook ARC, and I was not a fan of how it was presented. Instead of being in a standard format as a regular book, it had two pages crammed into each page and no page breaks for new chapters. This made it quite difficult to read as it was just a giant text block on every page.
AGE: 8+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Middle School, Family, Friendship
DETAILS: 160 Pages, Paperback
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I didn’t really enjoy this book, to me it felt like there was never ending stress in Libby’s life with very little reward or respite between instances to push me to keep reading rather than feel disheartened. The clashing between her and Erica was realistic as siblings, however I would’ve liked to see a few more moments where we would get glimpses of their friendship. Libby was constantly trying to prove how adult she was as she felt like Erica was drifting away from her childhood, and I would’ve liked to have seen some moments where it paid off, such as when babysitting. There was a range of diverse characters within this book however it feels quite forced and almost tokenistic when every character’s ethnicity or sexuality is mentioned. We could have done without the two fathers being mentioned.
Cover is cute, however I don’t like the clashing art style between the hands and the background. The version I received was an eBook ARC, and I was not a fan of how it was presented. Instead of being in a standard format as a regular book, it had two pages crammed into each page and no page breaks for new chapters. This made it quite difficult to read as it was just a giant text block on every page.
AGE: 8+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Middle School, Family, Friendship
DETAILS: 160 Pages, Paperback
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
5.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars
We follow a bear who has lost his hat and wants it back. He is very polite and patient as he asks all of the animals he sees if they have seen his hat. Just when all hope is lost, the bear remembers where he has seen his hat. The story ends with a mischievous twist that leaves children laughing.
It is no surprise to me that this book has a 4.8 star rating on Amazon. This is currently my favourite book to pull out to my preschool class when they seem to be in a bit of a silly mood. Great to read out loud and manages to keep my class of 22 fully engaged, they love that they can pick up when certain characters aren't being honest. Jon Klassen's writing is so deadpan and the illustrations are able to convey so much feeling despite the expressions not really changing at all. I also love the message of telling the truth, as well as helping each other out when we have a problem.
This book would be best suited for an adult to read out loud to children 3+.
Children's Fiction, Picture Book, Comedy
40 pages
We follow a bear who has lost his hat and wants it back. He is very polite and patient as he asks all of the animals he sees if they have seen his hat. Just when all hope is lost, the bear remembers where he has seen his hat. The story ends with a mischievous twist that leaves children laughing.
It is no surprise to me that this book has a 4.8 star rating on Amazon. This is currently my favourite book to pull out to my preschool class when they seem to be in a bit of a silly mood. Great to read out loud and manages to keep my class of 22 fully engaged, they love that they can pick up when certain characters aren't being honest. Jon Klassen's writing is so deadpan and the illustrations are able to convey so much feeling despite the expressions not really changing at all. I also love the message of telling the truth, as well as helping each other out when we have a problem.
This book would be best suited for an adult to read out loud to children 3+.
Children's Fiction, Picture Book, Comedy
40 pages
Beatrice and Barb by Kate Jenks Landry
5.0
‘Taking care of each other is what best friends do’
Beatrice has always wished for a pet of her own to care for, but her mom was against the idea. After discussions, debates and negotiations they finally reached a compromise and Beatrice got Barb, a venus fly trap plant. It wasn’t quite what she wanted, but she made the best of it and tried her best to look after her pet. However Barb didn’t seem to be doing well so Beatrice has to find out how to keep her pet happy.
The illustration in this book is GORGEOUS! I love the lineless art style and gouache effect, Vivian Mineker has definitely gained a follower after this. I really liked the writing in this book and how Beatrice was so dedicated to looking after her pet even though it wasn’t quite the pet she originally wanted. I also liked how the characters featured in this story were all diverse, we can see a range of ethnicities and abilities in the people that Beatrice interacts with. Of course it is a bit unrealistic that someone would take a plant to a veterinarian, however I don’t think that’s a real negative at all to the story. When I read it out to my children (4 and 5) they laughed when I asked them if plants go to the vet and told me ‘No that’s for animals!’ So I actually really enjoyed that moment. I also like how this book shows how Beatrice then changed up her tactic when caring for Barb following Millicent’s instructions. Overall this book was really sweet and fun and a great way to introduce children to the different ways we can care for plants.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Nature, Friendship
DETAILS: 32 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Beatrice has always wished for a pet of her own to care for, but her mom was against the idea. After discussions, debates and negotiations they finally reached a compromise and Beatrice got Barb, a venus fly trap plant. It wasn’t quite what she wanted, but she made the best of it and tried her best to look after her pet. However Barb didn’t seem to be doing well so Beatrice has to find out how to keep her pet happy.
The illustration in this book is GORGEOUS! I love the lineless art style and gouache effect, Vivian Mineker has definitely gained a follower after this. I really liked the writing in this book and how Beatrice was so dedicated to looking after her pet even though it wasn’t quite the pet she originally wanted. I also liked how the characters featured in this story were all diverse, we can see a range of ethnicities and abilities in the people that Beatrice interacts with. Of course it is a bit unrealistic that someone would take a plant to a veterinarian, however I don’t think that’s a real negative at all to the story. When I read it out to my children (4 and 5) they laughed when I asked them if plants go to the vet and told me ‘No that’s for animals!’ So I actually really enjoyed that moment. I also like how this book shows how Beatrice then changed up her tactic when caring for Barb following Millicent’s instructions. Overall this book was really sweet and fun and a great way to introduce children to the different ways we can care for plants.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Nature, Friendship
DETAILS: 32 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Other Words for Nonno by Dave Cameron
4.0
‘Away we go, into the green to get to the blue!’
Jill and her Nonno love to play their word game on their weekly walks to the beach and into town. However one day Nonno doesn’t play along and Jill is concerned that he is running out of words, her mother says that sometimes Nonno can’t find the words he is looking for. Jill then attempts to assist Nonno so that he can find all of the words he might need along their walk.
This book was soft and sweet, I liked how the style of watercolour used in the illustration reflected that. The book gently touches on the idea of memory loss as people get older, this could be a good book to read to young children who may have elderly family members experiencing similar. I will say though that it is a VERY gentle touch on the topic, so most of the teaching/explaining would fall onto the adult reading the book. I loved how Jill came up with the idea of labelling their favourite items around town, to help her Nonno if he had another day where he forgot his words.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Social/Emotional, Families,
DETAILS: 32 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Jill and her Nonno love to play their word game on their weekly walks to the beach and into town. However one day Nonno doesn’t play along and Jill is concerned that he is running out of words, her mother says that sometimes Nonno can’t find the words he is looking for. Jill then attempts to assist Nonno so that he can find all of the words he might need along their walk.
This book was soft and sweet, I liked how the style of watercolour used in the illustration reflected that. The book gently touches on the idea of memory loss as people get older, this could be a good book to read to young children who may have elderly family members experiencing similar. I will say though that it is a VERY gentle touch on the topic, so most of the teaching/explaining would fall onto the adult reading the book. I loved how Jill came up with the idea of labelling their favourite items around town, to help her Nonno if he had another day where he forgot his words.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Fiction, Social/Emotional, Families,
DETAILS: 32 Pages, Picture Book
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Flooded by Mariajo Illustrajo
5.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars
In this story water is slowly flooding the city. At first all the animals go on with their lives, however as the water level rises it becomes a problem for the smaller creatures. Most of the larger animals don't really pay attention to the problem as it isn't really affecting them. Soon enough the city becomes so flooded that it can't be ignored, so all the animals must work together to pull the plug and drain the city.
I just want to say how absolutely beautiful this book is! The illustrations are just impeccable, it has quite a sketchy art style with everything being in greyscale apart from the almost watercolour-esque blue of the water and the bold yellow of our main character's tail. This bright yellow can be used to track our protagonist throughout the pages as some scenes can get quite chaotic with lots of animals everywhere. I like how the book highlights that the same problem can have a different effect on different people/animals, and how it is important to keep an eye out for each other and work together to solve a problem before it grows out of hand.
I cannot wait to get myself a hard copy so I can read it out to my preschool class, with conversations to follow on our topics of caring for others, diversity, problem solving, as well as climate change and caring for our environment. This book is such a great starting off point for many different conversation topics for children.
This book would be best suited for an adult to read out loud to children 3+.
Children's Fiction, Science, Outdoors & Nature, Picture Book
40 pages
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
In this story water is slowly flooding the city. At first all the animals go on with their lives, however as the water level rises it becomes a problem for the smaller creatures. Most of the larger animals don't really pay attention to the problem as it isn't really affecting them. Soon enough the city becomes so flooded that it can't be ignored, so all the animals must work together to pull the plug and drain the city.
I just want to say how absolutely beautiful this book is! The illustrations are just impeccable, it has quite a sketchy art style with everything being in greyscale apart from the almost watercolour-esque blue of the water and the bold yellow of our main character's tail. This bright yellow can be used to track our protagonist throughout the pages as some scenes can get quite chaotic with lots of animals everywhere. I like how the book highlights that the same problem can have a different effect on different people/animals, and how it is important to keep an eye out for each other and work together to solve a problem before it grows out of hand.
I cannot wait to get myself a hard copy so I can read it out to my preschool class, with conversations to follow on our topics of caring for others, diversity, problem solving, as well as climate change and caring for our environment. This book is such a great starting off point for many different conversation topics for children.
This book would be best suited for an adult to read out loud to children 3+.
Children's Fiction, Science, Outdoors & Nature, Picture Book
40 pages
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Backpack Explorer: Discovering Plants and Flowers: What Will You Find? by Editors of Storey Publishing, Editors Of Storey Publishing
4.0
This book is a great addition to any nature walks with young children. The facts within this book are age appropriate for children 6+, though this book would still be great for children younger than that. The activities throughout are very creative and seem easy to replicate for parents or educators.
The sticker pages in the back and the task to stick it on the pages when you find that plant is an amazing idea, a great way to reward children for focusing on what they are seeing in their environments. I'm sure the satisfaction of completing all the patches will keep children excited and motivated to go for more nature walks to find more.
This is my first experience with a Backpack Explorer book and I'm very keen to check out more of their work.
In the proof version that I have read there were quite a few visual errors or watermarks that were quite distracting when trying to read, however I believe this will be rectified in the final version.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Nonfiction, Nature, Field Guide, Activity Book
DETAILS: 48 Pages, Childrens
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The sticker pages in the back and the task to stick it on the pages when you find that plant is an amazing idea, a great way to reward children for focusing on what they are seeing in their environments. I'm sure the satisfaction of completing all the patches will keep children excited and motivated to go for more nature walks to find more.
This is my first experience with a Backpack Explorer book and I'm very keen to check out more of their work.
In the proof version that I have read there were quite a few visual errors or watermarks that were quite distracting when trying to read, however I believe this will be rectified in the final version.
AGE: 3+
GENRE: Children’s Nonfiction, Nature, Field Guide, Activity Book
DETAILS: 48 Pages, Childrens
I received this as an eBook through NetGalley in return for an honest review.