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bigbeardedbookseller's reviews
579 reviews
Basil Dreams Big by Lu Fraser
5.0
This was another one I had to ask for through Publisher News as soon as I saw the cover, and I had already read and loved Mavis the Bravest and One Camel Called Doug, both of which were by the partnership of Lu Fraser and Sarah Warburton.
So with hopes high and a brief flick through where I completely fell in love with Basil I spent a while reading and rereading this, exploring all the pictures and finding Basil really cute and perfect as a character. I think I read it about four times and then just spent ages looking at all the pictures it is so good.
The rhyming scheme is nice and loose but is still there adding a structure to the story, making it a breeze to speak out loud.
Basil is a fruit bat who is lacking confidence in his ability to fly like the rest of the bats, no matter how much he tries PLOP! he falls to the ground and feels that nothing can help him.
But a huge storm comes along and Basil has to show bravery and resolve to help his best friend during this and overcome his fears and lack of confidence.
A beautiful story about friendship and confidence shown in both words and picture, watch out for a very determined Basil with his tongue sticking out, so so sweet!
Looking forward to trying this out in a story time!
I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.
How to be a Viking by Cressida Cowell
4.0
This is the first ever How To Train Your Dragon book, featuring Hiccup and Stoick the Vast.
Full of great illustrations that really get the feel of the book across strongly, and made me want to re-read How To Train Your Dragon as it’s been a very long time, long before I started reviewing.
One of my favourites was when Hiccup went paddling in the sea and the fish were sticking their tongues out at him.
Always thought there was a Thor/Loki thing going on with Stoick and Old Wrinkly but also a bit of Ragnar/Floki and the pictures here really reinforce both for me.
This is a lovely story all about how Hiccup is full of worry and fears all the way through the book, all of which are belittled by his father as impossible fears as Hiccup is a Viking!
There are songs, whales, crabs, storms, and a young Viking finding his own way through his feelings and fears and saving everyone else in the end, and Stoick admitting that sometimes Vikings get scared.
I received this from Hachette Children’s Group in exchange for an honest review.
Full of great illustrations that really get the feel of the book across strongly, and made me want to re-read How To Train Your Dragon as it’s been a very long time, long before I started reviewing.
One of my favourites was when Hiccup went paddling in the sea and the fish were sticking their tongues out at him.
Always thought there was a Thor/Loki thing going on with Stoick and Old Wrinkly but also a bit of Ragnar/Floki and the pictures here really reinforce both for me.
This is a lovely story all about how Hiccup is full of worry and fears all the way through the book, all of which are belittled by his father as impossible fears as Hiccup is a Viking!
There are songs, whales, crabs, storms, and a young Viking finding his own way through his feelings and fears and saving everyone else in the end, and Stoick admitting that sometimes Vikings get scared.
I received this from Hachette Children’s Group in exchange for an honest review.
Where is the Cat? by Eva Eland
4.0
Cat has a lovely life, playing with his friends, sleeping, having enough to eat, and having lovely times in gentle conversations.
But sometimes there is Suzy.
Suzy is a normal, boisterous toddler and has all the energy of one.
This is not to Cat’s liking.
A lovely little book full of energy which has got great reactions at story time, mainly because the children love playing the game of hide-and-seek looking for where Cat is on the page.
What we find out very clearly is that Cat lives their life very much on their own terms.
Colourful and fun, full of little bits to point out and lots of energy, another story time favourite.
Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien
5.0
I was immediately drawn to this by the cover designed and drawn by Ayesha L. Rubio, I’ve always been a sucker for Red Riding Hood tales and I love seeing how people handle them.
This is Beth O’Brien’s debut, and what a debut it is, confident and strong, full of beautiful magic, wolves, and reasons why the patriarchy sucks.
Red lives in a village surrounded by a forest, one no one really goes in any longer as the wolves have turned from the hunted to the hunters and any man or boy who goes in the woods is killed.
Though women and girls are left unharmed they aren’t allowed to go in the woods either, this is done to control by the men who resent their freedoms and want to curtail them as much as possible.
I really don’t want to give too much of the story away as the twists and turns are wonderful as they unfold, there are secrets all around, jealousies, entrenched power, magic, wolves, and lots of changes. This keeps you powering through as you are desperate for the next revelation.
But the woods are full of magic, trees that can help or hinder, wolves with secrets, women who’ve been exiled for their craft, and a story that needs to be told to balance out the narrative told by the men in the village.
This is one of the best books I’ve read that talks normally about menstruation in girls and this is a key part of the storyline, this change in a woman’s is used really well in the story, again not going to give why away…
The main character being visually impaired was done so sympathetically and honestly and the acceptance of this by others around her was really strong, there was also a moment of signing in the book which was just part of the story which really worked for me.
Altogether this was one of the strongest middle grade debut’s I’ve read for a while and now I really want to read what comes next from Beth O’Brien
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ghost Town: A Graphic Novel by Eric Colossal
4.0
Loved the palette and energy throughout this graphic novel, never slowed down and was completely supported by a palette that changed with the mood and energy of each episode.
Set in the town of Crater (which is old and falling to pieces, nothing ever changes) during the Summer that Lily has to move, going to a new town and a new school away from her friends and everything she has ever known, and she doesn’t want this change, not at all.
At the start of the vacation there is an angry baseball incident which resolves itself with them having to go into a creepy house, and of course in that house is where they discover that ghosts are real!
Also within that house they find the means of trapping the ghosts, phew! Let the fun begin.
Lily and her friends spend the next few weeks catching ghosts and figuring out Crater’s secrets.
A great ghostbusting adventure on pushbikes for all ages, lots about accepting change and trusting friendships.
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.