necessaryfictions's reviews
243 reviews

The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens, Susan Stevens Crummel

that fox should be subpoenaed

Dalia Explores the Haitian Creole Alphabet by Justine A. P. Louis

3.75

helpful in trying to get pronunciations down :) and i like the character designs, great hair

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

though as i've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.

Islandborn by Junot Díaz

you might not remember the island but it remembers you.

Out of the Shadows: How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairytale Movie by Fiona Robinson

5.0

this book feels like cinema. amazing looking, informative and beautiful prose, great backmatter. just masterful

The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci

but when he saw that he could not change clement's mind, he clasped his friend's hand and agreed to go. they were so close that the happiness of one was the happiness of both.

loved the backmatter tracing the roots of this folk tale and the archetypes/events in it and how they differ or align!

The Girl Who Built an Ocean: An Artist, an Argonaut, and the True Story of the World's First Aquarium by Jess Keating, Michelle Mee Nutter

informative

what a cool story! the writing is a bit poetic which i like.  there are so many women who were pioneers who spent their whole lives with little recognition for their passion and brilliance...  i didn't know exactly what an argonaut was before this, what a creature... 

these illustrations are so beautiful and colorful and capture the ocean and its creatures so well!

The Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis

i really have a low tolerance for fathers bc this one was pissing me off lol. very prettily illustrated! and some interesting insight on what the ending of the era of negro leagues was like. i love you young black musicians :)

Jacob's Missing Book by Ian Hoffman, Sarah Hoffman

4.25

i really appreciate how emotionally intelligent all the jacob books are. the little human moment like ms reeves struggling for a moment with how to explain book banning to kids, jacob putting his hand in emily's, the kids arguing against carrots as dessert, the whole playground joining in on acting out and tango makes three, allowing it to still live in their school despite it all. just lovely! and it makes me happy that jacob loving dresses just continues to be a part of his style, present always but without attention called to it. it's just normal! i love these books :)

A Tulip in Winter: A Story about Maud Lewis by Kathy Stinson

4.0

maud was looking past what was hard, seeing what was good and beautiful, as she had all her life - and would until the end.

so small was maud that she was buried in a child's coffin.

so small was her house that it is now nestled inside the art gallery of nova scotia.

but the effect of the joyous art this little one-of-a-kind woman created in the little one-of-a-kind house by the highway?

enormous!