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What a great book to introduce kids to technology and show them how to use tools, batteries and a little bit of extra help from adults. I loved that there were a girl and a boy working together cooperatively, and that they were both resourceful, actively building, and problem solving. Some extra humor and beautiful illustrations make this book a 5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and QEB for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-12-03
This book tried hard to be about inclusion, openness, kindness and ecology, but fell many times along the way.
For example, they say: “No Matter what you believe, whether a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Jew, living peacefully - cross my heart - is up to you.” By only citing the 4 religions that they know of, the author excluded many religions. In this case, it would have been more tolerant and inclusive to remove the examples.
On another occasion, they say “Be proud of who you stand beside, love is love, don't ever hide”. Well, it is way more complicated than that, and in many regions of the world, it is not safe to simply ‘never hide'.
Overall, it felt that the author didn't have a clear understanding of the world, and showed sign of judgment where they were trying to be supportive.
Thank you NetGalley and Golden Brick Road Publishing House for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-12-03
This was a great book! Hector loves being home and enjoying his familiar routine. When his friend invites him to go play in the snow, his first reaction is to be excited, but then the worries crumple in and he needs to cancel. One day, he decides to be brave enough to attempt a special event and learns that by enjoying himself with his friends, his worries little by little go away. The illustrations are charming and the text is well narrated. I highly recommend it!
Thank you NetGalley and the American Psychological Association for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-12-06
Le Journal d'un fou, Le Manteau et autres nouvelles
Le Manteau - 3.5 stars
The story of a bureaucrat happy with his life. Pushed by social norms and bullies, he decides to order a new coat, even if it would mean enduring privations for months. But then, you know it's not going to end well, it's a Russian novella. And the tragedy rolls bigger and deeper, until it becomes pure fantasy. I love the novella all the way until the party. And then I stopped reading, only savoring the quality of the writing. But I knew I had to finish it. And this was when the story went dark. I didn't like this part as much. And the ghost part left me quite indifferent, and I was starting to fall asleep.
Remarkably read in French by René Depasse.
Read and reviewed: 2020-11-20
I LOVED this book! It was packed with informations about birds, brilliantly illustrated with lively collages and overall a lot of fun with the close-up looks at the birds. I also loved that it is a very dynamic book that makes the kid feels involved through questions: “What bird has a beak like that?”, “What bird has legs like this?”... I would highly recommend it for any kids interested in nature and birds.
Thank you NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-01
This book tells the story of a girl who is afraid to fall asleep and to face her fears. Soon, her friend “sleep” will reassure her and be by her side in her dreams, wether to eat a mountain of ice-cream, or to face the scary big monsters. The plot is great, the illustrations are charming, but the narration falls in some way. I didn't know what to think of this friendly dragon who carries them for ride, but then drop them off in a cave where lives a scary monster. Initiation journey?
I noticed that the story uses many complicated word that a young children most likely won't know: flits, slumber, bursting, scrumptious, glint, glisten, dewy, swerving, peep, peer, darts... It is also a relatively scary book for younger children, so it might be for age 5-6+.
Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-02
When I was a teen, I started a summer program that invited me to count all the different kinds of butterflies that live in my garden Year after year, many were disappearing and it was such a joy to spot some rare one. This book reminds me of this scientific tradition. Counting Birds is a fascinating book about the Audubon Christmas Count, an annual scientific project that invites people from all over the world to count as many birds as possible on Christmas Day. All begin with Frank Chapman, an self-made ornithologist, who decided to replace the famous ‘Christmas bird hunting' by a ‘Christmas bird counting'. He was inspired by the oh so famous ornithologist John Audubon, and later used his name for this annual bird counting.
I enjoyed the colorful and accurate collage art style, and I especially loved when the author introduces different types of birds one by one. What a great idea to include an invitation to become of ‘birder', someone helping to count bird, or to become a member of one of many other organizations that work on the preservation of birds! From beginning to end, this is a very well crafted book!
Thank you NetGalley and Seagrass Press for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-04
This book helps children develop healthy communication patterns, improve their self-care and affects how they express and balance their emotions.
Unfortunately, the text needs a lot of editing in order to be clear, accessible and fluid, which it often lacks. Each skill level is introduced by a short story about two brothers. It was a deep mistake to not include a girl.
After each story, the author introduces two questions to open a dialogue between parents and children. It is a good idea, but instead of choosing closed questions (answered by Yes or No), I would have recommended using open-ended question, which invite people to open up more effectively.
My biggest complain about this book is the quality of the illustrations. They portrays characters in rigid and unnatural postures and are overall of extremely poor quality.
Thank you NetGalley and BookLogix for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-12-06
Cette bande-dessinée est une mine d'informations pour ceux qui veulent en savoir plus sur l'écologie, l'agriculture verte, diversifiée et sans pesticide, et plus généralement sur le cycle de vie des plantes et organismes vivants.
Les explications sont denses mais s'efforcent d'être claires et compréhensibles.
Malheureusement, les textes et illustrations sont vulgaires, potaches, et mêmes racistes. L'unique champignon noir qui appairait dans la BD est représenté avec une grosse chaîne en or et frappant au visage un intrus en lui disant “dégage !”.
Le contenu de cette BD s'inspire librement de l'ouvrage “Le Bio grow book”, si vous voulez en savoir plus sur ce sujet.
Thank you NetGalley and Mama Éditions for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2019-12-14
When I first saw that this book was about learning colors in French, I was super excited! I am a native French speaker and it always interesting to see how languages are taught in different ways. What a chock and what a surprise when I opened this book.
1. - The illustrations only depict extremely skinny women as a fashion models. There's absolutely no diversity.
2. - The french-english translations are full of mistakes. “Multicolors” should be spelled “multicouleurs” in French (and not multi colour) ; “Polka Dots” should be “à pois” or “à pois Polka” (and not polka dots).
3. - The size of the English word versus the french word is just ridiculous. The English word is bold and easy to read, while the French word is tiny, in italic and in parenthesis. There is no way it can be used as a learning tool.
4 - On each specific color-page, there are many different colors, and the portrayed color is not always clear to me.
In the end, I feel like it is a book about displaying a very talented fashion designer's art, but not at all a learning book for kids.
Thank you NetGalley and Schiffer Kids for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-30
Finished tome 1. Omg it was so romantic! And the illustrations! But the part at the boys' dorm was not as interested, that's why 4.5 instead of 5.
Chapter 1-2: The illustrations are gorgeous ! So, it's about a family of vampires in the 19th century in England. We follow the lives of Marybelle, of pure beauty and delicate complexion, and her brother Edgar, with his dark and cold blue eyes, very protective of her. They have both been adopted by their parents, immortal as well. They grow roses in the village of Poe. The first main characters falls in love with Marybelle, grows old and probably dies, and then we switch to another man character, who accidentally shot Marybelle, mistaken to be a deer. She heals and Edgar draws energy from the main character to restore Maybelle's energy. So far, very interesting! Beautiful writing, stunning illustrations.
Read and reviewed: 2022-05-13
It is not easy to rate this book. It's important to have books about bullies and prejudice at school but I feel like this one is too abstract and too hard to read for children. The book is composed of two different kinds of texts: a short and easy-to-read part with dynamic questions to the reader, and a very dense and abstract part uses to define complex words that is too hard for children to understand.
I didn't feel like the rhythm of the book was well structured either. A kid is bullied at school, and the discussion about what to do only comes in the final pages of the book. It is also not easy for kids to understand words like ‘prejudice', ‘harassment', ‘ageism', even if their are explained.
There is an interview in one column of Sophie Kamlish. I feel that instead of saying “she inspired one of our characters from the book”, it would have been easier for kids to simply put a drawing of her next to the interview. It is not easy for kids or for adults to remember which person they are talking about.
Overall, I feel like the book needs to be more straightforward to deliver answers about what is bullying/prejudice, what to do when you notice it, what to do when you suffer from it, and how to practice being more tolerant to people different from us. The book also really needs to simplify its definition, which are more at the level of a high school student right now.
I appreciated the diversity in the photography, portraying children with disabilities, children of colors, and same-sex parents.
Thank you NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-05
Everyday after school, Max plays hide-and-seek, his favorite game with his friends. One day, as he is hiding in the bushes, he gets stung by several bees. Completely panicked, he decides from this day on to never ever again play outside with his friends, even when Max's friends invite him over the following days. Max is way too worried to even consider stepping outside. Little by little, he starts isolating himself, even riding on the school bus alone...
One day, Max and his brother have a conversation, and Max realizes that he is not the only one to have fears! His brother teaches him a nice trick: whenever Max worries, he has to reminds himself of a special power: “The ABC worry free”. A stands for Acceptance, to recognize and accept that Max is afraid of bees ; B stands for breathing, to take the time to breathe in and out slowly, just like when you smell a very delicious pizza ; and C stands for Change, to think about all the positive things Max could experience, instead of all the bad things that could happen.
Max loves “The ABC worries free”! He promises his brother to practice it on his own, so that when time comes, he will be ready! And not long after that, as he was relaxing in his room, he suddenly hears the sound of a bee... just next to him! After running to hide and protect himself, he remembers that it is ok to be afraid, then takes 3 longs breathes in and out, and finally stands tall and open the window to free the bee! On the final pages, we see Max running outside to play hide-and-seek with his friends, finally free from his worries.
What a great story! What a useful book to teach kids how to manage their anxiety, and to remind them that it's ok to worry something, and that there are ways to help them feel better.
Thank you NetGalley and the National Center for Youth Issues for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-04
I am going to mostly review this book as I reviewed “A Tale of Two Mommies” by Vanita Oelschlager, as she wrote the same book twice.
I wish I could have loved this book, as it is so important to have more and more books featuring queer families. Instead, I was deeply disappointed by this book.
This book is all about the hetero-normative way of thinking of what a ‘women' does and what a ‘man' does, and applies it to a same-sex family. Straight people need to feel reassured by putting things into a box, with questions like: “which dad teaches you how to bike, which dad watches movies with you, which dad puts a bandage on you when you're hurt...“
This is not how kids behave!! Kids simply don't care about those questions! They may ask one of those questions, but not continuously for 24 pages! They would have changed topic a long time ago and would have simply played at the beach, like kids play at the beach and parents watch over them.
Thank you NetGalley and VanitaBooks, LLC for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-05
A clear, comprehensive and extensive list of terms related to gender and sexuality. Up to date and well explained. Also includes definitions related to ableism, autism, privileges and divers political institutions.
Thank you NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-04
It's not easy to review this book. I feel that it misses a beginning, an introduction to the different characters, before we stumbled into the first dialogues.
On the first page, the dialogue starts with “See, anemones are so beautiful”. Then the Octopus asked the Fish: “What do you think is the most beautiful?”. At this point, I swipe left, thinking I missed a page, but it really was the first page of the book. I was confused –what does the octopus means by the most beautiful? Of plants? Of the things around him? Then, as I kept turning the pages, I started getting more informations about the questions asked, and overall the theme of the book, which was “what is the most beautiful thing in the ocean?”
Finishing the book, I realized that it was a book about listening to your friends, opening your mind with what other think is beautiful, and enjoying beauty together. What didn't work is that there was a hierarchy on the idea of what one finds beautiful. I didn't feel like watching a sunset together had to necessarily be the most beautiful thing for all animals. I feel like it disregarded each animal's way of enjoying beauty, wether on their own or together, and introduced hierarchy when it didn't have to be.
There are better books to explore the idea of being together, helping each other, and enjoying people's company, but they don't feel enigmatic at first and then hierarchical in the end, like in this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-02
This was a sweet story about a boy who loves his grandfather so much that one day, he decides to escape with him from the retirement home and take the bus to his favorite place, the beautiful Blossom Valley, where he first kissed and proposed to his wife. Accompanied by Miss Schneider, a dance teacher, they will have a formidable adventure of a day, sometimes fighting against Alzheimer and dementia, but mostly enjoying the pleasure of lying down in the grass, before going back home safely, their mind and their hearts full of treasured memories.
This was a full children's story translated form German, illustrated with very colorful, warm, and funny drawings.
Thank you NetGalley and Plough Publishing House for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-06
C'est un livre émouvant dans lequel Marc-Olivier Fogiel parle de sa décision avec son mari François de fonder une famille à l'aide de la GPA (Gestation pour Autrui). J'étais familière de ce terme, mais je n'en avais pas une image positive, et je souhaitais en apprendre plus. Aujourd'hui, après avoir lu ce livre, et avoir regardé des documentaires sur les femmes porteuses aux Etats-Unis, j'ai une vision plus positive et plus nuancée de la GPA. Ce livre est personnel, touchant, bien écrit, divers quant aux personnes interviewées et enrichissant. Fogiel explique en grand détails toutes les étapes de la GPA, avant accouchement, puis après, notamment toutes les étapes pour faire reconnaître l'enfant à ses parents. Ce livre est également un formidable résumé politique des lois autour des droits aux personnes françaises LGTQIA+. J'ai appris énormément et je vois le monde différemment aujourd'hui. J'ai lu ce livre d'une traire en une journée, et je le recommanderais à quiconque intéressé par ces sujets.
Thank you NetGalley and Grasset for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-02
Terrible! The princesses get eaten or kidnapped one at a time, or just follow a perfect
This is the true story of Jacques Plante, one of the most famous Canadian hockey player, who revolutionized this sport by introducing a safety helmet for players. I've never heard of him before, and I know close to nothing about hockey, but still, his biography is very didactic and entertaining. The text is very well written and the illustrations are charming. I would recommend it to any kid interested in sports or inventions.
Thank you NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-06