librarianryan's reviews
6629 reviews

 This feels like two books smashed into one. Most of the first half is an introduction to different animal characters on their way to school. There is a distinct format and pacing to the first half of the book. Even the artwork is distinct. The pages are mainly white. The character is a sketch and color. However, the last pages are full color. In end all the critters are in the classroom adding and mixing  together. Everything about this feels like two different books. One feels like the first book where they’re all on their way to school and the second book is what happens when they get to school. Except there’s nothing in between the two. It needs a break. It needs to end. I do like the artwork but going from the stark white to the full color is a choice. Also the font size changes between the first half and the second half. And the font size changes because the words almost quadruple from the first half of the book to the second. I like the first half of this book. The first half of this book is a great book. The second half is too wordy. Extremely repetitive. To say the red ladybug and the orange butterfly mix their red and orange color. It is repetitive and almost makes you want to stop reading. 

 Little fly wants to go to space. They aren’t the best student, but they always try and one day accidentally get their wish. This book was nice. It wasn’t spectacular. It feels amateurish. Like a story a student would write as they are honing their craft. It’s not bad and there will be the kids that like it. The artwork is fine. Some of it I really like, some of it’s not my favorite. And often times it feels like multiple styles done by multiple are illustrators. There is a reader for this book. It just doesn’t happen to be me. 

 Five stars. This author reimagined Humpty Dumpty in such a creative way. We meet Humpty, friends Jack and Jill, Little Miss Moffett, etc. And he has a great fall, but he doesn’t crack. The way the author integrates the other nursery rhyme characters and changes up the story works so well. Plus the illustrations are sublime. They are a perfect match to this fun fall book. 

 I’m a little surprised because normally I love this author’s books. This is about Angie and everything they can do in their various types of shoes. The story tries to rhyme and it tries to have a cadence. Notice the word tries. I don’t know if it’s the word choices or the various type sets that make this hard to read. A cadence is a flow. Rhymes work better when there’s a flow. And there is something in this that keeps interrupting the flow. Then at the end, you have a separate poem, called Angie’s secret that has the same problems as the rest of the story. I like the idea and the lesson behind this book and I enjoy the artwork quite well, but overall this would not be a book I would put in my library. 

 t’s great to see books about women inventors. Most women’s inventions especially 100 years ago were often credited to men. In this, we had a woman who was tired of spending hours at the sink and tired of her dishes, chipping, and scratching. Through trials and tribulation, she came up with a machine, patented it, and made sure that hotels. schools, etc. could have a faster way to do dishwashing. Unfortunately, Josephine passed away before dishwasher came into being in most households, but she probably would have been proud of how far her machine has come. 

 This is a fun grade school book. It teaches the basics of how algorithms and computers work. It uses the idea of explaining it to a parent to make it fun. This book does a fantastic job of teaching the beginning of coding and how to think like a computer. The illustrations are bright and colorful and go well with the book. Spiro is known for her science books for kids of all ages and this is another great book in a great series. 

 It should surprise no one that Dolly Parton can write an amazing children’s book. This book is about a dog wanting to make music and finding their way in Nashville. But some other dogs are bullies and it’s up to Billy to help save the dayIt was written by Dolly and you can tell. She is amazing and so is everything she puts her hands on. 

 This book is well done. It’s a nice read. The sad part is I think it’s mostly autobiographical. Tori Spelling was raised by one of the richest men in media and had everything she could want but nothing she did want. I have unfortunately watched things happen in her life due to media that while this book is lovely it makes me incredibly sad for her. 

 The Corduroy books were in good hands with Viola Davis. You can tell a little difference between the original creator and Viola Davis, but she gets to the heart of this beloved character. Altogether the book works the illustrations are fantastic and it’s all very nostalgic. The story is a little long for my taste, but it mixes in with the Corduroy of old. 

 My own little Desi and I had lots of fun with this. Between reading and talking about the characters and blowing the bad thoughts away this book just works. And even better for a celebrity picture book this sounds like Eva Mendez and sounds like a book kids would want to read more than once.