Follow along as two sisters go through a day of making messes into special memories. The rhyming text will keep little ears perked up and the creative ways to turn potentially negative situations upside down will inspire adults.
“Living in isolation with a robot on what appears to be an alien world populated with bizarre life forms, a twelve-year-old human girl called Eva Nine sets out on a journey to find others like her.”
This book is an awesome adventure for fans of science fiction and fantasy. It feels like some classic stories, while also being very much its own thing. I really enjoyed Eva Nine as a heroine – she was very resourceful, intelligent, and kind. Her relationship with her robot mother surprised me by becoming one of my favorite parts of the story! The world itself is super cool, with wandering forests, behemoth monsters, and interesting aliens. There was a very good balance between action and heart. Plus, the physical book includes many illustrations from the author himself. I think it’s fascinating to see how authors visualize their own work, so these really added to the experience for me. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure story.
Salt, Pepper, Season, Spice: All the Flavors of the World by Jacques Pasquet
Recommended by Mrs. Murphy, best for ages 8+
Do you have a good supply of Black Gold at home? I have lots in my spice rack. Pepper earned the name Black Gold when it arrived in Europe in the 15th century. That is just one of many morsels in this book about 11 tasty flavors from around the world. The book introduces the origins, significance and uses of foods like salt, pepper, mustard and chocolate. It is organized so that you can sample the parts that look interesting to you. Buen provecho!
Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games by Steenz and Samuel Sattin
Recommended by Becky, best for ages 9+
Whether or not you are a fan of RPGs or know how to play one, you will enjoy this non-fiction graphic novel. The illustrations will get your attention and the authors do a really good job of giving a lot of information without making it too wordy or hard to understand.
This is a good book for anyone who wants to know how to play a RPG, the history behind them, or anyone who just likes graphic novels.
Adapted from The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, this movie is an AMAZING story about a helper robot programmed to exceed human capabilities essentially becoming human by developing emotions for other beings.
ROZZUM Unit 7134 crashes on a remote island during a storm and finds herself lost in a world of animals who reject her monster-ness. Her purpose is to help, and while searching for a task, she finds an orphaned gosling. After much trial and error with the aid of a deceptively wily fox, she teaches it how to survive in the wild. They form a family of sorts and win the hearts of other animals through their relentless kindness.
The Wild Robot is a movie with so much heart and fantastic storytelling. Unlike other movies where you’re forced to feel something, every emotion feels earned here. It’s also very relatable because three outcasts find a sense of belonging and everyone at one point in their lives has felt lonely and out of place. There’s a strong sense of community being built in this story and it just pulls at the heartstrings. The humor is also very clever and witty. Wonderful movie for any age. Give it a watch when you can.
Free Comic Book Day is right around the corner! What better way to celebrate than more free comics?! This is a fairly new resource, and it is amazing. There are adult, teen, and kid collections. And there are SO many comics. There are old favorites, indie authors, Manga, non-fiction titles, and even a section for Spanish. Unlike some other online resources, there are no holds, wait lists, or limits so you are free to comic away the hours to your heart's content.
The Ghost Collector is a heartbreaking story about a girl who is searching for her mom’s spirit. In her search she meets a lot of funny ghosts, she brings them home and hopes they’ve seen her mom’s spirit. This story is good for kids who lost their loved ones or just any kid to understand how other people go through sad events. This book is kid-friendly, it is not scary at all. I recommend this book for middle schoolers.
