Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog)

Title:  The Grouchy Ladybug

Author:  Eric Carle

Genre:  Animals / Bullying / Children's / Humor

Year Published: 1977

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Bullying)

After I had read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” I really wanted to read more books by Eric Carle. “The Grouchy Ladybug” is definitely no exception in reading some of Eric Carle’s great works! “The Grouchy Ladybug” is a book by Eric Carle and it is about how a grouchy ladybug tries to pick a fight with the other animals no matter how large they are. “The Grouchy Ladybug” is truly one of the most hilarious books about the consequences of bullying that every child will definitely enjoy!

The book starts off with a friendly ladybug seeing some aphids on a leaf and wanted to have them for breakfast but then a grouchy ladybug comes in and refused to share the aphids with the friendly ladybug and challenged the friendly ladybug to a fight. When the friendly ladybug agreed to the challenged, the grouchy ladybug suddenly back down and it goes to find a much larger animal to fight with. After the grouchy ladybug meets up with a praying mantis, a sparrow, a skunk and other animals, it finally meets up with the biggest animal of all…

What animal does the grouchy ladybug meet up with the end?

Read the book to find out! 

Seriously, this is one creative and hilarious book from the great mind of Eric Carle and both the story and the illustrations contribute greatly to this cautionary tale about bullying. Eric Carle makes this story extremely as the grouchy ladybug is shown as your average bully as he bullies the other animals into trying to fight with it and I loved the way that the grouchy ladybug encounters one large animal and then moves on to a larger animal than the last and what was so hilarious about this was how the grouchy ladybug always stated whenever it meets an animal larger than itself:

“Oh, you’re not big enough!” 

And that statement always makes me laugh because I always wondered about why the ladybug would want to pick a fight with someone who is much bigger than it is. It was also hilarious that the moment that the ladybug notices the larger animal’s special ability to defend itself, such as the skunk using its stink and the sparrow having a sharp beak, the grouchy ladybug just immediately runs off to find another animal. Eric Carle’s illustrations are simply beautiful and creative as the images are extremely colorful and keep the story running smoothly. The images that really stood out the most for me were the images of the grouchy ladybug itself as it always has a grouchy look on its face and looks so small when it flies up against the larger animals. My most favorite part of this book was whenever the grouchy ladybug meets the larger animals, the pages are sort of cut up to indicate each animal the ladybug passes and the larger the animal is, the longer the pages are. I also loved the way that there are clocks displayed at the top of the pages of each animal the ladybug meets as it indicates the time that the ladybug shows up to meet up with the animals.

Overall, “The Grouchy Ladybug” is a truly hilarious book that teaches a thing or two about the consequences of being a bully and any child who is a huge fan of Eric Carle’s will definitely get a kick out of this book. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: LGBT / Norse Mythology / Fantasy / Feminism / Adventure

Year Published: 2017

Year Read: 7/31/2017

Publisher: Vault Comics

Series: Heathen #1

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Vault Comics for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Introduction: 

I have noticed lately that I rarely got the chance to read graphic novels that features a LGBT character as the main protagonist and I have been searching for many graphic novels that contains main LGBT protagonists. Well, luckily NetGalley had decided to hand out such a graphic novel called “Heathen Volume One” which is written by Natasha Alterici along with artwork by Rachel Deering and I must say that this is easily one of the best LGBT graphic novels I have ever read!

What is this story about? 

The story starts off with a young Viking woman named Avdis who was banished from her homeland due to participating in a forbidden act in her land: kissing another woman. After this event, Aydis decided to go out on a mission to change the ways of Odin’s empire and the first thing she tries to do is to find and free the Valkyrie Brynhild. It turns out that Odin had cursed Brynhild by forcing her to return to her mountain prison if she cannot find a mortal who is willing to marry her and Aydis aims to bring Brynhild’s suffering to an end!

What I loved about this story: 

Natasha Alterici’s writing: Wow! Natasha Alterici has certainly done a wonderful job at writing this story as she is able to combine Norse Mythology with LGBT themes, which made this graphic novel such a unique read! I loved the way that Natasha Alterici wrote the dialogue between the characters as it really characterizes the characters and I loved the little nods to humor in the dialogue, especially between the two wolves Skull and Hati, which was the best part of the story. I also enjoyed the details involving Norse Mythology in this story since I am always interested in fairy tales and mythology and it was nice to be able to point out the characters from Norse Mythology that were mentioned in this story, such as Odin and the Valkyries. But probably the best part about this graphic novel was how it approached the issues that Aydis is going through. Natasha Alterici has done a fantastic job at paralleling the prejudice that Aydis is going through because she kissed another woman, to the real-world prejudice that the LGBT community is going through and it is great that there is a graphic novel that portrays a strong LGBT character in a positive light.

Rachel Deering’s artwork: Rachel Deering’s artwork is quite gorgeous to look at and I especially loved the focus on the characters themselves. The backgrounds are blank for the most part, apart from some trees, but the characters are drawn in such a detailed way, that they really stand out in the artwork. I also enjoyed the wilderness scenes as the trees surrounding the characters look truly luscious and they bring a certain beauty to the story.



What made me feel uncomfortable about this story: 

For anyone who does not like nudity in a graphic novel series, there is a bit of nudity in this volume, especially with the images of Freyja with her breasts being openly exposed. Also, even though the artwork is gorgeous for the most part, I found the artwork to be a bit too scratchy at times and it was a bit hard for me to see what is going on in the story due to the artwork blurring out some action scenes.

Final Thoughts: 

Overall, “Heathen Volume One” is a fantastic graphic novel for anyone who loves Norse Mythology and LGBT characters!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Autism / Animals / Disability / School / Friendship

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  2017

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Source: eARC (Edelweiss)

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

It is rare that I find children’s books that discusses autism and how the protagonist who has autism deals with it. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that Edelweiss has a copy of a children’s book that deals with autism called “Robin and the White Rabbit” by Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström and man, was I impressed by this inspiring children’s book!

Meet Robin! 

Robin is a young girl who often has trouble expressing her true feelings as her emotions seems bottled up inside of her (or in this case, are shown as words that swirl around her) and she has problems with communicating with other children because of this. One day, when Robin goes and sits underneath a tree by herself while the other children are playing on the playground, a white rabbit suddenly comes up and offers Robin a way to communicate her feelings by showing her pictures of her favorite activities and making a chart that shows what activities she likes and what activities she does not like.

Wow! I was quite impressed with this book as it was both creative and inspiring at the same time! It is rare that I have read a book that deals with autism and Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström have both done a wonderful job at writing this story as they show what autism is like and how you can help anyone who has autism express their feelings more clearly. I like the fact that Robin becomes friends with a white rabbit who truly helps Robin cope with her autism. I especially loved the way that the rabbit helps Robin by showing her pictures of various activities that she could play and placing them on a chart that tells the audience what activities she likes and what activities she does not like. This activity would certainly help a parent or a teacher understand about how to deal with children or other people who have autism and gain a better understanding of what having autism is like. I will admit that I was a little curious about whether or not the white rabbit is a figment of Robin’s imagination or really exists in that world, but because I loved the idea about this book exploring autism and the white rabbit helping Robin deal with her autism, I eventually did not mind where the white rabbit came from. Emma Lindström’s artwork is highly creative as the artwork has a mixture of watercolor drawn characters mixed with realistic photos which gives the story a unique atmosphere. I also loved the images of the white rabbit itself as it is drawn in a cute way and I loved seeing the little blue bag it carries as it makes me interested in seeing what the white rabbit has in its bag!

Overall, “Robin and the White Rabbit” is a truly cute and inspiring story that would be great for parents and teachers who are dealing with children and loved ones with autism and it is definitely a children’s book that is worth checking out! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Native American / Parental Issues / Folktale / Fantasy

Year Published: 1974

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

“Arrow to the Sun” is a Caldecott Medal Award winning book by Gerald McDermott that relates an old Pueblo Indian tale about a boy who tries to find his father, the Lord of the Sun and prove himself worthy to be his son. “Arrow to the Sun” is a fun and creative book that many children who love Native American folktales, will easily get into!

Gerald McDermott has done many wonders with both the illustrations and the writing. Gerald McDermott makes the story dramatic and simple at the same time as the writing is often shown on one side of the page and the other side of the page contains mainly images and many children who are adopted can easily relate to the boy as he tries to find his real father and many children can sympathize with the boy as some children might feel like they have to find their real parents to find out about their real heritage, so this story is similar to an adoption story for children who were often adopted and they want to learn more about their real parents. Gerald McDermott’s are extremely colorful as they show all the colorful vibes that you would find in a 70s show as this book was made during the 70s and the illustrations are also highly creative as the characters are all block shaped and there is no real figure to the characters to identify them as human beings as they look like blocks rather than human beings. The image that stood out the most was the image of the boy being turned into an arrow and being shot out into the heavens towards the sun and you can see that the stars also look block shaped but are also done in rainbow colors making the illustration look truly magnificent.



“Arrow to the Sun” is a brilliant folktale about the power of courage and determination and many children who love hearing various folktales from the around the world will definitely love this book. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book unless smaller children might worry about the boy’s misfortune with the other boys for not having a father in his life.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Australia / Bullying / Animals / Trickery / Friendship

Year Published: 2015

Year Read:  2017

Publisher: Liberty Road Publishing

Source:  eARC (Author)

I would like to thank the author William Reimer for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

For years, bullying has been a major concern in many schools and there would be discussions about how children can handle being bullied in school in a nonviolent way. Well, when the author William Reimer gave me a copy of his children’s book called “A Ferret Named Phil” which deals with bullying, of course I was extremely interested in checking this book out since I wanted to read more books that dealt with bullying and how the characters deal with it and this book was definitely a pleasant surprise for me!

One day, a ferret named Phil wanted to take his friend Jane out for a picnic by the lake. Unfortunately, there was a scary hawk named Hugo who was always bullying Phil and the hawk suddenly decided to show up at Phil and Jane’s picnic to bully Phil once more. Phil tried to stand up to Hugo, but Hugo ended up knocking Phil and Jane’s picnic into the lake and kidnaps Jane to teach Phil a lesson.

Can Phil save Jane from Hugo?

Read this book to find out! 

Wow! William Reimer did a fantastic job at writing this book as it details the ugliness of bullying and how one must defend themselves against bullying. I loved the way that William Reimer made this book both intense and uplifting as I was interested in seeing how Phil would stand up to Hugo, while also being shocked at the extremes that Hugo is willing to go with his bullying which includes kidnapping Jane just to teach Phil a lesson. I also loved the fact that Phil never uses violence to stand up to Hugo as he relies on his wit to deal with Hugo, which sends a positive message about how violence never solves a bullying problem and that you should use your wits to deal with bullying. James Moore’s artwork is truly gorgeous to look at as all the animal characters look realistic and I loved the watercolor illustrations as they give the artwork a luscious and beautiful feel. Probably my favorite artwork in this book are the illustrations of both Phil and Hugo themselves as Phil looks like an adorable ferret with a green scarf around his neck, which makes him look unique; while Hugo is terrifying to look at as he towers over both Phil and Jane and has red eyes which makes him look menacing. 



Parents should know that there are some intense scenes in this book, especially regarding the bullying that Phil and Jane went through. Probably the scene that would scare some children the most would be the scene where Hugo kidnaps Jane as they might worry about whether or not Jane is going to make it through this ordeal. Parents might want to discuss with their children about bullying and how it has negative consequences on people and how they should handle it.

Overall, “A Ferret Named Phil” is a fantastic book about dealing with bullying and learning to stand up for yourself when being bullied. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the intense scenes would scare some smaller children. 

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Superhero / Drama / Humor / Romance / Family / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 2007

Year Read:  7/15/2017

Publisher: DC Comics 

Series: All-Star Superman #1

Source:  Library

5.5 stars!!! 

Introduction: 

Now, I have a little confession to make (I seem to be making so many book confessions lately, right)? I had only read a few “Superman” comics over the years, which included “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” and “Superman: Secret Identity.” The reason why I have not read that many “Superman” comics was not because I hate Superman (I actually really like his character), but it was hard for me to look for some recommendations for good “Superman” stories while recommendations for good “Batman” stories came much more readily. One of the “Superman” stories that was always highly recommended to me was Grant Morrison’s run on “Superman” called “All-Star Superman.” At first, I was a bit hesitant about checking this series out because from what I had heard from some comic book fans, Grant Morrison’s works tend to jump off the deep end at a certain point in his stories and I had experienced that with his work on “Batman R.I.P.” However, after I finally decided to dive into this graphic novel, I now see why this particular graphic novel was so highly recommended to me and I have to say that “All-Star Superman Volume One” is one of the best “Superman” stories I had ever read!

What is this story about? 

The story starts off with Superman going to the sun to rescue a space crew who were on a mission to take fire from the sun and it turns out that because Superman went too near the sun, he contracted apoptosis, death of the body cells, which means that he will soon die. When Superman finds this out, he decides that he must do some things on Earth before he dies, such as temporarily giving his love interest Lois Lane superpowers for her birthday and trying to confess his secret identity to her, getting in a fight with Jimmy Olsen due to being affected by Black Kryptonite, meeting up with his nemesis Lex Luthor, and saying his goodbyes to his father Jonathan Kent.

Will Superman have time to do all of these things before he dies?

Read this graphic novel to find out! 

What I loved about this story: 

Grant Morrison’s writing: I really enjoyed Grant Morrison’s writing in this graphic novel as the story has a nice mixture of drama and humor thrown in and I often found myself laughing at some of the situations in this volume, such as Superman and Lois’ encounter with the comical superhero duo Samson and Atlas. I also like the fact that this story tackles the subject about what would happen if Superman is about to die and how he would spend his last days on Earth (although, the concept about Superman dying is nothing new at this point). This gives Grant Morrison a chance to explore Superman’s life from his arrival to Earth and being adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent to working in the Daily Planet and meeting Lois Lane and there is a great love to the character as not only do older readers get to see Superman’s life be presented again in this volume, but new readers will be able to understand more about Superman’s origins through a modern interpretation. I also enjoyed the way that Grant Morrison portrayed Superman in this volume as Superman is not shown as being a flat character, but has many dimensions to his personality as we get to see Superman become sad, happy, angry and humorous all at once in this volume; it was fantastic seeing the various emotions that Superman displays in this volume contribute to the story at hand.

Frank Quitely’s artwork: While there are some parts of Frank Quitely’s artwork that annoyed me a bit, which I will discuss more about in the cons section, overall, the artwork is extremely detailed and gorgeous to look at. Probably my most favorite image in this graphic novel was the image of Superman and Lois Lane kissing each other on the moon and you can see the gorgeous detail being done to Lois’ wavy hair as it is waving around in space.




What made me feel uncomfortable about this story: 

The only problem I have with this graphic novel is that there are so many things happening in the story that it would make it pretty confusing for anyone who is not used to reading “Superman” comics. Even though I found this graphic novel to be pretty entertaining, the narrative can get overcrowded at times because there are so many events going on and you have to read each issue a bit carefully to get the full details of each of the stories. Also, some of the artwork can be a bit off at times, especially with the way that Superman’s face seems to look like dough in some panels and I felt that he was drawn a bit too bulky in this volume, despite the fact that Superman is naturally muscular.

Final Thoughts: 

Overall, “All-Star Superman Volume One” is seriously one fantastic and hilarious volume that I would love to read over and over again if I get the chance to and I cannot wait to read the second volume of this series!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Friendship / School / Drama / Drugs / Sports

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  7/11/2017

Publisher: Animal Media Group 

Series: Forever Friends Trilogy #3

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Animal Media Group for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

4.5 stars 

Introduction: 

YAY! NetGalley has sent me the final volume to Howard Shapiro’s hit series “Forever Friends Trilogy” called “Hockey Karma” and I must admit that after I read this graphic novel, it was a worthy conclusion to this series!

What is this story about? 

In this volume, Jeremiah “Jake” Jacobson is now thirty-two years old and is known as being the best hockey player in the world. Unfortunately, because Jake is getting older now and he is starting to lose his edge, especially to new and upcoming star teammate Barclay Pedersen, his family life and career is starting to rapidly come apart. Meanwhile, Tom Leonard has got his own issues to deal with as he is trying to get a project that would help improve their city off the ground. But Jake refuses to help out with the project due to dealing with his addiction to some medical pills to keep him in the game and Tom is wondering if he would ever get the project off the ground. Also, Tom’s old high school crush, Jaelithe returns to town and Tom rekindles his relationship with Jaelithe and the two are thinking about staying together. But unfortunately, Tom will soon discover that he may have to sacrifice his current lifestyle just to maintain a long-lasting relationship with Jaelithe.

Will Jake be able to get his life back together and will Tom soon discover what he really wants for his future?

Read this graphic novel to find out! 

What I loved about this story: 

Howard Shapiro’s writing: Howard Shapiro’s writing continues to amaze me in this volume as all the characters are written extremely well and I just enjoyed the character development that each character goes through in this story. I loved the way that Howard Shapiro portrayed Jake’s condition as he is still recovering from his alcoholism from the last volume, only this time, he is dependent on pain medication and it realistically shows that even though Jake is trying to get help for his dependence on drugs, he is still struggling with trying to overcome his drug addiction. I also enjoyed the relationship shared between Tom and Jake as Tom is still trying to help Jake become a better person by helping him deal with his drug abuse and trying to help him mend his relationship with his family. I liked the way that Howard Shapiro also gave some focus to Tom in this volume as we finally get to see Tom have some of his story arcs resolved in this volume (him reuniting with his high school band “The Stereotypical Freaks” and him trying to rekindle his relationship with his high school crush Jaelithe) and I enjoyed seeing how much growth Tom goes through when he reunites with his old high school friends.

Andres J. Mossa’s artwork: Andres J. Mossa’s artwork is extremely gorgeous in this volume as all the characters are drawn realistically and seem to glow off the pages. I also loved the fact that Andres J. Mossa’s artwork is much more detailed in this volume than in the previous volumes as it greatly reflects the growing maturity in the stories and as the stories become more mature, the artwork becomes more detailed and realistic in tone.



What made me feel uncomfortable about this story: 

The reason why I gave this book a four-and-a-half-star rating was because I felt that pacing was a bit too slow in some places and there was a lot of dialogue going on in this book that sort of slowed down the story a bit. I often had to speed through the dialogue just to get to the meat of the story and I kind of wished that some of the heavy dialogue was trimmed a bit so I could get to the more essential parts of the story.

Final Thoughts: 

Overall, “Hockey Karma” is a great conclusion to Howard Shapiro’s “Forever Friends Trilogy” that really cemented the importance of true friendship and I hope to see more works from Howard Shapiro soon!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Humor / Animals / Relationships 

Year Published:  2012

Year Read: 7/7/2017

Series:  Garfield #54

Publisher: Ballantine Books 

Source:  Library

Introduction: 

I admit that when I saw another “Garfield” comic on my library shelf, I could not help myself and I ended up getting another “Garfield” comic called “Garfield Gets in a Pickle” and it is just as hilarious and witty as the previous “Garfield” comics I had read!

What is this story about? 

In this collection, we are introduced to more adventures of Garfield, his dim-witted sidekick Odie, his goofy owner Jon and his level-headed girlfriend Liz and the foursome get into hilarious adventures such as Jon and Liz going out on dinner dates, Garfield’s dealings with the mice and Garfield’s dealings with the spiders!

What I loved about this story: 

Jim Davis’ writing: Jim Davis’ writing continues to be as witty and hilarious as the previous volumes and even though Garfield and his family are still in the same situations we usually see them in (Garfield dealing the mice and spiders, Jon and Liz going out on dates, Garfield picking on Odie), the writing continues to be entertaining to read and I still enjoy seeing these adventures that Garfield, Jon, Odie and Liz continue to get into! I also loved the fact that Liz is usually the voice of reason to Jon’s bizarre mannerisms and Garfield still continues to snark about Jon and Odie’s buffoonery as it is great seeing these two sane characters trying to deal with the humorous chaos going on around them. 

Jim Davis’ artwork: Jim Davis’ artwork is still as creative and humorous as it has always been and I loved the humorous way that Jim Davis draws these characters as they all have huge bulging eyes that greatly reflects the humorous nature of this series!

Final Thoughts: 

Overall, “Garfield Gets in a Pickle” is another brilliant collection of “Garfield” strips that fans of the “Garfield” series will greatly enjoy!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Japan / Animals / Trickery / Folktale / Peace

Year Published: 2003

Year Read:  2008

Publisher: Holiday House

Source:  Library

“Three Samurai Cats” is an ancient Japanese folktale about how three samurai cats come to the Daimyo’s castle to defeat a savage rat with the last samurai cat giving the rat a taste of his own medicine. Eric A. Kimmel’s hilarious retelling and Mordicai Gerstein’s colorful drawings combine greatly to make a great and funny story from ancient Japan. 

Eric A. Kimmel’s humorous storytelling of an ancient Japanese folktale is extremely inventive and witty as the last samurai cat uses a nonviolent stragety to defeat the rat at the end of the book. I found the part where the rat kicks the fierce samurai cat across the room to be extremely funny since the samurai cat looked funny when he crashed to the ground. Mordicai Gerstein’s illustrations are colorful yet scratchy, giving the story a humourous edge. One of the illustrations that really stood out the most for me was the image of Neko Roshi giving an intense look after he had just woken up when the rat yelled out “help!” when he was stuck in the rice ball. Neko Roshi’s eyes look huge like when a cat sees something that terrifies it and his hair also stood on its end. 



“Three Samurai Cats” is an excellent story about how violence does not always solve the problem and how clear thinking can always win the battle if you allow the right moment to come. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the younger children might not understand the Japanese vocabulary, such as daimyo and docho.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Mexico / Foreign Language / Educational / Party

Year Published: 2015

Year Read:  2017

Publisher: PoliglotKidz Press

Source:  eARC (Author)

I would like to thank the author Judy Martialay for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Now, I have read many children’s books that dealt with teaching children about foreign languages, but I had never read a children’s book where a term would be phrased in English and then be translated into Spanish in the same sentence and author Judy Martialay has certainly created an intriguing story that combines both Spanish and English terms in her book “Hola! Let’s Learn Spanish: Visit New Places and Make New Friends!”

Basically, this book teaches children about Mexico and its culture and language, which their language is Spanish. There is also a story woven in this book that stars a small Mexican jumping bean named Panchito who wanted to find new friends that he could play with and he ends up journeying through the marketplace and winds up at a piñata party!

What will Panchito discover at the piñata party?

Read this book to find out! 

Judy Martialay has done an excellent job at creating a book that would help children understand not only about the language of Mexico, but about its culture as well and I have always enjoyed children’s books that try to teach children about foreign cultures and how to pronounce their languages at the same time. I had a lot of fun in trying to pronounce the Spanish verses for the English verses, such as “Hola” meaning “hello” in Spanish and “Los Frijoles” meaning “beans” in Spanish and I loved the way that Judy Martialay had the English verse being spoken first and then the Spanish translation for that verse coming right after the verse such as this phrase “Look! Miren!” as it helps children see how that English verse is translated into Spanish. Judy Martialay’s artwork is extremely cute to look at as the characters are rendered in scratchy and simple outlines and I enjoyed the images of Panchito himself as he is shown as a jumping bean who has stick like legs and a small hat that he wears in each panel.



The reason why I gave this book a four-star rating was because I felt that the pacing was a bit too slow at times and I sort of wished that the story moved at a faster pace in introducing us to the world of Mexico.

Overall, “Hola! Let's Learn Spanish: Visit New Places and Make New Friends!” is a great book for children in learning about Mexico and their language Spanish and would be a great book in helping children understand foreign languages! I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the Spanish language is introduced in a way that would be easy for smaller children to understand.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother. “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book! Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes. Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.



“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother. “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book! Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes. Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.



“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Manners / Children / Humor / Behavior 

Year Published: 1998

Year Read:  2008

Publisher:  The Blue Sky Press

Series: David #1

“No, David!” is David Shannon’s first book of the “David” series and has won the Caldecott Honor Book Award, which it richly deserves that honor. This book details the adventures of David being bad while his mother continually tells him: “NO, DAVID!” 

David Shannon’s first attempt at making the “David” series is truly a masterpiece to this very day. David Shannon’s writing style is memorable as he writes in a simple preschool format that is easy enough for readers at a young age could relate to as he details David’s mischievous adventures. David Shannon’s illustrations are truly inspiring as he illustrates David with a large head and sharp teeth and his gleeful expressions as he seemly enjoys the mischief that he causes. 




“No, David!” is one of David Shannon’s finest children’s books ever created and is surely to make anyone laugh out loud whenever they witness David’s mischief in the household and making his mother go crazy when she keeps telling him, “NO, DAVID!” Even though this book might entice bad behavior towards children, it is suitable for children ages four and up since the vocabulary and the writing style are simple to read for any preschooler.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Manners / Children / Humor / Behavior 

Year Published: 1998

Year Read:  2008

Publisher:  The Blue Sky Press

Series: David #1

“No, David!” is David Shannon’s first book of the “David” series and has won the Caldecott Honor Book Award, which it richly deserves that honor. This book details the adventures of David being bad while his mother continually tells him: “NO, DAVID!” 

David Shannon’s first attempt at making the “David” series is truly a masterpiece to this very day. David Shannon’s writing style is memorable as he writes in a simple preschool format that is easy enough for readers at a young age could relate to as he details David’s mischievous adventures. David Shannon’s illustrations are truly inspiring as he illustrates David with a large head and sharp teeth and his gleeful expressions as he seemly enjoys the mischief that he causes. 




“No, David!” is one of David Shannon’s finest children’s books ever created and is surely to make anyone laugh out loud whenever they witness David’s mischief in the household and making his mother go crazy when she keeps telling him, “NO, DAVID!” Even though this book might entice bad behavior towards children, it is suitable for children ages four and up since the vocabulary and the writing style are simple to read for any preschooler.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Short Stories / Horror / Drama / Monsters

Year Published: 1984

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers

Now, I have been introduced to Alvin Schwartz’s works before through his famous and controversial “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” series and after I found out that Alvin Schwartz had written another pair of horror stories for children called “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories,” of course I had to give this series a whirl!

This is a collection of horror stories for children and there is a total of seven stories being told in this book. The stories featured in this collection are:

1. The Teeth
2. In the Graveyard
3. The Green Ribbon
4. In a Dark, Dark Room
5. The Night it Rained
6. The Pirate
7. The Ghost of John 

Wow! Alvin Schwartz really knows how to create stories that are both scary and tame for any child and all of these horror stories contain a mixture of humor and horror that made me both smile and cringe at the same time. I loved the fact that Alvin Schwartz did some research on these stories and allows the readers to understand where these stories came from as he mentions it in the “Where the Stories Come From” section at the end of the book as I wanted to know where these stories came from. I also enjoyed many of the stories in this book with my favorites being “The Green Ribbon” and “In a Dark, Dark Room” as I believe that those are the creepiest stories in this collection, especially “The Green Ribbon!” Dirk Zimmer’s artwork conveys both horror and comedy in this book as the characters have exaggerated features which includes some of the characters have large noses and wide eyes and I also loved the way that the characters look so pale and frightened in most of the images as it shows what kind of horrors the readers will be introduced to when they start reading this book!



The reason why I took off a half point from the star rating was because I felt that there were too many abrupt endings in each story and I wanted to see some closure in these stories, although given the short length of this book, that was to be expected. Also, even though I have enjoyed Alvin Schwartz’s work on “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” I felt that this collection of horror stories was not as scary as “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” Maybe it is because the artwork was not as scary as Stephen Gammell’s artwork in “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and that took away the creepiness of the stories, although stories like “The Green Ribbon” still remained creepy no matter how the illustrations looked like.

Overall, “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories” is a great collection of horror stories that children will gladly enjoy during Halloween time! I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since there are some scary stories in this book that might creep out younger readers.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy

Year Published: 2009

Number of Pages: 392 pages

Date Read: 11/14/2010

Publisher:  Scholastic Press

Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1

Oh man! I really wanted to give this book six stars instead of five stars because this book is just so brilliantly written and full of romance that make any romance fan go head over heels with this book! But I guess I will settle with a five star rating for now… “Shiver” is the first book in Maggie Stiefvater’s Mercy Falls series and this book has enough action and love making scenes that will have you all breathless with anticipation!

Grace had spent her time watching the various wolves that come out of the woods, after she was bitten by a wolf a few years ago. However, when one of the students at her school go missing, the townspeople suspected that the wolves have something to do with it and they all tried to go out and kill the wolves. But, Grace will not let that happen since she cares so much for the wolves and after she manages to stop the hunting of the wolves, she meets an injured wolf and she realizes that the injured wolf was a teenage boy named Sam and once Grace discovers Sam’s secret, she tries to do everything in her power to help Sam stay human while sorting out her feelings for Sam!

Wow and double wow! Maggie Stiefvater has created a true masterpiece that is all about true werewolf love! When I read this book, it constantly reminds me of Stephenie Meyer’s famous “Twilight” series, except that we see hot werewolf guys in this book instead of hot vampires, which I found to be extremely enjoyable to read about. There were many aspects that I loved about this book and one of the aspects that I really loved about this book was how each chapter of the book was set up to detail the situation from two different point of views, who were Grace and Sam, which means that each chapter will either have Sam or Grace narrating the story from their point of view, which I thought made this book extremely interesting and creative to look at. Another aspect that I loved about this book was the characters, especially Sam and Grace. I loved the fact that Grace is shown to be an independent and enthusiastic teenage girl who was willing to put her life on the line in order to save Sam, the love of her life and although there were times where I knew more about Sam’s side of the story rather than Grace’s side of the story, I still really enjoyed Grace’s spirit throughout this book. Sam on the other hand, may come off as being too somber for his own good, but that is own to the fact that he really wants to be human instead of a werewolf and he is possibly the sweetest and hottest werewolf character to ever grace upon the world of paranormal romance. What I really loved the most about this book was that over ninety percent of this book was spent in Sam and Grace’s romance with each other as there are a bunch of sweet kisses and sensual hugging (though not in a R-rated way) that made this book somewhat cute yet sensual at the same time!

For anyone who does not like language, there is a good deal of language in this book, although the language is not really strong here, but I think the language in this book would be better suitable for young adults.

All in all, “Shiver” is a truly awesome book for werewolf loves everywhere and also is a great book for paranormal romance fans who love action and hot werewolf love!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog