Posted in Children, fiction, friendship, graphic novels

Sir Ladybug Children’s book

Check out these wonderful books by Corey R. Tabor.

Ladies and gentlebugs, presenting the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of truth and justice, the one, the only—Sir Ladybug!

Sir Ladybug never shies away from a quest, even when he’d rather be playing a video game or baking a cake. So when a caterpillar needs rescuing from a “monster” (a hungry chickadee), Sir Ladybug and his trusty friends—his herald, a roly-poly named Pell, and his squire, a snail named Sterling—hatch the perfect (delicious) plan.

This is the first in a new graphic novel series for newly independent readers, following the adventures of a ladybug knight and his pals in the dandelion patch.

Sir Ladybug—the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of truth and justice—is on a new quest! He and his herald, Pell, and his trusty squire, Sterling, will have to be extra-clever to outwit the mean Queen Bee.

Sir Ladybug—the duke of the dandelion patch, champion of truth and justice—must fulfill a most noble duty! Upon his knightly honor, Sir Ladybug vows to return his library book. But some diabolical creatures dare to stop this hero and his friends….

Posted in fiction, witches, youth

I spy Fiction Youth books – Witches

Check these youth graphic novel fiction books about witches!

Magic is harder than it looks.

Thirteen-year-old Moth Hush loves all things witchy. But she’s about to discover that witches aren’t just the stuff of movies, books, and spooky stories. When some eighth-grade bullies try to ruin her Halloween, something really strange happens. It turns out that Founder’s Bluff, Massachusetts, has a centuries-old history of witch drama. And, surprise: Moth’s family is at the center of it all! When Moth’s new powers show up, things get totally out-of-control. She meets a talking cat, falls into an enchanted diary, and unlocks a hidden witch world. Secrets surface from generations past as Moth unravels the complicated legacy at the heart of her town, her family, and herself.

Moth Hush is starting to settle into her newfound witch heritage and powers, but life at school continues to be rough. Even her best friend, Charlie, doesn’t entirely understand what it’s like for her to always be the one who gets mocked, and things only get worse when Moth’s mom starts dating one of the dorkiest teachers in the school! Then Moth gets hold of a mysterious charm that can unleash another version of herself—one who is confident, cool, and extremely popular. What could possibly go wrong?

Could there really be witches in Brooklyn?!

Effie’s aunts are weird. Like, really WEIRD. Really, really, really WEIRD! The secretly-magic kind of weird and that makes Effie wonder . . . does this mean she can do magic, too?

Life in Brooklyn takes a strange twist for Effie as she learns more about her family and herself. With new friends who will do whatever they can to be there for her, a cursed pop-star, and her magically-inclined aunts–Effie’s life is about to get interesting.

Could there be even MORE witches in Brooklyn?!
 
Effie is EXCITED to meet so many witches, but what is going on with her friends? Suddenly Effie is no longer the newest kid in school, and it seems like her friends are happy to grow their little group, but Effie isn’t so sure. On top of that, learning magic is HARD WORK!
 
Effie just wants to have fun being a witch, but her life in Brooklyn is about to get weird(er).
 
The bewitching second book in the Witches of Brooklyn series captures what it means to be a friend, and how growing up can be a little less scary if you throw some magic in the mix.

Posted in I spy, youth

Spanish Youth Books

Check out these Youth Spanish books….

What if I can’t?

¿En qué dirección están las flores?

Por ahí, a 320 kilómetros.

¡¿Cómo voy a llegar tan lejos?!

Vas volando.

¿Puedo ire n avión?

No.

¡Entonces no llegaré nunca!

Esta simpática continuación de La oruga muy impaciente , de Ross Burach, es un cariñoso homenaje al esfuerzo de cada niño de perseverar ante los desafíos a la vez que una alegre lección sobre la migración de las mariposas. Recuerda: si no lo logras al primer intento, ¡vuela, vuela otra vez!

Which way to the flowers?

That way. 200 miles.

How am I supposed to travel that far?!

You fly.

Can I take a plane?

No.

Then I’ll never make it!

Arruguitas, Gorrión, Ojo de bolsillo, Repelente, Niña elefante y Chico burbuja han decidido desafiar al temible y todopoderoso Señor Amo Supremo y escapar de Mundo basura, el inmenso vertedero donde viven. Mediante su ingenio y con la ayuda de sus poderes construirán un globo aerostático y surcarán los cielos hasta los confines de su apestoso mundo. Pero… ¿dejará el Amo Supremo que la Tribu chatarra escape de su reino?

Wrinkles, Sparrow, Pocket Eye, Repellent, Elephant Girl, and Bubble Boy have decided to defy the terrible and all-powerful Mr. Supreme Master, escaping Trash World, the huge dump where they live. By means of their ingenuity and powers, they will build an air balloon to soar through the sky to the boundaries of their stinky world. But will the Supreme Master let the Junk Tribe escape from his kingdom?

Maxy is a happy puppy who lives with Clarita and her family in a house filled with music and laughter on the island of Puerto Rico. On sunny days, Clarita and Maxy go to the park or on adventures under the flamboyant tree. On rainy days, they stay inside and play games or read books.

But one day, Maxy sees everyone rushing around, putting things in boxes. Someone says, “María is coming!” That night, Hurricane María roared ashore; there was thunder, lightning and lots of rain. Maxy was terrified! Finally, the power went out and the house and everything around it was completely dark. The next day when they went outside, they saw destroyed homes, flooded roads and knocked-down trees-including their beloved flamboyant! There was no electricity for a long time, and everyone had to stand in long lines for food, gas and even water to drink.

Eventually, power is restored and Maxy thinks everything is going to be okay. Until one day, the clouds start to gather and he hears thunder and whistling winds. Trembling and whining, he races under the bed! Eventually, and with the help of loved ones, Maxy like many children who go through natural disasters learns to overcome his fear and appreciate the benefits of rain.

Hay una plaga en el huerto y los animales están preocupados. La plaga está devorando todas las hortalizas y verduras que han plantado: las judías, el maíz, los guisantes… ¿¡Es que va a comerse también todos los nabos!? Sea como sea, Pato y sus amigos tendrán que encontrar una solución. Jan Thomas nos trae un libro sencillo y divertido, con ilustraciones muy simpáticas y colores vivos, ideal para primeros lectores.

Posted in graphic novels, I spy

I spy a Graphic Novels

The year is 2421. Awkward and shy, Pepper buries herself in the universe of the classic fictional superhero Supernova to avoid dealing with the perils of the 9th grade. But then fate intervenes when Pepper encounters a strange cat named Mister McKittens and stumbles into a volatile science experiment run by a sinister substitute teacher named Doctor Killian.

Pepper is flung into another dimension, bringing her face to face with an order of cosmic beings who declare her to be the steward of their great power, champion of harmony in the universe, protector of worlds present and past.

Now, in the 21st Century, Pepper finds that she herself is the real Supernova. But as Pepper soon learns, escapist fantasy and reality are two very different things.

A graphic novel adaptation of the beloved, bestselling Newbery Honor-winning novel.

Eleven-year-old Turtle is smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it’s 1935 and money—and sometimes even dreams—is scarce. So when Turtle’s mother gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn’t like kids, Turtle heads off to Florida to live with relatives. Florida’s like nothing Turtle’s ever seen before, though. It’s full of ragtag boy cousins, family secrets to unravel . . . and even a little bit of fun. Before she knows what’s happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of her shell. And as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways.

Vega’s summer vacation is not going well.

When her parents decide it’s time to pack up and leave her hometown of Portland, Oregon, behind for boring Seattle, Washington, Vega is more than upset—she’s downright miserable. Forced to leave her one and only best friend, Halley, behind, Vega is convinced she’ll never make another friend again.

To help her settle into her new life in Seattle, her parents send Vega off to summer camp to make new friends. Except Vega is determined to get her old life back. But when her cellphone unexpectedly calls it quits and things at camp start getting stranger and stranger, Vega has no choice but to team up with her bunkmates to figure out what’s going on!

Posted in graphic novels

The Way of the Hive

I saw this graphic novel and the illustrations are cute.

A story combined with bee facts.

Nyuki is a brand-new honeybee—and she has a lot of questions. Like

  • When does a bee go through metamorphosis?
  • Why does a queen bee sometimes leave her hive?
  • And where does all this honey come from, anyway?!

But Nyuki’s biggest question is, “What is this inner voice I hear, and why does it tell me to go forth to adventure?

Follow Nyuki on a lifelong journey as she annoys her sisters, avoids predators, and learns to trust her inner voice as she masters the way of the hive.

Posted in fantasy, fiction, historical fiction, I spy, realistic fiction, romance

I spy fiction and a graphic novel

Fiction away!

Take your pick on which one captures your attention.

I did glance at March One and it is pretty powerful!

Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.

Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole).

March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Book One spans John Lewis’ youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.

Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.” Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers.

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

Edinburgh, Scotland. March 1832. Kiera and Gage have been eagerly awaiting their bundle of joy but trouble has been brewing in the form of the roguish criminal Bonnie Brock Kincaid. A new book and subsequent play features some of Kincaid’s daringly heinous exploits, although he swears he had nothing to do with it or the characters which are obvious representations of Kiera and Gage. While the scoundrel’s fury seems genuine, as well as his determined quest to uncover the real identity of the author, the Gages still hold doubts about his innocence.

A rash of crimes break out across the city, seemingly inspired by the play and book. When the publisher is found brutally murdered–in an imitation of a gruesome scene–the finger not only points to Bonnie Brock as the possible culprit, but also the Gages, who have been outspoken in their condemnation of the tale. Now, the Gages are on a hunt to unmask the killer. Between the infamy garnered by the play, the cholera outbreak still wreaking havoc throughout the city, and the impending birth of their child, they will need all the resources they can garner.

But family quarrels and the revelation of a secret Kiera has been keeping from Sebastian threaten to undermine everything they have overcome. When they find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer, trapped in the squalid underground vaults of the city, they will soon discover that the truth does not always set you free, and death can lurk around any corner.

When Royal Academy painting student Lucy Coover trips over a naked man passed out in an East End alley, she does the decent thing. She covers him up and fetches help. Trouble is, she can’t banish his muscular form from her dreams as easily. Compelled to capture every detail, she creates a stunning portrait but is forced to sell it when the rent comes due. What could be worse than surrendering the very picture of your desire? Meeting the man himself. 

Anthony Philby, Duke of Weston, is nobody’s muse. Upon discovering the scandalous likeness, he springs into action. His infamous family has been torn apart by shame and secrets, and he can’t afford more gossip. Even a whisper may jeopardize his inheritance and his chance at independence. His plan is simple: burn the painting, confront the artist. Or rather, it’s simple until he meets Lucy and decides to offer the bewitching young artist a devil’s bargain.  He’ll help save her foreclosed home, if she’ll help repair his family’s brutal legacy.

Posted in fiction, youth

Review Mighty Jack

  • Author: Ben Hatke
  • Grade Level : 7 – 9
  • Pages: 208
  • Publisher : First Second; Illustrated Edition
  • Date: September 6, 2016

Summary:
Jack might be the only kid in the world who’s dreading summer. But he’s got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It’s a lot of responsibility, and it’s boring, too, because Maddy doesn’t talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk―to tell Jack to trade their mom’s car for a box of mysterious seeds. It’s the best mistake Jack has ever made.

In Mighty Jack, what starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon.

My Review:
I ended up reading this book with my youngest kid because he has to do reading for school. The story was well written and the art was awesome. Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk is how this story comes across. It has a different twist to it.

I love the interaction between Jack and Maddy. Jack cares for his sister a great deal but I get the sense he feels a weigh on his shoulders at times. His mother works two jobs and is juggling it all. That is not an easy task to do! Jack does the best he can with the situation. When the seeds come into play and start to grow, strange things happen. Strange creatures and events happen which make the story exciting. Maddy, his sister is fascinated with the garden and somehow something happens to her. You have to read it to find out.

The story had a mix of magic, fantasy and reality. Having a combo of this really made the story interesting. Such an adventure!! Imagine if a plant came to life in your backyard, what would you do?? The illustrations are so cool. My youngest kid liked the story quite a bit and is ready to read the next book because it had a cliffhanger. What’s next for Jack? Even I want to know what is going to happen too! Book 2, here we come!

This is great for children to read and even adults if you are so into graphic novels! I read them time to time. I used to peek at The Sandman graphic novels back in the day when I used to be a shelver at a library. I think graphic novels appeal to children well because it’s visual. To see a story and pictures together can be appealing.