Children's Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

The Fantastic Travels of William and the Monarch Butterfly by Christina Steiner

The Fantastic Travels of William and the Monarch Butterfly: Fly, Fly Away on the Wings of a Monarch Butterfly by Christina Steiner is about a young boy named William, a born explorer, who one day meets a talking butterfly named Anka and shrinks down to her size, then flies away with her as she makes her migration down south from North Dakota. Their journey mimics the real migration of the Monarch butterfly, so kids will learn fascinating facts about butterflies as readers follow William and Anka on their series of adventures.

Though the level of the prose is aimed at […]

Lysa Grant2019-01-22T11:01:11+02:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews, Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews|

Nothando’s Journey by Jill Apperson Manly, Illustrations by Alyssa Casey

Nothando's Journey by Jill Apperson Manly Nothando’s Journey is an exquisite children’s book about Nothando, who lives in Swaziland in Southern Africa. Nothando is getting ready for the Reed Festival, a right of passage of dancing and celebration in front of the King and Queen, and she’s worried about the performance and new responsibility. As she travels through the hills with her brother, she learns contentment and courage from all the wild animals, which prepares her to perform in the festival. Nothando’s Journey is a culturally-rich and artistically-mesmerizing story that kids will most certainly want to return to again and again.

While Nothando’s story is an […]

Lysa Grant2016-02-19T07:55:34+02:00February 19th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Handy Andy Saves the World by E.J. Altbacker

★★★★½

Handy Andy Saves the World by E.J. Altbacker is about handyman Andy who saves the Earth from a marauding band of aliens. Considered the “best” handyman, according to what’s written on the side of his truck, the aliens beam him up to fix their broken spaceship. The aliens say they they’re there to make “peace,” but it turns out “peace” means killing everything, not to mention kidnapping his family to be put in a zoo, and Handy Andy must use his handyman powers, limited as they are, to defeat the aliens and save everyone.

This is a professional book […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T03:42:21+02:00February 9th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews, Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind by Steve Michael Reedy ★★★★

Tales For Your Monkey’s Mind by Steve Michael Reedy is a book of fables where everything is not always as it seems. Stories about toy factories, clowns, magical storybooks, witch’s spells, and more each give a different moral about life and what’s most important. It’s an entertaining book for kids that dare to be dark. Overall, it’s an ambitious and imaginative work of children’s fiction.

The book is sort of like the anti-Roald Dahl. In Roald Dahl’s stories, the external world is sinister and depressing, until you start looking at the magic underneath. In Reedy’s stories, the opposite is the […]

Henry Baum2020-04-03T04:21:05+02:00January 12th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Sharky Marky and the Scavenger Hunt by Lance Olsen ★★★★

Sharky Marky and the Scavenger Hunt (An Alphabetic Adventure) finds Sharky Marky in a car race as he races to find different items in a scavenger hunt, each corresponding to a letter in the alphabet. Written in rhyming verse, it’s a sweet, good-natured children’s book with colorful and detailed illustrations.

Like Sharky Marky and the Big Race, Scavenger Hunt begins with a stoplight countdown. Sharky Marky then races to the finish line to find each item in the alphabet. First, Sharky sees some algae (“Marky scoops up some Algae, his first on the list. As he speeds by Eddy […]

Henry Baum2016-01-12T10:22:04+02:00December 29th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Sharky Marky and the Big Race by Lance Olsen

★★★★½ Sharky Marky and the Big Race by Lance Olsen

Sharky Marky and the Big Race is a fun children’s book for ages 3-5 about a racecar-driving shark as he races against a collection of sea creatures. The book teaches counting, as the child is entertainingly instructed to count down from ten for every car Sharky Marky passes. Along the way, a couple participants attempt to derail Sharky Marky by puncturing his tires and spraying ink in his face, but Sharky Marky is triumphant in the end.

The narrative is very reminiscent of Pixar – sort of “Finding Nemo” meets “Cars.” That’s not a criticism, because who doesn’t love […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T03:53:50+02:00December 29th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

I Am Not Dumb and I Am Not a Stinky Butt! by Joyce Knock

I Am Not Dumb and I Am Not a Stinky Butt! by Joyce Knock is a spirited children’s story about one boy who’s taken a bit too much from a particular bully. A boy is teased by the class bully, Freddy, when he answers a question wrong in class (Freddy calls him “stupid”) and then when he falls down on the playground (he’s called “crybaby”), and then he’s called the name in the title. Finally having enough, he confronts Freddy in class and all the other kids offer their support, silencing the bully. It’s a sweet and important story, in […]

Henry Baum2015-12-29T10:27:08+02:00December 28th, 2015|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Brighton Make-Believe by Michael Salita

Brighton Make-Believe by Michael Salita is a charming children’s book about using your imagination. Really, there cannot be enough books stressing kids to use make believe. In the neighborhood of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, three six-year-old boys are sick of playing sports all the time and want something else to do. They start making up stories about different animals in the neighborhood – dogs that run along rooftops and birds that live underground – and they travel around the neighborhood making up more and more outlandish stories about the neighborhood animals.