Little Mouse’s Sweet Treat by Shana Hollowell

February 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Little Mouse’s Sweet Treat by Shana Hollowell
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Little Mouse goes on an adventure in search of something sweet. He meets friends along the way that share their preferred treats with him, but none are quite right for Little Mouse. He is disappointed until he arrives home and realizes his Mommy baked the sweetest treat just for him – cookies!

Everyone needs a treat sometimes.

I loved how tailored this was to its audience. It used repetition and gentle rhymes to give little ones clues about what would happen next as it talked about something that most children are excited to enjoy now and again: sweets! Picture books work best when they pay such close attention to what kids like in my opinion. When they can make good guesses about what might happen next, it’s easy to keep them interested in turning to the next page.

There were a couple of places where the rhymes felt a little off-balance to me due to some pages having longer sentences than others did. While I didn’t expect them all to be exactly equal, it would have flowed better if they had been more similar to each other. This is a minor criticism of something I otherwise thought was adorable.

Not everyone likes the same things, of course, so one of the exciting moments happened as the little mouse realized that his idea of the perfect dessert didn’t necessarily match what others were looking for. It makes me happy to read books that encourage readers of all ages to think about the world from other points of view and treat their friends and neighbors with kindness and respect. The more examples we have on how to do this, the better.

Little Mouse’s Sweet Treat couldn’t have been a better introduction to Ms. Hollowell’s work for me. What a fun adventure it was. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers by Albert Choi

February 13, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers by Albert Choi
Publisher: Mytogo Publishing
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Join Little Aiden on an exciting journey as he transforms from a tiny tot into a daring adventurer! Bursting with curiosity, he’s eager to conquer the world solo. As Aiden grows, he embraces the role of a big kid, confident and ready to take on the world with newfound independence. This heartwarming story of growth and discovery is perfect for family story time.

Big kids get to do so many more things!

One of the things I appreciate most about this series is that it was written in plain, simple language to appeal to toddlers. There is no additional layer of meaning included for adults, and while I also enjoy picture books who take that approach it was refreshing to see the world from a little boy’s perspective who was just beginning to understand why his parents did certain things. Childhood logic is wonderful, and it’s what makes these tales so much fun to read.

I would have liked to see more time spent exploring the consequences of Aiden’s choices. Whether he was being naughty, helpful, curious, or silly, there was space here for him to talk about what he was doing and why he was doing it. If that had happened, I would have happily chosen a five-star rating as his adventures are adorable.

What a gentle story this was. Aiden’s parents were patient and loving with him no matter what was happening in their lives. This included a few amusing scenes of the main character getting into mischief the moment he was left alone. I laughed as I learned about the silly things he did now that he was able to climb and reach higher places than he ever had before. What a true glimpse this was of how toddlers slowly change into preschoolers.

This is the third instalment in a series that can be read in any order.

Little Aiden – A Big Kid Book for Toddlers made me smile.

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Free by EB Roshan

January 30, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Free by EB Roshan
Publisher: Roshan Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

An accident brought Rex’s career as an interplanetary bodyguard to an abrupt end. Now, he spends his time tending fruit trees and dreaming of his exciting past. One day, he gets an unexpected opportunity to pick up a ray gun again, but things aren’t how he remembered them…

What could be more exciting than exploring outer space?

The world building in this graphic novel was well done. Rex had already had many thrilling adventures by the time the audience met him, and yet there were even greater things still waiting for him. I enjoyed getting to know the fruit moon where Rex had ended up after a terrible accident took his leg and thought this setting was explained nicely. Farming was completely different from what he’d done before, but his coworkers were friendly and the fruit they picked was delicious.

I would have preferred to see a little more character development here. While I liked nearly all of the characters, especially Rex, there wasn’t a lot of time spent displaying his personality or showing how he’d changed as a result of his accident and the years he’d spent as an interplanetary bodyguard. There was plenty of space there to dive into these topics, and I would have gone for a full five-star rating if the author had done that.

Let’s see how much I can share about the ending without sharing spoilers. I thought it was the best part of this tale and perfectly fit everything I’d learned earlier due to how much time was spent showing what made Rex truly happy and which direction his life might head next. It was also something that I wouldn’t necessarily expect from the science fiction genre, so pushing the boundaries of that genre and the audience’s expectations, especially for the middle grade age when it doesn’t seem to happen as often as it does for adult readers, was also a breath of fresh air.

Free was a wild ride.

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Sour Apples: A Novel For Those Who Hate to Read by Paul Jantzen

January 28, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Sour Apples: A Novel For Those Who Hate to Read by Paul Jantzen
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The year was 1975, and that summer would prove epic for Jimmy Hamilton. Imagine, an eleven-year-old boy with an imagination so powerful that he uses it like others would use a compass. Jimmy Hamilton sets out for the adventure of a lifetime. But summer, with all its promise, throws him a curveball, and he loses his fort on three separate occasions to unwanted squatters. He comes to discover each new unwelcomed tenant proves more difficult to evict than the last. His plans have a modicum of success but each comes with unintended consequences.

Add to that mix, the prettiest girl his age, a baseball diamond, a groundhog, a snapping turtle, a boy with a heightened olfactory acuity, and the town vagrant and Jimmy soon finds his summer adventure is more than he expected.

Not every lesson happens in school.

Jimmy’s character development was realistic and well done. I enjoyed his adventurous and courageous personality as well as the fact that he was the sort of kid who would try almost anything once. One of his biggest flaws were the sometimes sexist things he said and thought about women and girls. Given the historical setting and his very limited exposure to other ways of living, this, too, felt accurate. While I hoped that he grew up to be more accepting given a few illuminating experiences he had with people who didn’t fit his assumptions about what girls should be like, I understood why he wasn’t currently at a stage in life when he was ready to think critically about such things.

It would have been helpful to have that same sort of character development for the secondary characters, too. Since everything was shared from Jimmy’s perspective and like many folks his age he wasn’t always interested in understanding other people’s points of view, this meant that readers only had small, brief glimpses into what anyone around the main character was actually feeling or thinking. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting multiple chapters dedicated to this topic or anything given how active and busy Jimmy was, but even occasional scenes here and there that dug more deeply into their personalities and interests would have gone a long way while I was trying to figure out what they were like as individuals.

While I wasn’t yet alive in this era, I did grow up in a family that didn’t have Internet access and sometimes didn’t even have a television for years. Boredom is much harder to come by when someone has constant access to such passive forms of entertainment, and the descriptions of the zany things kids come up with when they are left to their own devices were as relatable as they were funny to me. Yes, there was some risk taking and a few bad decisions involving wildlife, but there were also hours of fun to be had out in nature with nothing but a vivid imagination and whatever could be found in the woods to work with. That’s the sort of childhood everyone should have a chance to experience if you ask me.

Sour Apples: A Novel For Those Who Hate to Read made me feel like I’d visited the 1970s.

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Behind the Red Wooden Door by Sofia Ulrikson

January 10, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Behind the Red Wooden Door by Sofia Ulrikson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), LGBTQ, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Some doors, once opened, cannot be closed…

Following the departure of her only friend, Drew starts having strange dreams which feature a mysterious red, wooden door. Hesitant at first to explore this other world that feels as substantial as reality, she nonetheless finds herself drawn to the door upon witnessing a masked stranger with unconventional tendencies entering it alone.

Desperate to rectify her lonesome situation during her time awake, she endeavors to handle the weighty demands of her job and distant father. But when she meets Bonnie, an outgoing girl who reminds her of the best friend who left, Drew begins to wonder about the possibilities of second chances.

Still, the memory of her absent friend continues to haunt her, even in her sleep. As she works to unravel their mysteries, the effects of her dreams on her daily life become ever more apparent―for, as it seems, more than one hidden truth remains to be uncovered.

Once Drew has opened the door, things might not return to the way they used to be…

An emotional and fantastical exploration of mental health and healing, this beautifully written magical realism novel combines the cozy and heartfelt elements so beloved by readers of Lonely Castle in the Mirror and When the Coffee Gets Cold.

Change is possible, but it’s not always simple.

This was a sympathetic portrayal of how depression can sap a person’s energy and make even the smallest tasks feel all but impossible, and I was impressed by how accurate it was. Drew felt stuck in her stressful and low-paid retail position but couldn’t see how she could switch to something better anytime soon. When combined with other life difficulties, this made it hard for her to feel motivated or look for new opportunities. She was the sort of character I wanted to hug and give some genuine encouragement to.

With that being said, I struggled with the slow pacing and repetition. Drew noticed the red door multiple times before deciding if she wanted to open it to see what was inside, and even after that decision was made, she continued to put off making other choices that might have helped her in her journey to discover what that door meant and why it kept appearing in her nightmares. Yes, her depression went a long way in explaining why she behaved this way, but the pacing also made it difficult for me to remain highly interested in what might happen next because she continued agonizing over the same small decisions over and over again. This is something I’m saying as a reader who would have loved to give a higher rating and thought there was plenty of good in her story, too.

While I did see the ending coming in advance, it was still interesting to observe how Drew reacted to it once she figured out what was really going on. This wasn’t the sort of tale that needed a big plot twist in order to make everything work even though I continued to wish for more conflict and action at times. The quietness of it suited both Drew’s personality as well as what had happened earlier on in the storyline. She was the sort of person who would react well to gradually learning something that changed the way she thought about the world.

Behind the Red Wooden Door was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

And Then You Were Gone by Ivy Logan

January 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment


And Then You Were Gone by Ivy Logan
Publisher: Notion Press; 1st edition
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult (14-18)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

Nina, a popular fantasy author, maintains a reclusive existence. Aside from Nina’s work, her primary focus is her daughter, Sophie.

Incessant bullying at school and a public, mortifying falling out with another girl sparks a downward spiral in Sophie’s emotional state.

Nina watches helplessly as her daughter appears to be unable to move past this unfortunate event. Nina grows so consumed with Sophie’s suffering that she loses her desire to write. How does one help a teenage daughter in torment?

But then Nina has an idea—an unorthodox method to help her daughter. She is going to write a story—bringing in a special character into Sophie’s life. As the author, Nina can control the outcome of the story. Or can she?

As fiction and reality blur, Nina realizes that things have gotten out of hand. Is her story the blessing she hoped for or a curse she never expected?

“My beautiful girl, now gone – what if it’s forever?”

A unique and creative plot blurs the lines between fiction and reality. The narrative explores themes of bullying, family, and the power of storytelling. The book is primarily told through Sophie’s diary entries, spanning from ages 7 to 16, with her mother Nina providing responses.

Nina is a successful author of the Deadly Lives series. One diary entry that stands out to me is at the age of 10, Sophie asked her mother what would happen if Nina went to live in one of her books and why her mother needed to escape into a different world. As Sophie grows, her diary entries give us insight into her life, which is filled with both joy and the challenges of adolescence. She makes new friends, some of whom are not very nice. Sophie experiences bullying at school, but thankfully, she can express her feelings in her diary. Meanwhile, her mother worries and wants to help her.

The book clearly illustrates that Sophia has always had the love and support of her mother. Nina’s ex-husband, Sophie’s father, was an abusive figure who abandoned them before Sophie was born. As a result, Nina has become a fiercely protective mother, determined to shield Sophie from the bullying she experienced in high school. As a writer, Nina found solace in her words during her struggles with her ex-husband—could writing also help her daughter?

This story is thought-provoking and resonates strongly in today’s world. It beautifully depicts the powerful and emotional bond between mother and daughter, and the impact that adultescent bullying can have on an individual and family. Although this is a short read, it is artfully crafted. The desire to escape reality is something most of us readers think about. It’s pretty much why we read and/or write: to create a temporary world/moment of escape or entertainment from our current reality. For some, the mind is a powerful place; the stories we immerse ourselves in can both harm and protect us. While the book’s ending may leave some readers feeling unsettled, it conveys a hopeful message about the power of imagination and presents an optimistic conclusion that challenges society’s conventional views.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

Night of the Living Toilet Paper by Kevin Garone

January 1, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Night of the Living Toilet Paper by Kevin Garone
Alien Survival Guide Book 2
Publisher: Temor Press
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Marv and his friends are back in this exciting sequel to I Know What UFO Did Last Summer. Will they be able to stop a new threat to their town?

A few months have passed since Marv and his friends stopped what he believes was an extraterrestrial plot to take over the planet. But he’s not letting his guard down. If there’s one thing Marv knows, it’s that aliens could attempt another invasion at any time.

So when he spots an unmanned motorcycle racing into the woods, pursued by a paranormal investigator, Marv’s instincts scream that something very weird is going on. Marv tracks down the bike and hauls it to his fort for closer inspection. That’s when he sees it: a Sleech—one of the creatures he encountered last summer—slithering out of the motorcycle’s tailpipe.

But when Marv returns to show his discovery to his friends, they find the fort completely destroyed. The only thing left is his emergency stockpile of toilet paper.

And it’s alive.

Now Marv and his friends must unravel the mystery of the Sleech before their entire town is overrun by a monstrous swarm of toilet paper. Because if they don’t stop it in time…

It’s going to wipe them out.

Smart toilet paper is nothing to mess around with.

The dialogue made me smile, especially when the characters were bouncing ideas off of each other as they attempted to figure out how to defeat the toilet paper monster and the sleech. All of the characters had natural speaking styles that made me feel like I was overhearing their conversations instead of reading about them. This is not always an easy thing to accomplish, so I must tip my cap to the author for not only pulling it off but also for doing it so effortlessly that these moments felt completely true to real life other than the fact that toilet paper is rarely if ever dangerous in our world.

Mr. Garone had a playful sense of humor that worked beautifully for middle grade horror. This was something I first noticed in I Know What UFO Did Last Summer, but it was even stronger and funnier this time around. Toilet paper was just about the last thing I’d think of as an antagonist, so I was excited to see what the author did with such a creative approach to conflict. This was the second book I’ve read from him, and I hope to hear from him and his hilarious point of view again in the near future.

Speaking of the first book, I enjoyed seeing how Marv and his friends grew and changed as a result of their earlier experiences with extraterrestrials. My first review mentioned that I wanted more character development, and I was thrilled to have that wish granted this time around. This added layers of meaning to the storyline that made choosing a five star rating the only genuine choice I could make. It will be exciting to see where the characters go from here.

I’d recommend reading this series in order for plot and character development reasons.

Night of the Living Toilet Paper was wonderful.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Book of Thunder and Lightning by Seb Duncan

December 19, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Book of Thunder and Lightning by Seb Duncan
Publisher: Roundfire Books
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A vigilante ghost stalks the East End of London… Before the lightning, he was just a boy, now he’s ready for revenge. The Book of Thunder and Lightning is a Gothic mashup of Oliver Twist and Top Boy, a love letter to London, wrapped up in a mind-bending ghost story. In 1888, unlucky Tom Baxter is thrown into a world of toxic masculinity, where his only weapon is his imagination. But at least he’s got his crew, a gang of misfits just like him, to back him up. As lightning stretches across time and space to a gritty 21st-century London, history is repeating itself. Tom has the chance to save his modern-day twin, with help from a reluctant hero, a posh girl from Chelsea, and a donkey called Dorris. His luck has to change sometime, right?

Life isn’t always fair.

Both of the settings involved characters who were not only participating in illegal activities but involving kids in their crimes as well. This was something I expected to find in the historical timeline but not so much in the contemporary one. Some of the most interesting scenes to me were the ones that explored what the kids thought about the secret errands they were sent on or the odd things the adults in their lives occasionally said or did. A child’s understanding of these things isn’t going to be the same as an adult’s, after all!

I struggled with the time jumps between the late 1800s and the modern era. It took quite a while for me to discover the connections between them, and while I found the conflict interesting there weren’t many detailed descriptions of the characters or settings to grab my attention in the meantime in the present day. I found myself wishing that these scenes were as easy to visualize as the ones set in and around 1888.

It was intriguing to learn how the afterlife worked in this universe. Instead of focusing on traditional options like heaven or hell, at least some of the dead could earn the opportunity to do things they genuinely wished to do. Although I can’t go into detail about what they did to earn those treats without giving away spoilers, I did enjoy learning about how that system worked and what the dead thought of it.

The Book of Thunder and Lightning made me smile.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Devin Drake and the Roller Ghoster by R. M. Clark

December 6, 2024 By 1 Comment


Devin Drake and the Roller Ghoster by R. M. Clark
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Devin Drake, a twelve-year-old paranormal ghost detective, is asked by Cassie Waite, the smartest, most athletic girl at their middle school, to help with a ghost problem.

It seems her family’s house, built on the site of a former amusement park, is haunted by two roller coaster-riding ghosts from a century ago.

While trying to figure out who they are and what they want, Devin realizes the amusement park spirits are in danger and he’ll need all his paranormal powers to find them a new hangout in the afterlife.

But when the ghosts trick Cassie into getting on the haunted coaster, Devin enlists the help of an offbeat, local historian to rescue Cassie from their world before she is trapped in it forever.

The past can never be forgotten.

I enjoyed Devin’s unique and sometimes slightly quirky friendship with Cassie. There were a few times in the beginning when I thought she was a little rude to him, but my brief confusion was soon replaced with an explanation that made a great deal of sense and helped me to get to know them both better. Everyone has off days, after all, and it was interesting to see how he responded to her when she said and did things that other kids might have found odd. There is something endearing about characters who don’t always know how to respond to each other, and I look forward to reading more about them in the future if the author writes a third instalment.

It would have been helpful to have more details included here. I had some trouble imagining what was happening because of how little time was spent describing the characters, settings, and a few moments later on in the plot that discussed how the ghosts died that I thought could have used extra attention. As much as I wanted to choose a higher rating, this was something that held me back from enjoying this tale as much as I had hoped I would.

The mystery elements of the storyline were well done. I liked the way the author shared most of the clues slowly as the plot required them. That kept my interest levels up as I waited to find out who the ghosts were, when they died, and why they continued to haunt that old amusement park. As much as I’d love to dig more deeply into this topic, I think other readers will enjoy it more if they know as little about the ghosts as possible ahead of time.

This is part of a series that does not have to be read in order, but I do recommend checking out Devin Drake and the Family Secret to anyone who enjoyed this mystery.

Devin Drake and the Roller Ghoster kept me guessing.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Arabian Nights Illustrated 1800-1950 by Albert Seligman

December 4, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Arabian Nights Illustrated 1800-1950 by Albert Seligman
Publisher: Dulace Books
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical, Non-fiction
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

This is a survey of the illustrated editions of The Arabian Nights, also called The Thousand and One Nights, published in England and America between 1800 and 1950. It begins with one of the earliest editions illustrated in 1802 by English artist Robert Smirke, who painted especially for inclusion in books. Following are the earliest attempts to print color plates, made from tin or copper, through the beginnings of wood blocks and photographic reproduction.

Featured are the most famous artists and illustrators of the Victorian and Golden Age, including John Gilbert, famous for his Dickens illustrations, William Harvey who engraved the wood blocks by hand, FOC Darley, the first American Brandywine illustrator, Walter Crane, the beginning of the Golden Age illustrators for his full color woodblocks.

Modern editions include Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, Willy Pogany, Maxfield Parrish, the three Robinson brothers; William Heath, Thomas Heath and Charles, Rene Bull, Charles Folkard, Gustave Dore, Frances Brundage, JD Batten, William Strang, HJ Ford, George Soper, Helen Stratton, Walter Paget, VF Sterrett, Eric Pape, and many others.

The illustrated stories include are ‘Aladdin, and the Wonderful Lamp’, ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, ‘The Enchanted Horse’, ‘Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou, and many other favorites of the 1001 tales.

Arabian Nights fans, take note! These sketches are just as exciting as the stories themselves.

One of the recurring thoughts I had while reading this and looking carefully at the paintings and drawing was how much work went into all of it. Not only was it more difficult to get ahold of certain art supplies back then than it is today, artists didn’t have access to the types of technology that can make planning out an illustration easier. It took hours of hard work, but the results have entertained generations. Kudos to Mr. Seligman for honoring everyone who was involved in the creation of these images. I think they would be pleased to know that people still enjoy them so many decades later.

This is the second art collection I’ve reviewed that Mr. Seligman gathered together into the same book, and I was once again surprised by how beautiful it was. Due to how expensive printing was back then, I’d assumed that most illustrations from the 1800s would be in black and white, so the inclusion of examples of them that were in color was a wonderful surprise. Morgiana’s Dance was one of my favorites because of how it captured the exhilarating feeling of dancing in a colorful outfit. It’s always nice to have one’s assumptions challenged about what the past was like, and I look forward to checking out more of his work if or when Mr. Seligman can provide it.

I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the images that discussed things like how they were made and what certain aspects of them would have meant to someone living in the 1800s to mid-1900s. Cultures can shift quite a bit over time, after all, so not all of these details were necessarily things that someone would immediately recognize today. This made me feel like I’d traveled back in time to experience certain parts of the world as they used to be.

Arabian Nights Illustrated 1800-1950 was delightful.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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