Book Review: 10 Little Ninjas – by Miranda Paul

Book: 10 Little Ninjas
Author: Miranda Paul
Illustrator: Nate Wragg
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers 
Genre: picture book; 2 - 5 yrs; preschool to kindergarten
Date: August 9, 2016
Price: $14.99
My rating: Delightful variation of 10 little monkeys

10 Little Ninjas is a clever, thought-out variation of 10 little monkeys. It’s a rhyming book, in keeping with the nursery rhyme, but with children instead of monkeys. If you can imagine a household with ten children all the same age then you can understand the tiredness of the parents by the end of the children’s day.

It’s bedtime. Miranda Paul has 10 little ninjas sneaking out of bed, 9 tiny astronauts zooming in the dark, 8 rapid racers revving out the gate … and so on. The fun part is that Daddy is always calling in Mama to sort things out and she appears dressed for the part. For 10 ninjas she’s the sensei, for 9 astronauts she’s the pilot, for 8 racers she’s the marshal.

The illustrations by Nate Wragg are exciting, and rightly depicting Mama the lifeguard – by the time it’s 5 hungry sharks swimming lazy laps – looking a little worn out. When it’s down to 2 sleepy dragons struggling to fly she’s dressed as a wizard and scolding with a yawn.

The last double page illustration is of all ten children sleeping in and on the huge bed, each in a different costume.

This is a fun story by Miranda Paul for young book lovers and early readers.

You can find 10 Little Ninjas on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

2 Book Reviews: Granpa Guff, Accidental Astronaut; Granpa Guff, The Pasta Wars










Book: Granpa Guff, The Accidental Astronaut
Author: G. Guff
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 
Date: May 6, 2013, 2nd edition
Genre: children's; humour
Pages: 86
Price: Kindle, under $5.00; paperback $20.00
My Rating: Amusing story children will enjoy

I’d received early copies of Granpa Guff’s two books shown here in exchange for my honest review. (My apologies to Granpa Guff for the late post.) I enjoyed reading the stories again to tell you about them.

What an interesting imagination the author has! In his desire to create stories that amuse and entertain young readers he also has managed to stir the imagination with his visuals and vivid storytelling. The illustrations are fun, too.

Granpa Guff, The Accidental Astronaut, has Granpa Guff innocently climbing on board a space ship. Too late he realizes it’s time for “blast off” and he has to stay there. What ensues is the craziest trip to Mars you can imagine. Mexican Barking Spiders are hidden on board, Granpa gets spacesick, and on it goes. This is a very entertaining story, and … who’s to know but that it might even be true? Just a little.

Book: Granpa Guff, and the Pasta Wars

Author:

G. Guff

Publisher: Fort Guff Press

Date: October 7, 2013

Genre: children’s; humour

Pages: 67

Price: Kindle, under $5.00

My Rating: Amusing story children will enjoy

Oh My! What stories Granpa Guff can tell! He seems to know so much.

In this book Granpa relates some history to his grandchildren. He tells about Italians arriving in America and setting up restaurants. The competition between rivals was fierce and so began the Pasta Wars. The craziest things happen. Creepy things hidden in spaghetti to sabotage the competition, giant pizzas that just kept growing, and no one knew what was really inside them because they were made like pies with a top crust back then. Or, that’s Granpa’s story. Oh, and you’ll learn why large wooden pepper mills are handy to use, the origin of ‘raining cats and dogs’, and … come to think of it, Granpa’s book is quite … um … informative! 🙂

The illustrations are funny and very well done with flair. They add a beauty to the story.

Both stories are written from Granpa Guff’s old-timer voice as he relates these tales to his two grandchildren who, mostly, believe every word he says – with some argument worked in. Very entertaining.

You can find Grandpa Guff, Accidental Astronaut and Granpa Guff, Pasta Wars on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book review: The Stranded Whale – by Jane Yolen















Book: The Stranded Whale
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Melanie Cataldo
Publisher: Candlewick
Date: July 15, 2015
Genre: picture book for ages 5-9
Pages: 32
Price: hardcover $13.98
My Rating: a gently-told story that brings awareness

While on their way home for supper one day, a young girl discovers a whale stranded on the beach. With the tide going out she insists on helping it, so her two brothers pitch in.They know they have to keep it wet, so they dip their sweaters into the ocean and repeatedly squeeze water onto the whale. Of course, it doesn’t do much good, but they want to try to save the helpless creature. When other helpers arrive there is a combined effort – almost like a party atmosphere. This was before modern-day environmental knowledge and large-scale rescues.

The author has dealt with a harsh reality, bringing awareness of such tragic occurrences in nature, in her practiced art of storytelling. Jane Yolen wrote a story that, hopefully, will inspire young readers to become more interested in marine biology or another field of environmental study. At the very least, The Stranded Whale is a well-presented story that informs in a gentle manner – both in Jane Yolen’s words and in Melanie Cataldo’s subdued realistic illustrations.

You can find The Stranded Whale on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: Painted Skies – by Carolyn Mallory

Book: Painted Skies  
Author: Carolyn Mallory
Illustrator: Amei Zhao
Publisher: Inhabit Media Inc                              
Date: June 23, 2015    
Genre: Picture book; K-2; 5-7 yrs                               
Pages: hardcover, 36 pages
Price: $16.95                
My rating: Simply & artfully told, exquisitely illustrated

Last year I had the privilege of meeting Carolyn Mallory at a children’s book fair; of course I bought her book. Look at that title and beautiful cover!

Painted Skies tells the story of a young girl’s introduction to one of Nature’s most spectacular events, the Northern Lights. One night, as two friends are playing in the Arctic snow, the sky begins changing colour. When the colours swirl and move closer in ribbons across the sky, Leslie, who recently moved to the far North, starts getting nervous. Her new friend, Oolipika, reassures her and demonstrates what to do to keep them safe from the playful spirits. When Oolipika tells her the Inuit legend and that it’s about the Northern Lights, Leslie’s fear turns to awe.

Painted Skies by Carolyn Mallory is a beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations by Amei Zhao. The story is told and illustrated in a way that is interesting and educational at the same time, making it ideal in both an elementary classroom and in a child’s collection.

At the back of the book is an explanation of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis), what causes them and when they occur. I’ve felt the awe of seeing the Northern Lights a few times where I live, and would love to see them up close – the way they are depicted in this story.

You can find Painted Skies on my BUY THE BOOK page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Updates and my word for 2017

It’s been a busy start to 2017. Besides the ‘normal’ – and extra concerns of – daily/weekly family things that go on, and trying to keep up with my writing, I’m attempting to figure out a level of activity that I can handle and in which I’ll make progress. It’s time to push past my comfort zone a little more — and not panic!

It’s also time to get back into writing book reviews here on my blog, however brief they may be. I’ve been reading a lot more books, as you can see if you scroll down on my bar to the right, and I want to share some of them with you. For almost all of them I write a short blurb on Goodreads and also on Amazon. I also will be setting up a new page – books I read in 2017 – to keep a recorded count and maybe introduce you to books you haven’t read. Have you checked out my 2016 reading accomplishment? I read 219 books! Only 38 of them aren’t picture books, but 219 total! I’m happy about that.

This month I’m working on Storystorm ideas and have twelve so far. A couple I have are more than just a phrase or title; they’re more-rounded story ideas – and I think they might be worth developing.

I’ve joined 12×12 in 2017 and feel very upbeat about it this year. I know I have to work harder to get anywhere with my drafts and manuscripts, so that is going to be where “pushing past my comfort zone” comes into play.

Now that the busyness of the holiday season is past, this week I will happily reconnect with my writing coach. Starting tomorrow I’ll also be meeting with my new writing/accountability partner once a week for brainstorming, sharing, and encouragement – apart from the local writers group that usually gets together each week.

Hopefully, I haven’t set myself up for failure as I aim for progression this year. That is my word for myself in 2017. PROGRESS. It can be used as either a verb or a noun. I heard it for myself as a noun, PROgress, but in order to make PROgress I have to proGRESS. 😉 For me it feels like a push and coaxing along.

What is YOUR personal word for 2017? What are your writing and reading goals?

Don’t forget to enter my January 18 draw HERE for a copy of The Man Who Was Thursday. (I plan to read my copy of it this week, by the way, as it was recommended to me by a friend more than once — which is likely why I bought it more than once! lol 🙂 )

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

Book Review: As Far As I Remember – by Michael Bawtree

Book: As Far as I Remember: coming 
of age in post-war England

Author: Michael Bawtree

Publisher: Like No Other Press

Date: 2014 in England; 
2015 in Canada 
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 408

Price: $24.95 (CD)

My rating: very interesting, honest, and funny in all the 
right places

I was very pleased to meet the author, Michael Bawtree, at his book signing in April 2015. I hadn’t known about it until I entered the shop for a children’s book, but immediately bought a copy of As Far As I Remember and waited to speak with the author to have him personalize my copy.

I enjoyed this book, although it took me awhile to read all the way through due to my limited reading time when I purchased it. Mr. Bawtree wrote with revealing honesty about his childhood in England where he was born – his years in boarding schools, overcoming shyness, establishing himself as a successful student, a temporary rather nomadic life due to harsh economic times for his family, and many interesting events that occurred. Some incidents he tells about are downright hilarious, the funniest for me being an unfortunate situation that involved his proper English mother in a garden entanglement. There are many things he describes with just the right balance of humour.

This book is the first of two volumes about his fascinating life – the first covering his early years in England, the second volume will cover his life and career in Canada as an actor, playwright and director.

Although Michael Bawtree grew up in boarding schools, he had the opportunity to meet professors and dukes and many other important people, including world-famous C. S. Lewis and others who sometimes stayed at the inn his parents bought and operated. I hope you can read the back cover of his book shown here once you click on the image below to enlarge it.

His interest in literature, drama and music eventually led him to Canada where he embarked on a career in theatre and the arts all across the country, eventually bringing him to Nova Scotia where he now resides. As Far As I Remember, though, is everything leading up to then and is told in a natural and inviting way. It’s well worth the time to read this fascinating story. I’m looking forward to volume two.

You can find As Far As I Remember: coming of age in post-war England on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

You can’t read all day.

You can’t read all day. Huh?! And why not? Well, besides doing all the things that HAVE to be done … why not?

Read it in full —

Ahhhhh! I love it! 🙂

YOU CAN’T READ ALL DAY. If you don’t start in the morning.

You can check out my progress for 2016 HERE. It’s not as much as I would like to read and if you could see my TBR (to be read) stash you’d agree I will probably never read enough. Although I have many paper books and more on my Kindle Fire (on which I can also listen to books on Audible.com) on the go, I just can’t seem to stop buying MORE BOOKS! I picked up a few more secondhand ones yesterday. Somebody STOP ME! … On second thought, don’t even risk trying. 🙂

On the other side of things, I haven’t felt inspired to write for quite a while — until this morning; I wrote a little story for 12×12! It’s a very rough draft and needs a lot of work, but it’s a good beginning.

Enjoy a day of reading, as much as possible as often as possible.

How is YOUR reading coming along? Or are you writing more?

Thanks for being a reader, and … Creative Musings! 🙂