Book Review: How to draw Forest Fairies (Step By Step Practical Guide For Beginners) – by Amit Offir

How to Draw the Forest FairiesBook: How to draw Forest Fairies (Step By Step Practical Guide For Beginners)
Author: Amit Offir
Publisher: troubadour
Date: February 22, 2013
Genre: art (beginners), for any age
Pages: 16
Price: Kindle, under $1
My rating: so easy and rewarding!
 
 

I picked up a Kindle copy of How to draw Forest Fairies when it was offered for free, just to see if I could actually draw such complicated-looking images. I was both amazed and delighted with how simple Amit Offir made it. He uses a technique he developed, which he calls “Drawing Easily.”

Amit Offir starts us off with simple lines, adding to it through very easy-to-follow directions. He doesn’t use words to instruct, just pictures. Each page shows how to add to what you have already drawn. The end result is both fun and rewarding.

Not only does Amit Offir teach how to draw fairies in his book by that name, he includes a frog, a spider and its web, a fancy toadstool, and more. It was surprisingly easy to follow his instructions and have an end result that almost exactly matches his!

Renowned artist and illustrator, Amit Offir, offers How to draw Forest Fairies and many other “practical guides” to drawing. Check out this book, especially if you’ve always wanted to draw but thought you never could. He has a whole series of books as simple and fun as this one.

You can learn to draw; you’ll be amazed!

You can find How to draw Forest Fairies listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Book Review: Audie the Angel and the Aging Plague (The Angel Archives, vol 2) – by Erika Kathryn

The Angel Archives, book 2Book: Audie the Angel and the Aging Plague (The Angel Archives, vol 2)
Author: Erika Kathryn
Publisher: Erika Kathryn
Date: 2013
Genre: MG chapter book, fantasy, adventure
Pages: 186
Price: paper, $9.89; Kindle $6.57
My rating: an ongoing adventure young readers will enjoy
 

I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

In Audie the Angel and the Aging Plague, Erika Kathryn continues the story she started in volume one of The Angel Archives. (You can read my review here.) Having just read book one, I had no trouble following the characters, but for someone starting with book two it may be confusing as to who they are. The plot is good but I did wonder if, in places, it is more for an older or advanced reading audience.

As an adult reader who notices typos, wording, and grammar glitches there were things that disturbed me. The story is basically a good one, and the author has an amazing imagination, but she needs better editing to correct grammar and spelling mistakes and a good dictionary and thesaurus to improve her use of words with meanings she intends. 

In this volume of The Angel Archives, Audie (the angel) and Cave (her human friend) join forces with the angel army to save humans from the infection of an aging plague. Once the infected human ages to the point of death they become … something else quite awful.  I will give you the link to my young friend’s review at This Kid Reviews Books so you can get an idea of the story from a member of the intended reading group, but with slight spoilers. 

Again there is action, drama, all manner of interesting creatures, and characters who make the reader care about them. When the story comes to its close a list of questions challenges the reader.

Erika Kathryn ended Audie the Angel and the Aging Plague with a bit of a cliffhanger, the same way she ended volume one, so you know there is another book in process to continue the drama. Young readers will look forward to finding out what happens to Audie and her friends as the adventure progresses.

You can find Audie the Angel and the Aging Plague (The Angel Archives, vol 2) listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thank you for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

 

Book Review: The Moon has a Date with the Sun – by Marc Geller

The Moon has a Date with the SunBook: The Moon has a date with the Sun
Author: Marc Geller
Illustrator: Robert M. Henry
Publisher: Marc Geller
Date: February 8, 2013
Genre: children’s fantasy
Pages: 44
Price: Paper – $10.80; Kindle – under $1
My rating: fun story with great illustrations
 

The Moon has a date with the Sun by Marc Geller is a fascinating story for children. The illustrations are fabulous – bright, cheery, realistic portrayals of cityscapes, day and night sky, and more colourful, beautiful pages by very accomplished artist Robert M. Henry.

The Sun is king of the sky, but he gets lonely even though he demands he is the only one who can take up space in his sky. A little cloud befriends Sun and suggests maybe he and Moon can meet. Moon is lonely too and is interested when the cloud mentions the possibility of her having a friend. Sun and Moon begin to have hope.

You have to read this yourself to see what happens. It’s a cute story, one which children will love to read or to have read to them. The words are rather advanced in places for the youngest ones, but it’s a great way to introduce words with their meanings in context. It also will teach them some historical facts in a fun way.

The Moon has a date with the Sun is quite a different story, well done and interesting, almost like a fable.

You can find The Moon has a date with the Sun listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

 

Book Review: Audie the Angel and the Angel Army (The Angel Archives, vol 1) – by Erika Kathryn

The Angel Archives, book 1Book: Audie the Angel and the Angel Army (The Angel Archives, vol.1)
Author: Erika Kathryn
Publisher: Erika Kathryn
Date: December 1, 2012
Genre: MG chapter book, fantasy, adventure
Pages: 206
Price: paper, $9.89; Kindle $4.67
My Rating: unusual angel fantasy for middle grade readers
 

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

Audie the Angel and the Angel Army (The Angel Archives, vol.1),  written by Erika Kathryn, is intended for middle grade readers and has clean language. Audie is a twelve-year-old girl who learns she is not only a girl, but also an angel, after she is whisked off to heaven. There she is instructed in all manner of things to develop her innate skills which she didn’t even know she had. Audie is needed to help save heaven.

The one telling the story is a twelve-year-old boy who has very romantic feelings for Audie, and who ends up being taken along because he witnessed the moment when another angel comes to transport Audie to heaven.

Erika Kathryn has taken great liberties and is very imaginative in her portrayal of heaven and angels. She also uses humour and has developed characters who are very human in personality – except for Audie who is depicted as being perfect in every way – but who have angel abilities, albeit unusual ones. Young readers will probably be quite amused and interested in the story which includes drama, battles, and rivalry. Also, there are ten fun trivia questions in the back of the book to test the reader’s memory on what is in the book.

It would have helped had the author referred to a thesaurus while writing this book and had better editing to catch the things she missed. There are some misspelled words and a few words which have entirely different meanings from what Erika Kathryn obviously intended.

Audie the Angel and the Angel Army (The Angel Archives, vol.1)  by Erika Kathryn is the beginning of a series.

You can find Audie the Angel and the Angel Army (The Angel Archives, vol.1) listed on my Buy The Book! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Book Review: Dreamlander – by K. M. Weiland

DreamlanderBook: Dreamlander
Author: K. M. Weiland
Publisher: PenForASword
Date: January 14, 2014
Genre: epic fantasy
Pages: 546
Price: Kindle under $4; paper $12.96
My Rating: a fully engaging fantastical journey

 

Have you ever been so affected by a book it sticks with you for days after you’ve read the last page? Dreamlander by K.M. Weiland had that effect on me.

Have you ever wakened from a dream that seemed so real it felt as if you were really there? The residue of it stays with you? The memory of it keeps recurring?  Have you ever wondered which is more real – where you are or where you were in your dream?

Chris Redston’s recurring dream was sure to kill him if he didn’t hurry and wake up! Who was that woman warning him to not cross the worlds? Why was she so desperately trying to convince him to not come over? What a ridiculous dream! He felt as if he were losing his mind. Then he discovered the note taped to his window, the note warning him about his dreams; but he had told no one about them!

This story grabbed my interest from its very beginning and did not, would not, let me go. It’s filled with suspense, action, drama, believable emotion of the characters, danger, hope, battles, and so much more. The main character has to deal with his dysfunctional father’s problems by day and then at night … those crazy dreams. Then things get really complicated for him when he learns he is a Gifted who holds the balance of both worlds in his hands. He is drawn into the battle between good and evil – and the reader is taken on a fantastical journey.

K.M. Weiland created a parallel world with such detail and believability the reader is challenged to consider the possibilities. To say Dreamlander is a good read is an understatement. If any reader can set aside the tangible and get hold of the visuals presented by K.M. Weiland, there is an amazing adventure waiting to be enjoyed.

Dreamlander by K. M. Weiland is a BRAG Medallion winner and was a finalist for the 2014 National Indie Excellence Award in the Writing and Publishing category.

 You can find Dreamlander listed on my Buy The Book! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Book Review: Don’t Dare a Dame (Maggie Sullivan Mysteries) – by M. Ruth Myers

Don't Dare a DameBook: Don’t Dare a Dame (Maggie Sullivan Mysteries book 3)
Author: M. Ruth Myers
Publisher: Tuesday House 
Date: November 7, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 359
Price: $13.99 paperback; Kindle under $4.00
My rating: a great sleuth novel with a smart lady PI
 
 

Don’t Dare a Dame by M. Ruth Myers was fun to read. This is a sleuth novel that pulled me in, involved me without my realizing it, although I was thinking about the story when I couldn’t be reading it.

This is a mystery told in the voice of private investigator, Maggie Sullivan, who has intelligence, heart, courage, and determination. She takes the reader on a delightful journey – tense at times, loaded with clues and hints and glorious details and trails and situations. And surprises. And drama.

Set in the 1930’s to 1940’s, Don’t Dare a Dame starts with Maggie saying: Two old maids who wanted to hire me had asked me to tea, so I’d treated my nails to a fresh coat of raspberry pink and put on a hat that matched and a Smith & Wesson that didn’t. This shows the reader right away that here is a woman who likes looking like a woman but who takes her job seriously and is ready to do business at any time.

Maggie finds herself investigating the decades-old disappearance of a man, unsure if she will find anything at all regarding that mystery since she suspects all clues would likely be gone by then. Through her curiosity, compassion, determination, and her skill as a private eye, she uncovers more than she first imagined could be connected. In so doing, she upsets some respected people and endangers not only herself but her clients.

Don’t Dare a Dame by M. Ruth Myers is a good story that keeps the reader interested. There’s some swearing but it is not over the top.

Don’t Dare a Dame is the third book in the Maggie Sullivan mysteries. If this is the genre you enjoy, judging by this volume it would be well worth your while to read the whole series.

You can find Don’t Dare a Dame listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

 

An exciting New Page on my blog, “Buy the Book!”

As the title of this post indicates, I have prepared a new page on my blog … BUY THE BOOK! … and I’m excited about it!  Why? you may ask.  Well, because the new page, which you can visit by clicking on it in the menu above,  is set up to help in promoting the books I review.

On that page I have listed the books you can also find under the menu heading BOOK REVIEWS, but on the new page I have linked to where you can purchase the books on Amazon – both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. As long as they are listed on Amazon these links will be good. I’m hoping this will help you to easily find the title you’ve just read about here before you forget about it in the busyness of your day. If you are anything like me you will wonder later .. what was the name of that book I wanted? 

So, please, go now and check out the new page, the one called BUY THE BOOK! And I would really appreciate if you let me know what you think of it. Thanks!  🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂