Book Reviews

It has been forever and a day since I put any good reads on here. Largely due to lack of time, partly due to lack of reading any good books! These days, I have my nose stuck in text books for the most part. And I'm not sure anyone is interested in a recap of Anatomy & Physiology for Speech, Language, and Hearing...4th Edition! It was expensive.. doesn't make it interesting. Okay it's sort of interesting in a boring, monotone, textbooky sort of way.

What I DO want to share with you all, is Mo Willems, my current favorite children's books author. He has several series for different age groups. We really are loving the Elephant & Piggie books right now.

There's humor that a toddler can get and parents can appreciate. These books are fun and interactive. The illustrations seem simple but contain perfect detail of expression and interaction between Elephant & Piggie. Willems perfectly depicts these two friends having a blast, having adventures by simply enjoying each other's company. I just love these books, they crack me up, and I'm more or less an adult, so you other parents should enjoy them, too!

Book Reviews

"Sorry I haven't been writing much lately. We've been a little busy! Free time is usually spent napping or  getting other stuff done. But mostly napping or trying to nap. I am a horrible napper. It takes me forever to fall asleep, especially if I know I have to wake up soon. Then I'm just sitting there saying, "Now I'll only get this much sleep...." over and over.

But things are going really well! I'll try to update on the whole family again soon, but I thought I'd do some more book reviews of what we're reading lately. You'll notice a trend in Lyla's current faves. We don't have really ANY mommy books. What's up with that?!?!

I would recommend any of these for that special daddy in your life!

Lyla's Reviews:

 

"I really like this book because it shows pictures of daddy and me as animals. I like the daddy turtle the best because he is playing Peek-a-boo!"

"In this book, my daddy turns into lots of animals! It's funny when he becomes a turtle because turtles aren't fast, and the turtle says "Blub, blub." At the end, I like to say, "You're fast, Daddy!" And then Daddy and Lyla walk home together!"

(Mommy's Fave) "This book is about all the fun stuff Daddy and Lyla do together. There's only one picture with mommy in it! I really like the one where Daddy comes to my school, and it says, "You're daddy is so cool!" After I read this page, I like to run and tell my Daddy how cool he is. There are some pages where Daddy is wearing fancy clothes, and another page where Lyla needs to be rescued! Daddy rescues Lyla and then they ride on books together!"

"I like to read this book by myself. It's all about different kinds of dads. My favorite page is the one where it says, "Some dads like to cover you with sand!" There's also a page where the dad is wearing two different socks, just like I like to do!

"The Lorien Legacies" is definitely an entertaining series! This is the third book in the series. It was very fast-moving and action packed. Definitely entertaining, like the other books. However, I did have a couple of issues with it. The author writes the book in three voices, of Marina, John and Number 6. This is ok, but the voices aren't that different. And maybe three voices is too many. Will the next book include 4 different perspectives?? I also think there is too much romance. It seems like the author is always jumping to add a bit of romantic action for each person, and I think that's unnecessary. I talked to Erik about this, and he said, "They're teenagers." Well, that's true. And finally.. this book ended in such a weird spot. Overall, I enjoyed it though. A lot of cool battle scenes and stuff. I hear this series will have 6 books. UGH! Too many. 

Book Reviews

This is currently Lyla's favorite book, as in we read it a minimum of five times a day. Today we've already read it about 6 times, since Lyla is not feeling well and we've been confined to the couch all day! Here is what I think Lyla would say about this book:

"This is the best book ever. I really like the phrases "deep-dark lair," "itty-bitty mouse" and "bear snores on." The picture where the Hare looks like he is winking is SO funny! I didn't know what a mole is, but I really like him in this book. I'm not sure how I feel about the raven yet.  It's also really funny when the Badger is carrying a bag!!! Badgers don't carry bags!! At the end, I was a little worried about badger... he looked sick. But mommy said that he was just sleeping on bear, and I think that's hilarious! And it's really funny at the end because Gopher is getting Bear all messy with crumbs! I could read this book all day!"

I recently read this book per recommendation of my mom, who rarely leads me astray in book world (she's a librarian after all!) But I have to say that I only gave this book 2/5 stars! Rare for me, because I usually like any book. The book had very beautiful descriptions of the circus and all the tents and magical wonders awaiting the people there, and I thought that was nicely done, but almost excessive compared to the character development. I just did not feel connected with the characters. Years would go by between chapters, chapters would go by without a word about an important character. I had a lot of difficulty sympathizing with the main characters at all, and the love story felt kind of flat for me. I will say that I think this book would make a great movie!