Sem's Map by Rebecca Thomas

Rating:

5 Stars

Themes:

Children's Fiction, Educational

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I really enjoyed this book myself as it tells a real story about the land before settlers arrived. As a Brit myself I don’t have enough in-depth knowledge about the history and land boundaries of North America but this explains it in a great way to start children’s exploration of the land they live on. The illustrations themselves were beautiful and added to the overall impact of the story. I also liked the map of North America at the beginning and the map of Turtle Island at the end to base further learning on.

Favourite Quote:

Kiju always told him about the land. She would tell stories about the river and the forest. Where the moose ate his dinner and when it was time to tap the trees for syrup.

Mr. Trainor’s map didn’t tell any of these stories. They were all lines and boxes.”

With thanks to Numbus Publishing and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

Rating: Stars Themes: Short Story, Cosy Mystery Thoughts: Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I had to read this book, seeing it was available, after reading Pipers Piping and Puppies last year. I did read it as a standalone (it’s not the first time I’ve read a series out of order and likely won’t be the last) I managed to follow along fine although I’m sure I’d have understood the relationship dynamics better had I read it in the correct order. I found the story great and as for the mystery I was guessing myself right the way through until Sam figured it out. Sam is a strong female main character who feels worth investing in so I may have to go search some more of the Heywood Herbalist series out. I enjoyed seeing Sam interact with her friends as they had great chemistry and it felt real, and also really liked Sam’s interactions with Doug as it added another layer of humanity to her and reality to the town. I would love ...

Porn is Not Sex Ed! by Jessica Melendez

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens. With thanks to Hachette UK and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

Ghosts by Abbie Headon

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Supernatural Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great first introduction or basic guide to the different types of ghosts around the world. I am interested in the supernatural but am just starting to look deeper into it so I learned a lot of different creatures here. There are some interesting facts here such as being raised in the North East we used to say The Grey Lady ghost was in the school toilets if you called her 3 times in a mirror so it was very interesting to learn that one of the original Grey Ladies is actually from somewhere close to other family members. The images are awesome as they show what these new to me creatures look like and there were quite a few beautiful ones in there. However, I would have liked a pronunciation breakdown after each title. With thanks to Amber Books Ltd and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

KJK Reads

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