Daddy Mojo, Author at Daddy Mojo

Gran Turismo is a motivational film that’s better than you think

“Why would he (our 12-year old son) want to see Gran Turismo?”, mused my wife. I snickered just a little bit too because I too had momentarily interchanged Gran Torino with Gran Turismo. To make matters even more challenging for the marketing of the film, Gran Turismo is a movie based on the real-life story of , who was good at playing Gran Tourismo, the video game, and then became a real-life race car driver. I’ve seen this movie before, Rock Star, with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Anniston, you older movie fans might be thinking to yourself. But, before you dismiss Gran Tourismo as something that you’ve seen before, here this, it’s actually quite refreshing and has more in common with Rocky, than the cheesy gamer film you’ve imagined.

Gran Turismo overcomes the based-on-a-true-story and the from-gamer-to-racer curse to deliver an entertaining and motivational film.

C’mon in, the water’s fine

The Changing Man, teen-age horror that hits the nail on the head

If I was in middle or high school then The Changing Man is the sort of book that I would’ve loved. It operates on a more mature level than Goosebumps. It oozes teen paranoia and angst on the pore of every greasy page. The characters are typical teens who don’t trust anyone over 20, but know that they have to acknowledge them and sometimes seek guidance when long-dormant problems rear their heads. More than anything, my teenage soul (and the erstwhile reader) would crave the horror, the monsters and the creatures that I know exist in the book, if only they can reveal themselves at the right time.

The Changing Man is a horror book that’s custom-built for teens. It lives in the soul of their world and paces the ick, life and monsters at a pace perfect for them.

Teens 14-18, this is your jam

Tee Time on the Moon, an illustrated book with eyes on a bigger prize

At times, science should be silly, especially if your audience is young and needs to look at things from a different angle. This is the angle that asks questions you’ve never thought about. It’s the sly questioning of whether or not there’s a rhinoceros in the room or a STEM-based story about the time an astronaut played golf on the moon. Tee Time on the Moon is an illustrated book aimed at early to mid-elementary school audiences, but whose curious nature will lend itself to those slightly younger, in addition to older than that. This is due to the left-field thinking that kids would have as to playing golf on the moon. However, the book’s layout also lends itself to welcoming young readers who might be intimidated by the story or the text that they see as out of this world.

Tee Time on the Moon is the story of Alan Shepard and his covert mission (with the help of NASA engineers) to play golf on the moon during the Apollo 14 landing.

Golf, with a slice of the moon, or vice versa

Beulah has a Hunch!, bygone innovations and their unlikely shepherd

Oh Beulah, you always have a hunch. When I read to younger elementary school audiences I love books like Beulah has a Hunch! Inside the Colorful Mind of Master Inventor Beulah Louise Henry, and so do those young audiences. It’s a real story and is one of the first instances of a non-fiction illustrated book that pre-k and early elementary will experience, and we do love some non-fiction. However, non-fiction is only as good as its enjoyment to those elementary ages. This is where the illustrations; combined with the zippy vibe of the book make Beulah has a Hunch! a fun time that won’t tax their time and just might inspire their imagination.

Beulah has a Hunch! is approachable, non-fiction STEM about an inventor that most people haven’t heard of who revolutionized the way kids play and how 1920’s ladies presented themselves.

Lady Edison for the win

Wings, Waves & Webs: Patterns in Nature, to wonder and dream

If I taught a photography class I would issue this challenge to my students. First off, they’d get two shots and neither of them could use a filter or emoji. Now that I’ve eliminated 80% of the people who would enroll in the class, here’s the challenge. Take a photograph in this room of something creative, beautiful, startling or odd. You’re only able to use what’s in the room and can’t move things around or otherwise stage the photo. The point to the exercise is that there is beauty all around us, it’s just that sometimes you have to look for it, squint your eyes or tilt your head. Wings, Waves & Webs: Patterns in Nature is an illustrated book that jumps knee-deep into the world of observation, as it can be seen by elementary school ages.

Wings, Waves & Webs: Patterns in Nature is an illustrated book that shows young ages the shapes, patterns and big pictures that exists in front of their very eyes.

Young ages can absorb and learn more than we think that they can

The Afterlife of the Party, a sequel stuck in purgatory

Maybe I need a vacation, maybe. I ask myself that when an mglit book that I’m reading is challenging to get through. It’s a saying that I echo even more so when it’s the second book in a series to which I really enjoyed the first one. The Afterlife of the Party is an mglit book that I should have loved. Grounded For All Eternity is an mglit book that we really enjoyed. In theory, a sequel would’ve been one that resonated as quickly with us, but that wasn’t the case, and I’m not sure why.

The Afterlife of the Party is the sequel to a great mglit book. This one though has its devil wings clipped and doesn’t fly like its sibling.

Great illustration, book doesn’t measure up

The Skull, all bones that classically crackle with dread for lower elementary

Emerging readers want a sense of mystery. They want dark tales that are just enough to make them imagine what goes bump in the night, before squinting at them just enough to let them know that everything is fine. It’s the aura of a book that has age-appropriate dread or genuine curiosity. This allows their young imagination to fill in the blanks, which can be infinitely scarier than the text that they’re reading. The Skull is a perfect example of the feeling that kids want, and in many cases need. Aside from the title which inspires creepy questions in its own right, the book’s cover has a little girl hiding behind a big tree that’s been dusted with snow as she’s holding a skull. The background light is a soft pink that’s happening just around the sunset golden hour and it’s a place that you want to be.

The Skull is a perfect example of less-is-more, crafting a big modern classic story out of a simple premise about a runaway girl and a disembodied skull.

The Skull, Resistance is futile

Ludwig and the Rhinoceros, I Kant escape how clever this book is

After reading Ludwig and the Rhinoceros audiences, those young readers who were most likely having it read to them might have some questions, and that’s okay. As a teacher, and as a parent, unless it’s 9:00 and time for them to go to bed, I love questions. However, Ludwig and the Rhinoceros is an illustrated book, a brightly illustrated one at that, about Ludwig, a young boy and his imaginary large mammal friend. Elementary ages have seen books on imaginary friends before, what makes Ludwig and the Rhinoceros so much fun, in addition to feeling like a classic illustrated book that you’ve seen in your youth, is that it takes its talking points from a real-life person.

Ludwig and the Rhinoceros is a great and timeless, illustrated book. Ludwig and the Rhinoceros is a child’s first primer on critical thought. Both of these statements can coexist.

Great illustrated book/primer on critical thought-it’s all good