Daddy Mojo, Author at Daddy Mojo

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel that measures up to high expectations

Prequels are the sort of lazy storytelling that beget Muppet Babies. That statement can still be true, however, I’ve been watching Young Sheldon on Netflix and love that show. A movie is a different kind of beast though, and making a sequel to one of the best action films ever shouldn’t be trifled with. Mad Max: Fury Road is the movie in question and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the prequel that was holding the place card for an apocalyptic, gasoline-centered Muppet Babies. Our worst-case scenario of young Kermit may be the exception, rather than the rule. That’s because Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is possibly the best action movie since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is great fun, it’s independent enough to stand alone and wields the action of Fury Road with a deeper story.

Muppet babies in the wasteland get run over

As The Seas Rise, soft eco message mixed with too much faux can do

Adults who visit an elementary school library will experience various thoughts. Look at how skinny these books are. Look at how many books are in this library. How can all of these books get the attention that they deserve? As The Seas Rise is an illustrated book with noble intentions but is five eras too late. The rise of sea level and climate change is science, it’s happening, but I would argue that some books do more to damage the greater cause than the good that it intends. For example, if this book were more informational about sunny day flooding then it would have more of a punch and immediacy. As it stands, the book melds one strong issue, a soft character portrait, and an environmental issue that’s tough for kids to comprehend into a listless illustrated story adrift in a crowded library of better books.

As The Seas Rise has noble intentions, but its soft images and mixed story leaves young readers unenthused and bored.

An eco book too far, save paper. Don’t buy it.

Are You Small?, illustrated book genius or fun, whatever you like

I’m currently teaching a high school English class and they won’t tell you that they want order, structure and something to do. Left to their own devices most of them would be content spinning their energy and creative juices wasting time on their handheld computers that can also make phone calls. Students crave order and boundaries, but they won’t tell you that. Illustrated books have their own unwritten set of rules, mores and means that they’re presented to their key audience to maximize the book’s attention. Are You Small? is the sibling to Are You Big? and hits the same great high notes, in the same manner, albeit in a key that’s smaller in stature.

Are You Small? is an illustrated book that posits to young children how small is small and a basic lesson in relativity, or it’s all just for fun.

If fun is relative, then this book is relatively

The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand, sublime fun for pre-k and up

https://amzn.to/4ajrPuqThat book is too thick for me, I can’t possibly read it all. That book is very thick, I think that it will be a great reading challenge. The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand has a fuzzy, tactile cover that makes it stand out. It’s a coming-of-age story that parallels something that every child aged five and up can understand. The book’s cover is bright, very curious, and seems like a fun, engaging read that is effortless to engage with. Any child that that picks up The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand will think of one of the five sentences as mentioned above at some point.

The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand is a very smart, funny book for pre-k readers and older. It’s also sublime, simple, odd and unlike any book they’ve seen.

Fear not the thick green book

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is solid and shows no sign of letting up

The first three Planet of the Apes movies, in this revamped series were all remarkably consistent in their quality. They were films that I personally enjoyed, in addition to achieving great commercial success. Because of that, I was concerned about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The negative headlines to reviews of the potentially subpar film wrote themselves in my head, An Ape Too Far, Forescore and No Apes More, There’s Nothing to Ape About This Film, and other erstwhile clickable titles that would be glib and hinted at my disappointment in the movie.

However, not since the Harry Potter movie series has a franchise produced so many films consistently, with roughly the same characters, and has continued a high level of quality and entertainment. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth film in this series, the tenth movie overall, and stretches every conceivable positive metric forward, or doesn’t back off from its previous highs, for the most part.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes delivers the epic, enthralling story that you wanted, with the effects that make you believe in a world controlled by simians.

You’ll believe an ape can fly, or talk

It Watches in the Dark, shines as age-appropriate horror for ages 10 and up

This book runs, and very few books run. Books that run have that page-turner characteristic that literally makes it challenging to put down. For our money, any form of entertainment can run, and each instance is equally rare. It Watches in the Dark runs. It’s horror mglit that is age-appropriate for upper-elementary audiences, but has the smarts, tension and character development to make it interesting and enjoyable to those middle school students and older. Even the book’s cover reels in possible readers. For example, our eighth-grade student saw It Watches in the Dark by our bed and said “ooooh, when did you start reading that?”

It Watches in the Dark is age-appropriate, mglit horror that’s smart enough for older readers, but restrained enough for younger ones.

Real-time horror that’s fabulous for ages 10 and up

Courtesy of Cupid, mglit that asks what if the God of Love was your daddy?

Courtesy of Cupid disappeared from my book queue. It’s nothing fancy, just a series of books stacked up on top of one another, but I knew that something was missing. After a couple of days, my wife said, “This book is really good.” After a couple more days she let me know that Courtesy of Cupid would be leaving the house. It was going to someone else’s house so that they could read it. The finest form of book flattery is when it travels from house to house before eventually landing on my desk once more.

As much as it pains the stereotypical me, my wife was right on the money, and Courtesy of Cupid is a very entertaining book. Cupid is real, has a daughter and once she turns 13 will inherit the power to make people fall in love. It’s like Groundhog Day, but with love and in real-time. This is Bewitched, except Samantha can only make people fall in or out of love. Both of those aren’t what happens, but it’s where my mind, and possibly yours, immediately went.

Courtesy of Cupid, effortless-to-read mglit about a teen girl who’s the daughter of the God of Love and has inherited some of his abilities.

Just nod and say “Yes, dear”, but for real

Bugs, a creepy, crawly, illustrated, STEM book that demands attention

https://amzn.to/3WgR1y3Size does not matter. Size does not matter. I’m talking about the size of certain books, and size does not matter. The content in books with a bigger presentation could be just as impactful if it were printed on standard paper, it doesn’t matter. Now, let us come back from fantasy land and lay witness to Bugs: A Skittery, Jittery History by Miriam Forster with illustrations by Gordy Wright. Bugs is a massively oversized statement of a book that lives somewhere between an illustrated book, a reference book, a STEM book, and a great, goodnight book. This book is impossible to ignore and presents biology to young audiences in a way that’s irresistible, curious, and motivational.

Bugs: A Skittery, Jittery History is an oversized illustrated book with gorgeous art that demands attention from ages eight through middle school.

big, smart, large and in charge of the bug books