Daddy Mojo

Ghost Book, a graphic novel that’ll immediately go to the forever bookshelf

It has been a long time since I’ve been so engrossed in a graphic novel. Ghost Book by Remy Lai is a graphic novel that is utterly putdownable. That is not a real word. However, there needs to be a word that book reviewers use every once in a rare while to describe a book that upends their senses and makes them stop what they’re doing. For me it was my planning period when I should’ve been getting papers ready for a group of high school students. I needed a break so I started reading Ghost Book and then 30 minutes later I stopped.

Ghost Book is a graphic novel that’s an effortless master class in storytelling. It’s a big story told in a way that’s not confusing and breathlessly entertaining.

EidTale, an Eid as-Fitr Adventure, a board book, gatefold journey to smile at

How much fun could a board book have if a board book’s intention were to not make audiences bored? That question is answered in the book’s design and layout. When you make the book innovative and combine that with bright colors and sharp graphics its potential audience is limitless. Thus, EidTale, An Eid as-Fitr Adventure is an Abrams Trail Tale board book that follows its predecessors in being an interactive board book. These thick pages fold out, up and down with the purpose of introducing or allowing pre-k through first graders the chance to share or enjoy a time of the year that they really enjoy.

EidTale: An Eid al-Fitr Adventure continues the approachable excellence of the Abrams Trail Tale book series in a non-secular manner.

An Abrams Trail Tale book strikes gold again

Fantasy Sports 1: The Court of Souls, graphic novel kinetic enjoyment

If the potential fun of Space Jam, the kinetic energy of anime and aspects of the absurd from Ren & Stimpy, mixed in with a bit of magic, all had a graphic novel baby it would look something like Fantasy Sports 1: The Court of Souls by Sam Bosma. There’s so much to love about The Court of Souls that audiences might not be sure as to why they are attracted to the graphic novel. It’s an oversized graphic novel that reads like a classic comic book with anime roots in a story that’s set in a magical time where magic, zombies and monsters rule. This is the sort of book that, like a mother cat corralling her kittens by the nape of their necks to move them from location to another, will relocate reluctant readers from one area to another.

Fantasy Sports 1: The Court of Souls is a large format graphic novel that ensnares manga, sports, action and humor readers all within its web.

So many interest areas in this book, which one do you think you aren’t?

The Highlights Big Book of Activities for Little Kids is big, busy fun

There are certain things or instances that, regardless of your adult age, immediately transport you back to when you were younger. It could be a certain place, a specific day, or a period in your life, but that thing can transport you back quicker and more accurately than any TARDIS ever will be able to. Highlights. Highlights for Children was the sole point of our visits to the dentist that we actively remember and didn’t loathe. You’d find the most recent issue of Highlights, and quickly turn to the activity that was least likely to have been filled in or marked by previous patients. Yeah, Highlights has always been available by subscription, but for you, it was your go-to dentist jam. Can I get a whoot, whoot if you remember that? The Highlights Big Book of Activities for Little Kids has the same go-to level of pre-k through mid-elementary school enjoyment and ownership as the magazine, except this packaging is bigger, better, and longer.

The Highlights Big Book of Activities for Little Kids is a reference book sized book collection of new activities, classic jokes, silly songs and go-to enjoyment for young kids.

This aint no dentist waiting room activity book

The Day the River Caught Fire, stranger than fiction kid lit for elementary

Which came first the chicken or the egg? That question is one that older readers might ponder after reading The Day the River Caught Fire. It’s the non-fiction story of how the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire and led to the creation of Earth Day. We just got back from Hollywood Studios in Orlando where the water catching on fire was one of the standout elements in a nighttime show. It’s a simple effect that does a great job at making audiences impressed due to the issue that one can easily defeat the other. However, water, due to its nature, should not catch on fire, should it?

The Day the River Caught Fire is the story of how the explosion of the Cuyahoga River in 1969 was a key moment in people’s awareness of the environment.

the people near The mistake on the lake bred something combustible

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire builds on the quality and fun of Afterlife

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a very good movie. It’s a film that’s better than its predecessor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Frozen Empire starts with action and very rarely lets its foot off of the entertainment gas. These are important things to state from the get-go because the high hopes for Afterlife were, for the most part, met by audiences and critics. Thus, it’s surprising that Frozen Empire doesn’t fumble the franchise and manages to be a very entertaining film that will exceed the expectations of fans of the first and fourth entries. Moreover, even if you’ve never seen a Ghostbusters film, Frozen Empire is a solid film that delivers popcorn, and escapist fun that people go to the cinema for.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a very good film that’s the popcorn sort of fun you want at the cinema with enough nostalgia for the ‘classic’ fans. — Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire poster, courtesy of Sony Pictures.

Who ya gonna call, Paul rudd to the rescue

Dia de Disfraces, un libro que passé el Navidad Musica exam

I just finished a contract where I was teaching advanced French to high school students. It was great practice for my guttural language skills and allowed me to read their library of French books. In this class library was a couple of dozen children’s books of all ages, with many of them being aimed at lower elementary school. I love it when I teach a foreign language and the teacher has a library of books in that language for students who are learning it. Dia de Disfraces is one of those illustrated books that are great for Spanish classrooms for a couple of reasons.

Dia de Disfraces is a charming illustrated book in Spanish about dressing up and being yourself, even when others aren’t with you.

Every library needs a handful of 2nd language books

The Museum on the Moon, sneaky STEM poetry with dreamy art

I know there’s a golf ball on the moon. I also know that there’s an American flag on the moon. What The Museum on the Moon taught me, among other things, is that the flag was mounted on a metal frame to make it appear that the wind was blowing on the moon, thus providing the illusion that it was flying. The book’s subtitle, The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, lets you in on the fact that these tidbits exist, and it does so in the most surprising of ways, via poetry.

The Museum on the Moon is STEM based poetry that won’t put kids to sleep. It will make their minds think and eyes wonder about the possibilities.

Fear not a poem that isn’t The raven