Simon & Schuster | Page 2 of 11

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.

The Little Bear continues the charm and love that Killen’s books evoke

It’s a fine line between déjà Vous and going back to the well once too often. The process of critiquing that can get thrown a curve ball when you factor in that authors and illustrators have a style that they’re known for. Dance with who came with, goes the old adage. Nicola Killen has a way with illustrated books. Her drawings match the style and flow of each book of hers so perfectly that it’s a case of hand in a well-fitting glove. The Little Bear is the fourth book in the My Little Animal Friends series and has elements of what made the other three books such a joy, but blazes its own path for those young elementary school ages.

The Little Bear is a joy of an illustrated, first day of school book. It’s the fourth in the My Little Animal Friends series that hasn’t lost an ounce of overwhelming charm.

The quality, cuteness and love is deep with this one

Grounded For All Eternity succeeds with its playfully evil intent if you let it

Grounded For All Eternity is hyperbole. True story: for a while, I thought hyperbole was pronounced hyper bowl and really was just people bowling really fast. This is a case where a youth does something bad, really bad, and thinks that they’ll be grounded for a very long time. This is also no ordinary kid. Mal lives in Hell, again, that’s not hyperbole, he lives in Hell. It’s hot, with lots of red and black décor, and has various circles that comprise neighborhoods with homes, fallen angels, and flying folks. Grounded For All Eternity is thrilling mglit that takes a leap of faith to follow its premise, but rewards readers with a story that’s ironically about redemption and friendship.

Grounded For All Eternity is devilish fish-out-of-water mglit about a trio of teens who live in Hell and leave for one night to have some Earth-bound fun.

It’s Ok, really, it’s OK. Read it and have fun

Cat Ninja: Welcome to the ‘Burbs, all-age graphic novel action early elementary

Cat Ninja is an elementary-aged graphic novel series that runs with glee towards ages eight and up, all but taunting them not to read it. Welcome to the ‘Burbs is the fourth entry into the Cat Ninja world and is as much fun as one would expect from a graphic novel that’s brave enough to be called that.

Seriously, think of four things that eight-year-olds enjoy or want to talk about and it’s guaranteed that two of them are ninjas and cats. It’s a reluctant reader’s paradise if you’re able to make a book or graphic novel about ninja cats, or in this case, Cat Ninja.

Cat Ninja: Welcome to the ‘Burbs is the fourth book in the all-age graphic novel series that will have grades two through five feline fine.

Cat Ninja….born to save the day (insert James Bond theme here)

Stories to Keep You Alive Despite Vampires, year-round treat reading

Scary is relative. Sometimes the things that fourth through sixth-grade ages find scary, actually start out funny. Other times those stories are icky, disgusting, or mildly disturbing, but they’re never graphic and usually fun. Stories to Keep you Alive Despite Vampires is kid scary in the best of all possible ways. Ages eight and up know Lemony Snicket, while their compatriots who are a year older are reading it. Despite Vampires is cut from a similar cloth, with a couple more influences that’ll make the book demo just a bit older.

Stories to Keep you Alive Despite Vampires is an anthology collection of spooky, scary, heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek stories for ages eight and up.

Age-appropriate scary stories know no best month to be read

Trubble Town 2, The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye, too 4 tout

Disparate is an adjective that I absolutely love. I’m currently teaching 8^th grade ELA and I used that term in conversation when comparing things that have nothing to very little in common, and then trying to make a compelling argument as to why they belong in the same classification. A cursory glance at the pages of Trubble Town 2, The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye would yield the same conversation. That is if I were to tell you that this graphic novel is flat-out hilarious, weird, creative and constantly gives readers a smile, even when they don’t know what’s going on. It is.

Trubble Town 2: The Why-Why’s Gone Bye-Bye is a time-shifting, absurdly hilarious all age graphic novel that ages eight and up will celebrate.

Stop, elaborate and listen

Mutts: Walking Home, comfort comic strip food for everyone, anytime

It’s a beautiful autumn day and I’m sitting outside reading Mutts and it’s awesome. One could change every word of that previous sentence, except for ‘Mutts and it’s awesome.’, to something different and it would still be true. It’s a stormy, winter’s day and I’m in bed, under the covers reading Mutts, and it’s awesome. See, it still works. Seasonal comparisons are needed in those sentences because Mutts: Coming Home features Early running on a trail with his human. The leaves on the trees are becoming bright orange to dark yellow and are just about to succumb to gravity. It’s there where they’ll be crunched by walkers, and dogs and will complete the food chain with worms using them to produce compost.

Mutts: Walking Home compiles the tour de force dog and cat comic strip genius that’s as great as it ever was.

Consistant brilliance that’s new and classic

Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales, fast paced, quick mglit turns

What if The Princess Bride and Back to the Future Part II had a baby? Hear me out. The former has familiar fairy tale characters but is completely its own entity. The latter is in a trilogy of films that build upon its created world and ends on a cliffhanger. Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales is the second in this series of mglit books by New York Times bestselling author James Riley. It’s a book that combines elements of those two things in middle-grade fiction that zip and zags with speed, humor, and aplomb.

Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales takes Lena and Jin further down the rabbit hole as the Golden King plots Earth-ending revenge.

Upending fairy tales and making them cool for MGLit readers