Honestly, Scribd is the best. It has audiobooks, ebooks and more for one low monthly price of $8.99, but of course if you sign up through my link, you can try it for FREE for two months. It would mean a lot if you gave it a try.

Scribd has everything, from bestsellers, to old and new books and just a large collection in general. Just at a glance, I can see that they do have some new releases as well. I went to one of my  "want to read" list on Goodreads and found a bunch of those books on Scribd! It's pretty amazing.

https://www.scribd.com/gt/4zt6yx 

I recently enjoyed: 

Highly creepy novella, disturbing, but also sad and heartbreaking for several reasons. A trigger warning kind of book.

I've also enjoyed several R L Stine books through Scribd, some Karin Slaughter, VC Andrews & much more!

I am looking forward to listening to:

Mr Rogers & LeVar Burton!? (He's the guy from Reading Rainbow...two things from my childhood coming together.)

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Genre:  Drama / Weather / Inspirational / Children's / Folktale

Year Published: 2014

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  Reading Rainbow

I have been a huge fan of “Reading Rainbow” ever since I was a child and I have always enjoyed reading the books that were either featured or suggested on the TV series. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that LeVar Burton, the longtime host of “Reading Rainbow” was going to write a children’s book called “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm,” along with co-writing with Susan Schaefer Bernardo and artwork by Courtenay Fletcher. This book will surely inspire many children to get through hard times themselves!

The story starts off with Mica Mouse sitting with her father during a storm and she became worried about the storm due to a hurricane coming in and destroying her home over a year ago. Mica’s father then went to comfort her by reading her a story about a rhino who also went through some hard times.

In the story, the rhino was living peacefully in his home when all of a sudden, a strong storm came through the valley and started destroying everything that the rhino cared about. The rhino was so upset by all the destruction that it ended up swallowing the storm. After the rhino swallowed the storm, the storm started causing so much disturbance within the rhino and the rhino was at a lost at what to do. The spider then comes by and tells the rhino this verse:

“The world up above is shattered and gray,
But it’s where you belong, so you must find a way
To let that storm out and move through your sorrow.
You’ll find many helpers on your road to tomorrow.”

So, the rhino decided to go on a quest to get rid of the storm that is boiling inside of him.

Will the rhino be successful on his quest?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! I was quite impressed with this inspiring children’s book that was written by none other than LeVar Burton of “Reading Rainbow” fame! LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo did a great job at writing this story as I found this story to be quite inspirational, especially for children who have to deal with the harshness of the real world and need to find a way to go through life in such a negative world. I actually found myself relating to both Mica Mouse and the rhinoceros in the story as I sometimes found myself wondering about how I can deal with all the wars, deaths and prejudice going on in this world and I like the fact that this book tries to encourage children to get through tough times by inspiring them to remain positive and be aware of all the friends and families they have that will help them through tough times. Courtenay Fletcher’s artwork is highly creative and cute to look at as I enjoyed the images of both the rhinoceros and Mica Mouse as the artwork for Mica Mouse and her father are in smooth watercolors while the artwork for the rhinoceros is in cut out figures to help the readers distinguished between the two stories.



The reason why I took off half a star from the rating was because I felt that this story was a bit too lengthy in trying to get its message across and I wished that they would have trimmed out a few verses that the animals were trying to tell the Rhino in order to get to the meat of the story much faster.

Overall, “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm” is a great inspirational book for children who are also going through hard times and want a good book that can inspire them to remain positive in such a harsh world. I would recommend this book to children age five and up since the length and complexity of this book might be difficult for some smaller children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

She is 4 and didn't understand the message that was within the story she just thought it was sad that a storm got rid of everything and that Rhino was in a hole. Then she liked how she got to see a lot of different animals in a circle at the end and laughed when he sat on a tortoise which gave great wisdom. 

For this story this is a storm outside that Mica the mouse is scared of and it is because her home was destroyed. Her papa tells her the story of the rhino who swallowed a storm after his own home was gone and how he coped it with it all. He needed his friends to help him understand he doesn't have to keep things bottled up inside. He should talk about what is bothering him. 

The book does rhyme and the pictures are pretty good.

I think this is a good book for children to read and maybe understand the message that is being told.

The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm by LeVar Burton (Author), Susan Schaefer Bernardo (Author), Courtenay Fletcher (Illustrator) is a children's book written for ages five to seven. I gave it four stars.

Mica mouse told her Papa she was frightened by the storm. She trembled under her blanket. So Papa told her a story in his soothing voice. It was a story about love, hope and good friends helping each other.

The illustrations are cleverly done and I enjoyed the rhymes. "'We're all on this earth to learn and to grow,' a wise old tortoise chimed in from below. 'Allowing yourself to start feeling your feelings is the very first step on the journey toward healing.'"

I received a complimentary kindle copy from Amazon. That did not change my opinion for this review.

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NLKPKS8/

Do not read this, listen to it.

Besides the veritable buffet of Hollywood A-listers from various ethnic backgrounds providing narrations, there’s beautiful music and songs in the interludes between stories and in the stories themselves. I’ve derived much enjoyment from the imaginative and enthusiastic performances from the narrators, most of whom possess great skills with accents. Even if you don’t recognise a couple of the narrators’ names, odds are you’d recognise their faces.

Whoopi Goldberg and Hugh Jackman’s performances were outstanding though most were above average.

Urban legends, origin stories, fables, parables, myths, magic, time travel, African versions of well-known fairy tales, clever and devious characters, and emotionally touching stories – what more could you want?

Well, the publisher has donated 100% of its takings from the audio to Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Artists for New South Africa who work with children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Here’s a rundown of the folktales:

Continue reading →