Winter came in the night, like a white sheet laid over the world.

- first sentence

 

 

Shen is on a ship called the Lucky Star when all of the sudden winter comes, but not just any winter... it's a magical winter (True Winter). The ocean freezes and then Shen saves the cargo... 66 pugs. While Shen is trying to save the pugs, he gets left behind by his captain. He is alone, walking with the pugs across the frozen ocean. Then he gets to a Post Office (whose letters only say "Po Of ice". There he meets Sika, who ends up bringing him and the pugs, on an exciting adventure.  Together, they enter the Great Nothern Race, and whoever wins gets a wish from the Snowfather.

This is a cute story. I read it in one sitting and liked it. There is a great deal of adventure and danger that Shen, Sika, and the pugs have to face. But, they do it together and help each other, and their competitors along the way.

The ending is pretty predictable, but the journey is still fun. 

This book was nominated for a 2017-18 Sunshine State Young Readers Award in the 3-5 grade category. It's a quick read and fun. I think it will appeal to reluctant readers, and pug lovers of course! :)

I heard about this book through twitter, and I was delighted. Sarah McIntyre + Dinosaur world + Dinosaur police? Um, yes, yes and more yes please!

And yesterday was finally the day, the book came in, I already sneaked some peeks at it, but decided to save it for today. And now I have read it, and I can say this, I want more Dinosaur Police stories! Maybe a whole big book with stories about them? I want to know more about Sarah Tops and her adventures. And even though Trevor is a big mean bully (at times), I really like to see more of him. He is such a fun character, who, even though he looks threatening and does bad stuff, is also a good dinosaur at heart.

Because that is what the story does, it starts of with a problem (a big T-rex named Trevor making trouble), but ends in a happy ending that is sure to delight kids and adults. I am not sure how the adults feel about the whole burping thing at the end, but I was just giggling when I read/saw it.

The illustrations are truly a feast for the eyes. There were so many little details, and so many little things that were in the illustrations that you just can't simply turn away before discovering all the things. You can see dinosaurs doing all kinds of things (for example, one is gaming, others are dancing or chatting), and even at the factory you could just see that there is not just one kind of pizza, oh no, there are a whole lot of different ones.
Each page is a delight to see. The art is also very colourful and it just pops out of the book.

I am sure that kids, but also adults, will love this picture book. I would highly recommend it to everyone!

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

I am slowly trying to get more books that were drawn by Sarah McIntyre, one of my new favourite illustrators since I read her collab books with Philip Reeve last year.

This book was delightful, it all about the fantasy (or is it reality) of a little girl. One day she finds a shark in her bath! Of course, parents being parents, they don't believe her and ask her to make sure the shark is gone. And thus begins the fun and hilarious situations that the girl and the sharks go through.

I really liked the little girl, she was magnificent and oh so smart. I love my protagonists smart, though maybe not too smart (as they tend to get quite annoying and belittling others *looks at Hermione*). Luckily this little girl is smart but still a whole lot of fun. I loved how she kept tricking the sharks into doing all kinds of things. Oh and did I mention I loved how she tried to fish out a big shark with a tiny little fishing pole?

I had quite a laugh that a whole bunch of sharks + sea life could come in through a tiny little pipe to live in a bath. :) The sharks were really fun, I loved how the baby Shark had braces over his teeth, and mom had mom-like stuff and dad had a moustache. :) It gave the sharks some added personality.

The ending was interesting, though the real question remains, were the sharks real? Or were they not? I would say yes, they are real, even though it is quite impossible for a whole shark to plop out and in off a sewage pipe. I guess some things are just magical. I will hereby dub the sewage pipe as magical portal to the bathtub!

The illustrations were wonderful, really colourful and I had great fun spotting all the little details that were added to each page.

This is another picture book I would really recommend to everyone, big or small. Everyone will enjoy the silliness and they will all cheer for the little girl.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

I was looking forward to this book for some time, and yay! My boyfriend gave it to me on Christmas!

How I loved this book! It was adorable, sweet, cute and a big recommendation to everyone. Young and old will love this little book.
The song/rhyme at the beginning? I was just singing and in the end humming in while reading this book.

Vampires, who doesn't know them? However, who knows Jampires or vampire-like creatures that don't drink blood, instead they live on jam and sweetness. So the next time you see bite marks in your jam-filled doughnut and your doughnut looks dry, be sure to look around, who knows maybe you will spot a Jampire! Don't worry, they won't harm you, well, unless you are hoarding the jam and the yummy treats. I loved the concept of a Jampire. And the fact that you have young and old Jampires that can grow up. I would like more books on them and if they always craved for sweets and jam.

Our main character is a little boy who is determined to find out who sucked his doughnuts dry. It was brilliant to see that he tried to lure them with a doughnut filled with ketchup. I also liked that when he captured the little creatures, instead of calling for his parents (as most kids would undoubtedly do) he listens to the Jampires and ventures of to the wonderful world of these creatures (loved the look on the face of his cat). I think that kid will grow up to be a good guy and I hope he will still remember and believe in Jampires then.

The illustrations are colourful, fun and great. As I was expecting from the illustrator who did more fantastic work. I really love her style of drawing. :) Like I said the art is colourful, really fitting with the book and the topic. I also loved the various references to other books or media.

All in all, it makes me very happy that this is my first read of the year (it really deserved that, and my 2015 started wonderfully). I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for a fun, magical book.

Oh and a warning: Don't read this book if you are hungry, you will be craving for something if you read this book. For instance, doughnuts with jam!

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/