Feb 04 2022
This book is such a breath of fresh air for early readers and, especially, for the people who love them. Perhaps I just haven’t been reading the right books with my kids, but most of the books written for this market tend to feature either really smarmy or really annoying characters, often repeating things (as …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/02/04/i-hop-by-joe-cepeda/
Feb 02 2022
A whitetail fawn wakes up in the Sonoran desert as this gorgeously rendered picture book opens. Her mother doe gently and lovingly nudges her into awareness of the beauty of the desert world around her as they travel, searching for food and water. The fawn is encouraged not only to look at, listen to and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/02/02/bright-star-by-yuyi-morales/
Jan 26 2022
I’ve found the Magical History Tour series to be incredibly intelligent and moving to date, but I did not expect to cry quite as much as I did while reading this seventh installment, and particularly over the life and times of a figure who’s become so familiar, I almost take for granted that I already …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/26/magical-history-tour-7-gandhi-soldier-of-peace-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/
Jan 25 2022
This was a really excellent examination of poverty and class that was somewhat marred by an under-explored ending. I suppose one could argue that everything that needed to be said was contained in the preceding pages but I, for one, wanted to know what happened to Helen next. Good Rich People is the story of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/25/good-rich-people-by-eliza-jane-brazier/
Jan 13 2022
I read and reviewed over 300 books last year. I honestly do not know how I did that, and I’m hoping I won’t have to continue that patently absurd rate of reading this year, especially since I’ve started designing tabletop games and would like to spend more time and effort doing that instead. Ofc, I’ve …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/13/looking-back-on-2021/
Jan 12 2022
This was a very interesting tale of four squabbling royal siblings who must come together to save their country, marred by some weird instances of under-writing. It’s certainly a page turner in the back half, and who doesn’t love a non-generic fantasy setting? Inspired by Indian mythology, with a distinct matrilineal bent, this is an …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/12/the-ivory-key-the-ivory-key-duology-1-by-akshaya-raman/
Jan 11 2022
This latest volume in Peyo’s translated oeuvre certainly shows how far we’ve come since the days when borderline offensive jokes about Smurfette were considered, if not outright hilarious, then certainly acceptable consumption for young children. Behold how in the 50 or so intervening years, the Smurfs universe has acquired an entire other village of female …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/11/the-smurf-tales-vol-3-the-crow-in-smurfy-grove-and-other-stories-by-peyo/
Jan 10 2022
Oh, man, the punctuation in that title sets my teeth on edge. It also bothers me that it’s part of a series but there’s no numbering for said series which, as of writing, consists of a novel and two short story collections. I suppose it doesn’t matter if the books are read out of order, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/10/cinder-the-fireplace-boy-and-other-gayly-grimm-tales-rewoven-tales-by-ana-mardoll/
Jan 06 2022
with notes and an afterword by Ellendea Proffer, who is smart enough to put all her illuminating, excellent content at the end in order to avoid spoilers. That said, I rather wish there’d been a bit of footnoting to direct readers to this area, tho understand that this isn’t meant to be an annotated version. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/06/the-master-and-margarita-by-mikhail-bulgakov-translated-by-diana-burgin-katherine-tiernan-oconnor/
Jan 05 2022
This gorgeous picture book is a riot of color and shape, feeling just as much art book as nature guide. While ostensibly aimed at children, there’s so much for readers and art aficionados of all ages to savor in Magdalena Konečná’s dazzling illustrations, pleasingly arranged by shape and color around various biological/geological themes. The organization …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/05/shapes-patterns-in-nature-by-magdalena-konecna-jana-sedlackova-stepanka-sekaninova/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire