May 12 2022
Oh gosh, I didn’t expect this to end on such a cliffhanger! I also didn’t expect this kind of visual design from a book aimed squarely at middle school kids. It’s seriously delightful, a clever mix of mid-century modern with the more expected kids’ doodles on graph paper. The illustrations throughout are entirely suited to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/12/f-a-r-t-top-secret-no-kids-allowed-by-peter-bakalian/
May 11 2022
The latest installment of this cute, kid-friendly comics series picks up soon after the events of the last book. Which, wow, came out two years ago! Time certainly flies! Interestingly, I feel that Art Baltazar’s style for this book has grown to take on a subtly more sophisticated cast in the intervening years. The art …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/11/gillbert-4-the-island-of-the-orange-turtles-by-art-baltazar/
May 05 2022
God, what a depressing book. And I don’t say that as a bad thing necessarily, tho I certainly wouldn’t recommend this for anyone in need of an emotional pick-me-up. And while this is a decidedly sad volume — what self-respecting book covering the often needless extinction of entire species wouldn’t be? — it also carries …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/05/atlas-of-extinct-animals-by-radek-maly-illustrated-by-jiri-grbavcic-pavel-dvorsky/
Apr 28 2022
My children all went through a stage of obsession with Bill Martin Jr’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I didn’t really understand it from reading the words flat on the page, but when they started singing it to me (particularly the Crystal Taliefero version,) I finally got it. A similar thing happened with Armadillo Antics. Tho …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/04/28/armadillo-antics-by-bill-martin-jr-michael-sampson-nathalie-beauvois/
Apr 27 2022
Another enchantingly educational installment in the terrific Magical History Tour series! I wonder if I can eventually get all these in a boxed set for my kids: that would be super rad. Volume 8 focuses on the legendary Vikings, taking them out of the realm of myth and placing them squarely in the known history …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/04/27/magical-history-tour-vol-8-vikings-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/
Mar 30 2022
Another cute if slight installment of the Loud House comics series, based on the hit Nickelodeon cartoon. This fifteenth volume of the ongoing series is loosely based on the theme of Lost And Found, with Lincoln’s absence in the first and longest vignette sending his loving sisters on a frenzied search for him. Other of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/30/the-loud-house-15-the-missing-linc-by-the-loud-house-creative-team/
Mar 22 2022
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the clever plot twist of this volume, and definitely recommend this book for good all-ages fun. Our title character is a workaholic reporter turned editor with way too many stories to write (and, boy, do I sympathize!) His relatives and co-workers, Benjamin, Thea and Trap, coax him out of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/22/geronimo-stilton-reporter-10-blackrats-treasure-by-geronimo-stilton/
Mar 07 2022
Star and Stripe are bovine siblings with a dream: to open a restaurant serving grassburgers just like their Mama’s. While the brother and sister are best friends, they constantly disagree over the direction they want their restaurant to take. Unsurprisingly, things tend to go wrong when they butt heads. When they hold hooves and move …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/07/star-stripe-1-grand-opening-by-m-j-offen-and-ruth-bennett/
Mar 02 2022
This smart, sweet book had all my kids crowding around to learn and argue about plants, fruits and vegetables! It definitely brightened up our dreary winter day, and I’m hoping it’ll help nurture a seed of interest in gardening come the spring! Miguel’s Community Garden tells the tale of our eponymous young hero, who heads …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/02/miguels-community-garden-by-janay-brown-wood-samara-hardy/
Mar 01 2022
I am just wildly in love with Monica Wellington’s American folk art style throughout the pages of this wonderfully interactive children’s book. It can sometimes be a struggle to get my younger kids to sit with me for the duration of an entire tome, but my youngest especially was thoroughly engaged by the clever art …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/01/eggs-from-red-hen-farm-farm-to-table-with-mazes-and-maps-by-monica-wellington/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire