Category: Children’s

Gamer Girls: Monster Village by Andrea Towers

with fun retro gaming illustrations by Alexis Jauregui. Oh, my heart! This second book in a series about middle school girl gamers just hit me so hard in the feels that I’ll even forgive the (admittedly appropriate) cliffhanger ending. It’s been a few weeks since Nat came out to her middle school best friends as …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/17/gamer-girls-monster-village-by-andrea-towers/

Mossy And Tweed: Crazy For Coconuts by Mirka Hokkanen

What a delightful first graphic novel for young readers! As I’ve discussed elsewhere on this site, how can the discerning reader tell the difference between picture book and graphic novel? This volume falls firmly in that latter category, perhaps due to the more formal nature of having multiple panels on each page as opposed to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/09/mossy-and-tweed-crazy-for-coconuts-by-mirka-hokkanen/

I Did It! and Let’s Go! by Michael Emberley

I was recently sent both of these delightful children’s books (one of them signed by the author, too!) and thought I’d do an appreciation post/review of both in one entry. I Did It! was written first, and is probably my favorite of the two. Our unisuited protagonist is trying with the help of their friends …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/28/i-did-it-and-lets-go-by-michael-emberley/

Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab & Kelly Collier

This heartwarming children’s book is being marketed as a graphic novel but feels very much like a picture book to me. That said, both formats are good? Especially when the story and art are both so strong. Our title characters are best friends. Otis is a long-haired guinea pig while Peanut is a naked mole …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/20/otis-peanut-by-naseem-hrab-kelly-collier/

Magical History Tour Vol. 12: The Samurai by Fabrice Erre & Sylvain Savoia

As someone who has spent a patently absurd amount of time playing Legend Of The Five Rings, a role-playing game heavily inspired by Far Eastern cultures, it’s always fascinating to me to see how lacking my knowledge of Japan actually is. Books like this one gently correct my misperceptions, in the most interesting way possible. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/19/magical-history-tour-vol-12-the-samurai-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/

The Night Tent by Landis Blair

My middle child loved this book so much that he took off with it after we finished reading it and I still don’t know where it is, lol. Landis Blair’s first picture book is the story of Watson, whose fears of the creatures in his closet and under his bed prevent him from feeling sleepy. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/18/the-night-tent-by-landis-blair/

The Little Wooden Robot And The Log Princess by Tom Gauld

I didn’t even know Tom Gauld had written a children’s book! This is his first of hopefully many, especially given the delightful allusions peppered throughout this volume to the title characters’ adventures while on their epic journey. Once upon a time, a king and queen lived happily but for the fact that they had no …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/11/the-little-wooden-robot-and-the-log-princess-by-tom-gauld/

The Story Of The Saxophone by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E Ransome

If you think of the saxophone nowadays, you think of jazz musicians, perhaps John Coltrane and Stan Getz if you’re of a certain musical inclination, perhaps Lisa Simpson and Kenny G if your knowledge of the instrument tends more towards mainstream pop culture like my own does. But the saxophone has a long and storied …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/29/the-story-of-the-saxophone-by-lesa-cline-ransome-and-james-e-ransome/

Zara’s Rules For Living Your Best Life by Hena Khan

with the most charming of illustrations, as with the other books in the series, by Wastana Haikal. Salam Ramadan, readers! Do I have the perfectly timely OwnVoices read for you, the third and latest in one of my favorite middle grade series. As Zara’s Rules For Living Your Best Life opens, Spring Break is springing! …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/23/zaras-rules-for-living-your-best-life-by-hena-khan/

Long Goes To Dragon School by Helen H. Wu & Mae Besom

This delightful children’s book tells the tale of a young dragon, Long, going to dragon school for the first time. He’s super excited to be there, until he discovers that all of the other dragons breathe fire. Where he’s from, dragons only breathe water. Worse still, his professor’s assignment is for students to learn to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/03/21/long-goes-to-dragon-school-by-helen-h-wu-mae-besom/