Jun 01 2023
with terrific wildlife illustrations by Pedro Julio Gonzalez. If your kid ever goes through a hyperfixation stage on bears, then this is absolutely the book to get them. Chock-full of fun facts and interesting data, this slender volume is the perfect gift for any kid who wants to know more about the omnivorous mammal. Presented …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/01/kids-ask-about-bears-by-christopher-nicholas/
May 23 2023
Oh gosh, I immediately fell in love with the beautiful colors of this whimsical comic book even before I began to enjoy the fun story it tells. The art feels very cartoony in a modern way — I wish I was more cognizant of current trends in animation so I could explain it better, but …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/23/peculiar-woods-the-ancient-underwater-city-by-andres-j-colmenares/
May 17 2023
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/17/gamer-girls-monster-village-by-andrea-towers/
May 09 2023
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/09/mossy-and-tweed-crazy-for-coconuts-by-mirka-hokkanen/
Apr 28 2023
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/28/i-did-it-and-lets-go-by-michael-emberley/
Apr 20 2023
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/20/otis-peanut-by-naseem-hrab-kelly-collier/
Apr 19 2023
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. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/19/magical-history-tour-vol-12-the-samurai-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/
Apr 18 2023
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. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/18/the-night-tent-by-landis-blair/
Apr 11 2023
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/04/11/the-little-wooden-robot-and-the-log-princess-by-tom-gauld/
Mar 29 2023
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 …
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/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire