Tag: Children’s

The Casagrandes #3: Brand Stinkin’ New by The Loud House Creative Team

Another charming installment of the comic book series adapted from the Nickelodeon cartoon The Casagrandes. Volume 3: Brand Stinkin’ New has the added bonus of being entirely comprised of vignettes written especially for this book! While that does mean fewer Loud family shenanigans from, particularly, Lincoln and Lori making cameo appearances here, this does give …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/06/28/the-casagrandes-3-brand-stinkin-new-by-the-loud-house-creative-team/

Chloe #6: Green Thumb by Greg Tessier & Amandine

Combining two volumes of the original series, translated from the French, this volume follows middle-schooler Chloe Blin as she navigates two very of-the-moment issues: environmental friendliness and cyber-bullying. The first half of this book sees Chloe and her friend Mark roped into helping start an eco-friendly vegetable garden at school by their far more enthusiastic …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/06/22/chloe-6-green-thumb-by-greg-tessier-amandine/

Magical History Tour Vol 9: The Titanic by Fabrice Erre & Sylvain Savoia

I, like millions of otherwise worldwide, thoroughly enjoyed James Cameron’s film Titanic (tho am in the probably far smaller subcategory of viewers who certainly didn’t expect to!) I cried my way through much of the last twenty or so minutes of the movie, as the scale of the tragedy unfolded on-screen. Of course, the romance …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/06/07/magical-history-tour-vol-9-the-titanic-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/

Playing the Cards You’re Dealt by Varian Johnson

Oh my heart. This was one of the sweetest, most tender, yet still emotionally honest and unflinching middle grade novels I’ve yet had the privilege of reading. Little wonder that Varian Johnson has won so many awards with prose and plotting like this! Our hero is ten year-old Anthony “Ant” Joplin, who plans to team …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/26/playing-the-cards-youre-dealt-by-varian-johnson/

F.A.R.T.: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed! by Peter Bakalian

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/12/f-a-r-t-top-secret-no-kids-allowed-by-peter-bakalian/

Gillbert #4: The Island of the Orange Turtles by Art Baltazar

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/11/gillbert-4-the-island-of-the-orange-turtles-by-art-baltazar/

Atlas of Extinct Animals by Radek Malý, illustrated by Jiří Grbavčic & Pavel Dvorský

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 …

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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/

Armadillo Antics by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson & Nathalie Beauvois

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/04/28/armadillo-antics-by-bill-martin-jr-michael-sampson-nathalie-beauvois/

Magical History Tour Vol 8: Vikings by Fabrice Erre & Sylvain Savoia

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/04/27/magical-history-tour-vol-8-vikings-by-fabrice-erre-sylvain-savoia/

The Loud House #15: The Missing Linc by The Loud House Creative Team

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 …

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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/