Comic Book Review: Lady Justice

Lady Justice

Free Comic Book Day

by  C.J. Henderson

Date Read:  5/23/16
Rating: ★ ★

We picked this up on free comic book day.

So, the first half of this comic was pretty good. I liked the setup of all the people around her getting killed and her wanting justice for them. It made total sense.

But then came the weird inner monologue or something making her come to the dark side of justice. I didn’t get it. It was just super strange to me. And then all of a sudden she could walk??? What in the world? Why does she wear a blindfold??  How did she learn to fight????

This could have been way better than it was. But it fell way short of the small expectations I had.  I feel like they should rewrite this from the point her brothers died and go from there.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the art style either.   And it was a little violent at the end also – but yet not very believable either.  Nothing really won me over with this one…

Children's Book Review: Llama Llama Home with Mama

Llama Llama Home with Mama
by  Anna Dewdney
Date Read:  5/18/2016
Rating: ★ ★ ★

This was one of the two books read at storytime at the library today. The theme was about being sick. This is a cute book about llama llama who comes down with a cold. He has to stay home from school and it describes what happens. Then Mama comes down with the cold! Oh no! How does he take care of mama?

The rhyming is pretty cute but the story was just ok. This is a cute series, but this won't be a book that we have to have on our shelves.

Children's Book Review: Sofia the First

Sofia the First
by  Catherine Hapka
Date Read:  5/15/2016
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

We saw this book at the library and had to pick it up. Sofia the First is one of my daughter's favorite characters and TV shows. We're currently watching the whole series on Netflix to watch in the episodes in order - we usually catch episodes on Disney channel but they're out of order.

I had always wondered how Sofia had gotten her amulet and why she was called Sofia the First. While the TV show does have an episode where Sofia describes the King giving her the amulet as a welcoming gift, I still just felt they needed to tell the story sooner than that.

Well apparently they did - in book version. This book was published several months before the TV show first aired in January 2013. This book tells the story of Sofia coming to live in the castle and learning to get along with her new step-siblings, her step-sister in particular, and struggling to fit in with Royalty having not been born in that world. At the end of the story, you also find out how the show ended up being called Sofia the First.

If you picked this book up hoping for a more thorough plot, I could understand you being disappointed. While it does show growth between Sofia and Amber's sister relationship, there isn't a whole lot else. However, if you're reading this knowing it is the set up for the premise of the TV show, I think you'll be happy like my daughter and I were.

If your child likes Sofia, this book won't disappoint.

Children's Book Review: The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit
by  Drew Daywalt
Date Read:  5/16/2016
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

I absolutely loved this book. I've seen it once or twice before and stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago. We found it at the library and finally read it last night. It had sounded like such a cute book so I was worried whether it would be as good as my expectations.

It definitely was! This was such a cute book. Duncan's crayons go on strike for various reasons. Each crayon has it's own personality and it's own beef with Duncan. Each color writes a letter to him about what he's frustrated about. Some of them were pretty funny. Accompanying each letter are pictures of the things he generally colors with that specific color (green frogs, purple dinos, red apples, etc) or how they wish he would color with them (black beach ball, pink cowboy, etc). There had to have been at least 10 different colors included in this story. It's a great way for kids to learn their colors and also learn what types of things are those colors.

At the end of the story, Duncan finds a way to please all his crayons and there is a huge two page spread of a drawing by Duncan. It was so much fun.

BTW: Yellow is right and Orange is wrong in their argument! lol

We can't wait to read the second book, The Day the Crayons Came Home.

Children's Book Review: The Day the Crayons Came Home

The Day the Crayons Came Home
by  Drew Daywalt
Date Read:  5/19/2016
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

I actually liked this one even better that the first book, The Day the Crayons Quit! This one was even funnier because of all the strange situations these lost crayons found themselves in. Esteban the Magnificent (formally known as Pea Green) was really funny.

I liked that he got several postcards from the same crayon in this book. You really followed their story - like Neon Red crayon who was very very confused with her geography. And Esteban who runs away, but can't get out the door.

My husband and I found ourselves laughing out loud several times throughout this book. Most of it went over our 1.5 year old daughter's head, but she really liked the pictures. I thought the format with the postcards was really cute too. And of course Duncan has another brilliant idea to help his lost crayons.

The story still has pictures accompanying each postcard. The pictures are either drawn like Duncan drew them, or they have photographs of them in their current location. This again is a great way to help kids learn their colors and this one actually has some geography too!

FYI: We couldn't get the glow in the dark page to work. The actual crayon itself lit up a little bit, but the drawings didn't glow at all. It's in the middle of the book, so you don't really have enough time to get enough light on the page. My daughter wasn't going to sit there for 5 minutes while we just waited... cool idea though.

These are two books I definitely need to have on my bookshelf!

Children's Book Review: God Gave Us You

God Gave Us You
by  Lisa Tawn Bergren
Date Read:  112/16/2014
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

This is a really sweet board book to read to your little ones. The book is a bit small to keep my 3 month old's attention, but the story is sweet. Would be a perfect gift for a baptism.

Children's Book Review: Fox in Socks

Fox in Socks
by  Dr. Seuss
Date Read:  1/2015
Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

This was a fun book. My mouth and brain were tired at the end from all the tongue twisters. Some were a lot easier for me to say than others. The pictures held my 3.5 month old's attention for a little while. I can see this one being fun to read to my daughter as she gets older and can laugh at me trying to say it all.