Review: Two National Geographic Kids books

With back to school just around the corner for many kids, today I have two National Geographic Kids books to share that inspire and encourage learning...

National Geographic Kids Animal Records: The Biggest, Fastest, Weirdest, Tiniest, Slowest, and Deadliest Creatures on the Planet

by Sarah Wassner and Kathy Furgang

July 14, 2015

Nat. Geo Children's Books

Lively and information-packed, this book is bursting with mind-blowing animal records. The fastest, the biggest, the most poisonous—it's all here for kids to discover. It's a visual feast of colorful photographs surrounded by swirling, expanding, and climbing bits of information in a high-energy design—as dynamic as the animal world it celebrates. 

amazon /  national geographic

National Geographic Kids Chapters: Hoops to Hippos!: True Stories of a Basketball Star on Safari

by Boris Diaw and Kitson Jaynka

July 14, 2015

National Geographic Children's Books

NBA star Boris Diaw of the San Antonio spurs takes young readers on safari as he explores his off-court passion: wildlife photography! Join Diaw as he escapes from stampeding wildebeests, comes face-to-face with lions, and discovers why you should never come between a hippo and its watery home. Through engaging stories and photos by Diaw, readers will discover a whole new side to this basketball champ. 

National Geographic Kids Chapter books pick up where the best-selling National Geographic Readers series leaves off, offering young animal lovers who are ready for short chapters lively, exciting, full-color true stories -- just right to carry in backpacks, share with friends, and read under the covers at night.

amazon /  national geographic

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With National Geographic Kids Animal Records: The Biggest, Fastest, Weirdest, Tiniest, Slowest, and Deadliest Creatures on the Planet and National Geographic Kids Chapters: Hoops to Hippos!: True Stories of a Basketball Star on Safari, National Geographic Kids has once again created two wonderful books that will engage, entertain, wow, and inspire young readers.

National Geographic Kids Animal Records: The Biggest, Fastest, Weirdest, Tiniest, Slowest, and Deadliest Creatures on the Planet is such a fun, exciting read full of fascinating information. With a bright, dynamic layout and awesome pictures, this book was perfectly designed to engage and capture the imaginations of young readers. Every page is chock full of new things to learn and awesome things to see. Facts and information are presented in simple, yet fun ways, that even little readers will be able to understand and explore. Whether devoured alone or read aloud, this book will captivate and inspire thoughtful discussions.

National Geographic Kids Chapters: Hoops to Hippos!: True Stories of a Basketball Star on Safari is an accessible and lively chapter book told from the perspective of basketball star, Boris Diaw. An animal lover, Diaw makes many trips to Africa and has compiled his experiences and photographs in this book. Diaw’s enthusiastic conversational tone will draw readers in and his amusing and fascinating stories will keep them eagerly turning pages. Diaw’s fun photographs perfectly capture his fun stories and true love of animals.

Perfect for the little animal lovers in your life, both of these books are as educational as they are entertaining. Not only will readers learn a great deal from both books, these books make learning exciting and will encourage further exploration!

MY RATING 

(for both books)

5/5 sweet cupcakes

Sarah Wassner Flynn loves writing, running, and triathalons. When she's not writing about races, she's usually training or competing in one. She also writes nonfiction books and articles for kids and teens, like The National Geographic Kids National Park Guide U.S.A.and The Girl's Life Guide to the Most Amazing You.

Kathy Furgang, co-author, has been a writer for 16 years. She is the author of dozens of science textbooks and children's books, including National Geographic Kid's Everything Weather, Everything Volcanoes, Ultimate Weird But True 2, and Weird But True Ripped from the Headlines.

Boris Diaw is a member of the 2014 National Basketball Association (NBA) championship team, the San Antonio Spurs. Diaw grew up in France and continues to play for the French National team. When he's not on the court, he is shooting wildlife photography on safari in Africa.

Kitson Jazynka is a lifelong animal lover, award-winning freelance writer, and children's author. Kitson contributes to National Geographic Kids, American Girl, Horse Illustrated,and The Washington Post, among others. Her previous book for National Geographic isMartin Luther King, Jr., a biography in the National Geographic Readers series. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, their two children, one big German Shepherd dog who loves to howl like a wolf, and one very patient cat. Her horse lives nearby in Potomac, Maryland.

Dear Opl Spotlight Tour {excerpt & giveaway}

Dear Opl

by Shelly Sackier

August 4, 2015

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

There are three things Opl never expected to do during the eighth grade:

● Start a vendetta against celebrity check Alfie Adams, the “Nude Food Dude”

● Take yoga classes with her grandpa

● Become a famous blogger

But after a year of shrinking down her personality to compensate for the fact that her body’s getting bigger, Opl thinks it’s about time to start speaking up again. What she doesn’t expect is that everyone actually starts to listen…

amazon / b&n / indiebound / goodreads

Excerpt from Dear Opl:

First blog entry:

My name is Opl, I’m thirteen years old, and this is my blog. My mom wants it to be a food journal. A log of chow. But I can’t see that being a good idea at all. Then it would just be a catalogue of crimes. My grandfather says I should use it to write about things that make me angry. He says it’ll be more interesting than listing everything I eat. It’s true. Anything would be more interesting than that. And because I know my mom will never read this, I might as well unbolt the floodgates.

Number one. No more Tylenol syrup. It’s now pills. That sucks.

Number two. Kids who don’t wash their hands after they go to the bathroom. I see it all the time and it’s disgusting. Everything you touch in school has already been touched by somebody else who didn’t wash their hands. It is the world’s most super-gross thing. Except for seeing grown-ups kiss. That’s grosser.

Number three. Getting in trouble for falling asleep in my boring history class. Pinching doesn’t work. Wiggling gets me snapped at. And you can’t listen to our teacher’s voice. It’s a soft, buzzy drone. Within thirty seconds, it feels like my brain is being sucked out of my skull. My eyes spin around to the back of my head just before my chin slides off my hand. Last week I had to walk around looking only to the left for two days because I wrenched a neck muscle.

Finally, I’d like to complain about our school’s new lunch menu rule as of today. Last year my lunch was perfect. Monday through Friday at exactly 11:50, my grade went to the cafeteria. My plate held a double cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, and extra mayo—­pickle on the side. I also had cheese fries with extra cheese—except on Fridays, it was chili fries. And finally, I adored my jug of chocolate milk. I loved that lunch. I needed that lunch. And now someone has taken away the chocolate milk and replaced it with plain.

PLAIN!

I asked one of the lunch ladies if there was more in the back, but she just shook her white-­netted hair at me.

“Well, where’s the strawberry milk?”

She pressed her lips together.

“Did the milkman run out? Why are we short?” I wanted to bang my tray on the counter. This needed fixing. And fast.

Another woman leaned over the cash register and barked, “New state policy. No. Flavored. Milks.”

“What?” I actually thought my shoulders were going to fall down to where my elbows hung. I was that disappointed. I’d been hearing the annoying buzz about some schools around us making changes like this. But not my school. My school was fine the way it was.

Tomorrow I’ll bring in a container of Hershey’s syrup and store it in my locker until lunchtime. 

“Never mind,” I told the lunch ladies. “Today I’ll have a blue Gatorade.”

I can think of a bunch of other stuff I’m all huffy about these days, but it’s getting late. I’m not sure how I feel about this bloggy thing, mostly because Mom has high hopes pinned on its big ole donkey butt. It’s no different than the rest of my silly diaries. Except now my bellyaching is electronic.

Later gator,

Opl

website * twitter

Shelley Sackier is an author and blogger who writes about the everyday ordinary grand slams and gruesome snafus in completing the Herculean task of raising two healthy human beings. Ultimately she hopes to impart the necessary knowledge of how to balance their checkbooks and pay their taxes. Here greatest hope is to discover that parallel universes are a reality, and that somewhere she is living a life where her children have agreed to occasionally make eye contact with her. They live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

You can read more of her work, illustrated by Robin Gott, at Peakperspective.com

Win 1 of 2 copies of Dear Opl!

This is a tour wide giveaway and is not run by Word Spelunking

(ends 8/31)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Princess Juniper of the Hourglass by Ammi-Joan Paquette

Princess Juniper of the Hourglass

(book one)

by Ammi-Joan Paquette

July 21, 2015

Philomel 

goodreads / amazon / b&n / indiebound

In this royal adventure, Princess Juniper learns what it means to rule a kingdom–at least for the summer.

For her thirteenth nameday all Princess Juniper wants is a country of her own. So when rumblings of unrest start in his kingdom, Juniper's father decides to grant his daughter's wish and sends her to a small, idyllic corner of the Hourglass Mountains until trouble blows over. Once there, Juniper discovers that ruling a small country–even just for the summer–is a bit harder than she'd expected, especially when cousin Cyril challenges her rule. Still, the most difficult part is to come. Juniper and her friends discover that her father's kingdom is at war. The only way to stay safe is to remain in the Hourglass Mountains much longer than planned. Juniper may have her own country after all . . . but what will that mean for the kingdom of Torr?

This book is perfect for fans of Frozen and Brave, who like their princess strong and smart as well as sparkly. 

PRAISE FOR PRINCESS JUNIPER

"I absolutely loved Princess Juniper of the Hourglass!  It's fantastically delightful, delicious, and satisfying.  You'll want to follow Juniper to her kingdom -- or even better, start your own!"--Sarah Beth Durst, author of Enchanted Ivy and Ice

  

“I adored Princess Juniper! Readers will cheer as she leads and defends her hidden kingdom in this deliciously charming fantasy.”--Julie Berry, author of The Secondhand Charm and The Amaranth Enchantment

“Princess Juniper proves that you can love your silk dresses and still be a hero. This is a smart, feisty kid with a thirst for experiences, and I loved watching her learn to lead. A fun and insightful coming-of-age tale.”—Ellen Booraem, author of Small Persons With Wings

 

"A gently adventurous and luxuriously detailed romp."--Kirkus Reviews

"With elements from William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies and Paul Fleischman’s Westlandia, this story can be enjoyed by those who love princess stories and adventure tales....A rollicking tale that will please a wide range of readers."--School Library Journal

"This...dramatic and humorous novel...involves some entertaining twists and paves the way for more lighthearted intrigue ahead."--Publishers Weekly 

"Paquette takes young readers gently by the hand into the adult world of responsibility, danger, and the unknown. The fully developed cast of characters is engaging, and readers will cheer the conclusion and happily await Juniper’s further adventures."--Booklist

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Princess Juniper makes a grand wish for her thirteenth nameday: her own country, made up of kids her age, to rule. When a troublesome kingdom invades their country, Juniper’s father, the king, grants Juniper her wish and sends her, and a merry group of younguns, off to a quiet, lush part of the Hourglass Mountains. Princess Juniper and her subjects set out to make the newly dubbed Queen’s Basin the best country there is...but they soon learn that’s a lot harder than just dreaming about it. Princess Juniper’s nasty cousin Cyril makes big trouble and Juniper finds herself fighting for her beloved little country. And back at home at Torr, war is on the horizon. What’s a determined Princess to do?

This is the second middle-grade book I’ve read by Ammi-Joan Paquette, and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite MG authors! Princess Juniper of the Hourglass, with its charming characters, enchanting settings, adventurous spirit, and sparkling storytelling, is a pure delight from beginning to end! Paquette creates lush, vivid, and enthralling settings in Torr and Queen’s Basin. Readers will fall in love with the grand castle in Torr and be swept away by the dazzling Queen’s Basin, which, with its rooms carved into a mountain, tree hidey-holes, and beautiful landscapes, feels almost deliciously magical. This an unforgettable world that young readers will want to run away to and explore!

There are so many wonderful, wondrous, endearing characters in Princess Juniper of the Hourglass! Princess Juniper is such a fantastic heroine, who is smart, brave, adventurous, thoughtful, isn’t afraid to get dirty and work hard, and has an impeccable sense of fashion. Juniper is surrounded by a merry and eclectic group of kids, from clever Erick, fierce Alta, feisty Tippy, weasely Cyril, and more. I found this group of young characters to be utterly charming, amusing, and full of surprises.

Princess Juniper and her new friends set out on an inspiring journey; a journey that is filled to the brim with fun, excitement, friendship, new discoveries, and valuable lessons to be learned.

my final thoughts: There is so much to love and admire about Princess Juniper of the Hourglass, and readers of all ages will enjoy this sparkling tale. Ammi-Joan Paquette has written a truly spectacular story and I can't wait for book two!

MY RATING

5/5 yummy cupcakes

Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Ammi-Joan Paquette has been writing stories since early childhood. She and her sister would spend hours creating masterpieces of stapled paper and handwritten words, complete with pen-and-ink covers and boxed illustrations. The road to publication was long and winding, peppered with many small successes including: a variety of national magazine publications, being a 2005 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award honoree, and receiving the 2008 SCBWI’s Susan Landers Glass Scholarship Award, for the book that would later become Nowhere Girl. Her first picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, was published in 2009. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in the Boston area, where she continues to write books for children and young adults. She is also an agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.