Night Creatures by Rebecca E Hirsch, Sonia Possentini

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the BeeGees song that spent eight weeks at number one in the later seventies, tied to the movie Saturday Night Fever, but reading this I kept finding that lyric in my head, suitably adjusted, of course:

Listen to the ground, there is movement all around
There is something going down, and you can feel it
There are creatures in the air, there are critters everywhere
And it's something you can share, if you believe it
Those denizens of night come with the waning of light
Taking over the world as we sleep
They're hunting and gathering, and spreading through the night
They are Night Creatures, Night Creatures!
They know how to live it!
Night Creatures, Night Creatures!

Of course that song was Night Fever, but now you know happens when I haven't had enough sleep! Gorgeously-illustrated by the elegantly-named Sonia Possentini, and written with panache by Rebecca Hirsch, this book takes a look at some of those living things that populate the evening, night, and early morning, such as bats, bobcats, fireflies, mice, owls, rabbits, raccoons, skunks and others. The book talks a little about each, their favored time to prowl, their diet, and so on. It's makes for an absorbing and educational introduction to a world not many young children are familiar with, and I commend it as a worthy read.

It's OK to Make Mistakes by Annelies Draws

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

As the description has it, mistakes give us the power to learn and grow, and as long as we're doing that we're on a winning path. All it takes is a cautious sense of adventure and a willingness to try even if you may fail. I commend this as a worthy read.

ABC for Me: ABC Let's Celebrate You & Me by Sugar Snap Studio

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was a cute and positive book, nicely illustrated, which goes A to Z on, as the description says, "either a physical or character attribute, and each page promotes self-love and kindness to others." This is delightfully true, and the attitude of kindness and acceptance which permeates every page is a joy and a treat. I commend this as a worthy read.

Burt the Beetle Doesn't Bite! by Ashley Spires

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was a cute, colorful, and educational look at an insect: a June beetle. The idea here is that insects have superpowers, but Burt has none. He doesn't seem to be able to emulate anything other insects famously do - like carry many times his own weight, or flying super-fast. But when it comes down to it, he finds he can use what attributes he does have to help his friends.

The story was great and I commend it fully. The ideas were fun and interesting, the story taught something while not making it feel like a lesson, and the artwork was engaging.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, Judy Love

Rating: WORTHY!

This was a fun book about the first day at school, and it had an amusing twist at the end which I really appreciated. It follows the usual route of not wanting to go, resistance, protest, and eventual acceptance. The illustrations by Love are fun and the writing fine. It's priced about eight bucks. I commend this as a worthy read.

Kanzi by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Roger Lewin

Rating: WORTHY!

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a psychologist and primatologist. This book is about her work with a Bonobo (an ape closely related to the chimpanzee) named Kanzi who learned to communicate in ways humans could understand. The author is so far the only scientist to conduct language research with bonobos. Roger Lewin is a science writer who has worked for both New Scientist and Science publications.

Bonobos are very similar to chimpanzees, but not the same species. Kanzi was the first ape to acquire words in the same way that human children do, but her view that language is learnable by apes is contested by other scientists, such as Steven Pinker, who is a cognitive scientist. Kanzi also learned from human tutors how to create sharp flints which could cut ropes which held fast a box containing food, and he demonstrated the ability to create them (including using his own method of smashing the rock and simply selecting the sharpest fragment!).

The author makes no claim that apes are human, but that - as the book's subtitle shows, they are at the brink of the human mind, which of course they must be as our closest living relatives. Modern bonobos and chimpanzees did not evolve into humans, but we certainly do share a common ancestor with them, and one of those ancestral lines, very much ape at one point, did indeed evolve to give rise to the human lineage that led to us. This books gives fascinating insights into how that process may have begun and also into how minds like ours but not the same as ours, view the world - and us. I commend this as a very worthy read.

Time Lord by Clark Blaise

Rating: WORTHY!

This book has nothing whatsoever to do with Doctor Who! Instead, it tells the true story of Sir Standford Fleming and the creation of a system of standard time throughout the world. This may seem strange to us today, used to an orderly 24 times zones spanning the globe, but prior to standard time being established in 1884, there were for example, almost 150 official time zones in North America alone! This book explains how those and others, elsewhere, were shrunk to an intelligent and manageable number, largely through the efforts of one man.

I enjoyed this book immensely and consider it entertaining and educational.

Cat and Rat by Melinda Thompson, Melissa Ferrell, Doug Oglesby

Rating: WORTHY!

Illustrated sweetly by Doug Oglesby, this is part of a series of books aimed at beginning readers, and this one focuses on short vowel sounds. The book set has 100 or so pages divided into eleven books, and begins with a rat trying to steal a piece of cheese. I'm very fond of rats, not so much cats, so I admit to a serious bias here! I have my own The Little Rattuses™ series which is a about halfway through its run before I move on to something else.

Having seen some of those ambitious subway rats on various videos taking a whole slice of pizza with it, I have to say that this is a very fair rat! It's not taking the whole chunk of cheese, just a small piece. Unfortunately, the cat happens to see this. Rats aren't known for their negotiating skills (except in my series!), but everything seems to work out well in the end for all parties.

The second book focuses on the verb 'see' and follows the story again, repeating that word and inviting the child to see everything in each picture. The third set repeats and amplifies this, but focuses on the rat - see the rat! You can't not see a rat. I found this amusing because just yesterday I was watching an episode of the TV series House, a series which has now run its course, but which was popular and usually entertaining in its time. It featured a rat in part of the story. It was clearly a domesticated rat - not a wild one at all - which was to be expected of course.

Anyway, having seen the rat, we move to book four where we see the cat. Book five introduces a new verb, 'can' and book six focuses on person: 'you'. Book 7, focuses on the verb 'look' and the preposition 'at'. Book 9 covers 'and', Book 10 'stop', book 11 'that', and in each book the sentence structure becomes a teensy bit more complex, slowly leading the child into full sentences, questions, observations, and story-telling. "Can the rat stop the cat? Look and see" and so on.

The books are highly structured and repetitive, which helps a child put everything into a clear context, and not just learn the word, but really understand what it means. My kids are way beyond these books now, and this is my first experience of this style of 'book-leaning', so I can't speak from personal experience of using this method, but to me it seems smart and logical, and I commend this as a worthy read.

What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, Mae Besom

Rating: WORTHY!

This is the other book I read by the artist Besom and writer Yamada. In this one, the story is again about a young kid who has this idea. It looks weird, and people point at it and make fun, claiming it will never go anywhere, but no matter what he does, the kid can't seem to shake it and this idea not only stays with him, it starts following him around everywhere!

I can relate to this big time! Once a story idea get into my head I have a hard time letting it go. Sometimes the idea is so bizarre, it's probably better to let it go, but if I did that with everything, I'd never have written Cloud Fighters or Cleoprankster. Of course there are also times when the idea just catches me in the right mood at the right time and I drop everything and run with it. Not that that typically gets me anywhere, but the exercise is good for me!

Printed in large format hardcover and with great big illustrations, this was another fine read from this pair, and I commend it.

What Do You Do With a Chance? by Kobi Yamada, Mae Besom

Rating: WORTHY!

It's time to look at a couple of print books I discovered (although I'm sure others discovered them before I!) that really were quite charming. Beautifully illustrated by Besom and written with passion by Yamada, the story here is about this young kid who espies a chance fluttering around him, but he's too afraid to take it.

Nervous, unsure, fearing of failure, he lets it go, and even though other chances come by, he grows very reticent to have anything to do with them, but then he begins to fear something worse: that no chance may fly his way again, so he resolves to grab the next one in both hands. What happens? Well, I guess you'd have to read the book to find out!

Printed in large format hardcover and with great big illustrations, this was a fine read and I commend it.

Plastic Soup by Judith Koppens, Andy Engel, Nynke Mare Talsma

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

I cannot for the life of me understand why any publisher would want to release this in a Kindle version, not even just for review. If there's one thing that Amazon's crappy Kindle conversion process does with utter reliability, it's that it totally mangles anything that's not plain vanilla text. This is one of many reasons I refuse to do business with Amazon. The Kindle version was chopped, shredded, julienned, and sliced and diced until the story was out of order and made no sense. Even on a iPad, the images were reliably out of order and sliced in half, and not vertical so they would have at least followed the pagination, but horizontally, so it was impossible to read.

Fortunately I have more than one reader app option, and in both Adobe Digital Editions and Bluefire Reader, the book was beautiful: colorful, the illustrations charming, the text brief but informative, and the story well done. The story, written by Nederlander Judith Koppens, and Andy Engel, and illustrated by Nynke Mare Talsma, whose middle name appropriately means 'sea', is of course, the appalling amount of plastic that's in use today, far too much of which gets into the ocean.

It not only gets there in the form of bags and bottles and other large items, it also gets there - and this understandably isn't covered in this story - in the form of micro plastics, some of which is even now probably in the table salt you have in your kitchen. It's a disgrace, a menace, and a health hazard for every living thing, and everything we can do to educate and warn about this is to be commended, which is why I commend this as a worthy and educational read.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent by Isabella Rotman

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

I enjoyed this graphic novel aimed at advising people about consent. This would be a great book to have lying around when you bring your date home, assuming we ever get back to normalcy in life after COVID. It's smart, comprehensive, inclusive, and educational, and if I had one complaint it would be the language level. This might well get the message across to avid comic book readers, but the language in use here seemed rather 'hi-falutin' - rather more at intellectual end of the scale than perhaps where it needs to be, and as such, it might well be over the head of many people who are the audience this comic truly needs to reach.

That said, it covered a huge swathe of consent - what consent is, how it can be given, what it means and more importantly, what it doesn't mean, how it's given, what's behind it all, how to approach what might be a difficult conversation, and on and on. It's all done in a friendly chatty manner. It truly is well-written, with the above-mentioned caveat, and the art is wonderful. I commend this as a worthy read. Some millionaire ought to buy the entire print run of this and give them away at appropriate venues! Not that there are any such venues at the moment, but you know what I mean.

Let's Fly a Plane by Chris Ferrie

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Friends, red kangaroos, children, lend me your engineers! Having just seen Fantasy Island at the movie theater, (the plane the plane - yes they did use that phrase and the movie was great!), how could I not want to review this book with such a bold and maybe even a teensy bit reckless title?

This was a short and fun little book about a kangaroo who wants to fly, but who can't seem to get off the ground. She seeks out author Chris Ferrie who has a doctorate in applied mathematics and who is a senior lecturer at the University of Technology in Sydney. Dr Chris explains the four forces involved in flight (drag, gravity, lift - or was it Uber? - no it was lift!, and thrust), and does so in simple terms. The lift component to flight is the one that's most often misunderstood, even in textbooks, but the explanations here are kept simple and straight-forward.

Red Kangaroo still can't manage to propel herself into the air, but she gets to fly in an airplane! This was a colorful and easy book, useful for introducing young children to a complicated idea without straining young minds. Hopefully a few who read this will become engineers and make some wonderful things because their interest in science was piqued by books like this one, I commend it as a worthy read.

Small Matters by Heather Ferranti Kinser

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

If the fact that bumble bees have hairy eyeballs grosses you out, then this book is not for you! Not that bees really have eyeballs as such, but you know what I mean. The book literally zooms in on animals and finds things that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye.

I don't know about you, but for me, some books are way too long. This was too short, because it was over before I felt fully-satisfied by these truly engaging images and revelations. I wanted more, but for a much younger child than me, it's probably the ideal length. It educates young children to the unseen world, and encourages them to realize that there is much below the surface to fascinate and learn. I don't doubt that the lessons taught here will be as useful in preparing us for learning about fellow humans as they are in learning about the animals presented here, from all walks - and slithers an flights - of life.

In some thirty pages, we meet a sea-snail, a shark, a butterfly, a bird or two, a snake, an insect or two, and others that each has a microscopic secret to success. For example, I'm sure many of you know that a gecko has a sort of 'suction pad' on its feet that help it climb the walls, but the details of exactly how this works are really interesting - and it's not really a suction pad! Each creature we visit here has a similar script about some aspect of its life. It turns out that 'small matters' are big deals! I found it fascinating and educational and I commend this as a worthy read.

The Not Bad Animals by Sophie Corrigan

Rating: WORTHY!

Erratum:
p17 has 'bast' instead of 'bats' in the 'facts' section! Bast was a cat god of the Egyptians.
I don't know of any scorpion that's poisonous, but several are venomous! The difference is that if you eat a scorpion (and people as well as animals do eat them) you won't be poisoned, but you can get its venom injected if one stings you!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Here's another educational book about animals. This one tries to improve the undeservedly bad reps of certain critters such as spiders, sharks, and vampire bats. Good luck with that! But it's intelligently written and amusingly-illustrated by an author who is evidently English as judged by her lingo (or perhaps Australian?) and whose last name maybe ought to be 'Incorrigible'? I ask this because I'm by no means convinced that cats have anywhere near the negative reputation she seems to think, yet here they are, right up front, getting a PR job. I find that highly suspicious!

The book even features hyenas, so if you're a fan of the recent (as of this blog post!) Birds of Prey movie, in which Harley Quinn had a pet hyena (not recommended!), you may find this entertaining! I did. But then I loved that movie. The book also features skunks, which I agree are very cute. I'll never forget this one episode of Mythbusters in which the stated task was to determine the best method of removing skunk smells from clothing.

In order to do that, they had to get a skunk to spray, and they had this cute little thing that refuse to spray no matter what they did! It was hilarious, It was like the anti-skunk, but having encountered one walking in to work one dark morning (I was walking in to work - the skunk was already quite busily at work), and noticing how it turned so its back was always toward me as I passed it, the very opposite of what most wild animals will do, I would never trust one as a coworker! That said, it did not spray me since I kept moving and made no threat to it, so I thank that skunk for its forbearance and restraint under trying conditions.

But I digress. The book covers crocodiles, vultures, rats (which I personally adore, having had pet ones and started a children's book series - The Little Rattuses™ - about them), wasps (which, call me waspish, but I certainly do not adore), scorpions (which I adore even less, having found one in the bathtub one night that had apparently been enterprising enough to climb up the bath drainpipe, but then stupid enough to find itself in a slippery bathtub with no exit!), snakes, toads, wolves, ants, and so on, you can see that the animal kingdom is well covered and it's not just all about mammals, as far too many young children's books are.

This book is very well done - amusing, entertaining, nicely put together, hosted a wealth of animals in its eighty-some pages and was very educational. Yes! It's correct, for example, when it advises that peeing on a jellyfish sting will not help. It might even make it worse. The best treatment for such a sting is to pour vinegar on the affected area and then remove the stingers with tweezers (don't scrape them off with anything). What's not to like? Okay, apart from the vampire bats, what's not to like? Okay, vampire bats and scorpions, what's not to like? Really? I commend this as a worthy read.

Play Like an Animal! by Maria Gianferrari, Mia Powell

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Maria and Mia what a team! The author amusingly explains why animals do some of the crazy things they do, and the illustrator (Powell) illustrates them with verve and passion. The idea is of course, to talk kids into exercising their right to be animals as well, playing like these amusing creatures do, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The book covers a variety of animals, but as usual with young childrens' books, it's mostly the mammals which are favored, such as peccaries, rhinos, monkeys, gorillas, and so on, but there are also aquatic mammals featured such a dolphins and otters, along with a couple of birds - ravens and keas - and who wouldn't mourn a kea?! (Sorry, I could not for the life of me resist.)

The behavior of the animals is explained in growing - they need to learn to defend themselves, to get a mate, to stalk prey, to escape being prey, and even to develop their minds, as is the case with ravens. The book was gorgeously illustrated and amusingly written, and I commend it as a worthy read.

Mexico Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira, Susie Jaramillo

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

So another in the Tiny Traveler's series, and if it seems like I'm choosing ones just to annoy the racist president of a certain country I assure you that's not the case....

This one follows the same pattern as the other two I've reviewed today (China and puerto Rico). It features about a dozen colorful illustrations with local language words for various items, places, and customs depicted, and each page contains a search item. The books are bright, engaging, interesting and very educational. Like the other two, I commend this whole-heartedly.

Puerto Rico Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira, Susie Jaramillo

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Another fun book in the 'Tiny Travelers' series. This one covers your president's most favorite place to hate (after Africa) - Puerto Rico! That's one reason I chose to review this! Anything he hates, I tend to love - apart from Amazon that is! Once again it's a series of about a dozen beautifully-drawn and gorgeously-colored illustrations, each of which imparts a little knowledge of the location, and a hidden treasure to find.

There's a website and a club to join for anyone who chooses, or you can just stick with the fun books, the poetic descriptions, and the joyful attitude. Either way I commend this as a worthy read!

China Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira, Susie Jaramillo

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This book is both an educational trip through China, whose new year - the Year of the Rat started the day this review was posted, so 新年快乐 (shin yin kwai luh - that's happy new year in Chinese)!

The book consists of about a dozen pages of brightly-drawn and nicely-illustrated images of various places and landmarks in China along with happy kids visiting them. Each has interesting facts, along with Chinese words, their English translations and pronunciation, and a hidden treasure to be found.

This book was a fun treasure hunt and an educational trip. I commend it.

Let's Explore Bread by Jill Colella

Rating: WORTHY!

From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was a fun and useful book of less than thirty pages, full of good advice, exploration, and a recipe for bread bears! Who wouldn't want bread bears?! I fell in love with the title to begin with, but the content is equally of value.

Using bright photos for illustration, the short texts describe bread in many varieties and how it's used; there's an experiment you can do, and then comes the bread recipe and that's followed by the bread bear recipe!

It would have been nice to have a word about nutrition content, and whole wheat versus white, things you can add to bread - such as nuts and raises, for example, and also about gluten and gluten-free. Not everyone can enjoy bread as it's so routinely offered in stores, so that felt like it was an opportunity missed in educating as to why baking your own is important, but that aside, this is a fun way to gat kids interested in baking and in eating healthily, and I commend it as a worthy read.