The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers (Children's Picture Book Review)

The Night Gardener

by Terry Fan & Eric Fan

Published by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
on February 16, 2016
Genre: Children's, Picture Books
Length: 48 pages
Ages: 4 - 8 years
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Literary Awards:NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Book (2017)Monarch Award Nominee (2019)

Synopsis:
One day, William discovers that the tree outside his window has been sculpted into a wise owl. In the following days, more topiaries appear, and each one is more beautiful than the last. Soon, William's gray little town is full of color and life. And though the mysterious night gardener disappears as suddenly as he appeared, William --and his town-- are changed forever.

Our Thoughts:

One morning, William wakes to find the tree outside his room at the orphanage has been carved into a wise owl. Every night after that, a new topiary appears and excites the neighborhood. But who is creating this magic? On his way home one night, William spots a man with a ladder and follows him!

What a beautiful story!

This is one of the most detailed picture books I've ever come across. You can see every leaf on every tree. It has a traditional pencil-drawn illustration style that includes 'hatching' for shadows. 

There's also a very dated or historical aspect to the drawings. Some of the illustrations are in all sepia tones while others burst with color. 

The story is sweet and memorable with a focus on creativity and bringing a community together but the illustrations really win the prize in The Night Gardener. 

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Monstress Vol 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda (Adult Graphic Novel Review)

Monstress
Volume 1: Awakening
by Marjorie M. Liu
Illustrations by Sana Takeda
Published by Image Comics
on July 13, 2016
Genre: Adult, Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Horror
Length: 192 pages
Ages: 16+

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Literary Awards:
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Graphic Novels & Comics (2016)
Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best New Series & Best Writer (2016)
British Fantasy Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel (2017)
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story (2017)

Synopsis:
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both.

My Thoughts:
This is fantastically dark and gruesome!

Maika, a teenage girl with only one arm, is sold as a slave along with a group of others and taken to a 'witch-nun' that does odd experiments on them. Maika is pretending to be merely human but she has a big secret... and a plan.

The artwork in this graphic novel is amazing! There's so much patterned, scrolling detail in the clothing, and the characters all have fantastically drawn hair that flows beautifully. There's also a ton of detail, depth, and expression in the faces, which sometimes border on horrific.

There's some really dark material in this, with slaves that are used as 'parts' or even food, which made me feel like it's partly horror. Otherwise, it's mainly fantasy, with some arcane or dark magic and an endgame that I definitely want in on! I'm looking forward to reading more from this graphic series!


A special thanks to Image Comics for providing this graphic novel for free on Kindle for Free Comic Book Day!

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Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Adult Nonfiction Book Review)

Born A Crime:
Stories From A South African Childhood
by Trevor Noah

Published by Doubleday Canada
on November 15, 2016
Genre: Adult, Nonfiction, Memoir
Length: 285 pages

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Literary Awards:
NAACP Image Award for Debut Author and for Biography / Autobiography (2017)
Thurber Prize for American Humor (2017)
Evergreen Teen Book Award Nominee (2019)
Lincoln Award Nominee (2019)

Synopsis:
The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime New York Times bestseller about one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

 Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Born A Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The eighteen personal essays collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love.

My Thoughts:
Born during apartheid in South Africa to a black mother and a white father, Trevor Noah's existence was considered a crime. He spent his childhood hidden away from the world and his growing years searching for his place in a divided country. In this humorous coming-of-age story, Noah describes the laws and social norms of apartheid and how he found his place in it.

I almost never watch cable but I've seen The Daily Show a few times and enjoyed Noah's sense of humor. That really shined through the first part of this book as he describes his childhood, his mother's religion and parenting techniques, and how the world treated him as a boy set apart. His mother's religious stories were a hoot but I also enjoyed how much of a powerhouse she was and how she absolutely did her own thing even though it was sometimes illegal. The end of the story has a good lesson in domestic violence.

I enjoyed how Noah picked apart the differences in races during apartheid and how he never quite fit in with one or the other and how differently he was treated because of it but still found his place despite that.  I thought that a lot of his story was quite relatable, perhaps because of our similar age group, or perhaps because I grew up in a small rural town with high racial tension and feel desensitized to its' existence, but nothing in this book really stood out as overly different except maybe the gang-related transportation system. Even the pirated music money hustle was way too familiar.

Also, I noted that other than his humor showing through his writing, there is very little in this book that shares his actual comedy career or what led him to it. I guess I was expecting a little more of what led him to that career but it didn't seem to come up.

Setting:
Johannesburg, South Africa

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They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel (Children's Picture Book Review)

They All Saw A Cat

by Brendan Wenzel

Published by Chronicle Books

on August 30, 2016

Genre: Children's, Picture Books

Length: 44 pages

Ages: 3 - 5 years

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Literary Awards:
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Picture Books (2016)
NAIBA Book of the Year for Picture Book (2017)
Caldecott Medal Nominee (2017)

Synopsis:
The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws...

In this celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, Brendan Wenzel shows us the many views of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. When you see a cat, what do you see?

Our Thoughts:

A wonderful poetic story all about perspective! 

The cat walked through the world and they all saw.
The boy saw the cat, as did the dog, the fox, the fish, and many more. Each one saw the cat, from above or below, as it went on its way, and each perspective was different. The bird sees the cat differently than the mouse. The cat sees them all in turn and even himself.
There's a great lesson here about perspective and how unique it can be to each individual! I especially liked the question posed about what the cat sees when he sees his own reflection. It's a good opportunity for discussion.

There's also plenty to learn about the animals and their varying perspectives; snakes sensing heat, worms sensing vibrations, skunks that see in black and white, and bats that use echolocation. You'll notice differences in them all!
  

We discovered and read A Stone Sat Still recently and loved it! I didn't realize until after that there was a book, this book, that came first!  I really enjoyed this one as well but A Stone Sat Still is longer with more perspectives and more of an overall story. It made a much bigger impact on us but we really enjoyed They All Saw A Cat as well! 



A Stone Sat Still

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Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Young Adult Book Review)

Every Heart A Doorway
by Seanan McGuire
(Wayward Children #1)
Published by Tor
on April 5, 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 176 pages

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Synopsis:

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss Eleanor West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost. 

My Thoughts:

When Nancy arrives at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, she doesn't quite understand what everyone is hinting at with their talk of Nonsense and Logic, Wickedness and Virtue and wants nothing more than to return to the Halls of the Dead. She soon learns that she is in the right place. Each and every one of the people in this school have traveled through mysterious doors that have taken them to some other world and then spit them back out again.

Eleanor West, a world-traveler herself, created the Home for all of those that have returned from their worlds and don't quite fit in with reality anymore. But shortly after Nancy's arrival, students start turning up dead, and Nancy and her new friends must find out who it is before they too end up dead.

"For us, the places we went were home. We didn't care if they were good or evil or neutral or what. We cared about the fact that for the first time, we didn't have to pretend to be something we weren't. We just got to be. That made all the difference in the world."

I loved the idea of children flitting off to their own little fantasy world through some magically appearing door. Like Narnia or Wonderland. But also darker worlds that resemble gothic literature as well.
Of course, this is all after the fact. The young adults in this school have already lived out their magical stories and are now mostly suffering through normal existence, still looking for their door and hoping that it will let them back in someday.

I loved the lgbt+ representation and explanations. There was also a certain level of feminism and snark in this book that I loved.

"This world is unforgiving and cruel to those it judges as even the slightest bit outside the norm."

What didn't I love?
How short the story is for one.
I wished there were more to it overall. Some of it was abrupt with things left unexplained.
It also seemed to whiplash from a fantastical magical realism story to a murder mystery that no one seemed all that serious about, even after it kept happening. And then it all wrapped up in a rush.
I felt like there should have been a reason that Nancy returned and was sent to this special school with people so similar to her right in the middle of a murderous plot, but it ended up feeling so random (nonsense) instead. Perhaps that was the point.

 I really enjoyed this but I also wished there were more to it. It was intriguing enough to make me want to continue the series if only to get the rest of the story we are missing here!

Have you read this? Did you enjoy it? Should I continue the series?

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Book Review: My Haunted House by Angie Sage

Title: My Haunted House
Author: Angie Sage
Series: Araminta Spook #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Publication Date: August 1, 2016
Genre: Children's, Paranormal
Length: 160 pages
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

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Synopsis: 
Araminta Spookie lives in a wonderful old haunted house, but her crabby aunt Tabby wants to move. Aunt Tabby is determined to sell their house--Araminta "has" to stop her! 

With the help of a haunted suit of armor named Sir Horace, a ghost named Edmund, and a lot of imagination, Araminta hatches a plot for an Awful Ambush that is so ghoulish, it just might work!

My Thoughts: 
Araminta Spookie lives with her aunt and uncle in a dreary old mansion and she absolutely loves it. She enjoys hunting for ghosts, wrangling Uncle Drac's bats, and switching bedrooms whenever she's in the mood to. When she gets wind that Aunt Tabby wants to sell the mansion and move, Araminta is determined to sabotage Aunt Tabby's efforts. When realtors come to look at the house, she scares them away. But when an odd family shows interest in the spooky old house, Araminta's plans go awry. Will she be able to change their minds and continue living in her beloved mansion?

Araminta Spookie is a fun little read that any young child looking for something spooky without the chance of actually frightening them will enjoy. There's an old rusty suit of armor that harbors a ghost as well as a ghost boy, but they are so friendly that it's almost certain that even a young child won't be overly spooked by this book. Araminta's antics are childish but mildly entertaining at times. 

As this is a chapter book geared towards younger audiences, it is rather easy to read with short sentences and little description but I do think it may be enjoyed by anyone looking for something a bit similar to but more docile than The Addams Family. 

My Rating: 3.75 stars