The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 6 - Big Storm

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, readers!

We had a crazy high winds tornado-warning storm blow through this week and it has brought back the freezing so I'm currently bundled up but it was a nice week otherwise. We visited our state resident hippo, Lu (short for Lucifer), to celebrate his 60th birthday, went on a few charity shop book hunts, planted more seeds for our veggie garden, and flew a kite on a windy day!

As for blogging, I've been busy busy and wrote and scheduled ten review posts this past week. I'm hoping I can branch out from just reviews and The Sunday Post again soon.
 I said I would be sure to reply and return comments last week but then things came up and I had deadlines and hadn't caught up... but this is a better week so I will try harder! 

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Chapter Books We've Finished Recently:

Recently Posted Reviews:

    

We found out how similar people are to marshmallows in the cute but silly Most Marshmallows by Rowboat Watkins and revisited our favorite grumpy bear in Bruce's Big Storm by Ryan T. Higgins. 

    

We learned all about bats in The Bat Book by Charlotte Milner (which we reviewed for Netgalley) and traveled to some of the most extreme and dangerous places on the planet in Adventures on Earth by Simon Tyler, which we reviewed for the publisher.

I also got my review of Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire posted. This is the fifth and possibly final book in the Wayward Children series.

What I'm Watching:Nothing this week. I've mostly been writing.

What I'm Listening To:

Claire Laffut - 'Verite'
I've been continuing my Spanish and French language lessons on Duolingo but have also started listening to a lot of French music with subtitles lately. I've had this one stuck in my head.


Have a great week! Happy reading!

Follow

Adventures On Earth by Simon Tyler (Children's Nonfiction Book Review)

I received a free physical copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Adventures On Earth
by Simon Tyler
Published by Pavilion Books
on September 26, 2019
Genre: Children's, Nonfiction
Length: 96 pages
Ages: 7 - 10 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
The wonderful graphic illustrator Simon Tyler is back with a book all about the extremes of our planet - and the people who venture there. Bursting with information and illustrated in bold and colorful graphics, this book will grab the attention of all avid explorers - big and small.

Follow in the footsteps of the world's most famous explorers and travel to the extremes of our environment on Earth--learn about the highest and deepest, hottest and coldest places on Earth. Discover the world's most wild terrain--deserts, mountains, volcanoes, rivers, jungles, oceans, the polar regions and more and learn about how they were discovered and explored by human adventurers. Find out how these regions are under threat from global warming and other issues, and learn what we can do to conserve them. 

My Thoughts:

   Welcome to the amazing world of exploration!
  

Simon Tyler has put together a wonderful book about the remote and wild places on Earth and the adventures and explorations that led to their discovery.

From the hottest and coldest places on Earth to the deepest and most dangerous, Adventures On Earth will take you around the world and throughout history to some of the most extreme places ever discovered.

This book features early explorations over land and sea and the discovery of new and exciting places such as deserts, jungles, and rivers, as well as more modern means of adventure such as underwater cave diving or spelunking.

Learn about the Arctic and the Trans-Arctic Expedition that took over a year and 3,725 miles to travel, or the Norwegian explorer who successfully traveled to the South Pole with his team in the Antarctic.  Discover the highest mountain ranges of the world, such as the Himalayas, and the high-altitude climbers that risked their lives to conquer these mountains. There's plenty more to discover as well!

This book has fascinating facts about history, geography, and even conservation, paired with enjoyable graphic art.

Many thanks to Pavilion Books for a copy of this fascinating nonfiction book for kids! We are no strangers to adventure but books like this help us travel to places we've never been and may never go! 

Follow

Come Tumbling Down (Wayward Children #5) by Seanan McGuire (YA Fantasy Book Review)

Come Tumbling Down
(Wayward Children series #5)

by Seanan McGuire
Published by Tor Books
on January 7, 2020
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Length: 208 pages

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
The fifth installment in Seanan McGuire's award-winning, bestselling Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones.

When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister--whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice--back to their home on the Moors.

But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.

Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.
My Thoughts:

I 'discovered' this series towards the end of 2019 and have read one a month since and have finally caught up with this recent release.

It's a unique series revolving around characters that have had a mysterious door appear to them that took them to another world and then spit them back out again. These special children end up at Eleanor's Home for Wayward Children, a school that allows parents to get difficult children out of their hair and gives said children a place to be themselves until their door accepts them again.

We are introduced to Jack & Jill in Every Heart A Doorway and learn their personal story about how they found their door to the Moors and what happened there in Down Among the Sticks and Bones, which was a dark and macabre but fascinating story. 
In Come Tumbling Down, we are caught up in Jack and Jill's story once again and this time their sibling rivalry has gone a step too far. Jack needs help to keep the balance in the world and her friends from school may be the only ones that can help her.

These stories are short but definitely worth it! The author has been inclusive and forward-minded with her characters and themes in well-meaning ways and this installment was no exception.

And now I must go on a search for more information because I do not know if this is the final final book in this series or if we're just waiting for the author to announce if she will continue or not. Let me know if you know! TIA!

Here are my reviews for:
Every Heart A Doorway (#1)
Down Among the Sticks and Bones (#2)
Beneath the Sugar Sky (#3)
In An Absent Dream (#4)

Follow

The Bat Book by Charlotte Milner (Children's Nonfiction Picture Book Review)

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing us with an e-ARC of this children's nonfiction picture book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Bat Book
by Charlotte Milner
Published by DK Publishing
on February 6, 2020
Genre: Children's, Nonfiction, Picture Books
Length: 48 pages
Ages: 5 - 8 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
Take an amazing journey through the upside-down world of bats with Charlotte Milner's The Bat Book. 

Bright, bold and beautiful illustrations accompany fascinating facts about these furry flying mammals and their importance to the world we live in.
Following on from The Bee Book and The Sea Book, Charlotte Milner continues to highlight important ecological issues faced by our planet to children, this time focusing on the world's only flying mammals.

Our Thoughts:

We discovered Charlotte Milner's non-fiction picture books, The Sea Book and The Bee Book, just last year and loved both! They are gorgeously illustrated, packed full of interesting information, and make a great addition to any children's library!

The Bat Book is similarly fantastic, with scientifically accurate illustrations to go along with the plethora of information about our planets' 1,300 bat species.

Learn about the difference between megabats (some of which have five-foot wingspans!) and microbats and how they get around and catch their food in the dark. Find out how bats help the environment and keep ecosystems healthy by eating harmful insects, spreading seeds, and pollinating fruit trees!

Another thing I love about Milner's nonfiction books is how she explains the importance of these creatures and the effects that we have on them. She shares why bat populations are declining and what we can actively do to help, such as spreading seed bombs, growing bat-friendly plants in your gardens, and educating others about bats!

More from this author/illustrator:

The Bee Book
The Sea Book

Follow

Most Marshmallows by Rowboat Watkins (Children's Picture Book Review)

Most Marshmallows
by Rowboat Watkins
Published by Chronicle Books
on April 30, 2019
Genre: Children's, Picture Books
Length: 40 pages
Ages: 3 - 5 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
Most marshmallows are born into marshmallow families, play with marshmallow friends, and go to marshmallow school where they learn to be squishy.

But this book isn't about most marshmallows, is it? No.
That's because author Rowboat Watkins knows that, just like you, some marshmallows have big dreams, and just like you, these marshmallows can do anything they set their minds to.

Our Thoughts:
This is a cute and simple but impactful story about a bunch of marshmallows who live normal marshmallow lives doing things that normal marshmallows do, like have birthdays, go to school, and dream of doing anything they put their marshmallow minds to!

Are we really talking about marshmallows though?

The marshmallows in this story seem pretty human to me, with daily routines and families and hopes and dreams. They even have hair?!

You're sure to have fun reading this humorous little story!

The illustrations are extra unique, with what looks like actual marshmallows that are drawn on to appear like individuals. The other elements in the story, such as the inanimate objects, flowers, background, etcetera appear to be papercrafts, which gives it extra depth and texture.

This was an interesting book to read aloud and discuss with my little one! 

Follow

Bruce's Big Storm (Mother Bruce #5) by Ryan T. Higgins (Children's Picture Book Review)

Bruce's Big Storm

(Mother Bruce #5)

by Ryan T. Higgins

Published by Disney - Hyperion

on September 3, 2019

Genre: Children's, Picture Books

Length: 40 pages

Ages: 3 - 5 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:

Bruce's home is already a full house.

But when a big storm brings all his woodland neighbors knocking, he'll have to open his door to a crowd of animals in need of shelter - whether he likes it or not.

Our Thoughts:

We return to Soggy Hollow and its' woodland inhabitants in this whirlwind story about our favorite grumpy bear, Bruce!

Bruce is a bear that does not like neighbors. Unfortunately for him, he has many of them, including a trio of mice that haven't quite learned about boundaries.

When a big storm hits his corner of the forest, everyone ends up waiting it out at Bruce's house!

Of course, Bruce isn't too thrilled about any of it!

This is the fifth book in the Mother Bruce series, (sixth if you're counting the companion picture book, Be Quiet!) and we already want more! We've come to love Bruce and his 'friends', from Bruce's original case of mistaken identity where he became a mother to geese, to his run-in with the hilariously vocal local mice, to a neighborhood full of needy (and helpful) neighbors!

These books are humorous with good lessons and fantastic illustrations. I really enjoy Higgins' style! 

We're looking forward to seeing more of Bruce getting annoyed by the local wildlife in the future!

More from the Mother Bruce series:
Mother Bruce
Hotel Bruce
Be Quiet!
Santa Bruce

Follow

The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 5

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!

I lost a week or so thanks to a bug going around and having to disinfect everything afterward. We recovered quickly but the weather has been less than cooperative. I haven't been on a decent hike in weeks and I'm starting to feel a little too cooped up.

  I finally downloaded the Goodreads app so I am able to update my current reads more often.  It has otherwise been a pretty uneventful week. I'm mostly just trying to catch up with reviews and reading!

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Chapter Books We've Finished Recently:


Recently Posted Reviews:You can see my most recently posted reviews in my January Wrap Up (no time to do it twice!)
What I'm Watching:

The only thing I've watched in the past couple of weeks has been the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre, which is currently on Hulu. I love the classics.

What I'm Listening To:I've been digging these songs 'Anew' & 'Adrift' by Hollow Coves

I promise to make the rounds and visit as many bloggers as I can today! Happy reading! :)

Follow