KID Book Review: Brady Needs a Nightlight by Brian Barlics

Brady Needs a Nightlight by Brian Barlics

Normally I don't read children books... but of course after my son is born, I have to start! He seems to be interested in books so far - at least he thinks they are yummy since he keeps chewing on them! Though lately he likes flipping the books by himself, even if I am not around. And I note that he even knows to turn the book right side up all by himself!

When TLC Tour asked if I want to review this book, I agreed as I don't know anything about children books. As a child, I read mostly children books in Chinese, so apart from a few famous ones in English (some of the translated into Chinese), I just don't even know where to start. (And nope, I didn't read any Dr Seuss until the last 1.5 years!)

This is a very cute book - I mean, Brady is a bat, but he is not at all spooky or scary! The illustrations were nicely done by Gregory Burgess Jones, and I like the verse (I like verses that rhyme! So much more fun to read out loud). Plus I like fireflies - seem how cute that one on the cover is?

I think when my son gets older, especially when/if he starts getting scared in the dark, this would be a fun and useful book to read together! Even if he have this fear, this is a still great bedtime story too.

Fun fact - the author is also a Pediatrician!



Don't forget to check out the other tours!

Brian Barlics’ TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, January 6th:  Savvy Verse and Wit

Tuesday, January 7th:  Allison’s Book Bag

Tuesday, January 7th:  Mental Foodie

Wednesday, January 8th:  Book Dilettante

Thursday, January 9th:  Cherry Blossoms

Friday, January 10th:  Not in Jersey

Monday, January 13th:  Read Lately

Tuesday, January 14th:  Sweet Southern Home

Wednesday, January 15th:  Simply Stacie

Thursday, January 16th:  Melissa Northway

Friday, January 17th:  Cheryl’s Book Nook

Monday, January 20th:  Babblin’ Brooke

Tuesday, January 21st:  Musings by Maureen

Wednesday, January 22nd:  Quirky Bookworm

Thursday, January 23rd:  Red Headed Book Child

Monday, January 27th:  Patricia’s Wisdom

Note - Received a free copy from TLC Tour in exchange for an unbiased review.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

I know many bloggers love this book (or other books by Selznick). This is my first book by the author, and unfortunately it just didn't work for me. It has an interesting concept - a story combined with pencil drawings. The drawings were nice, but didn't wow me. Maybe because I had seen some really amazing pencil drawings. The story was fine, but a bit simplistic and slow for me. I kept waiting for some magical moments but they never arrived. I don't remember the ending now (3 months later), but whatever it was, it didn't blow my mind. Maybe I am spoiled by Shawn Tan's books? His stories were even simpler, but I felt inspired from his books.

I know I am totally NOT the target audience, so I am sharing my thoughts from an adult's perspective - someone who is not familiar with children's books (at least not for this age range - amazon listed it as 9 years and up). Maybe if I read this with a kid, I'd have felt differently. Or I am just too old and cynical lol.

I know the movie came out not long ago, and had good reviews too. But I doubt I'd be watching it any time soon. There are some quotes I did like from this book:

Some magicians started off as clock makers. They used their knowledge of machines to build these automata to amaze their audiences. The sole purpose of the machines was to fill people with wonder, and they succeeded. No one in the audience could figure out how these mysterious figures danced or wrote to sang. It was as if the magicians had created artificial life, but the secret was always in the clockworks. (p113)

"Sometimes I think I like these photos as much as I like the movies, " she said. "You can make up your own story when you look at a photo." (p193)

"Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason?" he asked Isabelle. "They are built to make you laugh, like the mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do." (p374) 

2 / 5 .

Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - Red in the Flower Bed: An Illustrated Children's Story about Interracial Adoption by Andrea Nepa

Title: Red in the Flower Bed: An Illustrated Children's Story about Interracial Adoption 
Author: Andrea Nepa
Year: 2008
Page: 28
Genre: Children's Book, Graphic Book


New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Maybe
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? Anywhere
FTC Disclosure: Given an electronic copy to review by Tribute Books as part of the December Blog Tour

Summary (from goodreads.com):
The journey of adoption is beautifully depicted with the comforting imagery of a poppy flower who is welcomed into a garden family. It is a charming story of "seeds" being planted in the perfect place - exactly where they belong. Children and adults will enjoy this simple yet meaningful story and homespun illustrations. The book's loving approach helps children to understand adoption. Andrea Nepa has captured the essence of adoption and family, and has illustrated it beautifully with images and poetry that even a small child can comprehend and enjoy.

First Sentence:
One day, a seed dropped from a poppy flower onto the earth below.

  
Why did I pick this book?
I was approached by Tribute Books to see if I was interested in reviewing this book. Since I don't have children so I hardly read any children's books. However, since this book was about adoption, and one of my sisters-in-law was adopted, I was curious. 

My thoughts:

• What a cute and colorful book!

• It is hard for me to rate this book since I don't usually read children's book, and with no children, I won't know how they'd like it. So I'd have to judge it from an adult's perspective

• I think this is a book that would be understood more by an adult than a child - the implied message, the symbolism, and the metaphor. The description said "the book's loving approach helps children to understand adoption" -- I wonder how much children would truly understand about adoption from this book. Maybe I am underestimating how much children know nowadays... or maybe I was just a dumb kid :) (I suppose, children can be anything from 0-18 years old... so it's hard to say at what age would the child see through the story)

• I hope when the author's adopted daughter read it when she grew up, she'd understand the love from her mother for her

Quote:

Rating: 3.5 Stars

 

Have you read this book? 
If you have, I would love to hear what you think! I'll link your review here if you wish!

Challenges:
100+ Reading