Tag: 4 stars

If You Take Away the Otter – Susannah Buhrman-Deever

Illustrations – Matthew Trueman

A warning about the domino effect that occurs when you remove one part of an ecosystem, If You Take Away the Otter tells the story of what happened when otters were not protected.

Clearly explaining the cause and effect, this message can easily be applied to other ecosystems.

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With the inclusion of plenty of facts about the otters and their habitat, I would have used this book to research a school project when I was a kid. I doubt I would have borrowed it from the library with my usual reading material as I’ve only become interested in non-fiction as an adult. For those who are seeking further information, there’s a bibliography and details of books and websites at the end of the book.

For me, Matthew Trueman’s illustrations were the star of this book. The otters are absolutely adorable and all of the other sea life pictured are equally realistic. Some younger children may find the pages that depict the people in boats coming to hunt the otters scary, although there is a happy ending.

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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When the sea otters disappear, why does their kelp forest habitat disappear, too?

On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves. But there was a time when people hunted the otters almost to extinction. Without sea otters to eat them, an army of hungry sea urchins grew and destroyed entire kelp forests. Fish and other animals that depended on the kelp were lost, too. But when people protected the sea otters with new laws, their numbers began to recover, and so did the kelp forests.

Susannah Buhrman-Deever offers a beautifully written account of a trophic cascade, which happens when the removal of a single element affects an entire habitat. Asides that dig deeper are woven throughout Matthew Trueman’s dynamic illustrations, starring a raft of charismatic sea otters. Back matter includes more information about sea otters and kelp forests, including their importance and current status, the effects of the international fur trade on indigenous peoples, and a list of books and websites for readers who wish to continue to explore.

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Sandcastle – Einat Tsarfati

A day at the beach is anything but ordinary for this young girl. She builds a sandcastle, but this is not just any sandcastle.

This one is fit for hosting royalty – a castle with turrets and a moat guarded by a crocodile. There’s even ice cream!

But a day at the beach is not complete unless sand gets everywhere.

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This is an imaginative book and the illustrations contain so many details, with the opportunity for countless untold stories to be imagined. Before the story even gets under way you’re treated to a crowded scene that includes a sand shark, sand snowman (sandman?), mummy, pirate, witches and so much more.

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I also found some references in the illustrations that will likely fly straight over kids’ heads. Jack and Rose from Titanic recreate one of their scenes. Excalibur tests the worthiness of various characters.

Make sure you keep an eye out for the girl’s small friend in the blue and white striped swimmers.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Step inside a sumptuous sandcastle packed with amazing and amusing visual details for a beach day that’s fit for royalty.

A young girl loves building sandcastles. But not just any sandcastles. She builds one so big and grand and lovely that all the royals of the world come to visit. There are banquets and balls and tournaments, a greenhouse for cacti, a staircase for skateboarding, and ice cream around the clock. Everyone seems to be having fun, until they discover sand in the royal almond strudel … and the fig milk bath … and everywhere!

With a keen eye for the absurd, author-illustrator Einat Tsarfati invites readers beyond the crocodile moat to explore the intricately detailed, increasingly wild festivities that echo the arc of a day at the beach, from euphoria to gritty discomfort. The diverse cast of regal guests, from a Rapunzel-esque princess in pj’s and unicorn slippers to a pair of knights playing badminton, is just as inspired. A visual treat of a tale, Sandcastle opens the doors to a world by the sea where wit and imagination reign. 

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There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done – Lynn S. Zubernis

Make sure there are no breaks in your salt lines, grab some pie and settle in for some love letters, Supernatural style.

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done highlights the impact Supernatural has had on the lives of both actors and fans over the past fifteen years. Whether a specific episode made fans feel seen, sometimes for the first time, or if they’ve been superfans from the beginning, this TV series has grown into something I don’t think anyone ever expected.

Supernatural leaves behind a fundamentally changed group of people, inspired to do good, be weird, and be kind.

Fans have made lifelong friends, changed their career, been inspired to write and create, and found family. Online communities have sprung up, interactions at conventions have solidified friendships and so much money has been raised for charity.

Supernatural does not sugarcoat the painful aspects of life

Reminding us to ‘Always Keep Fighting’, regardless of our circumstances, and encouraging us to leave the world better than we found it, Supernatural has been one hell of a road trip.

As we watched Bobby Singer face his physical limitations, we also watched Dean Winchester struggle for psychological healing after trauma, and we also saw Sam Winchester battle his addiction.

This book includes photos of the cast, fan art and quite possibly the best Supernatural shirt I’ve seen, “Sam and Dean Winchester – Keeping gay girls just a little bit straight since 2005”.

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This book has demonstrated to me just how limited my Supernatural fandom has been compared to others. I’ve never been to a convention. I’ve never made Supernatural artwork. I’ve never written fan fiction. I’ve never connected with my favourite actors on social media.

But I have loved this show. I’ve laughed and cried through episodes. I’ve watched favourite characters die, and sometimes come back. I’ve worn my Represent shirt less than I’d like to, so it doesn’t wear out too soon. I’ve read every interview of Jared’s I can find where he references mental health. I’ve drooled over my fair share of cast photos. I’ve reused my 2018 calendar for the second time this year because I like the pictures in it more than recent ones.

I also have the benefit of having loved and lost many TV shows before this one. I know the joy of rediscovering favourite episodes and finding new ones years after I first watched them. Supernatural is not the only beloved show I’m losing this year (2020 just keeps on giving) but I have fifteen years worth of Winchester binge watching at my fingertips. Sam, Dean and all of the other characters I’ve welcomed into my fiction family over the years aren’t really going anywhere; they’ll be there whenever I need them.

So, this is how I suggest we say goodbye to Supernatural. Let’s go back to the beginning and rewatch it all. Let’s continue the conversations and keep the fandom alive. Let’s continue to support each other and follow the future endeavors of all who created Supernatural for us, and with us. Let’s refuse to dwell on endings, but instead embrace this as a new phase of the fandom.

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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Smart Pop, an imprint of BenBella Books, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Fifteen years. Two brothers. Angels and demons. A story like no other. And one of the most passionate fan bases of all time. 

That’s Supernatural. 

There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural is an emotional look back at the beloved television show Supernatural as it wraps up its final season after fifteen unprecedented years on air.

With heartfelt chapters written by both the series’ actors and its fans – plus full-colour photos and fan illustrations – There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done traces Supernatural’s evolution, the memorable characters created by its writers and brought to life by its talented actors, and the many ways in which the show has inspired and changed the lives of both its viewers and cast.

Both a celebration of Supernatural and a way of remembering what made it so special, this book is a permanent reminder of the legacy the show leaves behind and a reminder to the SPN Family to, like the series’ unofficial theme song says, “carry on”.

Including contributions from: 

  • Jared Padalecki (“Sam Winchester”)
  • Jensen Ackles (“Dean Winchester”)
  • Richard Speight, Jr. (“Gabriel”)
  • Andrea Drepaul (“Melanie”)
  • Carrie Genzel (“Linda Bloome”/”Linda Berman”)
  • Julie McNiven (“Anna Milton”)
  • Tahmoh Penikett (“Gadreel”)
  • Shoshannah Stern (“Eileen Leahy”)
  • Brendan Taylor (“Doug Stover”)
  • Lauren Tom (“Linda Tran”)
  • And many more, including a special message from Mischa Collins (“Castiel”).

Edited by Lynn S. Zubernis, a clinical psychologist, professor, and passionate Supernaturalfangirl, There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done is the ultimate send-off for this iconic show that has touched and changed the lives of so many fans across all walks of life. 

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Max Crack #1: The Quest Diaries of Max Crack – Jules Faber

I’ve discovered a fun new children’s series and it’s written by the illustrator of one of my favourite children’s book series, Anh Do’s WeirDo. Written in diary form and featuring oodles of illustrations, we meet Max Crack, who’s just moved to Piddown.

While Max didn’t want to move house, at least the kids in his new school don’t know the embarrassing things he’s done. He’s determined to make the best of it so decides to embark upon a series of quests. His first quest is to find a best friend and it’s lucky he does because now he has a partner in crime for all of his future quests.

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Frankie tells Max all of the important stuff about the town, like where the Mistress of the Dark Arts lives, and introduces him to his Doink family. The Doinks have lots of children so their house can be chaotic, but for only child Max it’s a novelty. The Doink’s even have their own vocabulary!

The new best friends share a love of adventure, comics and jokes. Happily for me, there are even some pirate jokes.

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Max experiences some brand new embarrassing moments and together he and Frankie discover dinosaurs, search for Loch Ness monsters and tell fart jokes (they’re a requisite for pre-teen boys, aren’t they?). They compete in a spelling bee with some super dooper hard words and hunt for buried treasure, where O marks the spot.

Whatever our next quest will be, we’re going to do it together. I’m learning that THAT’s what best friends do.

I enjoyed the variations on well known people, foods and other items. Mars bars become Pluto bars. A famous rock band becomes Peck. My favourite minor character in this book was Nick ‘No Nickname’ Name.

I also had a favourite neighbour: Mrs Pembroke, who has an abundance of chocolate to give away.

I found the kids very relatable. I look forward to hearing some more of Frankie’s theories, which currently include the Sacrificial Skunk Theory. Some of his theories made more sense to me than others but I’m not a pre-teen boy, so what do I know?!

My favourite line involved Frankie mishearing Max when he mentioned a paradox.

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I always look forward to Jules Faber’s illustrations in Anh Do’s WeirDo series. Even if I didn’t know Jules had written this book I would have picked he’d illustrated it in a heartbeat. This is pure conjecture but I’m going to go out on a limb here. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in the future there’s a WeirDo/Max Crack crossover where we learn that Max and Weir are distant relatives.

If you don’t believe I could possibly be right, check out this illustration from the second WeirDo book and tell me you don’t see the family resemblance between Max and Mrs Do.

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This is Max Crack, legend, quest-seeker and awesome best friend SIGNING OFF.

Time to begin book 2!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Hi everyone! I’m Max Crack and this awesome book is all about me and my quests and my best friend Frankie!

Buried treasure, new school, doodles, peanut butter and honey toast, best friends, horrible blobs, mysteries, Meddlyslop, spelling bees (hard words, harder words), more doodles, comics, World War Undies … this book has it ALL.

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Ghostland – Duncan Ralston

Ghosts are real.

If you want to visualise the gorefest that is Ghostland, imagine the ectoplasmic mayhem that would have ensued if Jurassic Park had been populated by ghosts instead of dinosaurs. Featuring such haunts as a prison, an asylum and Garrote House, home of “the Most Terrifying Man in the World”, and 300 ghosts (at the beginning of the book) ranging from former prisoners to an evil sex nun, the promised fun of this amusement park quickly descends into a “concerto of chaos”.

Putting their knowledge of “All Things Horror” and gaming skills to the ultimate test are Lilian Roth and Ben Laramie. Ben has serious physical health problems and Lilian’s thanatophobia, a result of a trauma she experienced four years ago, add to the potential dangers these former best friends will be facing.

Joining them on what may be their final day as corporeal beings is Dr Allison Wexler, Lilian’s therapist. Having your therapist along for the ride is not awkward at all …

Exposure therapy has never been so intensive!

“What’s the worst that could happen, right?”

You do realise you’re one of the main characters in a horror novel, don’t you Lilian?

Don’t bother trying to form any emotional connections with any of the breathers who decide that opening day is a good time to visit this amusement park. Chances are they’re going to be the recently deceased before they get their $40 ticket price worth of scares.

Usually when I read horror stories I tally a body count but there’s just no point here. Even if I counted all of the bodies I tripped over along the way, I would have missed dozens of them. Not as many people died in front of me as I had hoped but I did get to witness the results of a fair amount of the carnage as Lilian and Ben attempt to navigate their way out of Ghostland, hopefully with heartbeats.

This is what happens when you mess around with things you can’t possibly comprehend.

I haven’t had this much fun anticipating footnotes since Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. While the “Know Your Ghosts” guide occasionally only repeated the text in the chapters and didn’t seem necessary, I enjoyed the majority that provided additional information. I expect they’re going to be useful in the sequel. Incidentally, if Ghostland is ever made into a movie, I’ll be there for the ride.

At times it felt like there were an over abundance of similes and I simply shook my head when our lambs to the slaughter took the time to locate toilets on the map. If all hell was breaking loose and I had to use the bathroom I doubt I’d risk my life further by detouring to find a public toilet. A few question marks appeared over my head as I was reading, including when Dr Wexler contradicted herself about how long Lilian had been in therapy for, but they are essentially quibbles in what was a fun bloodbath.

My disappointment came when, after such a build up, I blinked and missed most of the final battle. Maybe I’ll get to enjoy the hopefully bone snapping, blood spurting, organ squishing climax in a flashback scene during the sequel but right now it feels like a crucial chapter was accidentally deleted.

Favourite phrase:

“You cain’t be alive. You ain’t got a head.”

You can download a free copy of the short story prequel, The Moving House, when you subscribe to the author’s website. There’s also a Ghostland website to explore.

Please keep your head and hands inside the ride and enjoy your time at Ghostland, the most terrifying theme park on earth!

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Thank you so much to NetGalley, Shadow Work Publishing and Victory Editing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

People are dying to get in. The ghosts will kill to get out. 

Be first in line for the most haunted theme park in the park in the world – Ghostland! Discover and explore hundreds of haunted buildings and cursed objects! Witness spectral beings of all kinds with our patented Augmented Reality glasses! Experience all the terror and thrills the afterlife has to offer, safely protected by our Recurrence Field technology! Visit Ghostland today – it’s the hauntedest place on earth!

After a near-death experience caused by the park’s star haunted attraction, Ben has come to Ghostland seeking to reconnect with his former best friend Lilian, whose post-traumatic stress won’t let her live life to the fullest. She’s come at the insistence of her therapist, Dr. Allison Wexler, who tags along out of professional curiosity, eager to study the new tech’s psychological effect on the user. 

But when a computer virus sets the ghosts free and the park goes into lockdown, the trio find themselves trapped in an endless nightmare. 

With time running short and the dead quickly outnumbering the living, the survivors must tap into their knowledge of horror and video games to escape … or become Ghostland’s newest exhibits. 

Featuring an interactive “Know Your Ghosts” guide and much more, Ghostland is over 400 pages of thrills and terror!

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Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns #4: Return to Pegasia – Matthew K. Manning

Illustrations – Joey Ellis

🦄 9 April is Unicorn Day! 🦄

I need to live in visit Pegasia, this marvellous world that Willy Wonka would be proud to call home.

The clouds are candyfloss. The dirt is crushed chocolate cookies.

There’s a chocolate milk river (actually, that reminds me very much of Mr Wonka’s chocolate river).

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The unicorns smell good enough to eat. Note to self: Don’t eat the unicorns!

We get to meet more unicorns in this book. My favourite new unicorn was Cradie’s best friend from Pegasia, Bubblegum Taffy! She’s pink and she’s adorable! I will never be accused of having her problems.

My mother had been worried I wasn’t eating enough sweets.

It’s taken until the fourth book but we finally got around to the topic of unicorn farts. It had to happen eventually. The first offender is Bubblegum Taffy and her farts smell like bubblegum! Naturally!

After hearing all about it for over a month, Xander finally gets to visit Pegasia for himself.

It’s a magical place of dreams and wonder!

The unicorns’ distrust of humans is again validated, although this book’s ‘villain’ is much lower on the diabolical scale than the previous one. We also discover how appropriate the unicorn world’s name is.

At the end of this book there’s a glossary, barf words (these have been the same in each book), jokes (I’ve stopped reading these now; I find them repetitive and groan worthy) and a character spotlight where you learn more about Cradie, with her broken leg and weird but cool uni-skull tattoo.

Up next: Fairies Hate Ponies

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Once banished for being zombie-like creatures, the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns return to their home of Pegasia. Twelve-year-old Xander travels along and discovers a world of sugary sweet, fruit-flavoured unicorns – which is a problem, since the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns are HUNGRY!

Plump-full of grotesquely delightful characters and fantastical realms, the adventures of Xander and his team of Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns are so epic they’ll make you want to puke.

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Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns #3: Revenge of the One-Trick Pony – Matthew K. Manning

Illustrations – Joey Ellis

🦄 9 April is Unicorn Day! 🦄

After finding Stalor (briefly) in The Search for Stalor, Xander and the three original rainbow-barfing unicorns, Cradie, Blep and Ronk, are preparing for another performance at Montgomery Orchard. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to our villain and given their backstory.

Unicorns have always feared humans knowing of their existence. They’re certain that if they’re found out they will be imprisoned and experimented on. This book’s Big Bad proves that humans are not to be trusted. We can still trust Xander though; he’s a kid so he doesn’t count.

With their home world of Pegasia boasting such delicacies as candy floss clouds and a chocolate mousse lake, it seemed appropriate that two of the Big Bad’s henchmen were called Ben and Jerry.

I loved learning more about Pegasia and the history of the unicorns. I particularly appreciated the connection between the Big Bad and the mention of something in the first book that seemed irrelevant at the time.

I am really enjoying Joey Ellis’ illustrations. There are still some inconsistencies between the text and images in this book but I couldn’t be bothered explaining the differences. My favourite illustrations were heartwarming

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and funny.

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But as it turned out, even a rainbow looks gross when it’s barfed up.

As disgusting as it sounds, I want to know the consistency of this rainbow vomit and whether it magically disappears if you accidentally come into contact with it.

At the end of this book there’s a glossary, barf words (the same ones that were included in the first book), jokes (over half of these are recycled from previous books) and a character spotlight where you learn more about Blep, with his stumpy horn and underbite.

Up next: Return to Pegasia

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The secret of the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns is out and that makes Xander Stone sick! Twelve-year-old Xander is the only person on Earth who knows about the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns. Except, of course, for a rich and crazy billionaire who will stop at nothing to capture these zombielike, upchucking creatures and get even richer and crazier!

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Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns #2: The Search for Stalor – Matthew K. Manning

Illustrations – Joey Ellis

Spoilers Ahead!

🦄 9 April is Unicorn Day! 🦄

It didn’t seem fair. You try to eat one unicorn’s delicious-smelling hoof, and they kick you out of your world completely.

In Magic Smells Awful we were introduced to 12 year old Xander, whose belief in magic is finally validated when he sees rainbows shooting across the sky. After following the rainbows to their source he discovers three unicorns.

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Cradie, Blep and Ronk aren’t ordinary unicorns. They barf rainbows and have been banished from their home, Pegasia.

“Who did what in the where now?”

This trio weren’t the only ones banished that day. Stalor, the most handsome unicorn on Pegasia, also made his way through the portal but was separated from the rest of the unicorns before they reached Earth. At Cradie’s insistence, Xander and the unicorns set out to find Stalor. Just between you and I, Cradie has a bit of a crush on Mr Handsome.

Their search takes them through another portal, one that I was expecting would lead to Pegasia. Instead, they wind up in another world altogether – Shushyerbum (I’m pretty sure kids will love that name). Once there, Xander is separated from his friends and meets Tobias, a mouse-bear. Oops, sorry. Tobias is a Mear. That other term is offensive to Mears.

For another dimension, this world was suspiciously like Earth. And then all of a sudden, it wasn’t.

From the first time he was mentioned I was suspicious of Stalor. I suspect he will grow on me eventually. Now that it’s been confirmed there are other dimensions out there I hope to have the opportunity to visit some more.

The differences between the details of the text and the illustrations I noticed in Magic Smells Awful remain here. I found a few new discrepancies in this book. When the unicorns are described as having reins on them Cradie is pictured without them. Xander is supposed to be wearing a special metal hat, yet he is wearing his usual cap when he and Tobias leap off a cliff and again when they’re inside a cave.

At the end of this book there’s a glossary, barf words (the same ones that were included in the first book), jokes and a character spotlight where you learn more about Stalor, with his receding hairline and perfect teeth.

Up next: Revenge of the One-Trick Pony

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Xander Stone must save the handsomest of all Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns! In this installment, the handsomest of all Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns, Stalor, is missing. (P.S. He’s not really that handsome.) Twelve-year-old Xander and his other stinky, zombielike, upchucking unicorns set out to find him. Their naively heroic quest leads them to another dimension ruled by a diabolically bizarre king. Can the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns save their relatively handsome friend, or will the plan throw up in their faces? 

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That’s Not My Kangaroo … – Fiona Watt

Illustrations – Rachel Wells

In the latest That’s Not My … board book, Mouse turns its attention to kangaroos. The kangaroos that fail inspection are too fluffy, smooth, rough, fuzzy and shiny.

Mouse is thrilled when they find their kangaroo and I assume they’re now hanging out with all of the other animals Mouse has previously found. I know my backyard is getting pretty crowded with all of Mouse’s rejects.

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I still really enjoy this series. The faces of the kangaroos didn’t always ring true for me when I compare them to the ones I used to ride to school in Australia [I can’t believe we used to tell exchange students that, or that they believed us!], but they’re really cute.

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Babies and toddlers will love touching the textured patches as they meet lots of adorable kangaroos. The bright pictures and textures to stroke are designed to help develop sensory and language awareness.

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The House of Hidden Wonders – Sharon Gosling

Spoilers Ahead!

Zinnie is fiercely protective of Sadie and Nell, her sisters. Their home in Old Edinburgh is dark, dirty and underground but Zinnie is proud of it. At least she’s been able to keep her family together. She doesn’t believe the talk in the Close about the ghost.

“Can’t stay down there no more. Not with that spirit abroad. Vicious, she is. Evil.”

Arthur Conan Doyle, who is currently a medical student at the Royal Infirmary, pays Zinnie to do jobs for him. He is currently investigating a mystery that not even the local authorities have been able to solve.

“More subterfuge? How perfectly wonderful!”

I loved Zinnie. She’s headstrong, resilient and intelligent. Her loyalty to her sisters and ingenuity in finding ways to provide for them impressed me. She’s the kind of person you want on your side. I didn’t feel like I got to know Zinnie’s sisters, Sadie and Nell, that well. Although I know facts about each of them, this was really Zinnie’s story.

Along the way, Zinnie meets an explorer and doctor who are both intelligent, independent and female. I really liked the inclusion of women who were very much ahead of their time.

I’m not usually much of a fan of the inclusion of historical figures in fiction so I was initially hesitant when I encountered Arthur Conan Doyle. The author’s historical note at the end of the book helped me correlate some elements of his character with his life. I found the information about Doctor Sophia Jex-Blake particularly interesting, as I hadn’t heard of her before.

With a “terrible, cruel man” with cronies, a tortoise named Algernon, curiosities from around the world and mysteries to solve, including ’the Mystery of the Severed Ears’, this book went in a different direction than I was expecting. The prologue had me anticipating supernatural spookiness; however, the focus was more on solving mysteries and the importance of family and being there for the ones we love.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Zinnie and her sisters live in the murky tunnels beneath Edinburgh’s Old Town. They keep out of the way of the authorities and remain undetected. Until, that is, rumours of a ghost bring unwanted visitors into the caverns they call home. Among them, a young Arthur Conan Doyle, keen to investigate, and MacDuff, the shady owner of Edinburgh’s newest attraction, the House of Wonders.

Caught up in a world of intrigue and adventure, Zinnie seeks answers. But how can she discover what secrets lie in the House of Wonders while also protecting the sisters she holds so dear? 

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