Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington by Lynda Durrant


Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about a boy named Ariel Bradley.  He was asked by General Washington to be a spy and see how many troops and guns the British had and how healthy their horses were.  He pretended to be a country bumpkin and his cover was that he was asking where the mill was when he walked into the British camps.   This way he could help Washington and his army be prepared for their next battle.

I really liked this book because it was short and easy to understand but it still taught you a lot about what happened.  I thought it was cool that Ariel was only 9 when this happened but he was really wanting to help George Washington and his army.  I'd really like to read more books like this one, the shorter but true stories that tell you more about history that people might not even know!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith


This is my second sponsored review from Quirk Books! They contacted me and sent me preview copies of two of their new books to read and share my reviews.

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab is the first book in the Nick & Tesla series.  In this book, there are two kid named Nick and Tesla who go stay at their uncle's house for the summer.  Their uncle turns out to be a scientist with a huge lab in his basement.  He give Nick and Tesla full-time use of his lab and they decide to build a toy rocket.  Before they launch their rocket, Tesla puts on pendant on the rocket that means a lot to her.  They launch their rocket and it works too well!  It lands inside a fence with a building that is being reconstructed.  Tesla tries to get the rocket back but the mean builders won't give it to her.  She tries to climb the fence, but there are guard dogs inside.  How will Nick and Tesla get the rocket and the pendant back?


I really like this book because, besides telling the story, the authors give you ideas of the things Nick and Tesla build in the story and how you can build them at home.  Some things they show you how to build are a robotic squirrel, an electromagnet, and a burglar alarm system.  I also like how Nick and Tesla go on a really crazy adventure to get Tesla's locket back and build lots of things to help them do figure it out.  One of my favorite things they build it the electromagnet--it's made out of a battery, a rusty nail, some wire, and tape.  I can't wait to read the rest of the series, there are four more books so far!

You can also visit the Nick & Tesla website for downloads and videos to go with the books!

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream by Tom Watson


Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream is about a doodle dog named Stick Dog and his four friends named Poo-poo, Karen, Mutt, and Stripes.  Stripes is my favorite character, since he actually has black spots on him! In this adventure, it is a hot dry day and the dogs are trying to find something to cool them off.  First, the dogs find a water attacking machine.  Then, while they are hiding in the bushes, a weird truck playing loud, annoying music comes by.  The truck says "Ice" and Poo-poo knows that ice melts into cold water.  But then they find puddles of ice cream!  They love it and try to get into the ice cream truck.  Will they succeed?

This is the fourth book in the Stick Dog series and I really liked it. The dogs are always trying to hunt down some kind of food.  I really liked this one because the dogs are coming up with crazy plans, like jumping off bridges, to get into the ice cream truck.  I think this is, by far, the craziest Stick Dog book so far!  I can't wait for the fifth book to come out.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Apocalypse Meow Meow by James Proimos


Apocalypse Meow Meow was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about 4 dogs and a cat who set out on a search to find a man who can lead them back to their owners.  On their way, they run into a rat who tells them there is a factory of all-you-can-eat "Twonkies"  The rat tells them they can have all the Twonkies they can eat, *IF* they can chase out a cat first.  Will the animals get their Twonkies?

I like this book because it is about a bunch of silly dogs who go on adventures.  I really like the graphic novel format, I just wish it was longer.  One of my favorite parts of the book is that the one guy the dogs are chasing is naked.  I really want to read Apocalypse Bow Wow by the same author now!

Monday, September 14, 2015

I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja by Andrew Simmons


I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja is about a girl named Hana who has to move from Japan to the United States after her mother died.  She lives with her grandfather and trains with him in his martial arts studio.  She meets a new girl who is really nice to her, but the girl's friends don't like Hana.  The friends are planning to make Hana regret ever coming to California. How will Hana be able to keep her new friend.

I really liked that Hana is already good at martial arts, so that when she trains with her grandfather, she is kind of like a superhero.  She already knows all the patterns and how to fight with all the weapons.  I also like that Hana seems like she is a regular girl but she is really a ninja.  I also like Tomo, a little raccoon-ish creature, that is Hana's grandfather's best friend.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio


This is my first sponsored review from Quirk Books!  They contacted me and sent me preview copies of two of their new books to read and share my reviews.

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye is about a boy named Warren whose father has died.  Warren is stuck living in his family's hotel with his evil Aunt Anaconda and his lazy Uncle Rupert.   Once Warren's father died, the hotel started falling apart and Warren has to fix everything.  He is the bellhop, he is the cleaner, he is the fixer!  The only friends he has are the cook, Chef Bunion, and his tutor, Mr. Friggs.  Aunt Anaconda is always tearing up the hotel, looking for the All-Seeing Eye that is supposedly hidden in the hotel.  Warren and his tutor are worried what will happen if Aunt Anaconda gets the All-Seeing Eye, so Warren starts to look for it too.  Who will find it first????



I really liked this book because it was an adventure story that was also a mystery.  I read it in just two nights because I couldn't put it down.  I liked how Warren's aunt made him have to do everything to fix the hotel while she ripped apart all the rooms. I also liked this book because all of the pictures really help explain the story.  There are illustrations on every page that help add to the whole story. My favorite chapter was "In which Warren is Sent to the Boiler" because of the surprise in the chapter.

I really loved the ending, but you will have to read it to find out why!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Discovery Kids 1000 Extreme & Extraordinary Dinosaur Facts


1000 Extreme & Extraordinary Dinosaur Facts is a new book from Discovery Kids.  My mom and I received a copy of it as part of the Parragon Book Buddies Blogger Program.

This book is a big book with 1000 facts about dinosaurs.  But it's not just a boring list of facts!  Each two page spread has a different category that consists of cool pictures and awesome facts.  There are many pictures that can help you understand what the fact is saying.  For example, a fact about plant eaters is written inside the drawing of a leaf and facts about certain kinds of dinosaurs are written inside their shadow shape.


I think it's cool that the authors use things we know about today to show how long or how big the dinosaurs really were.  The Argentinosaurus was longer than 3 buses lined up.  That's really big!


I really liked this book because, last year in science, I learned a little bit about dinosaurs and I wanted to learn more.  I also like that the illustrations look real, not like cartoons.  I like that you can start and stop wherever you want to when you are reading.  You don't have to read it in order, you can look for the facts or the page that you most want to read.

My favorite fact is that the ankylosaurus was one of the heavily armored dinosaurs that ambled along estuaries and coastlines 67 million years ago.  That means they lived near beaches and they had really cool armored lumps on their back!