Tag Archives: adventure

Magician Emu by R.C. Chizhov (Book Review)

Celebrate the magic of being YOU!

In old and charming Emu Town…an emu aspires to be like the great magician, Spikey Spike. But her magic goes all wrong and nothing like Spikey’s! Will the emu find her magic and dare to be different?

With award-winning author, R.C. Chizhov’s playful rhymes and Anastasia Yezhela’s colorful illustrations, Magician Emu is a funny and heartwarming tale of embracing who you are!

Perfect for holiday gifting, read aloud, classroom discussion and bedtime!

GRAB YOUR COPY NOW!

Other books in EMU TOWN STORIES:

  • Nope-Nope Emu
  • Adventure Emu
  • Yogic Emu (coming soon)

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(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique) 

 

Anastasia Yezhela did an outstanding job with ALL the illustrations in Magician Emu. Children will adore EMU, who wears a magician’s cape and hat and has a lovely set of curly locks. Spikey Spike, another magical emu, looked quite adorable with their bowtie and Harry Potter-style glasses. 

As all great magicians will tell you, you can read how to do the trick a thousand times, but implementing the steps perfectly is not easy. It takes lots and lots of practice to master a magical feat. Some magicians make a trick seem easy; they make it look effortless. EMU realizes that magic is not easy at all. The unthinkable, the unplanned happens. But, you shouldn’t be discouraged. Keep practicing like EMU; one day, you’ll become a great magician too. 

As EMU practiced and his magic went awry, comedic moments did shine. I won’t disclose all of them, but I will note one. It’s slime time!! 

While EMU’s magic wasn’t precisely perfect, it did delight and entertain his friends. Their happiness made EMU happy. 

I recommend you check out Magician Emu by R.C. Chizhov. Make sure and catch all the books in the Emu Town series! 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score:  ❤ 

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

About R.C. Chizhov

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R.C. Chizhov grew up in India, moved to New York in 2005 and spent fourteen years as an investment banker before pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an author. She now lives in Florida with her ever-supportive husband and ever- energetic son. She is a member of SCBWI.

Website Link

Instagram: @rcchizhov

 

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HELLO! MY NAME IS… BOOK by Wendy Mendoza (Book Review)

Book is ALIVE! Book is humorous and fun. It introduces itself in lively descriptions as Book takes you on many explorations like outer space and inside a cave. Book encourages you to read, and reminds readers the importance of books. “OUCH! Ripping hurts!”

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

 

The cover for HELLO! MY NAME IS… BOOK by Wendy Mendoza will light up a child’s face. They’ll giggle and point to the eyeballs in place of the letter O in the word book. They’ll also love the humungous smile. 

Wendy Mendoza states in summary, “Book is ALIVE! Book is humorous and fun. It introduces itself in lively descriptions as Book takes you on many explorations like outer space and inside a cave. Book encourages you to read, and reminds readers the importance of books.”

Books come in different sizes and take us on grand adventures. When you are an infant, many books are filled with different textures and scents. Some are even waterproof for bath time fun. As you grow, books help teach the listener their colors, shapes, and letters. They fill our minds with knowledge and bright, bold images. Each year as we mature, our reading material changes. Soon, plots take form. This is where many grand adventures occur in real and make-believe locations. We meet the most extraordinary characters that have stuck with us for many years. 

Oh, and then there are joke books, a favorite in our house. We also love weird facts and how-to books. Of course, search engines are beneficial when you want to learn how to fix or build something right now and not later.

So many genres…so little time! 

HELLO! MY NAME IS… BOOK also points out where books can be read and the reading platforms: print and digital. I’m reading this book’s digital copy, but I prefer print editions. I think print is more engaging, but that’s my humble opinion. I like to hold a book in my hands, smell the new book scent, and flip back and forth through it. I also love bookmarks. BTW: I collect them. 

The author notes that you should never put a booger in a book. I agree; keep the boogers in your nose or a tissue. PLEASE!

Books can last a very long time with proper care, so please be nice to them. Oh, and listen to Book and read a lot! 

Review submitted on 8/18/22.

#KamsPlace

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤❤

 

About the Author

Having worked with children, a passion to teach, inspire, and bring laughter has developed in my writing. Stories written to them and for them! A child’s development is important and education through reading a book is one of the many ways to achieve that. I also enjoy baseball, Let’s Go Red Sox!

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Adventure Emu by R.C. Chizhov (Book Review)

Fasten your seatbelts for a tornado, funfair and adventure!

An emu whines about his mundane life and wishes for a grand adventure.

One day, a tornado whisks him away to a funfair! Life is as thrilling as it gets, but can the flightless emu find his way back home?

 

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(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique) 

 

My family lives in an area with a threat of tornadoes every fall and spring. Heck, we’ve also been under warning for one during the wintertime. Crazy, but true! Therefore, my kiddos are well aware of the dangers—the destruction they cause. Even though my family has gone over our “tornado preparedness” plan several times, we went over it again. I encourage you to go over yours if you live in an area with twisters. If you don’t, maybe go over fire or earthquake instead; whatever disaster might strike your location.

One kiddo’s first remark about Adventure Emu was, “They wish our tornadoes took people to a carnival cause carnivals are fun.” My other child made an ick face regarding the kale and romaine lettuce. They said, “Who would pick salad over popcorn and nachos?” Their question led to a great discussion about the dietary needs of animals and humans. 

Since our town has a carnival every Fourth of July, we discussed the differences between Emu’s festival and ours. My children wish ours had a roller coaster and bumper cars. Me too; those are a lot of fun. 

Adventure Emu by R.C. Chizhov is a fun story that I’m sure your kids will love to read. Anastasia Yezhela once again knocks it out of the park with their illustrations. Congrats to both of you for creating a book my family loved, and I’m sure many others will too.

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score:  ❤ 

Amazon Purchase Link

 

About R.C. Chizhov

ALX00719_315.png

R.C. Chizhov grew up in India, moved to New York in 2005 and spent fourteen years as an investment banker before pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an author. She now lives in Florida with her ever-supportive husband and ever- energetic son. She is a member of SCBWI.

Website Link

Instagram: @rcchizhov

 

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The Adventures of DC Lee: A Story of Adventure for Fathers and Children by Andrew Britton (Book Review)

 

This book is designed for fathers, by a father, and its purpose is to give fathers and their children a chance to learn about each other and the world, and to grow closer together in the process.

Being a father is both a joy and a challenge. You work hard, sometimes over 12 hours a day, to come home to a sleeping family. Fathers take care of their children, stepchildren, the neighbor’s children and scores of youth sports leagues, budding scientists and scouts. Sometimes our fathers were terrible role models, or absent role models, leaving us with no positive training on manhood and fatherhood. It’s not easy being a father, but with a strong connection to your children it can be amazingly rewarding.

This book is dedicated to fathers, of all types: stepfathers, birth fathers, fathers by adoption, grandfathers, chosen fathers, accidental fathers, mother-fathers, guardians, caregivers, fathers by association and all those in between and beyond. This is written by a father to provide a story that you and your child can read together. Throughout the story, you will have many opportunities to explain what things are to your child. In this way, you have an opportunity to do what all fathers want to do: teach their children. At the end of the book will be a series of questions that your child can ask you. These questions relate to the story and will give your child a chance to learn about you. This will help, I hope, give you what is so important to fathers: a chance for your child to learn about who you are, and to respect you for it.

Fatherhood is a gift that the world desperately needs. By taking time with your children to read this, or any, book – you will be making a positive difference in the life of your child, and they will have a chance to know you and love you. I hope you take this chance, and many others, to show a child what a real father can be; change the world for your children and therein change the world for us all.

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

 

First, I would like to commend Andrew Britton for his spectacular drawings. They resemble paintings. Seriously, I am blown away by your talent! 

Second, My daughter giggled every time we read, “Beep beep boop boop beep boop.” Anything that makes her laugh or smile is a win in my book! 

Third, she was amazed at how many places she had visited. This added a level of excitement for her. For instance, she’s been to Chicago several times and loves the Shedd Aquarium, which was mentioned in The Adventures of DC Lee. Unfortunately, she couldn’t eat an authentic Chicago-style pizza due to allergies, but she did find a pretzel vendor and gobbled that up. If you haven’t been to Chicago, I encourage you to visit the free zoo (Lincoln Park Zoo); it’s incredible. Oh, and don’t forget to ride on the Centennial Wheel (Ferris wheel) on Navy Pier.

There were many locations we hadn’t visited yet, so we put them on our vacation destination board. Yes, my family has maps marked with places we’ve been and places we want to see. Thank you for giving my daughter new places to dream about. With the way technology advances in space aviation/exploration, I think she’ll have a good chance of visiting other planets one day. If nothing else, she told me she plans to win it big on the lottery, buy a ticket, and travel into space for a few minutes like the other people we watched on tv. This made me chuckle. Everyone has their goals in life, right?! 

Having a child whose parent used to travel a lot before the pandemic, I could relate to the section where a child wonders if the parent misses them when they are gone. As difficult as it is for us to leave them at any time, it’s hard for children to watch us go. The chat between the child and Dad in the story was (pretty much) the same conversation my child had with their father in real life. Sweet! 

I highly recommend others share this story with their youngsters. 

Amazon’s recommended reading age is 7-12 years. 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 

 

Meet the Author

Andrew Britton is a father, artist, engineer, author, goofball, and diabolical conqueror of naps and pizza. As an author, his work focuses on bringing a little grace to the difficulties of navigating childhood and fatherhood – times when things happen to us much more than we happen to them.

Reedsy Author Link

 

 

 

 

 

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Gugulu, The Little Bear Dares by Srividhya Lakshmanan (Book Review)

Go on a wild adventure with Gugulu, the sloth bear, as he takes on a journey deep inside the western ghats of India.

Gugulu’s parents won’t allow him to go to school alone. But he can’t wait to explore the forest on his own. So one day, he runs ahead of his parents. And before he knows it, he ends up in a river filled with danger – first a roaring leopard, then a gang of gaurs, but soon he shrinks in fear. Will naughty Gugulu be able to reunite with his parents?

Gugulu, The Little Bear Dares, is a quirky, funny, beautifully illustrated story about new experiences and courageously facing challenges when encountered.

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 Goodreads Link

 

 

 

(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique) 

 

First impressions matter when it comes to books, and Gugulu, The Little Bear Dares by Srividhya Lakshmanan was very eye-catching. Akansha Krishnan knocked it out of the park with their illustrators! The group selfie was adorable. A few times, Gugulu’s nose seemed to get away from the illustrator. For example, the scene where the bear meets the purple frog. 

Gugulu meets many animals during his adventure; the time doesn’t stick close to his parents. Some animals will be familiar to most children: leopard, jaguar, snake, and elephant. There might be some that are not so familiar to many kids: pangolin, Nilgiri flycatcher, and gaur. Srividhya Lakshmanan compiled a reference page with photos, favorite food, trait, and which family it belongs to. You’ll notice on this page there’re insects included. There’s also a fun maze to complete where children can help Gugulu get to school. 

I couldn’t locate a recommended reading age for Gugulu, The Little Bear Dares, when I was writing this review, but I do not think preschoolers or kindergartners will be able to read the story. However, they will enjoy having it read to them. Second and third graders will probably have a better chance at sounding out the animal names. 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

 Goodreads Link

 

 

Meet the Author

Srividhya Lakshmanan is an award-winning children’s author, entrepreneur and writer. She always had a passion for storytelling and started to write when she was eleven. ​Her early success came when one of her dramas got selected by the ‘All India Radio’. She spent years reading and writing stories, giving her characters a bright sparkle. ​She spent 15 years in corporate jobs. Later, she founded and managed a fashion e-commerce company, Pink Hippo, before venturing into publishing.

 Website Link



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