Book Review · Books

Maya and Her Friends by Larysa Denysenko [BOOK REVIEW]

Maya and Her Friends by Larysa Denysenko [BOOK REVIEW] I warmly recommend this picture book! 

If you are looking for an inclusive picture book that also has beautiful illustrations and thought provoking stories, and you also want to help children in Ukraine, please look no further and grab Maya and Her Friends!

About The Book:

Maya and Her Friends by Larysa Denysenko [BOOK REVIEW] I warmly recommend this picture book! 


Pages: 68

Genre: Children’s Book, Picture Book

Publisher: Studio Press (imprint of Bonnier books)

Format I read it in: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★/★

Synopsis:

Nine-year-old Maya goes to school in Ukraine and has sixteen classmates, all with different home backgrounds. As she introduces us to each of her friends, she shares an important message about love, respect, and what means to be a family.

All publisher profits will be donated to charities helping to protect the children of Ukraine.

My Thoughts:

Maya and Her Friends is a book by Ukrainian human rights activist and author Larysa Denysenko. The author wrote the introduction whilst hiding in Kyiv, and the book itself is a beautiful story about acceptance and tolerance in a country deeply affected by conflict.

I couldn’t help but read the first few pages, and I was so intrigued by Maya and her friends that I couldn’t put the book down until I finished. The tone of storytelling is very refreshing and gripping. We get to meet Maya’s friends from school and her teacher Yulia. Every child has a unique story. I was pleasantly surprised how inclusive and relatable these stories are.

I enjoyed the illustrations as well, and if you understand Cyrillic, or are in the process of learning the alphabet, you will have lots of fun seeing the children’s names written in Cyrillic – this being my main alphabet I really enjoyed the representation! The colours are vivid and the art style is very interesting too.

Maya has a very gripping voice of how she introduces her friends. And all friends share something interesting about them. We meet Hrystyna, who lives with her grandma, and Danylko, who doesn’t know who his father is. The twins Sophiya and Solomia, and the three Sophiyas that can cause some serious sophiyahavoc.

I warmly recommend this picture book! It’s funny and keeps you interested, I am sure children will love meeting Maya’s friends as well.

About The Author:

Maya and Her Friends by Larysa Denysenko [BOOK REVIEW] I warmly recommend this picture book! 

Larysa Volodymyrivna Denysenko is a Ukrainian writer, lawyer, human rights activist, TV and radio presenter, and member of the PEN Ukraine.

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Book Review · Books

Bobby & Morph by R.E. Fisher [BOOK REVIEW]

★★★

I am so grateful that I have won a giveaway and received Bobby & Morph by R.E. Fisher, illustrated by Bryony James. This book is so heartwarming and beautiful, and every child should be able to read it and become friends with Bobby and Morph.

My Thoughts:

Bobby & Morph is a collection of ten stories for children, all featuring the dogs Bobby and Morph as they go on their adventures and learn valuable lessons along the way. With a total of 104 pages, and each story around 10 pages each, with beautiful illustrations, the stories can be divided and read for a longer period of time, never becoming boring!

I loved the friendship Bobby and Morph share, and how they always stick together and learn new things. The illustrations are so precious too, perfectly representing the beautiful moments and adventures these two dogs find themselves into. The stories also have parts where there is a poem that rhymes, and the whole book follows a funny tone, with beautiful and simplistic writing.

“The owls taught him a lesson, the only one you’ll need,
that the power of friendship overcomes greed.”

With them, the children reading this will learn about kindness and the importance of being polite. To help people in need and say please and thank you. When they meet Sonny, they will teach us that it’s very important to be yourself, and the right people will come your way.

In the story where they find a new toy, we come across a familiar situation that I believe most of the parents and children can relate to. Through this story Bobby and Morph play together with the new toy and are able to share it between themselves. But one day, Morph accidentally broke Bobby’s toy. And he was so afraid to tell Bobby, because he was afraid that he will lose him as a friend. But he was brave and honest, and told Bobby the truth and apologised. And Bobby forgave him. But Bobby also expressed himself that he still feels sad because he lost his toy.

And I can’t express enough how great I believe this lesson is for children. Because we know it was an accident and Bobby should forgive Morph, which he does. But he is also allowed to express his feelings of loss, and be able to grieve for his toy. This is how we learn emotional intelligence and learn to cope with bigger losses later in life.

I can recall many of the lessons we learn, like the importance of keeping the house tidy, and the importance of sleep and listening to our parents when they tell us it’s time for bed. And the beauty of all these lessons is that Bobby & Morph find these lessons by themselves, rather than someone telling them what’s right and what’s wrong.

I cannot recommend this book enough! If you are looking for the perfect Christmas present for a child, this is definitely the one you need to get. With many stories and many lessons, it is very educational and will keep the child occupied for a long time. And the illustrations are also adorable, and you will also enjoy reading the book alongside the children.

Get the full collection of 10 stories from Bobby & Morph’s official Etsy shop – HERE.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

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Book Review · Books

A Knight Before Christmas by Ric Lumb [BOOK REVIEW]

A Knight Before Christmas by Ric Lumb [BOOK REVIEW]

★★★

I was very lucky and won A Knight Before Christmas by Ric Lumb through a Twitter giveaway. As soon as the book arrived, alongside with 5 cute illustrated pins, I couldn’t resist and opened it immediately.

My Thoughts:

A Knight Before Christmas is a truly beautiful Christmas story. Even though the main story is about Christmas, it also has a medieval England element to it. Santa comes across a dragon that keeps eating the presents, and is in a help of a Knight, in order to save Christmas. The dragon, the knight, the king and queen and the jester made the story much more interesting and brought adventure to it. I loved how this was combined with Santa and Christmas and elves, and it turned out great! I am sure your little ones will enjoy it a lot!

The illustrations inside are very interesting, with simplistic features of the characters, thick lines and bright colours, which makes it appealing for children and catches their attention.

The text itself is quite easy to read, and rhymes well. I would recommend reading it aloud to a child, or if they are big enough, prompting them to read the book aloud, so they can fully enjoy the rhymes and how it sounds when narrated. The only small critique I had was regarding the grammar. There were many instances where a full stop was missing at the end of the sentence, when quotation marks were used.

The Knight Before Christmas is a beautiful children’s Christmas book, and I truly recommend it!

Purchase Links:
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Book Review · Books

Precious and the Zebra Necklace by Alexander McCall Smith

Precious and the Zebra Necklace by Alexander McCall Smith [BOOK REVIEW]

★★★

Precious and the Zebra Necklace is the fourth book in the Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Cases series. However, it can be easily read as a standalone. We enter a world of the young 9-year-old Precious Ramotswe, before she becomes the detective that we know and love. I really enjoyed this book, and as all of Alexander McCall Smith’s books, it left a warm feeling in my soul after I finished it.

Synopsis:

At the age of 9, Precious has already solved a few cases, but this new one is very intriguing. A new girl arrives at school and sits next to Precious. Before the end of the day, they become best friends. Just like her, Nancy has no mother. All she has left of her mother is a beautiful Zebra necklace and a photo. This is where their adventure starts, as Precious starts investigating. They try to find a remote village, but instead end up lost in the jungle, and danger starts to loom.

My Thoughts of Precious and the Zebra Necklace:

I listened to the audiobook and it was a short, but very exciting experience. I have recently found that I do love listening to audiobooks, and really enjoy them. But they have to fall into a specific genre, and I think this book matched that part. Even though I couldn’t see the illustrations, the narrator let me into this amazing world and it felt as if I was there, together with Precious and Nancy, solving the mystery. The writing was beautiful, but I didn’t expect anything less from Alexander McCall Smith anyways. I love the original Mrs Ramotswe books, and this one fit perfectly into the whole atmosphere.

Precious and the Zebra Necklace by Alexander McCall Smith is definitely a book I’d recommend!

Purchase Links:
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Book Review · Books

The Ickabog by J.K. Rowling [BOOK REVIEW]

The Ickabog by J.K. Rowling [BOOK REVIEW]

★★★★

I’m delighted to announce that my review of The Ickabog has been shared by Twinkl! For even more great recommendations, make sure to visit their TBR blog

When I found out that J.K. Rowling is writing a story for children during lockdown, I didn’t really care. But they were releasing a new chapter each week, and I decided to give it a try and read the first few chapters. Maybe it was the beginning of The Ickabog, or perhaps it was J.K. Rowling’s writing that reminded me of my first time reading Harry Potter. Whatever it was, it hooked me to this story, and I kept coming back for more.

Synopsis:

Once upon a time there was a tiny kingdom called Cornucopia, as rich in happiness as it was in gold, and famous for its food. From the delicate cream cheeses of Kurdsburg to the Hopes-of-Heaven pastries of Chouxville, each was so delicious that people wept with joy as they ate them.

But even in this happy kingdom, a monster lurks. Legend tells of a fearsome creature living far to the north in the Marshlands… the Ickabog. Some say it breathes fire, spits poison, and roars through the mist as it carries off wayward sheep and children alike. Some say it’s just a myth…

And when that myth takes on a life of its own, casting a shadow over the kingdom, two children — best friends Bert and Daisy — embark on a great adventure to untangle the truth and find out where the real monster lies, bringing hope and happiness to Cornucopia once more.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed The Ickabog. It is very descriptive and full of adventure, from the very first start. From the first chapters, I immediately warmed up to Bert and Daisy, and their everyday lives. I also loved the scenes inside the castle, with the king and guards.

The world building was amazing, the Kingdom and the Marshlands were so vividly explained, it’s no wonder so many children were inspired to draw them and share those drawings. The intriguing plot twists and backstabbing scenes left me pleasantly surprised as well. What I loved the most, though, was the story about the legend of The Ickabog. This mysterious monster that everyone in the Kingdom fears. The terror that people feel as soon as its name is mentioned.

This story is obviously targeted for the young readers. And for what it is, this book does deliver. There are plenty of adventures, battles between good and evil, scenes that will prompt a discussion with the children and an ending that has a lesson to teach. I recommend it to every child that loves reading about adventures and foreign kingdoms.

Purchase Links:
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