Maribeth

The Revenge of Magic is fast paced and fun, but I didn't feel like the protagonist, Fort, was overly likable. I think Mr. Riley probably did a good, realistic job of portraying what a 12y old boy would feel under the circumstances, but he wasn't very...heroic. More just angsty and bitter. My daughter (age 12) and her friends are getting ready to read this book for their book club and I'll be interested to know their thoughts on Fort. Not my favorite James Riley book, but worth the read.

Once again, Sarah knocks it out of the proverbial park with The Read-Aloud Family. This book has something for every parent, no matter where you are on your parenting journey, or how you choose to educate your children.

For newer parents she offers encouragement and a simple plan for truly connecting with kids through books. Her friendly, conversational writing style puts the new momma (or daddy) at ease, and her generous anecdotes from her own family help the reader understand the value and worthy investment any (and all) reading aloud to our children provides. (Bonus: she keeps it real and doesn't just pretend to be perfect)

For those of us who are perhaps a little more seasoned as parents, or already listen to the Read Aloud Revival podcast, she didn't forget us either, writing fantastic chapters on mastering the art of conversation and asking compelling questions.

THEN she gets to her (in my opinion) wheelhouse...BOOKLISTS. The booklists AND the books she recommends throughout, are worth the publishing price. Period. My family has yet to be disappointed in any book she has recommended. What's even better is she has done the hard work of reading every single one cover to cover for us, categorizing them by age, and to an extent genre, and often times giving a short synopsis.

I thoroughly recommend this book, no matter where you are in your parenting (or even grand-parenting) journey. My copy is marked up and out on the counter for handy reference. After finishing the book, I went back and ordered 4 more copies to give as baby shower gifts, I think it is that worthwhile.

I received a free ARC copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Very enjoyable. I would describe it as Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne...for kids. I admit a lot of my curiosity to read this book was because it contains QR codes. I didn't think I'd like it, and under normal circumstances probably not, however—it was very cool to be able to instantly pull up the famous works of art referenced in the story. Very clever.

It's not often that a sequel not only lives up to an outstanding original (Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes) but quite possibly surpasses it, but in the case of Sophie Quire, Jonathan Auxier does just that. This tale gives us an adventure with a deep and touching story about friendship, family, and courage. Plus a talking man/cat/horse.