The Great Forest by Valinora Troy

The third book of this trilogy is simply wonderful. It starts off very mildly, with  the twins watching the lake and talking about their upcoming 11^th birthday. Several plots are weaved  and the reader moves between one plot and another.

 

Once the reader picks this book up, it is very hard to put iT down, as it is so fascinating. It was a pleasure to read, and this book is suitable for both adults and children, as it carries one into the world of these five children, who have diamond blood in them – even though it is only one small drop!

 

We meet Thule, the big kindly dragon and father of the firebird. This book also introduces us again to Marvin, the small mire-hog who Cathy had saved in the previous book. We are also introduced to Sylverine, the servant of Queen Rose. Contrary to what had been thought at the end of the second book, Queen Rose did not die. In this third book, the reader meets with Queen Rose in the Great Forest, as evil as ever!

 

The most exciting part of the book is that of the twins getting separated in the  forest and later on, Queen Rose urging Alan to stab his sister for a drop of blood. In the end, it was Cathy who stabbed Alan and one drop of blood was going into the concoction that Queen Rose had gotten ready. This was magically frozen by the arrival of Lucky and Charlie at the appropriate time.

 

This book leaves you on tenterhooks about what is going to happen next. In this book, Queen Rose was eaten by Thule. Who knows what will happen next? I do not want to believe that this is the last time that we have heard of the five children and Lucky and Charlie. I look forward to reading about the latter’s wedding and learning more about the children's future.

 If you were the Moon, my Love by Alina Loux

This short picture book is full of positive messages and fantasy. Its author and illustrator is Alina Loux, herself a mother. 

The book inspires young children to dream, to try to reach the moon, or to see a song as a beautiful tune. It exposes the children to nature. This appreciation of nature, is seen in the pages of the book which are full of drawing of the environment around us. Rather than depicting grey buildings, the book shows its positivity through its vibrant colours.

This is a short book which is good for parents or care-givers to read with their child. After all the comparisons with the different types of nature, the book ends with the wonderful words, 'But you are you, My darling Love, and that will surely do...'. This shows the amount of love that a parent or care-giver  shows to his child. It shows attachment and has a sense of acceptance; that one is accepting the child for whoever they are.

There is a sheet of music at the end of the book and the book can be sung as a lullaby to those children who enjoy music. This book is ideal to be read at bed-time, as the book sets the scene for a loving end of the day, where children and adults want to have cuddles and hugs after a long day. 

Revenge of Queen Rose

 

When I decided to read this book and review it, I did so with very high expectations. After reading the first book in this series ‘The Lucky Diamond’, which I reviewed last February, I was eager to get to know what happened to the five siblings, and how life was treating the diamonds. My expectations were met. I was very well entertained by this book. Within minutes of starting to read it, I was highly immersed in it. It was so gripping that I did not want to put the book down!

The story starts with the twins and with a description of the calm scenery, which gives one the sensation that everything is going well for the children. It could not have been further from the truth, as the following pages quickly immerse us into the different adventures that the five children go through. One must here mention Lucky the Diamond princess who was one of the protagonists in the first volume and her father, the Diamond King. Besides the children, there are other characters involved too. These all play a part in making the plot interesting.

 All the different sub plots merge to a point together, where the bad characters are quashed and evil, in the form of Queen Rose  is banished from the face of the Earth. The book ends with a feeling of well-being, of success and happiness. It teaches the reader to be courageous and resilient. One must never give up, but persist in reaching their aim. The book is enjoyable to read and is suitable for children and older persons alike. The reader is afforded the pleasure of being immersed into an absorbing story, where one will surely have fun trying to guess what is going to happen next. I am looking forward to the third volume.

Katy on Broadway

 

Katy on Broadway is a young children’s book written and illustrated by Ella English. I really enjoyed looking at the pictures, which add colour to the book. This story is ideal for parent and child bonding time, as the illustrations can be used in the form of question and answer, so that the child is encouraged to describe what they are seeing. The story is also ideal for the older child who is just beginning to read as they can read it by themselves.

 

The aim behind this story is that one must not give up. They must always do whatever they feel that is good for them. Katy was targeted by Gerry the squirrel and by the two birds who told her that she could not sing. Despite their claim and that of her owner, Lilian, who told her that she was making a  noise which was giving her a headache, Katy did not give up. This shows that one must be resilient in the face of adversity, and not to be afraid to wade against other people’s opinions.

 

In fact, Katy did just so. She escaped from her home, and even though she was afraid of the noise, traffic and all those people, she still did not give up. She meets Weasel who encourages her to follow her dreams. The story ends with Katy singing on Broadway. At last, her dream of singing to the public was fulfilled!

 

This is a captivating story which, through Katy the cat, seeks to encourage and instil in young children the realization that it is fine to believe in yourself, to walk alone and to never give up. All these positive messages are uplifting and once all the book is read, one feels satisfied that Katy has reached her aim. Each individual should seek to carve out a life for himself, regardless of other people’s opinions.

Dayana, Dax and the Dancing Dragon

 

 

Fantasy is rife in this book published by the Once Upon a Dance company. Its illustrations are fantastic, and eye-catching to both children and adults alike.

This story revolves around Dayana, her baby brother Dax and a dancing Dragon, Kadeena. Together, Dayana and Kadeena explore the different dance movements. These dance movements are emphasized in the same page by Ballerina Konora, who through words and photos of the different poses, shows step by step how these dance moves are done.

I found this book very interesting. It was the first time that I read something like this. Besides the beautiful illustrations where the children and Kadeena seem to pop out of the pages, the book teaches the readers, various ballet moves. The story aims to inspire the young dancers to imagine, fantasise and create. In fact in the opening pages, ballerina Konora tells the reader that there is no need to be a dragon like Kadeena to be able to do the dance moves.

Besides the dance moves pictured in every page, this book teaches us something else. This is that we should not judge on appearance. Dayana judged her baby brother as being useless. Likewise, she thought that Kadeena  was not good at dancing. This was a wrong judgement as in fact Kadeena had been to many places and knew a lot of different dances.

I found this book very inspiring as it aims to  instill in our children the values of treating others with respect and not judging others. The book also encourages children to take up dancing as a form of fitness activity.

'The Maker-Man of Merryville' by Pete Mesling

 

The Maker-Man of Merryville is written by Pete Mesling. This is a very absorbing book which I enjoyed reading. It has a very good intriguing plot which leaves you very curious as to how the events are going to unfold. It is like a jigsaw puzzle which at the end,  fits together.  Through the twists and turns of the story, the characters experience a lot of adventures, with some of them being very heart-stopping!

The setting of the book starts in Merryville, then it moves on to Skaate Dowe and lastly on to Dablos, which is the land of the moon. The main protagonists are Gilbert and his classmate Sarah. They are twelve years old and are not happy with the current sad situation in their town, where the people over there do not not smile or laugh. The arrival of the Maker-Man in their town, proves to be something of a highlight for these children who are being brought up in this dreary town.

 When the Maker-Man sells Gilbert some Away Putty and Sarah a monkey soft toy, the children are set on a marvellous exciting course. At the beginning of the story, they are class-mates. At the end, they are best friends, with a hint that the friendship might develop in the future into something more intense. Other protagonists include also Lester Morsoe, the children’s teacher, who had also fleetingly entered Skaate Dowe, as a child.  There are others, with the main one being the Maker-Man of Merryville, Belch the water-monkey who comes alive, and also Snarl the demi-ghoul. These characters have to battle against  Queen Mixie, Skinner and the pirate, Skrimshaw, who are on the bad side.

This books is a very good read for readers of all ages. Besides having a fascinating plot, the book teaches readers about good values, like being kind and that by working in teams, one has more chances of succeeding.  It teaches us that in life you have to be courageous and to take risks also. The future is in our hands to mould it as we like.

 

Breaking News

 

 

This story, written by Frank Morelli is a mystery and the reader is immediately immersed in the plot from the first few pages. This is because the starts with action almost immediately. One thousand dollars are stolen from the students gallery. This money was meant to be donated to children in Africa so that they would have enough drinking water for six weeks. The story is narrated through the eyes of two investigative journalists, Tony Morello and Liberty, aka Libby. Tony writes for the Roar while Libby, a previous member of the Roar, started her own newspaper, entitled the Rebel Yell.The mystery of who stole the one thousand dollars unravels in the last few pages of the book, and we also get to know the part that Libby and Tony played so that the money was stolen.

 

This book teaches us about teamwork and cooperation, because the mystery was solves when libby and tony joined efforts, and stopped writing against each other. The role of truth in journalism and how one must be true to oneself when writing for a newspaper and feeding the masses information. It teaches the reader to be ethical, and that one is true to oneself, so that the common good is reached. The book gives us a glimpse on the world of teenagers and how, sometimes it is very hard for them. In fact, Tony is a very hands-on brother to his seven year old twin siblings. There is a never a mention of the father in his household. Likewise, Libby only lives with her father. The latter had described her mum as a ‘lost cause’.

 

 

Through this mystery story Morelli has manages to give us an insight of today’s school life and the machinations to go on within a school. Besides, the values mentioned above, the story is also very interesting, and so I highly recommend this book.