Little Bear Wants to Grow

author: Judith Koppens
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/07
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: childrens
review:
'Little Bear Wants to Grow' by Judith Koppens with illustrations by Suzanne Diederen is a picture book about being impatient to be bigger.

Little Bear wants to grow up. When his parents tell him to be patient, he decides to seek other advice. He is told that eating and drinking lots of something like ice cream or lemonade will do the trick, but somehow those things don't work. After trying many things, he learns that he is growing up a little bit every day.

Told with humor and warmth, this is a picture book with nice pictures and a lesson about patience. Also, it's fun to think about eating lots and lots of ice cream.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Clavis Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2OVhHjx

Ripley's Believe It or Not

author: Ben Meares
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.56
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Ripley's Believe It or Not' by Tony Isabella and Ben Meares is a graphic novel that immediately took me back to when I was a kid and had the Ripley's cartoon books to thumb through.

Using a framing story of people visiting the Ripley's Odditorium's, this collection features some famous stories that have been featured by Ripley's Believe It or Not. A railroad worker is impaled by a spike and lives, but his personality changes for the worse (who can blame him?). A cat in a nursing home seems to know when people will die. A superstitious woman builds an odd house to try to confuse the ghosts that haunt it.

I loved reading these stories as a kid and this graphic novel brought all the weird, ghoulish times right back again. The art is decent enough. The framing story just feels like it gets in the way, but the short stories included are just fun.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Zenescope, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2FZV1Kz

Mera: Tidebreaker

author: Danielle Paige
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves: young-adult
review:
'Mera: Tidebreaker' by Danielle Paige with art by Stephen Bryne is an early story of how Mera and Aquaman become a couple.

Mera is a rebellious teenager of Xebel. She is also royalty. She doesn't want to marry the man her dad has picked out and she misses her deceased mother. When she does something that could spark a war, she decides the only way to make things right is to kill the heir to the throne of the Xebel's sworn enemy. Arthur Curry is that young man, but he doesn't even know he is from Atlantis. Mera has to find him on land, and finish the job, but she finds someone that is not as evil as she thought, and she finds her heart in conflict.

The story works as a teenager in love story, and I had to keep telling myself that. I like Mera as a character, but don't know a whole lot about her. This story makes her seem a bit more vulnerable, at least when she was younger. I am a pretty big fan of the art in this book. The colors are muted except for Mera's flaming hair. This works in panels she is in, but feels a bit dulled when she is offstage. It makes for a striking visual.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2OT7eVz

Great Job, Mom!

author: Holman Wang
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves: childrens
review:
'Great Job, Mom' by Holman Wang is a board book about all the jobs a mom has. It features amazing felt dolls like he made for the Cozy Classics series.

A mom has many jobs. Outside the home, she might be a carpenter, but at home, she is a general dispensing orders, and an archaeologist and scientist. The book shows mom racing to save a falling child, or taking a photo of baby's first steps. The book ends with a short afterword showing the process to make this book.

The pictures in this book (and previous ones by Holman Wang), are what are compelling. In this book, the details make the pictures really work. The text is also a good reminder to kids of how hard parents work.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Tundra Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2Vr5ntz

Great Job, Dad!

author: Holman Wang
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.83
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves: childrens
review:
'Great Job, Dad' by Holman Wang is a board book about all the jobs a dad has. It features amazing felt dolls like he made for the Cozy Classics series.

A dad has many jobs. Outside the home, he might be an executive, but at home, he is a waiter and chauffeur and a bunch of other jobs. The book features many tableaus of dad at work, fixing tablets, checking diapers, resolving disputes. The book ends with a short afterword showing the process to make this book.

The pictures in this book (and previous ones by Holman Wang), are what are compelling. In this book, the details make the pictures really work. The text is also a good reminder to kids of how hard parents work.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Tundra Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2TY6rnm

The Black God's Drums

author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves:
review:
'The Black God's Drum' by P. Djèlí Clark is a novella set in an alternate New Orleans of steam and voodoo.

The story stars street-smart Creeper who is intent on making her way aboard an airship. She also has a pretty big secret living inside her, Oya, a god of the wind. When she finds out about a potent weapon that could be used against her friends and city, she smuggles aboard an airship named Midnight Robber and tries to stop the weapon known as The Black God's Drum.

I found this alternate world fresh and really appealing. I've read any number of steampunk style books, some better than others. The addition of the city of New Orleans, the magic system, and some memorable characters made this a fun, quick read.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2IghohL

Breaking the Ten, Vol. 2

author: Sean Michael Wilson
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2019/04/05
date added: 2019/04/05
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Breaking the Ten, Vol. 2' by Sean Michael Wilson with art by Michiriu Morikawa continues the story of a distraught young man testing God.

In a recap, David was a devout believer until his wife and child were killed by a drunk driver. He has set out to break all of the 10 commandments in order to see if God even cares. Bystanders to the process are Mr. White and Mr. Black acting kind of like the cartoon shoulder devil and angel.

This time around, things are drawing to a close as David works on breaking the final 5 commandments, including dishonoring his father and mother. This is all leading up to the final commandment (at least in David's mind): Thou Shall Not Kill. Will David finally get an answer from God or will he commit this terrible act?

I got to read both volumes of this. David starts out as sympathetic, kind of, but by the time we get to this last half of the story, David is a real insufferable jerk. His family was taken by a random stranger, so his reasoning is that he can do the same thing? I liked the art well enough, but this story was just a little too over the top. I didn't feel like it delivered what I would have liked it to.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://bit.ly/2YWilS6