Children's Books, and Other Cool Stuff

 Author Spotlight November 2021    Review: “Happy Holidays Meena Mouse.” This great holiday story, teaches children about caring, giving, and sharing is well rhymed. This type of books is hard to write but Ms Trilby Plants does an excellent job doing this. There is no forced rhyme but a clean flow all through out. The beautiful illustrations add to the full story. What made the illustrations unique is the use of Christmas colours all through out. It makes a perfect Holiday book. I also loved the details of the characters facial expressions, it brought them to life. The one thing this book lacked is character development. Overall, I enjoyed this short read. I would recommend this holiday books for children two to five. Since it is meant to target a younger audience. I will give this book four stars.           Trilby Plants is a retired educator who was always a storyteller. She wrote her first story when she was ten. It won a blue ribbon at the Montana State Fair. She has been tell

  Author Spotlight October 2021     Book Review - “No Dinosaurs Allowed” was a great book with a strong message for children. The Illustrations were simple and well done. The idea that public places are for everyone even Dinosaurs, was interesting. I also liked how the story arc came to a full circle. The few minor issues this book had are some forced Rhyme in places and No character growth. It definitely is a fun read for two- to six-year-olds. Overall, I will give this book four stars. Biography Deborah is a writer and nursing professor who lives in New York with her family and the incorrigible Chewy Belle who is one of the main characters in her chapter book “The One-Eyed Pug”. Deborah holds a PhD in nursing and has taken myriad writing classes. Deborah refers to herself as an eclectic author as she writes in several genres.  She published her first award winning children’s books “Same Inside Different Outside” and “The One-Eyed Pug” in 2017.  She has also published two middle-grad

 I am very happy to spotlight an Author from UK this month, Please enjoy and if you have any comments please share them. If you are interested in a my spotlight Series please e-mail me to Spiritw74@yahoo.com  Author Spotlight September 2021 Review- “What’s an OG?” This book reminds me a little of Dr. Seuss. It combines beautiful illustrations with very simple rhyming words. It has a great flow that younger children will enjoy. I think it will be a good read for children 2- to 5-year-olds. The main character a wise owl, is talking to the audience trying do explain What is an OG? I can imagine this book being read in front of a classroom of pre-k to kindergarteners, and I can picture the children getting into it. I will give this one 4 stars because I believe the author could have played more with the rhyme and expand the book a few more pages. Overall, this is a great read and a book many young children can enjoy.         Mary Barry:  Author, Publisher, Researcher, general Dogsbody

  Author Spotlight August 2021    Biography Cheryl Cheatham is an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. She has published 2 books, Perry the Sheep – The Search for The Magical Rainbow and Yaya the Sheep – Super Silly, Furry, Friends with a matching coloring book. Cheryl’s books are fun, silly, adventurous, and full of imagination. Cheryl loves writing and illustrating books with adorable animals and adventures that make kids smile. Cheryl loves giving back to her community. For each book sold, a book and the matching coloring book is donated to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and many other local children in need of a smile. Cheryl is a proud grandma, aka Yaya, of 3 little girls who love reading books that spread love, hope, and kindness. Questions Who was the inspiration for you to become an author? My inspiration is my 3 little granddaughters.   When Covid put our family on lockdown our time together completely changed.   In order to stay close w

  Author Spotlight July 2021 Book Review- “ The Fastest Dinosaur .” Overall, this book by Mrs. Caren Cantrell tries to work with a simple concept of a dinosaur who is in a race for being the fastest runner out of his friends. Yet, at the same time he has a large heart and wants to help everyone. So, when he is challenged by another dinosaur to a race, he accepts this challenge and as he races, he comes to situations where he is asked to help others. The illustrations by Mrs. Amy Klein use simple colors and shapes to represent the characters really well. The one issue I found with this book is that it seemed not to tell the full story bringing in many characters that we knew nothing about. The characters even the main one, Enzo were very genetic and not realistic. It also lacked a story arc where a character has to grow in some way. I am not sure what the target age of this book is or what message it was trying to send it’s readers? It could definitely have used some more work and deve