Saturday, June 10, 2023

Today's read... Harper and the Raptor Rescue by Kizzi Roberts

Today's read is a great fit for this time of year. I'm sure, at least, a few young readers out there are already dreaming about summer camp. This summer camp centers around animals and, if I understood correctly, allows campers to help care for the critters. My youngest daughter would have loved to attend a camp like this...she probably would insist on creating one herself. 

This is the 1st book in a new series and hits the shelves later this month. 



HARPER AND THE RAPTOR RESCUE
Critter Camp Kids, #1
by Kizzi Roberts
Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Learning Spark Educational Services
Chapter Book Adventure
96 pages
ages 6 to 10

COMING...
JUNE 27th!!!



Dead mice. Meat-eating birds. This isn't the summer camp Harper expected.
Harper wants to be at Critter Camp more than anything, but she didn't expect so many of the critters to be birds. Birds would be fine if she wasn't terrified of them - especially the meat-eating ones. She's determined to make friends and face her fears, until she comes face-to-face with one tiny owl. Who knew something so small could cause such big problems?
Experience the fun of summer camp in this STEM-themed chapter book series!

GOODREADS    /     AMAZON


MY TIDBITS

The excitement of summer camp mixes with animal fun to create an grabbing read, which teaches a few facts along the way.

Harper is so excited to be at a summer camp, where the main activity includes taking care of various animals. When her group is assigned to the raptor section for the first week, her enthusiasm takes a nose dive. She's terrified of sharp beaks, claws, and, worse yet, meat-eating birds. Luckily, she's assigned to a small owl, which can't be too difficult to deal with...until she discovers that it is.

The tale dives right into the first moments at summer camp as Harper meets other campers and nerves start to settle down. Everything flows naturally, and each character is fun to meet. Harper's nervousness is understandable, and even her fear of birds is handled well as she tries her best to stay calm and deal with the situation as well as she can. When things go amok, tension builds. I did enjoy how the author kept this main plot arc going the entire way through but wove in the other camp activities along the way. It kept the reader curious what would happen with the owl, while still allowing a little fun on the side and friendships to build. 

While this is a nice-paced, engaging story, it also offers more. There are animal facts sprinkled right into the action. The reader learns more about raptors and owls, and that without a slowing in the story's pace. 

It's great for chapter book readers, who have a fairly solid grip of their words. There are well-done illustrations to help with the story, and the font is larger to enable reading ease. I am looking forward to what this series holds next.


And here she is...


Kizzi lives in the Ozarks with her family. She spends a lot of time writing, but more time chasing around her toddler. She writes stories that she wanted to read as a child. She hopes readers can laugh, learn and have fun with her stories. She also takes on the occasional non-fiction project.

Instagram is @kizmonster

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