Today's read... Taos Pueblo Winter illustrated by Leonard Archuleta

Today's read is one of four books aimed for the youngest readers out there. These come with the special purpose to help continue and revitalize the language of the Tiwa culture. I'm not going to say much more and just head right in.

TAOS PUEBLO WINTER

The Taos Pueblo Tiwa Language Program

Illustrated by Leonard Archuleta

7th Generation

Board Book

COMING...

MAY 30th!!!

The delightful board books, written without text, were created by the Taos Pueblo's Tiwa Language Program to preserve the Tiwa culture and revitalize the unwritten Tiwa language by teaching it to younger generations. Many other Indigenous languages also need to be revitalized, so it is the hope of the Taos Pueblo's Tiwa Language Program that other American Indian nations will find the books useful to teach their languages to their children. The beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations will also educate young children about the four seasons of the year. All proceeds of the book support the Taos Pueblo's Tiwa Language Program.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63247273-taos-pueblo-winter

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Taos-Pueblo-Winter-Four-Seasons/dp/1570673454

MY TIDBITS

This is one of four board books in a series, which is aimed at beginner readers out there. These books were created with the hope to assist young children as they learn the Tiwa language from their parents/guardians/teachers/elders. Each book centers around one season of the year, this one being winter.

This is a wordless book, since the language from this culture does not have a written form. Instead, this book acts as a support to those learning the language by providing illustrations of familiar scenes, activities, animals, and items found within the Tiwa culture. The older reader uses these as a guide to help young listeners recognize the word the reader gives them. A general scene is first presented with all details to let the young listener view the people/creatures in the natural setting. Then, a second illustration pin-points one specific item/animal, which the older reader can use as a clear reference. For example, there's the scene of a Tiwa dwelling after a snow, and then, just an image of snow is displayed.

These images are done with love and offer many things to view.

These books are directed to a very specific audience, in so far, that the reader does need to already know the language. However, this also can be used to learn other languages because of this. For those outside of this small circle, however, I do find another valuable aspect in these pages. The illustrations show the traditional settings and lifestyles. Everything from clothing to the important aspects of the life and meanings are portrayed. This makes these books a nice edition to those wanting to learn more about the culture or as extra material when dealing with the subject.

I'm not going to really rate these books, since I don't feel that I'm knowledgeable enough in the area to do so. But for the right reasons, I do find that they can be a valuable resource.

The other books in this series are:

Today's read... The Easter Surprise! from Cocomelon adapted by Tina Gallo

THE EASTER SURPRISE!

Cocomelon

by Tina Gallo

Simon Spotlight

Board Book

14 pages

ages 2 to 5

Join JJ and his friends as they celebrate Easter at preschool as they make crafts, look for Easter eggs, and do the bunny hop!

is the #1 kids show on YouTube (over 135 million subscribers)!

CoComelon™ © 2023 Moonbug Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61272137-the-easter-surprise

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-easter-surprise-tina-gallo/1141651920

WALMART: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cocomelon-The-Easter-Surprise-Board-book-9781665925341/1245903592

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3Y8MQZC

MY TIDBITS

Fans of  Cocomelon can join their favorite characters as they get ready to discover an Easter surprise.

JJ is very excited about Easter. At school, his class creates bunny masks to prepare for the celebration. JJ takes care to do a good job and creates a cute mask. But there's still a big surprise waiting for him.

This is a board book, created for small hands and made to take a little wear and tear. To fit the Easter theme, it has a lovely egg shape, which also keeps corners away. The length is nice and short, as board books tend to be, and each page is bright and colorful. It focuses on the fun surrounding the preparations for a big event and demonstrates how putting in effort and care increases the joy.

The tale comes from the very popular series, Cocomelon, and portrays the scenes from one of their shows. While there's a short sentence or two on each two-page spread to help listeners follow the story...and this in a personal and cute way...the text to the song from the show flows along the bottom. The illustrations are taken directly from the video scenes, which will delight young fans as they will immediately recognize the characters. These are well placed and let the story shine. I was surprised that the story is more about creating a bunny mask than the end surprise as the title suggests, but this will definitely have listeners ready to dive into their own craft project (so be ready for that!)

The text is a little on the heavier side but easy to understand. So, I do see that part more for the upper age end of the intended audience level. But since this follows something readers will already recognize, little ones will enjoy that aspect. It's a cute book with tons of positivity and is definitely more geared to readers, who know the show. But those readers will enjoy this quite a bit, too.

Today's read... Mouse and Majesty by Emma Hutchinson

Today's read is a lovely mix of music, reading and illustration. While I haven't had a chance to read/listen to it outside of what's on the video below...and I don't need to comment on that, since you should watch it yourself...I definitely wanted to give this one a shout-out because it does look so cute and amazing!

MOUSE AND MAJESTY

by Emma Hutchinson

Illustrated by Charlotte Cleveland

Picture Book with Music

Mouse and Majesty with downloadable songs
 
Mouse and Majesty follows a country mouse who travels across England to meet The Queen and invite her over for a cup of tea. Against all odds, he pushes through challenges involving a horse, a train, a bicycle, a boat and a dangerous cat. After gaining the favour of The Queen, the pair fly back to Mouse's home in a hot air balloon to enjoy a well-deserved cuppa.

Buy links:

https://www.musichouseforchildren.com/product-page/mouse-and-majesty

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63216681-mouse-and-majesty

https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Majesty-Emma-Hutchinson-ebook/dp/B0BKT6W4KR

Today's read... Lily Upshire is Winning by John Holmes

The cover on today's read had me dreaming of ocean-sides and peaceful moments...which I think is due to the cold nights we've been suddenly having again and more running around the usual. But it was the blurb which really caught my interest. I'm expecting this one to be a fun read with clever twists and some realistic moments, which show how ridiculous life truly is. Or maybe, it doesn't hold any of these things and will be completely different than what I expect.

Shall we head on in and find out?

LILY UPSHIRE IS WINNING

by John Holmes

YA Satirical Fiction

376 pages

A young teenager without parents or siblings, Lily Upshire takes the world on her own terms. When she finds something wrong with her favorite drink, she just wants the big company that made it to say sorry to her. But the adults in her life have other ideas, seeing everything in terms of money. As the company makes ever more extravagant overtures to avoid apologizing to her, she remains unmoved. She’s more concerned with what makes her life miserable: the school bullies, most of her teachers, and the scammers and catfish online. To gain self-confidence she begins boxing lessons. When she realizes her name is more important to the world than she is, she hits upon an idea that changes everything. The once-solid walls of the behemoth corporation slowly begin to melt.

With elements of satire and surrealism, Lily Upshire Is Winning is a coming-of-age novel with a difference.

MY BOOK: https://mybook.to/LilyUpshireIsWinning

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63076187-lily-upshire-is-winning

MY TIDBITS

What a fun (and very British) zest of life, which weaves a coming-of-age in all the right ways.

Lily's life is filled with typical days, which include bullying, not the best grades, a wonderful best friend, active neighbors, an internet boyfriend, and a grandmother to adore. What it doesn't include is finding an odd pea-like thing in the smoothie. Everyone seems to know how to handle this best, which includes squirming in some extra cash. But all Lily wants is an apology, and that seems to be the hardest thing in the world to acquire. What happens, instead, is a small adventure she never saw coming.

Lily begins this tale at the age of twelve, and it ends around the beginning of her twenties. So, this is a coming-of-age on many levels. The author begins with a thorough run-down of how the first day (the day of finding the object in the smoothie) is an ordinary day in Lily's life...and while going through, ends up placing a solid background not only for the rest of the plot and Lily's character, but also gently hints that maybe everything isn't extremely typical, anyway. I enjoyed the repetitive phrase that the author used as each 'theme' was addressed...just a wonderful way to hit that message well.

Lily is a girl with spunk, although she isn't really....or, at least, doesn't trust herself in the beginning to let that freer side shine. This along with Lily's tendency to allow imagination to filter into reality leaves room for a full character arc, which makes Lily easy to root for from beginning to end. She's got just enough quirks to make her fun, and yet, is no problem to relate to. Her grandmother is the perfect person at Lily's side and offers wisdom and love.

Of course, this read head-butts some aspects of today's society. It does a lovely job at poking and prodding with a little sense of satirical humor against corporate attitude, greed, internet, neighbors and more. The messages are brought across clearly without feeling preached. This makes it a well-rounded read with quite a bit to enjoy, and enough depth to add for food for thought after the last page is read.

And here he is...

Honours Graduate in social sciences; former insurance claims adjuster; member of Crime Writers Association; distinction in freelance articles course with London School of Journalism. Author of 7 books: novels, non-fiction, short stories.

• Website: https://johnholmesauthor.com/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewickPea

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnholmesauthor/

Today's read... This Little Engineer by Joan Holub

THIS LITTLE ENGINEER

A Think-and-Do Primer

by Joan Holub

Illustrated by Daniel Roode

Little Simon

Board Book

26 pages

ages 3 to 5

Meet the engineers who are building our future in innovative and surprising ways in this STEM-based board book in the bestselling This Little series!

Now even the youngest readers can learn all about the amazing work engineers do every day! Highlighting ten memorable people who paved the way, parents and little ones alike will love this discovery primer full of fun, age-appropriate facts and bold illustrations.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61272097-this-little-engineer

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/this-little-engineer-joan-holub/1141651862

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/This-Little-Engineer-Think-Do/dp/1665912081

MY TIDBITS

The wide variety of engineers and wonderful things they've done is celebrated in this bright and bold, little book.

This board book celebrates engineering and the vast variety of areas and things that includes. From Aerospace to computer to robotics and more, these pages show how diverse engineering is. (Nuclear Engineers were skipped over, something which sadden my own, awesome engineer). Anyway, one individual from each field is presented along with a short description of their accomplishment. Then, on the other side of the page, the accomplishment is illustrated and another short text explains a little more about it. There are several well-known ones and several lesser-known, which was also nice to see.

The illustrations are cheerful, easy to identify, bright and bold. These do offer a joyful atmosphere and keep it light. The thicker pages are also a plus, as this can be used for information again and again.

The only thing, which makes me stutter, is the age group. This is, supposedly for 3 to 5-year-olds, but very, very few will be able to keep up with this book. I see the picture book audience (ages 4 to 8) a much better target, since this will even be expanding the knowledge for them quite a bit. I do think it's great to expose the lower age group to this type of thing, though...it will just go way over their heads.

So, I do like this book quite a bit. I just recommend it for an older audience...and think they'll love to get their hands on a board book, anyway.