Showing posts with label making friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label making friends. Show all posts

Early Book Review: Gustavo, the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago

Gustavo, the Shy Ghost, written and illustrated by Flavia Z. Drago, is a picturebook currently scheduled for release on July 14 2020.  Gustavo is good at doing all sorts of ghostly things: walking through walls, making objects fly, and glowing in the dark. He loves almost nothing more than playing beautiful music on his violin. But Gustavo is shy, and some things are harder for him to do, like making friends with other monsters. Whenever he tries getting close to them, he realizes they just can’t see him. Now that the Day of the Dead is fast approaching, what can he do to make them notice him and to share with them something he loves? 
Gustavo, the Shy Ghost is a sweet picturebook with beautiful illustrations. I really enjoyed the art style and think the illustrations did a great job of adding to the story and including humor. As someone that has always been on the shy side, I could relate to Gustavo's troubles in talking to others- and even when we are not really invisible to them like he is sometimes we can feel that way. I really enjoyed Gustavo's journey, and how detailed and vivid the images are and how ideas like loneliness and kindness are handled. I think this would be a great read aloud, a story to share both around the Day of the Dead and in the beginning of a school year or start of a storytime program season to help young readers. It could be a great discussion starter and ice break- and is just a lovely read. 

Book Review: Sloth at the Zoom by Helaine Becker, Orbie

Sloth at the Zoom is a picturebook written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Orbie.  One day, a sloth accidentally gets delivered to the Zoom! She was supposed to be dropped off at the Zzzzzoo, a much more laid-back, slow-paced place. She had been looking forward to long, languorous naps while the sun gently warmed her belly. But at the Zoom, the zebras gallop so fast they leave their stripes in puddles. The monkeys climb so fast they forget to stop at the treetops. And the parrots fly so fast their tails draw rainbows across the sky. When the sloth tries to make friends, nobody has any time--until the sloth meets a creature who's a little more her speed, and everyone stops to notice. 
Sloth at the Zoom is a fun picturebook about slowing down. No one at the Zoom is willing to slow down to make friends with the sloth. Her slow pace seems silly to the busy animals zooming around. I like that the sloth never gives up, but keeps trying to convince others to slow down and take tea with her, or simply to take a moment and chat. It is only when the sloth ad a snail connect, and take some time to enjoy each other's company that anyone else seems to notice. However, once they stop and join in the quiet moment they all seem to relax and enjoy it. I like that the story shows very different creatures slowing down to enjoy some time together, and that they can all use some down time. The illustrations are great, capturing the speed of the fast animals as well as the humor used to exaggerate that speed.
Sloth at the Zoom was fun and cute, and I am a sucker for a sloth. It was good, and I enjoyed it, but it did not wow me. I think something about the ending fell flat for me, but I cannot put my finger on what I wanted to be different. 

Book Review: The Great Shelby Holmes by Elizabeth Eulberg

The Great Shelby Holmes is a middle grade book by Elizabeth Eulberg. Meet spunky sleuth Shelby and her sports loving sidekick Watson, as they take on a dog-napper in this fresh twist on Sherlock Holmes. Shelby Holmes is not your average sixth grader. She's nine years old, barely four feet tall, and the best detective her Harlem neighborhood has ever seen-always using logic and a bit of pluck (which yes, some might call “bossiness”) to solve the toughest crimes. When eleven-year-old John Watson moves downstairs, Shelby finds something that's eluded her up till now: a friend. The easy-going John isn't sure of what to make of Shelby, but he soon finds himself her most-trusted (read: only) partner in a dog-napping case that will take both their talents to crack.

The Great Shelby Holmes is a wonderful new take on the Sherlock style character. John is used to moving around and is good at finding a new group of friends with school and sports. But, the first other kid he meets in his new home is the quirky Shelby Holmes. She is smart and typically off-putting as most versions of Sherlock you might see- and her friendship with Watson might start off as uneasy, but blossoms into something essential for both of them. Shelby has the memory and deductive skills, John has the more practical knowledge that one needs in daily life. Together they have everything they need. I liked the slow growth of friendship, and the way the mystery is explored and solved. The oddities of Shelby's personality were very well balanced, her reluctance to trust combined with her intelligence made her a tough friend to make, and John's need to fit in and be accepted was a realistic conflict that so many readers might be able to relate to. Hopefully they can be strong enough to stand up and be friends with the outsiders like John. I really enjoyed the changes that were made to the characters, and think it makes the characters much more relateable to young readers from all walks of life. It is important that readers can see something of themselves in the characters of the books they read, and this book delivers. What makes it even better is that at no point is gender or diversity the main focus of the book, so everything is organic rather than feeling like a gimmick to drawn in any particular group of readers.  It all just works perfectly.

The Great Shelby Holmes is a great start to a new series, and one I plan on following. The second book, The Great Shelby Holmes Meets Her Match, is scheduled to be released on September 12 2017, and I am not sure I want to wait that long. I think this might be a new fun, challenging, yet accessible series for many readers.