Return to the Most Beautiful Village in the World

Title: Return to the Most Beautiful Village in the World

Author: Yutaka Kobayashi

Published: 11/1/2020

Publisher: Museyon

Pages: 41

Genre: Children's Fiction

Review: ebook from NetGalley and Publisher

Amazon

Mirado has been traveling with the circus worldwide, but he still thinks of Paghman Village and his friend Yamo every day. When he hears the news that the long war will be over, Mirado decides to return to the village, heading east by train, bus, carriage, and finally by foot. Supported by the kindness of people he meets on the way, he finally arrives, but he sees Paghman Village was completely destroyed by the war—and he can't find Yamo. But one morning, as he plays his flute on the street, people gather around, and Mirado hears a familiar voice singing.

We did not read the first book, but I don't think you would have to just read this one. First, let me say the illustrations are really, very beautifully done. Even though Mirado wants to travel back home, I felt that this book was sad and happy in a way. Mirado wants to go home; he is missing his friends, village, and so much more. As he travels in many different ways, he is helped by strangers on his travels back home. He receives gifts and memories from those that helped him with his journey. When he finally returns to the village that has been destroyed, it does not look the same, but just maybe over time, with seeds and people coming together, the village could see once more rise from the ashes! Who knows?

This book was a good conversation started with K and A because we brought up why sometimes villages within other countries are destroyed and how sometimes they just are forgotten, and people move on. While people want to go back home to their village, it is their home. So I am thankful that this book opened that spark of asking questions.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Yutaka Kobayashi is a Nihonga (Japanese-style paintings) artist and picture book author.

NetGalley: A Tuesday Kind Of Love by Lyndsi Richards, Christy Johnson

Title: A Tuesday Kind of Love

Author: Lyndsi Richards

Illustrator: Christy Johnson

Pages: 32

Genre: Children's

Review: NetGalley 

Buy Link: Amazon

A Tuesday Kind of Love is a fiction children's book about positive separation. Based on my life story of being a single mom of twins. This story is about a beautiful gorilla named Lani which means "heavenly" in Hawaiian, and a handsome monkey named Kanoa which means "the free one". They live in a tropical jungle and fall in love very quickly. They have twins together but end up realizing when the twins are very young they don't want the same life. So they decided splitting up would be the best decision for the family. They continue to show gratitude towards each other knowing it is important for the children to see and understand by example. The family changes the negative narrative of separation and divorce and turns it into a beautiful experience. I want it to shed light onto separated families, showing that you can still have a loving unit that does not live in the same household. It is meant to give hope for co-parenting. I want it to show love in a more open and realistic way. The children in today's society are experiencing that it is more common to have separated and divorced parents than to have parents who are still together. This story is for those children to have faith in their parents to show appreciation for each other even though they are apart living their own lives. The love they once felt created the most beautiful thing love can create, children!

The Bad Seed (Bad Seed #1) by: Jory John

Title: The Bad Seed

Author: Jory John

Illustrator: Pete Oswald

Pages: 45

Genre: Children

Review: Amazon Prime

Buy Link: Amazon 

This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know?

He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He’s been bad since he can remember! This seed cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself, and decides that he wants to be—happy?

With Jory John’s charming and endearing text and bold expressive illustrations by Pete Oswald, here is The Bad Seed: a funny yet touching tale that reminds us of the remarkably transformative power of will, acceptance, and just being you. Perfect for readers young and old, The Bad Seed proves that positive change is possible for each and every one of us.

Ghost Boys: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Title: Ghost Boys

Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Published: April 17. 2018

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 241

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

Buy Book: Amazon

Review: Library book

Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.
Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father’s actions.
Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today’s world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

NetGalley: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

We received this book via NetGalley.

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Author: Kwame Mbalia

Published: Oct. 15, 2019

Publisher: Disney Book Group

Pages: 496

Review: ARC from NetGalley

Genre: Folklore/Teens/Middle Grade

Buy Link: Amazon

Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it — is that a doll? — and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

NetGalley: Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden

Title: Small Spaces

Author: Katherin Arden

Published: Sept. 25, 2019

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Pages: 218

Review: ARC provided by publisher @ NetGalley

Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small."

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

Aliens for Breakfast by Stephanie Spinner

Title: Aliens for Breakfast

Author: Stephanie Spinner and Jonathan Etra

Published: Sept. 28, 2011

Publisher: Random House for Young Readers

Pages: 64

Genre: 2nd grade on up

Review: Library book

Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

It's been ten years since Richard Bickerstaff sat down to breakfast and an alien climbed out of his cereal bowl! Join Richard and Aric, a tiny, wisecracking creature from the planet Ganoob, as they battle to save the world from evil aliens in Aliens for Breakfast, Aliens for Lunch, and Aliens for Dinner. We're reissuing the trilogy with brand-new covers sporting a space age 10th Anniversary logo. Now a new generation of readers can experience the fun and adventure that won these books rave reviews and loyal fans!