Welcome to another week of children’s book reviews. As ever, I hope you will enjoy my varied choice of books and the reviews of them. Please don’t forget to scroll down the page and read them all!
Children’s Book of the Week: Dragonasaurus Tales by Josephine Young
Each available on Amazon as an eBook $3.04 and in Paperback $7.49
This week’s book of the week is in fact a series of five short books, and each one of them is just as good as the one before, if not better. The books are written in rhyme and each one tells a story, so I feel it is best to offer a short description of each book along with a few lines of text.
My Reviews
Baffin’s Curious Consequence (Dragonasaurus Tales)
Whilst asleep beneath a tree, Baffin, a young dragonasaurus, is woken by the great roar of his friend Dex; his idea of fun being, to sneak up on his pals and make them jump. Baffin, like all the other dragonasaurus, is becoming rather fed up of Dex, and resolves to teach him a lesson. The final straw for Baffin had been when Dex had jumped out on his little sister Floss and made her cry.
“Baffin decided, “Enough is enough.
It’s clearly time someone got tough.
I think it might be time to fix,
naughty Dex with his frightening tricks.””
Baffin develops a master plan to lure Dex into a nearby cave and scare him. What follows surprises and frightens them both.
Baffin’s Desire for Fire: Dragonasaurus Tales (Volume 1)
Baffin, anxious to grow up far faster than he should, has an uncontrollable desire to breathe fire, just like the older dragonasaurus do. His need is so great he is prepared to risk his own safety and travel through Trembly Wood and on to Fire Mountain, in search of the Great Fire Bird whom he believes will be able to help him. Unaware of the Grong, the terrible creature that wanders the woods, Baffin begins his journey.
“This monstrous creature had been stricken
with claws of a wolf and feet of a chicken!
These feet might look odd but mean it can race
right after its prey at a lightening pace.”
Inevitably Baffin comes face to face with the creature and needs to use all his wits to save himself.
Baffin’s Sister Swap Scandal: Dragonasaurus Tales
Baffin has built a sandcastle and is terribly proud of it. However, as he steps back to admire his work, his sister Floss comes bounding over in his direction and lands smack in the middle of his treasured display. Baffin is so mad he grabs her paw and strides off towards home with her. Then a stork crosses their path. Upon which Floss declares, having learnt such things from her Uncle Max, that storks deliver new babies to their new mums. Baffin immediately decides that this could be how to rid himself of Floss and swap her for a brother.
“Of course! Baffin screeched to a stop.
That stork could give him a sister swap!
In a flash he could see clear as day,
the storks were where the answer lay.”
But how much does he really value his little sister!
Bella’s Dancing Dilemma: Dragonasaurus Tales
As you would expect, Dragonasaurus are not the most delicate of creatures. In fact, they are downright clumsy. Many of their kind accept this fact, except for Bella. Bella’s greatest ambition is to become a dancer. Her friends tell her about a talent show which they are all going to enter – their special talents being focused upon stomping and breathing fire. Bella sees her chance, but she must first learn how to dance. Whilst practising her simple steps she meets various new friends, all of whom give her heaps of encouragement and show her different dances and beats to try. But Bella, hard as she does try, is unable to dance and comes very close to giving up.
““That’s nonsense Bella you can’t quit now.
You can dance, you just need to know how.
If you relax, your body will find its own beat
then you can strut on your funky feet.””
But, will Bella eventually get the hang of it and feel confident enough to enter the talent contest!
Izzy’s Flying Disaster: Dragonasaurus Tales
As everyone knows, dragonasaurus were born to breathe fire and fly. But, of course, they also need to be old enough and big enough to do so. Little Izzy is not convinced she is too young or too small to fly, and hatches a series of ingenious ways to do so. Needless to say, her success rate is notably low. She does not, however, give up trying. In fact, she is so determined to succeed, she ends up unwittingly placing the life of her friend Mouse in the balance.
“Uncurling from his hiding place, Mouse did spy
the eagle peering at him with its beady eye.
“I’m not so sure Izzy, in fact I have a hunch,
MICE are what eagles like to eat for their lunch!””
Can Izzy save Mouse! Will she ever learn to fly! Or does this friendship end here!
Josephine Young has taken two all-time children’s favourites, the dragon and the dinosaur, and given us the dragonasaurus. These endearing little creatures fill the series with their captivating and comical adventures.
All the Dragonasaurus books are written in rhyme. The rhyme is excellent and works extremely well. The illustrations are cartoon-like and very colourful. The books are great fun, but quite long; so I feel younger listeners and readers may need more than one sitting. Something I very much liked was the language. It does not patronise young children, which is good. Instead it offers new words to learn in a diverting way. There is plenty of excitement throughout the stories and the endings to all are a surprise. And, of course, each tale has a message. I can definitely recommend these books to be read to or by any child. I read them to the youngest member of the family (aged two) and she was totally entranced by the poetry, loved the pictures and giggled a lot. They are sweet, funny, charming, imaginative and entertaining. I must say, I did have a favourite – Baffin’s Desire for Fire. Here the description of the Grong is hilarious, and the end has an enjoyable twist. I hope author Josephine Young will be giving us more of these wonderful, original and well-written tales. Highly recommended! (5 stars to all)
(Dragonasaurus Tales would be best suited to ages 2/3 and upwards)
Other Books I Have Reviewed
Oceanheart (The Enchanted Pages) by Pen Clements
Available on Amazon as an eBook $2.85
As Wynn sits by the bed of her dying sister, she is overwhelmed by guilt and her heart is filled with sorrow. Stella is lying in a coma and Wynn believes it is all her fault and longs to make amends, but cannot think how. Unexpectedly, help manifests itself from a surprising source, the strange and much feared school councillor, Mr (Crazy) Connor. “Crazy” Connor gives Wynn a pen and a journal, and some words of advice – ‘Write your thoughts. Write your dreams’.
Unbeknown to Wynn, the journal is enchanted. When she takes out the pen and the journal, the pen takes on a life of its own and words appear on the page – “If wish to restore what was lost, Find the Oceanheart. No matter the cost.”
As she starts to write her own words in the journal her world changes, and she finds herself transported from the safety of her sister’s hospital room to the depths of the ocean where she is rescued by the Saltwater People and taken to their tropical home. Not all the islanders are friendly though, and she finds herself pursued by the “Teeth”, poison masters and outcasts, across water and through forests. They too seek the Oceanheart and Wynn is the key. Then there is the mysterious Sorrowmaker patrolling the surrounding waters bringing doom and despair to all.
Wynn’s extraordinary journey causes her to reach deep into her soul where she discovers an inner strength and tenacity she hadn’t known she possessed. Spurred on by the need to help her sister, seemingly impossible tasks become surmountable challenges, and our heroine successfully rises to face each and every one of them.
In Pen Clements “Oceanheart”, a beautifully written, original and captivating story is to be found. From the imaginative narrative to the often surreal locations, from the strong and enjoyable characters of the Saltwater People with their living tattoos to the vile grey-skinned ‘Teeth’, each chapter lures you enticingly towards the next. And the latter part of the book is loaded with just the right amount of tension and suspense to take the reader right through to the end.
I hadn’t realised this was the first of a series until I reached the final page, but I will certainly be reading the next one when it is available. Mystery, adventure, fantasy! Oceanheart can be any of these; and I highly recommend it to anyone who reads any of those genres. (5 stars)
(Oceanheart (The Enchanted Pages) would be best suited to ages 9 years to adult)
Burly & Grum and the Tiger’s Tale (The Burly & Grum Tales) by Kate Tenbeth
Available on Amazon as an eBook $1.48
This is a simple little story about the animals of the forest. The main characters are Grum the groblin, Burlington the bear and Titan the tiger. The three are playing twister in the forest when a man is sighted. At the same time Hamish the porcupine rushes past with news of his daughter Morag being ill. Titan instantly mistrusts the man, Professor Simon Clutterbug, drawing upon past experience, but then Morag is diagnosed with forest fever and the only one who can help is the Professor.
Simple and sweet, this book tells of tigers and their diminishing numbers, and provides a short insight into their plight. The black and white illustrations are lovely and quite comical, and the story is easy to understand, especially for smaller children. (4 stars)
(Burly & Grum and the Tiger’s Tale would be best suited to ages 4 and upwards)
[Any profits from the sale of this book will go to the charity ‘Save the Wild Tiger’]
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All my reviews can be found on Amazon and, where possible, Goodreads.
Please note: Authors frequently offer their books at lower prices and often they are free. These prices were correct at the time of publishing, but it is worth checking for price changes.
Mungai and the Goa Constrictor 