zoeelizabethk's reviews
610 reviews

Beautiful artwork and story that will appeal to young children with an interest in Neanderthals or prehistoric history. It would be great for a younger child too for expanding on opposites and actions as it uses a lot of here/there, near/far behind/in front. It also encourages a love of beauty and nature. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 40%

A delightful illustrated history aimed at kids that tells about the assimilation of Estonia into the Soviet Union and the Estonian Resistance and Revolution in the late 20th century. It is an inspiring story and well adapted for kids. It also included a nice glossary in the back for further exploration as well as a little bit about the process of illustrating the book.

Thanks to VanitaBooks, LLC and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Postcards From a War was such a beautiful read. It made me as an adult tear up, and I think it would be ideal for kids who have parents deployed or who just want to learn more about war and US history. I loved the attention to detail, the postcards that were included, and the grandfather's wisdom. "When I was young, people thought you needed to hide your feelings. Now, we all know it is better to let your feelings out." Highly recommend!

Thanks to VanitaBooks, LLC and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dara The Dancing Panda is a sweet kids book about a panda who loves to dance, but then loses her shoes and feels discouraged. First of all let me say that my son LOVES all his shoes, so I'm sure he would love a story about searching for the all important shoes haha. The illustrations were vibrant and beautiful, the language was poetic, and I loved the message about perseverance and sharing the love and joy you have for a thing with others around you.

Thanks to Dancing Panda LLC and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved The Plus One, but this was nothing like that. Instalove/lust, no buildup of the relationship, and it just got to be painful to read. I did appreciate the conversation around anxiety but to be honest, Harper's anxiety was so visceral that it made me anxious and I did not want to keep reading. I DNFd at 40% when it just kept getting worse for me.

First of all, let me just say that the artwork in Sunflowers Rise in a Midnight Sky is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful vivid colors are mixed with interesting textures to create art that is perfect for this whimsical story. I will say that my 3-year old would probably not be very interested in this at the moment as he prefers books with more plot, however I can easily see myself pulling Sunflowers Rise out when he's just a little older to introduce him to mixed media and poetry. Highly recommend!

Thanks to Empyrean Press and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed a lot about The Last Phi Hunter. It wasn't the most compulsively readable, but I really loved the atmosphere and mythological aspects! I found some of the characters a little flat and the worldbuilding was a bit weird as there were more modern words thrown around and it didn't quite feel as if every aspect had been thought out, however, I really did enjoy the story and I would be interested to try more books by Goldenberg in future.

I had recently read the novel version that this was based on and really enjoyed it, but honestly I loved the manga even more! I think the visual format is perfect for conveying the tone, atmosphere, and worldbuilding in The Beast Player. First of all, the art style(s) were absolutely stunning, especially the color pages. But the style also subtly shifted to fit the story, and I thought that was such a nice detail. I also feel that the art style really managed to do a lot of heavy emotional lifting. I really feel like we lived and felt with Elin, enjoying the sweet slow moments, and feeling the terrible tragedies as well. I'm so excited for the next volume of The Beast Player.

 Wintering in a lot of ways is about the process of learning to embrace the cyclical nature of life - the seasons come and go and come around again, and so do phases in our lives. We all have our winterings, whether it be due to stress, emergencies, bad situations, depression, illness, or more. Katherine May shares how she learned to lean into these darker times and discovered ways that helped her embrace the cold and hard and honor her needs while waiting for spring.

As a family that gardens, our lives fall into a rhythm that mimics the seasons (even though it's not a lot) and as an Orthodox Christian, the church year cycles around from lent to Pascha to other feasts and fasts and back again. So this is a concept I've thought about before.

I think May has a lot of valuable things to share that will open your mind and perhaps convince you to try this mindset. My main complaint is that there are a lot of tangents - which, while they are related to the topic, sometimes feel extraneous and like they don't add much. May's writing is somewhat stream of consciousness, but is also extremely readable so even when you wonder what the point of a story is, you never feel bogged down. Ultimately this is more about mindset than specific practical strategies to rest/retreat. So please don't go in with the expectation that this will be a workbook-ish style book. Nevertheless, I think this is a very valuable read to learn to recognize and work with our dark periods.