Quiet Karima by Nidhi Chanani

3 stars “Without silence, there’s no music.” A sweet story celebrating sound and silence. Follow Karima as she goes about her day, taking in the sounds of the world. Though everyone calls her Quiet Karima, that is not all she is. Being quiet allows her to hear the music all around her and to create…

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Emilio Sloth’s Modern Manners by Renée Ahdieh

Illustrated by Alea Marley 3 stars A cute picture book that celebrates friendship, taking your time, and minding your manners. Follow Emilio Sloth on his journey to meet a friend for teatime. Along the way, he greets old friends and makes new ones, always polite and mindful of being on time. Goes through some polite…

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Things that Go Bump in the Day

by Melinda Beatty Illustrated by Charlene Chua 3.5 stars A sweet little story about an adorable vampire child trying to get some sleep and his ever-reassuring mother explaining away the sounds in the day. A cute bedtime story full of humor. Nicely written. I really enjoyed the spin on what noises would be scary to…

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Peryton Panic (Ponyville Mysteries #4) by Penumbra Quill

4 stars The mystery continues. Strange things have been happening ever since the new unicorn family moved to Ponyville. A mysterious creature has turned up and now the Mane 6 are trying to keep the Cutie Mark Crusaders from new friends, Lilymoon and Ambermoon. Follow Sweetie Belle and her friends as they search for answers…

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Avatar: The Last Airbender: My Cabbages!

By Rebecca Gyllenhaal and Jessica Yang Illustrated by Bonnie Pang Based on the animated series by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko 5 stars Absolutely hilarious. Follow Aang and his friends’ journey to defeat the Fire Lord from the perspective of Merchant Cai, the cabbage merchant. Cai dreams of selling his cabbages throughout the Earth…

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Wildfire Rescue (Disaster Squad #1) by Rekha S. Rajan

Illustrated by Courtney Lovett 3 stars A fun read overall. Honestly, the setup was a little weird to me. A journalist and a doctor drive around the country in their RV with their two young children and their dog helping out with various natural disasters. It seemed odd that Jaden and Leela would go along…

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Bella Ballerina by Sharon M. Draper

Illustrated by Ebony Glenn 3 stars A cute, rhyming picture book following a young ballerina’s first recital. Gorgeous illustrations with lovely movement. I love that the dancers include both girls and boys with different skin tones and hair textures. At the back there is a glossary of the terms used in the book including different…

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The Trouble with Teachers (Angela Anaconda #1) by Barbara Calamari

3 stars I absolutely loved this show as a kid. I had no idea there were novelizations. This book adapts the episodes “You’re So Vain” and “The Substitute”. In the first, Angela Anaconda gets some unexpected attention after her poetry assignment is misinterpreted. Then Angela finds inspiration for her rainforest project with a substitute teacher…

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Prunella by Beth Ferry

Illustrated by Claire Keane 5 stars Absolutely adorable. A gorgeously-illustrated tale of being yourself, following your passions, and finding your people. To the surprise of her green-thumbed parents, Prunella was born with a purple thumb. While she loves all things prickly, sticky, stinky, and odd, the other children don’t share her interests. So Prunella makes…

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