Saturday, December 31, 2016

The Girl and the Bicycle





 The Girl and the Bicycle
 Author: Mark Pett
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Reviewer: Denise Z.
Cover image for The girl and the bicycle

Summary: A wordless picture book in which a girl sees a bicycle she wants to buy, works hard for a kindly neighbor to earn the money for it, then gets a pleasant surprise.

Review: This is one of the few wordless picture books I enjoyed. I like the clear message it sends to kids of earning money to get something you really, really want. We see the character doing all sorts of chores so she can one day go to the bike store and purchase her bike after all her hard work. The surprise twist at the end and simplistic illustrations adds emotion to this wordless story.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Prophecies of Nostradamus




The Prophecies of Nostradamus
Author: Ryan Nagelhout
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Reviewer: Denise Z.

Cover image for The prophecies of Nostradamus



Summary: The prophecies of sixteenth-century French astrologer Nostradamus still resonate in our world. Many of his predictions have seemed to correlate with major world events. There are more predictions that may yet come to pass. However, there's much controversy surrounding Nostradamus's complicated writings. His use of anagrams and multiple languages make some doubt whether today's translations are even accurate. Believers and nonbelievers both will be fascinated at this look at the mysterious man's life in plague-infested France as well as his most famous predictions. Readers will be able to decide for themselves whether they believe in the mystical powers of Nostradamus.

Review:  This is a great book for a biography assignment or simply learning about an interesting person in history. Any reader who is interested in prophecies and psychic predictions would appreciate knowing more about Nostradamus. I found it interesting to hear more about his predictions and this book cautions that it is up to the reader to believe or not believe in his predictions. Other pieces of history, like Hitler and walking on the moon, are introduced as true prophesies Nostradamus might of made. Pictures and scattered facts make this book very kid-friendly and the element of mystery in Nostradamus’ predictions make this topic thought-provoking and fun.