However, not since the Harry Potter movie series has a franchise produced so many films consistently, with roughly the same characters, and has continued a high level of quality and entertainment. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth film in this series, the tenth movie overall, and stretches every conceivable positive metric forward, or doesn’t back off from its previous highs, for the most part. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place centuries after Cesar has died. His legend has grown during that time, and he’s become a cult figure, with some viewing his legacy as more of ..read more

This is one of the few books in recent memory that I’ve read that happens in real-time. The book’s 219 pages take place over a two-day period in the spooky, cult village that these two kids have stumbled into. There is no opportunity to take a break. There’s no “In the next morning…..” or other devices that authors might use to soft pedal segue through a period of time. It’s constant tension and even though the book may strain credibility for older readers or those not interested in the horror genre, the payoff is immediate. It’s that desire to not put the book down because you’re having so mu ..read more

Courtesy of Cupid disappeared from my book queue. It’s nothing fancy, just a series of books stacked up on top of one another, but I knew that something was missing. After a couple of days my wife said, “This book is really good.” After a couple more days she let me know that Courtesy of Cupid would be leaving the house. It was going to go to someone else so that they could read it. The finest form of book flattery is when it travels from house to house before eventually landing on my desk once more. As much as it pains the stereotypical me, my wife was right on the money and Courtesy of Cupid ..read more

Size does not matter. Now, let us come back from fantasy land and lay witness to Bugs: A Skittery, Jittery History by Miriam Forster with illustrations by Gordy Wright. Bugs is a massively oversized statement of a book that lives somewhere between an illustrated book, a reference book, a STEM book and a great, goodnight book. This book is impossible to ignore and presents biology to young audiences in a way that’s irresistible, curious and motivational. The content in Bugs is very intelligent. It’s written at a level that those fifth grade students are looking for when they’re planning their e ..read more

The great thing about wordless books is that when they connect, they really hit home. The Mango Tree is a wordless book that runs with energy. Young kids don’t need to know anything about a mango, but their imagination will fill in the blanks as to what they boys are thinking, the specifics of where they are, the adventure of the boy who crossed the ocean and the unknown factors of when he landed on the new beach. The colors in the book are great also because had they been on the neon side of bright colors it probably would’ve been annoying. As they are in The Mango Tree, they’re slightly mute ..read more

So, will mglit audiences want to read Flying Fillies? Its time period and fictional approach to a non-fiction organization makes it a challenge for those ages to instinctively seek out on their own. However, just like the commercial that I find to be too folksy, it will endear itself to those readers who do read it. This is mglit that will reward those readers who want a good story with a non-fiction root. It won’t bait the hook for reluctant readers, but that’s not the book’s purpose. The WWII elements and the fact that this is a niche, little known corner of the war’s history will entice tho ..read more

All of the kittens in the world have been kidnapped. The lead character is Stanky Dog and the others that help him are traditional house pets with laser beams coming from their eyes, the ability to transform to something many times larger than their small self and more superpowers. The only thing this book needs to be more attractive to elementary ages is to have it printed on pizza scented paper. I just scratched a couple of the pages to see if they thought of this, and they don’t. There are a couple words in The eXpets that those second grade students won’t be able to read, but they’ll want ..read more

The picture book sets up the vehicles with various locations that are listed in a table of contents. Kids can look at vehicles in snowy places, in the mountains, the farm, in the city, play vehicles and many more. The book’s front cover shows examples of each locale, but doesn’t tell audiences that this is the flow of the book. The cover also has the text and illustrations in a slightly raised and glossy presentation. Kids (and adults) love this tactile trick that sublimely encourages readers to run their fingers over them so that they feel each bumpy letter or vehicle outline. This is also a ..read more

So, that movie broke the most important rule in monster films in that there were too many humans and almost all of them were annoying. In Godzilla x Kong the humans aren’t annoying for the most part. A couple of the actors fill the monster movie tropes that have to be filled in order to put butts in seats. There is the wisecracking, streetwise person who knows more than the scientists. There is a youth who is probably the key to saving the world. There is a mother figure who is much stronger than those around her think. There is a scientist who has a loose, approachable, hippie vibe, but is ac ..read more

The pacing and effective storytelling that happens in Ghost Book is remarkable. It establishes multiple characters in the underworld, lots of living characters, two disparate worlds, and creates a story that is completely understandable. Not only is this a story that upper elementary audiences will understand, they’ll feel the pain and frustration of the characters. They will laugh out loud when the ghosts want more dumplings. They’ll squirm just a little bit when the ghosts get a little disgusting. William’s proclivity to get himself into near-death situations keeps rearing its head will urge ..read more