Kids Books - Folk

*NO CRITICAL SPOILERS* (Entirely subjective) Dragon Pearl is about a fantasy world taking place in space. And yes, I picked it up because it said, "Rick Riordan Presents" on the cover. In this world, humans coexist with "supernaturals" in space and the summary above pretty much gives the rest of the synopsis. A critical review: Kim Min is the protagonist of the book. As far as characters go, she's one of the most interesting in the whole book. The idea of a supernatural fox-pseudo human going to space to save her brother while is such an enticing premise that is fully realized in this book. She possesses many shades of grey that make the reader question her moral values and the decisions she makes, going so far as to have them decide whether she can even be considered a good character in the first place. She is determined, rebellious, and willing to do anything, even abuse her shapeshifting abilities to pose as another individual. She deceives her closest friends and infiltrates a private room to find information about where her brother (the main motive) has gone. The reader's choice to decide whether or not she can be forgiven gives the book a more immersive feel to it and makes her character more relatable. The most interesting thing about her is her grey shades that leave the reader One of the book's biggest strengths is its worldbuilding elements. The world itself is full of supernatural creatures and is so fully realized it feels almost real. Part of the reason for this is the fact that it's able to reflect real-world prejudices in a realistic manner that mirrors prejudices of our own. In this book, fox species are frowned upon as deceptive and cunning, and while it's a nice nod to Zootopia (ha), it manages to be different from that with its sci-fi theming and setting that takes place in the confines of a military-like spaceship. The Korean mythology that is implemented in this futuristic setting feels so incredibly creative and mind-blowing at times, as the parallels between the legends and the events of the book are so cleverly executed. However, there are some serious criticisms that I feel should be addressed about this book. The book seems to drag on and on forever and is riddled with poor pacing. Lots of patience is needed to go through this book as the "high-octane thrills" that are promised on the cover only come occasionally. This is likely due to the setting, which is restricted within the spaceship. Although Kim Min has lots of drive behind her, the rate at which the goals themselves are accomplished sometimes happens at a staggeringly slow pace. The characters spend lots of their time expressing their opinions on previous events in the book or spend a long time contemplating what to do. And when the destination is finally reached, it doesn't feel fulfilling. The brother Kim spends so many pages looking for is actually in the book for only twenty pages/ The first and last act of the book is where it truly manages to shine as that's where it feels most appropriately paced. Some side plots also unnecessarily intrude in the main story. Kim's two best friends, Haneul and Sujin, are not expanded to their full potential and while they start off strong, get less and less developed as the book drags on. The villain also feels one-dimensional at times, with the generic "I'll take over the world using this epic powerful item" trope. Even Jun, Kim's brother, struggles as a character with the same problems and lack of a proper arc. Jang, the ghost out for revenge, is the only other character that actually feels fleshed out enough. Overall, this book is good. That much is true. It has a fully-realized world and protagonist that is hindered by poor pacing and side characters. But hey. That's just my opinion. If you're patient, go enough and read it. 3/5.

I love this book so much I would read it every day if I would

The story about Black Beauty had been started when he was just a foal. He was described as a horse with black coat, along with the black mane. But once when he got older, he got sold to many different hands (people who works with horses) such like; Squire and Lady Gordon, Miss W--, Miss Anna, etc. Beauty also friends with other horses; Merrylegs, Ginger, and Captain. Even though this book is fictional but the way the author, Anna Sewell wrote about Black Beauty has just felt so real. I had really enjoyed this book and this book would be perfect for any horses-lovers. - Happy Reading!

Not The best of the series. But still quite good. The writing is wonderful. The world Sutherland has created is vibrant and complex and oh so amazing well thought out for a middle grade series. Or frankly, for ANY epic fantasy series. I loved finally getting to see the Icewing culture, even though it was terribly depressing & must be so hard on all those poor Icewing dragonets. I'm loving how far the Darkstalker legend has come, has been expanded for the ghost stories of the terrified Nightwings in book 5. And it was great getting to know these new dragonets better. (Although I still can't figure out why they are suddenly so loyal to each other after knowing each other for like 5 days.) The story itself was well crafted and fun, with hints of "oh my god, this stuff is kinda dark, why is it for kids?" Thrown in. Like all the other "Wings of Fire" books. But, sadly, I didn't find "Winter Turning" QUITE as enjoyable as previous books. And again, sadly, I had to give it only 3 stars instead of a super excited 5 or 4. Mostly, due to Winter himself. It was painful, being stuck in his head. :( so sad, because I usually love the tortured soul, angry & sad type heroes. I found him annoying and whiney and mean. Why did Moon spend so much time telling how good & great he is? All I saw was a super whiny little dragon. A hateful dragon. I get that he spent his whole life being told to basically hate all other tribes, (& having unpleasable parents) but come on. It was a bit over the top.... And then the over the top-ness of it was undermined by how quickly he got over it all. Although I did feel how much he missed and loved Hailstorm so that was good. He just wasn't a very likable character. :( I know that they don't always have to be, but I was so looking forward to this book and this character & I felt so let down. :/ It wasn't a bad book really. It just wasn't as great as it could have been. I felt Winter could have been a great character. But really he was just obnoxious. At least I only had to deal with one book in his point of view. The series is still one of my favorites, so I look forward to reading and reviewing the next book "Escaping Peril" Recommended to fans of dragons, the rest of the series, and lovers of epic fantasy.

this book was amazing, it really helps bring percy jackson to life and it even includes things like report cards and it explains myths that percy has been told. i definitely recomend it to any percy jackson fans!

Inheritance by: Christopher Paolini Reviewed by: Nick Drown Gr. 7 “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini takes place in the ancient realm of Alagaesia where a hero’s struggle for the final battle against his antagonist Galbatorix - the evil king of Alagaesia - may or may not be successful. The kingdom of Alagaesia is a lot like the middle ages in the sense that there are castles and dragons, swords and shields. Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, and Ra’Zac roam the kingdom and make their civilizations throughout the Empire. The hero is Eragon and he is struggling to win the war against Galbatorix. Many times he has tried to thwart the mad king’s plans, and many times he has failed. Galbatorix is a usurper and his people live in fear. Eragon hopes to stop Galbatorix’s reign of terror by overthrowing him. Galbatorix seems to be winning the battles with the laughing dead - men who can feel no pain. Eragon must beat him or the Varden will die. Even though they are winning, the Empire is very worried. Galbatorix is insane, and the Varden have ACTUALLY captured two of their strongest cities: Gil’ead and Dras-Leona. The, Empire send out hundreds - even THOUSANDS of men but the Varden win most of the battles no matter what the odds. Now, because of a werecat’s prophecy, Eragon must journey to the Rock of Kuthian in order to find the power that will help him fight against Galbatorix. This could very well be the turning point of the war. What he finds there is legendary, perhaps even more than he can handle. He finds his true name and unlocks the Rock of Kuthian, which is the Vault of Dragon Souls, but, can he control what he finds? Saphira, Eragon’s great dragon, is one of the three dragons left on Alagaesia after Galbatorix’s purge and almost Extinction of Dragons. Saphira battles the two other dragons, Thorn and Shruikan, endangering her safety and the safety of her race. With two Dragons against her, can Saphira defeat her foes? However, unfortunately, if she kills them, she is the last of her kind. “Inheritance” by Christopher Paolini is a truly wonderful book and is full of action, adventure, suspense, and surprises that are unforgettable.

Perfectly assembled into a masterpiece from tidbits of stories written for his son, Mr.Flanagan has crafted a story that has the right amount of action, humor, and romance, that will be worth staying up all night reading. The story follows the path of a young boy named Will and his other orphaned friends, who must choose their path of life on Choosing Day. Will like his friend Horace wants to enter Battleschool or Horseschool is denied because of his tiny stature. Later on, however, Will climbs a possible 4-story tower to see what the mysterious Ranger Halt had written about him. In the process, Will is accepted to be trained as Ranger under Halt. Throughout the story, we follow Will's training, the hardships that follow and how he becomes acquainted with his "enemy" Horace. Finally, the story ends with an epic battle with Good v.s the evil Morgarath which continues in Book 2 of the series. 5/5 stars this book is a must-read. Happy Readings! bean_boy

This book includes special creatures and magics in sea. You can feel how it is like to live in sea.

ABA journal and into the story of Aladdin aladdin and then when they gave you a ride and they played Dumbo aladdin can go to the Moon get the magic lamp to Abby and Jonah take it i'm pretending that watching adventures and when they go with that man to the cape they say that I was reading that because they had already given the genie in the lamp away they forgot to say that my fairy freed from the mirror instead of very they said that the dream IG which technically meant him himself Jessie Honeyman the genie in the lamp.wa find out that you lost them inside the genie to unlock the door so that he'll ask the genie to unlock the door so that it can go outside and the team does so her name then he tries to get a lap they try to get married to the Princess Twilight's Alexa Ridin but then comes by and gets the ring and then i'm coming back we only get three wishes per day one Wish from Magic Carpet and the man Carrie Spencer bought her a labrador was supposed to marry Aladdin and the castle up to the other side of the town they would probably was it so strong and she had to follow the master who the ring was wearing it that was just break it was sorry I don't think about the Rings because they are supposed to say that I'll have that ring that if you give me that ring then maybe I'll marry you you did and didn't she said hurry Jonah catch the catch it and got everything back to normal and Aladdin also got my princess and I was there last wish Abby gave Karima up for the ring now coming out with a free Genie do not give up the match and when they reached the end

Have you ever wondered what the backstory of the evil enchantress from Sleeping Beauty is like? From first glance, she might seem completely evil, but clearly, Chris Colfer, author of Land of Stories thinks there’s more to it. Here’s a short summary: After Alex’s mom got kidnapped by the enchantress she had to stay cooped up. She goes to her grandma’s house and then falls but in time her brother caught her. When they reached their grandma’s house they found a way to go to the fairy tale world. They meet an old friend Froggy and they go to Red Riding Hood's castle. When they heard the enchantress was taking over the world they thought they needed to do something. They started to go get the things for the wand of wonderment. When they got the Snow queen’s scepter she prophesied out of the 4 travellers 1 would stay. After the harp went into the wand Jack, Goldie, Red, Froggy, and Conner got trapped by the vines. Alex started to get determined and she needed the enchantress' anger. After she got some by talking to her she got blasted by the enchantress. She came back and dropped the wand on purpose and started beating the enchantress. She was beating the enchantress by words. The enchantress started to lose her power. But then the enchantress got the wand. Conner got Goldielocks’s sword and cut it in half. Some things I appreciated about the book were the themes, characters, and worldbuilding. A theme that I discovered while embarking on a journey with Alex and Connor in Book 2 is to never give up because you never know what is going to happen. I know because when Alex beat the Enchantress she never knew it was going to end like that. There was also some significant character development. In the first book Conner never paid attention to the class. But in the second book he became a good writer after he experienced the fairy tale world. Alex on the other hand she stayed the same and is still a straight A student. Lastly, I was intrigued by what happened in the fantasy world that Colfer created. In the fairy tale world there is castles, caves, villages, Kingdoms, Towers Overall, I’d rate the book 5 stars because it doesn’t have any confusing parts. It is also a very imaginative book. I would recommend this book to third graders because it seems like it would be popular among that age group because the fantasy aspect is very engaging.