Ella G. Adams - A Magical Disaster

A Magical Disaster



By Ella G. Adams


Kindle Edition Available

Product Description (from Amazon)

Bridget stumbles into a small town only to find it enchanted by magic and about to be destroyed by dragons! Will Bridget be able to save the town before the dragons completely destroy it?

About the Author (from Amazon)

Ella Adams is a 10-year-old writer and illustrator. She enjoys reading mysteries and adventure stories. Ella also loves playing basketball, running track and cross-country, and playing chess. She is currently working towards a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Kendra

For a book by a ten-year old, this was really good – especially when you take the pictures into consideration. The plot is, for the most part, predictable and the characters rely on the pictures for development, it’s no worse than many books I’ve read my younger sibs that we checked out at the library.

As the summery states, this is the story of a girl who finds a magical village only for dragons to attack. With quick thinking and a magical item that is mentioned during the tour she is given earlier, she defeats the dragons and is hailed the hero of the story.

The pictures are the gem of the story. While they are clearly done with some sort of paint program, they are very clearly recognizable as what the text is describing. The author holds promise as both an author and illustrator, and I’m eager to watch her career as she grows and matures.

Genre/Theme: Fantasy, Dragons, Young author

Reading Level: CHILD - children's literature 
 Profanity: NONE - no offensive language 
 Sexuality: NONE - not even hinted at 
 Other: Dragons blow fire at houses. I don’t think anyone got hurt, though.

Salvador Alva - Come Back Home, Sugar Bear

Come Back Home, Sugar Bear
The story of a dog lost, and a spoiled little girl's love


By Salvador Alva



Kindle Edition Available 




Product Description (from Amazon) 

Publication Date: January 27, 2012
When nine year old Lisa's mother brings home a chihuahua, she is not pleased about it.

With the dog getting all of the attention and her older brother happy, she does everything in her power to get rid of it.

The only thing she cares about is her herself.

Eventually, and over time, the little girls love for the dog becomes so strong, that being separated breaks the little girls heart.

Will she ever find him again?

A warm and loving story coupled with a beautiful life lesson.


About the Author (from Amazon)

No Author Description  Available



O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel


This story is written for young children, so it is simple with very little plot or character development – of course, it’s hard to do much in a book you can read in 10 minutes.  It is engaging enough that any child who loves dogs should enjoy the book.

Their are two 9 year old little girls, I’m not sure what the first girl’s name is ... as I’ve combed the story and cannot find it.  But the second one is Wendy.  And there is Sugar Bear – the tiny dog.

As I am pretty sure that no 5 – 7 year old children are going to be reading this blog to find a book ... I’ll not worry about spoilers ... the basic story line goes like this ...

Mom brings home the little dog, and her spoiled little girl hates the dog, kicks him, screams at him, and is mad because she is no longer the center of all the attention.  One night she has a bad dream, slams the door on the dog and then is worried that she has hurt it.  Mom puts them both in the bed with her while Dad sleeps on the couch ... things begin changing between the girl and the dog.  Later, at her 10th birthday party at the park, Sugar Bear is lost.  A lady finds the dog, and gives her to Wendy.  Months pass before they find the owners, but in returning the dog, the girl and Wendy become best friends.

There is a LOT more to the story ...  as it is around 25 pages long without pictures.  It is actually quite an entertaining little story.

I suppose it is (will be) a cute and enduring story to most people, and most children will enjoy it and read it again and again.

But this is not a story that my family will be keeping.  I found the little girl’s attitude to be quite shocking, especially the way she bossed around her parents and felt that their job was to make her happy.  It wasn’t until the dog showed her attention that she decided to like it.  It gave her undivided attention.  The one thing I DID like, was that the little girl Wendy was not a popular child, but the first girl noticed that she was sad and invited her to play and share the dog.  This was the only glimpse that I saw of the girl thinking of anyone other than herself.  She did miss Sugar Bear as well, but I was unsure whether she missed the dog or the attention that the dog gave to her.  I do understand that most parents or adults do not feel the same way I do about this subject.

Now, if a bratty little girl amuses you, you will probably love this book.  The writing style is simple and clean, easy to follow, and emotional.   It is well written and cute, and who can resist a tiny little dog?

Ms. Alva has some definite talent for writing a simple, clean cut, and easy to follow for the early readers that is sure to find captivating and enjoyable.


Genre/Theme:   Children, Pets – Dog,  Bedtime Story, Lost/ Found Pet
Reading Level: CHILD - children's literature   -  Ages 4 and up  to listen – 2nd grade reading level
Profanity:  LOW - few mildly offensive words  -  hate and a couple others
Sexuality: NONE - not even hinted at 
Other: None

Daisy Griffin - Samantha Loses the Box Turtle

Samantha Loses the Box Turtle
by Daisy Griffin
Illustrations by Matthew Griffin

Kindle Edition Available



Product Description (from Amazon)
When Samantha's grandfather finds a box turtle on a busy street the only thing to do is bring him home. Sam's mom says that he has to be let go, but not before some zany drama ensues. You'll have to read to find out how Samantha Loses the Box Turtle!


Samantha Loses the Box Turtle is a children's chapter book filled with fun and adventure while teaching about the lovable critter, the Eastern Box Turtle. It is broken up into 11 chapters, which contain 15 wonderful illustrations by Matthew Gauvin.

Also included at the end of the book are Box Turtle Fun Facts and a Quiz to help further your child's reading enjoyment.

About the Author (from Amazon author page)
I am a mother of 3, aunt of 7. My degree is in zoology and my heart tends to love all things natural. I love animals and plants and gazing at the stars at night. I am an avid reader. I am married to a technophile who lovingly bestowed a Kindle upon me for my birthday one year. I love it. I love reading on it, and am now enjoying creating books for children to go on it.

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Kendra
Growing up with a younger sister who loved animals, we had a few turtles … or more like lots of turtles. Four of these turtles were box turtles, and three of those came from the wild. I really enjoyed this book, as it brought back so many memories from those days.

     The story starts with them finding the turtle on the way home from a trip to town one day. They bring it home in a plastic sack because they found it in an unsafe location, and when they get home, their mother tells them they could not keep the turtle as it was wild and would not survive properly in captivity, something I can attest to because we had to release all three of the box turtles we got from the wild rather soon after my sister acquired them. They decide to take the turtle to the local nature preserve.
     Samantha is also studying the Food Chain in school and, with permission from both her mother and teacher, brings the turtle to show her fellow students. While at school, the turtle gets out and they have to re-find him again, and after school they take the turtle to the Nature Preserve.
     It was a good story, and flowed pretty seamlessly. There were plenty of turtle facts peppered throughout, but they were never annoying. To my surprise, there was no mention of evolution. All facts were the hands-on type that you can prove. The pictures were naturally black and white, so that should not be an issue on the black and white Kindle.
     Samantha did not get along with her sister as well as I would have liked her to, and I found the baby’s speech a tad bit unrealistic, but not much.

All in all, this is a good book, one I’m sure my younger sister would have devoured back during her turtle days, and one I’m sure my younger brother will enjoy reading.

Genre/Theme: Chapter Reading Book, Animals, Children
Reading Level (by appropriateness): CHILD Children's Literature
Profanity: One Gray Area word
Sexuality: NONE - although some parents might ahve issues when, in explaining the difference between girl and boy turtles, it is mentions that tboy turtles get on top of girl turtles

Brenda Ponnay - Secret Spy Numbers

Super Agent Josephine's 
Secret Spy Numbers
by Brenda Ponnay

Available for Kindle

 and in Paperback


Product Description (from Amazon)

Secret Agent Josephine is willing to reveal the contents of her stealthy, super expanding spy bag -- but are you ready? In this fresh and funny book, Brenda Ponnay, aka Secret Agent Josephine, gets kids counting spy glasses, micro-cameras and more super-secret spy gear. Little ones will love the bright colors and big numbers, older children (and their parents) will delight in the detailed descriptions of the spy paraphernalia.

About the Author (from Amazon author page)

Mother by day, Secret Agent by night! Or at least that's what I've been telling everyone on the internet for the last five years. The reality is I juggle motherhood and a bustling graphic design and illustration business all day long and deep into the night. The lines are blurred and that is what makes me a Secret Agent or a super hero, either one.

My daughter is my muse and she creeps into my art in the most unexpected ways (sometimes literally).

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

O.Scarlett! GUEST REVIEW by Kendra

I read a review for the print version of this series on a blog I follow, so when I noticed that my Mom had managed to get this one for our Kindle, I pulled it up at once.

The book itself was every bit as good as I had remembered the review saying it to be.  It gave a detailed inventory of all 55 items in her bag. Who would have guessed that she carried around a stick of lipstick that was really super glue?  Or a rubber computer?

Now I want a rubber computer …

However, this book is in color, and on a black and white Kindle, it just wasn’t as brilliant. In this book of the series, it wasn’t so bad, but one of the books in the series is about colors.  Also, a good deal of the charm of this book was in the descriptions of the objects, which was part of the image, and in super tiny print.  I could barely read it on the Kindle.

So I pulled it up on my laptop. It was some better. The colors were now there, but the print was still tiny. Pulling it up on my Mom’s larger computer was better, but still not much. Perhaps if I could get my hands on Josephine’s secret spy magnifying glass, I would be able to read it …

However, all in all, it was a great read, and I look forward to reading it to my younger brother and sister. I plan to suggest this series to my local library.

Genre/Theme:  Children, Educational (numbers), Spy/Mystery

Reading Level: CHILD 
Profanity:  NONE 
Sexuality:  NONE 

Other: None