Amazing Peace, by Maya Angelou

One star, read in December 2013. Of course this was gorgeous, and in general, I love Maya Angelou’s . . . everything. But I didn’t love this book’s illustrations, and frankly, if the poem weren’t written by Maya Angelou I would give it negative stars. Because as nice an idea as this “amazing peace” is,…

The Princess and the Three Knights, by Karen Kingsbury

One star, read in June 2013. I hated this for many reasons, and in spite of the almost too beautiful illustrations. (In fact, in the context of the drippy overbearing Christianness of the story, the illustrations were too beautiful, and I scoffed at them even as I liked them.) Typical patriarchal fairy tale storyline: Very white, blonde…

In the Wild, by David Elliott and Holly Meade

The illustration in this book is definitely worth 5 stars—it is absolutely gorgeous! My niece picked it up at the library and was ready to put it down again, but I made her check it out after glimpsing the pages. Then she went home, and I kept it to read for myself. The poems I…

Talk, Talk, Squawk!: A Human’s Guide to Animal Communication, by Nicola Davies

There is a really surprising amount of information in this book that looks like such a light read when you just grab it in passing off the nonfiction display. It would be great for kids who are interested in animals, and I found it pretty interesting as an adult, too. You learn about all the…

Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic, by Burleigh Muten

This book is essentially an encyclopedia of goddesses. Starting with A—Aataentsic (Iroquois); Aditi (Hindu); Ama-terasu (Japan); Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena (Greece)—and going through the alphabet to Z—Zaramama (Peru), Zoe (Gnostic), the Zorya (Czechoslovakia)—there’s a short description of each goddess and her powers, along with a pronunciation guide to their names. I love the illustrations by Rebecca…

My Mom’s Having a Baby!: A Kid’s Month-By-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler

I have very little patience for people who freak out about books like this. It’s “a kid’s month-by-month guide to pregnancy.” It’s a nonfiction book for children about how human beings reproduce. Yes, there is going to be mention of the reproductive system. The negative reviews on Goodreads, as you might assume, are bonkers. They made…

I have always imagined that paradise will be some kind of library…

[This was reposted from the old blog I don’t use anymore, and the formatting doesn’t match up well. I haven’t taken the time to fix it yet.] Two weeks ago I got offered my dream job. It doesn’t pay enough for us to live on it alone, even now while we’re paying no rent, so…