Mini Reviews: Delilah Dusticle & Delilah Dusticle's Transylvania Adventure by A.J. York

Delilah Dusticle by A.J. York

Series: Delilah Dusticle, #1
Release Date: March 3^rd 2013
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Format: Kindle Edition
Pages: 33
Genre: Middle Grade - Fantasy
Source: Author for review
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
Add it: Goodreads

Delilah Dusticle has special powers, she can completely eradicate dust. With her quiver pouch of special dusters Delilah can run up walls and reaches places others just can’t. As a maid in the Fenchurch-Whittington house Delilah’s unusual skills soon lead to her being promoted to Chief Dust Eradicator and Remover. Until one day a broken heart leads to her powers taking an expected turn.

This is the first in a series of touching and funny stories about Delilah Dusticle. Follow her on a journey of self-discovery, friendship and adventure.

*This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Delilah Dusticle is a 16 year old girl who works for a well-known family. Delilah is a very special maid as she can completely eradicate dust. She carries around a pouch with a bunch of special dusting tools. She works for the family as the Chief Dust Eradicator and Remover. The woman of the house loves to brag about how clean her house is and she is the envy of the Ladies Club. Delilah loves her job and turns down many other jobs because she secretly has a crush on the home owner’s son, Charlie Fenchurch-Whittington the Third. However, one day Charlie Fenchurch-Whittington the Third comes home with a fiancé and her powers start changing. Delilah could never imagine what would come of that encounter and how much her life was about to change.

This is a cute, funny, short story that I think any child would enjoy. Not only do you get the entertaining story but there are also some illustrations scattered throughout the story. I think this would be a great story to read (or have your child read aloud) before bedtime. I will definitely be giving this to my son to read!

My Rating:

Delilah Dusticle’s Transylvania Adventure by A.J. York

Series: DelilahDusticle, #2
Release Date: January 15^th 2014
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Format: Kindle Edition
Pages: 85
Genre: Middle Grade - Fantasy
Source: Author for review
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 
Add it: Goodreads

In this illustrated instalment, Delilah and the Dustbusters are invited to Transylvania to cater for the Hallow Eve Ball. All is not what it seems and Count Dracula has a very unusual request for Delilah.

This is the second in a series of stories following Delilah and the Dustbusters on journeys and adventures around the world. Delilah Dusticle’s Transylvanian Adventure guarantees to have has more action than you can shake a feather duster at!

*This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Delilah and her team have come so far and are about to go on an adventure they could have never imagined. Delilah and her Dustbusters are invited to Transylvania to clean for the well-known Dracula. However everything is not as it seems in the giant mansion. Delilah learns things about herself as Dracula explains the truth of her powers to her. Delilah must learn to harness her powers. There are spiders in football gear, British spies, and an evil baroness. I do also have to mention that one of my favorite characters in the book is the grumpy sponge. I found him to be pretty funny.

This book definitely has more of an adventure aspect than the first book and I really enjoyed it. It is funny and magical and the characters, both major and minor, are entertaining and I think children will probably enjoy this one even more than the first.

My Rating:

Mini Review: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (28 days of reviews #2)

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Skottie Young

Release Date: September 17th 2013
Publisher:  HaperCollins
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 114
Genre: Children’s – Fantasy, Adventure
Source: My collection
Author: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads

"I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: T h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road."

"Hullo," I said to myself. "That's not something you see every day. And then something odd happened."

Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young.

This book was fantastic. I was smiling as I was reading it and I will be making my 7 year old son read it because I know he will really like it too. The only other Neil Gaiman book I have read is Coraline which I also really like but this blew that one out of the water. This book was a funny, super quick read that included some great illustrations, some of them full pages.

Fortuantely, the Milk is a story about a father who goes down the street, to the corner store, to buy some milk for his children’s cereal. His children wait, and wait, and wait for him to come home but it is taking ages! Finally he arrives home and when his children ask what took him so long he tells them a tale so unbelievable about how traveled through time and eventually saved the world, all while keeping hold of the milk.

I think I liked this book so much because it reminded me of a Roald Dahl book. Roald Dahl is my favorite children/middle grade author of all time. I have been reading his books since I was young. I am not sure if Neil Gaiman has written any other books like this but if he has I must get my hands on them.

  

My Rating:

Mini Monday #37

Mini Monday: Where my son and I do two “mini” reviews on two children’s books. Each book will get a Thumbs up, Middle Thumb, or Thumbs down rating!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published September 30th 1991 by HarperCollins
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If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix.

In this hilarious sequel to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the young host is again run ragged by a surprise guest. Young readers will delight in the comic complications that follow when a little boy entertains a gregarious moose.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published May 9th 1985 by HarperCollins
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If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim...

I decided to go ahead a make this Mini Monday into one combined review since these books are pretty much the same thing. One just involves a moose and a muffin and the other involves a mouse and a cookie!

These books are definitely a classic for me. The first book was published two years before I was born and the other one a couple years after, so I pretty much grew up with these. I wanted to make it a point for my sons to know these books too.

Both of these books just got on a string of events that “might” happen if you give either animal what they are asking for. Some of the things the animals want to do are pretty funny, such as the moose wanting to make a puppet show. I think my son and I enjoyed the moose story a little more, even though they are so similar.

If you have never read these to your kids then you totally should; just because they are such well-known books.

My Rating:

Mini Monday #36

Mini Monday: Where my son and I do two “mini” reviews on two children’s books. Each book will get a Thumbs up, Middle Thumb, or Thumbs down rating!

999 Tadpoles by Kim Kimura
Illustrated by Yasunari Murakami
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published May 1st 2011 by NorthSouth
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

“We’ll have to move,” says Mother, after realizing the pond is too small.  But moving a family of 999 young frogs is fraught with danger! Hungry snakes are crawling through the grass. Hungry hawks are flying through the sky. A young frog makes a mighty tasty morsel.  

Never underestimate the quick wits of 999 young frogs!

 

This is a cute story about a mom and dad frog that has too many babies! They need to move to another pond and of course have an adventure along the way. They get themselves into an interesting predicament but it works well in the end. My son laughed at a couple different parts in this book. There were full page graphics throughout the book which my son and I both like. No big life lesson in this book just a cute read.

 

My Rating:

 

Lego City: Save This Christmas by Rebecca McCarthy
Paperback, 24 pages
Published September 1st 2012 by Scholastic Inc.
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It's Christmas in LEGO® City!

A few crooks are coming up with a plan to steal all the presents at the LEGO City town tree. After several days of hilariously unsuccessful attempts--Christmas Eve has arrived and the crooks make their last attempt to steal all the presents. They creep towards the tree in the dark only to find themselves in the middle of the tree lighting ceremony! The tree is lit, the crooks are carted off to prison, and Christmas is saved!

My son checked out this book from the library at his school. Not sure why he picked the Christmas one but he really likes these Lego books. All of these stories are pretty basic but they are great books for Lego lovers like my son.

My Rating:

 

Mini Monday #34

 

Mini Monday: Where my son and I do two “mini” reviews on two children’s books. Each book will get a Thumbs up, Middle Thumb, or Thumbs down rating!

The Z was Zapped: A Play in Twenty-six Acts by Chris Van Allsburg
Hardcover, 56 pages
Published October 26th 1998 by Sandpiper
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A dramatic black-and-white presentation of the alphabet in which the two-time Caldecott Medalist depicts a mysterious transformation of each letter.

This was a very interesting way to portray the entire alphabet. Each page contains only a portrait view of the letter on the stage and then on the back of the page it tells what is happening to it. My son had fun trying to figure out what it was going to say. All of the pictures are in black and white, which added to the ambiance of the book. This is a very serious book and some of the things that are happening to the letters are rather dark. I.e.: The B was badly Bitten. The K was quietly kidnapped.

The last page of the story is a blank red page which I assume is supposed to represent the red curtain dropping. I thought that was neat addition.

I picked up this book because this is the same author that wrote The Polar Express, which is pretty well-known classic children’s book, one of my brother’s favorites actually. I will be keeping my eyes open for more books by this author and I suggest anyone who has a younger child learning the alphabet to pick this up!

My Rating:

 

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Eric Kaplan
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published August 31st 2010 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Dad has warned Henry and Eve: If you whine too much, monsters will eat you. Henry and Eve don’t listen, of course. The only problem is, when the monster comes, he can’t find the right recipe for whiny children—and neither can his monster friends! A whiny child salad doesn’t work because there’s paprika in the dressing. A whiny child cake won’t do because the flour spills all over the floor. And whiny child burgers are out of the question because the grill is too hard to light up. Arguments and hilarity ensue. And just when our persnickety monsters decide on the perfect dish…the worst thing of all happens….

 

 

Well I saw this book sitting on the top shelf at the library and immediately snatched it up. I just couldn’t pass up a book with that title! I showed my son and he seemed a little nervous but wanted to read it. Now after reading it I will say I’m do not think this book is for every kid; most parents will probably get a chuckle out of it but I could see some kids being a little scared. Not necessarily by the book itself but by the message of monsters eating whiny children.

My son wasn’t scared of it but I do think he got a little bored during the story. He really didn’t have too much to say about the story when it was finished. He was more interested in the map that was printed on the inside of the front and back covers. He actually really liked that part.

Pretty much the whole story is about a family of monsters yelling about how they are going to eat the children while the children are playing in the corner. I wasn’t a big fan of the artwork and I don’t think my son was either.  It was an ok book overall but if this book doesn’t sound that great to you then I would say go ahead and pass on this one.

My Rating: