Book Reviews: Edition 14 will focus on Stella : The Shark Who Loves Treasure, Playing Through the Seasons: Warm Sun, Wet Toes, and Mason and the Kodiak.
Stella : The Shark Who Loves Treasure
Stella : The Shark Who Loves Treasure is written by Sarah Cullen and Carmen Ellis and illustrated by Zuzana Svobodova. While I did enjoy this story, I did have a few issues with it. First, I feel as if the title is a bit general for the theme of the story. Yes, it was about a shark who loves treasure, but it was more a lesson in greed vs generosity and about a treasure hunt.
Second, I would have liked to have seen some reaction from Stella’s friends when she insisted the treasure was hers. It’s a small thing, but I feel it could have developed the story a bit further.
Finally, there was a tense error early on in the story. It was within a contraction, which is why I think it was missed. This book gets 4/5 stars from me.
Playing Through the Seasons: Warm Sun, Wet Toes
Playing Through the Seasons: Warm Sun, Wet Toes is written by Essie Bell and illustrated by Anastasia Pronina. While I can see where Bell is going with the story, some of the rhymes are a bit awkward. No one says ‘summer and gold’ for example.
There is also a transition issue later in the story. They talk about getting ice cream on the way home, and then the next page talks about camping. I think the story would have made more sense if the order had been switched around a little.
This book gets 3/5 stars from me.
Mason and the Kodiak
Mason and the Kodiak is written by Robert Mueller Jr. While I did enjoy this book (it was my favorite of the books I reviewed), there were numerous comma splices, as well as what may have been a typo with quotations. I would recommend hiring an editor or even using Grammarly to catch the errors.
Despite this, the story was engaging, and the errors didn’t detract too much from the story. This book gets 4/5 stars.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on my reviews, I recommend both Stella: The Shark Who Loves Treasure and Mason and the Kodiak.
If you’re interested in having your book reviewed, email me at andiecampbell@andiecampbellblog.com. At this time all book reviews are free.
AprilCoxTravel & Freelance 