KEL GILLIGAN'S DAREDEVIL STUNT SHOW by Michael Buckley

Kel Gilligan has no fear. He'll tackle broccoli, bath time and dressing himself before his biggest daredevil stunt ever - bed time!

Delightfully unexpected! I had seen some buzz about this book on Twitter. I love the author's and illustrator's work already and this collaboration was especially excellent. When my son saw who put this book together, he said, "Two great guys did this one!" This was tremendously funny! The bare-bottom picture alone will garner great laughs!

4 out of 5 stars
AR reading level of 2.0

MONDAY: The Sisters Grimm: A Very Grimm Guide by Michael Buckley

A guide book to the Sisters Grimm series. The final book in the series releases this spring. This book reviews the main characters and major plot points as well as giving information on the major fairy tale writers like the original Grimm siblings, Hans Christian Anderson, Frank Baum, etc. Great resource for fans of the series as well as new comers. Reading this is a great way to gear up for the series finale.

You can read some of my reviews on the series here.

4 out of 5 stars

Cautions: This series focuses on the darker sides of the fairy tales. Not for readers looking for Disney Princess-type stories

THURSDAY: NERDS: The Cheerleaders of Doom

Summary
NERDS - the National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society is back to save the world once again. This time, Matilda - or "Wheezer" - is spotlighted in the story. Matilda has to go undercover as the worst thing she can imagine. A cheerleader! A former NERDS agent has developed a device that opens a passage to other dimensions and her jumps back and forth are going to destroy our Earth if the NERDS can't stop her. 


Review
Great fun! I love that the author is giving each member of the team the spotlight in a book. The extra insight into the characters adds a nice dimension to the stories. Lots of layers to the case keep readers turning pages. Matilda has to get over her cheerleader aversion, get in touch with her inner cheerleader, infiltrate a squad, find her target (who has had extensive plastic surgery), and stop the dimension-jumping. Lots to enjoy in this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending. I'll just say the picture on page 236/237 and the scene it depicts are great!


4 out of 5 stars
AR book level of 5.0 


Recommended for: readers 8 and up, fans of the series, readers who like funny books or spy stories or adventure stories or science fiction/fantasy.


Cautions: Matilda's family's spiritual beliefs are briefly referenced. Young character gets extensive plastic surgery (could be opportunity for parents and children to talk about self-image issues).

Waiting on WEDNESDAY

My To Be Read pile (or TBR) is really a To Be Read bookcase - five bowing shelves of books that I want to read but just haven't gotten to yet. Here are a few titles from my shelves.

Also, there are a few more new releases coming out this month that I didn't mention last week:

NERDS: Book Three: The Cheerleaders of Doom

A Bad Kitty Christmas 

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco

Squish #2: Brave New Pond

These fun books for kids should be a hit - all from great series.

Happy reading!

Waiting on WEDNESDAY

I found the second book of the NERDS series out earlier than expected, so it is waiting for our attention here at home. My son was ecstatic to find it in the Barnes and Noble bag last week.

[I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click to Amazon from one of my blogs and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.]

RECOMMENDATIONS WEEK - Day 5

This year our family enjoyed reading NERDS aloud together - my son giggled at the different tasks we had to do to get to the next chapter in the story. We are looking forward to Book 2 coming out on September 1.

And, I just couldn't get through a week of recommendations without mentioning Harry. With the new Lego game - LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Lego sets coming out this fall, along with the first portion of the last movie coming out in November, Harry is enjoying renewed interest at our house - and in houses all over, I am sure.

[I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click to Amazon from one of my blogs and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.]

TUESDAY: The Inside Story

The Grimm Sisters' ongoing adventure takes them this time into the Book of Everafter - a magical book of fairy tales that visitors can go to and experience the story first hand. But they aren't there for a vacation. They are chasing the one who has orchestrated all their recent trials and who has taken their baby brother. 

I enjoyed this "chapter" in the sisters' saga. The series is a little dark for younger readers, but it is a great "twisted" tale series. I wasn't familiar with the book versions of the stories highlighted in The Inside Story, but it didn't impact my understanding of the tale.

[I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click to Amazon from one of my blogs and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.]

TUESDAY: N.E.R.D.S.

Great new series from the author of the Sisters Grimm series.

Jackson Jones is Mr. Popular. He is a good looking kid who plays football and runs with a large crew of kids. Unfortunately, Jones is also a bully, picking on anyone at school who is the least bit "uncool." In a painful bit of irony, Jones finds out what it feels like to be the outcast after a trip to the orthodontist leaves him with a mouth full of magnetic metal.

When Jackson stumbles upon a secret lab at his elementary school, the NERDS aren't very excited to see him. You can't blame them, considering how Jackson tormented each of them when he was popular. They have no time to argue about his addition to the team, though. They need to focus their attention on a threat to destroy the world. After all, even though they are kids, the NERDS are the National Espionage, Resuce and Defense Society.

This book reminded me of the Adventures of Ordinary Boy series that I really like. There are fun interactive elements between chapters and some really funny moments. I am reading it out loud to my seven-year-old right now, and he loves it. I have had to edit out one reference to a grown up "seducing" beautiful women (not a new vocabulary word I want my child using) and some of the descriptions of one of the NERDS. He is often described as "chubby" or "fat," which accurately describes his body type, but are words I don't want my child to use. That's more about me than the book, though. I can't wait for the next one in this series!

[I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you click to Amazon from one of my blogs, and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.]

TUESDAY: The Sisters Grimm series

(for ages 9-12)
Fairy tales with a twist. The Grimm sisters have been on their own, moving from foster home to foster home, just trying to survive the awful situations where their caseworker places them. Their parents disappeared and they have no other family. But one day, a woman shows up, claiming to be their grandmother. While it is nice to get away from the creepy foster homes, the girls aren't sure they can trust a grandmother they have never heard of.

It turns out that the girls come from the famous Grimm family, as in the Brothers Grimm. And fairy tale characters are actually alive and living among us. Most live in Ferryport Landing where the Grimms live in order to keep the Everafters in line because fairy tale characters aren't always what you might expect.

This is a great series. Each book ends with a cliff hanger that has you hounding the bookshelves and library shelves for the next installment. The darkness of some content makes this for older readers - around 9 or 10 and up.