Post by Mark T. Locker.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

If you are a regular reader of my outstanding book reviews, you may recall my discussion of the sad and touching and funny book Looking For Alaska a few months back. Well, John Green has struck again with another heartbreaking and hilarious novel for teens.

It is rare that a book about a sixteen-year-old girl with cancer could be described as “laugh out loud funny” without feeling it must be totally offensive, but The Fault in Our Stars is just that, and so much more. Told from the perspective of 16-year-old Hazel, who has been on an oxygen tank and stricken with cancer for three years, she lays everything out in a straightforward, smirky, jaded but insightful way that only a teen who is facing mortality could do.

John Green’s ability to be at once heart-wrenching and funny is a very special trait. I would not usually be excited for a book of this intensity but this one is spectacular.

On an interesting side note, apparently he and his brother Hank have a video blog that they do together called Vlogbrothers (their fans are Nerdfighters) which reportedly has over a million fans. So, if you need a little levity after this book, you can go and check that out:

Tags: bed, bedtime stories, Charles P. Rogers, Children's book reviews, John Green, The Fault in our Stars

Post by Mark T. Locker.

  The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

I have some terrible news: I cannot find my copy of The Arrival by Shaun Tan. If you have not     experienced this book, you might not understand my implacable sorrow. This is a book I give others as   often as possible. It’s no good to read aloud (there are no words) and the subject matter may be a bit   mature for kids but that’s no excuse not to run out and get this book right now.

Despite the fact that there is no written text, the images tell a rich story and you really can read them as one would a story with words.

The tale told in the pictures is that of an immigrant, fleeing a land of danger and war and striving to find  his way in a new land which is wholly alien to him. What I love about this book is that it highlights how language is not the only barrier to overcome in a new culture; there are new ways of acting, strange new foods, some of which you may not even know how to eat, and a host of other experiences to muddle through.

The Arrival is an intense, sweet, and touching story about one man’s journey to a new life in a new world. I like it. You will like it too.

Tags: bed, bedroom, bedtime stories, Charles P. Rogers, Children, family, Shaun Tan, The Arrival

Post by Mark T. Locker.

 A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Inspired by an idea by  Siobhan Down; Illustrated by Jim Kay.

Hey, how do you feel about crying into your pillow at  night? How do you feel about nightmares? Are you afraid  you might wake up to find jarring evidence that the  midnight visit by the Green Man was not a dream after  all? A Monster Calls promises all this and much more.  Dark, sardonic, creepy and heart-wrenching, this story  about a boy’s struggle with his ailing mother and his own  inner demons is an incredible book. When Conor is  visited by an enormous monster who has taken the form of a yew tree, he cannot understand why the creature says Conor called him. Why is the monster here? What does he want, or want to do, for Conor?

Illustrator Jim Kay has filled the pages with darkly beautiful images for which he used “everything from beetles to breadboards to make interesting marks and textures”. The Printz Award for excellence in Young Adult Fiction is to be announced next month; I’m keeping my eye on this gem.

Tags: A Monster Calls, bed, bedroom, bedtime stories, Charles P. Rogers, Children's book reviews, Patrick Ness

Post by Mark T. Locker.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen.

If you trust my opinion, don’t even bother reading the following review. Just walk outside, go to your LOCAL bookstore and buy a copy of this book. I don’t know if Jon Klassen has written or illustrated other books but this is his first children’s book, for sure. Deceptively simple in its text and beautifully illustrated on a plain white background I Want My Hat Back, which was published just a few months ago, follows a bear as he very politely asks all the woodland animals if they have seen his hat. Despite the straightforward language, this is a surprisingly funny story with a wickedly hilarious ending. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual Size Animal Encyclopedia by Toyofumi Fukuda

I like this book for two reasons: One, it has gigantic color photographs of a bunch of different animals from sloths to zebras and in this life-size images you can see all sorts of intricate details that you don’t normally get to see. The second reason I like this book is for all the interesting and sometimes off-beat facts that you learn reading this book. For instance, did you know sloths can hang for days from a branch without ever—er—using the men’s room? Amazing! I can’t stop looking at this book and the giraffe’s lovely long eyelashes.

Tags: bed, bedtime stories, Charles P. Rogers, Children, Children's book reviews, family

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Press Here by Herve Tullet

Who knew that a book whose only illustrations are dots could be so entertaining? That’s all you will find in Herve Tullet’s Press Here. BUT there are blue dots, yellow, red and green! What makes this book great is the interactivity of the book. On the first page the reader is told to press the yellow dot, which, when the page is turned, has multiplied. On each page you shake, blow and clap to make the dots spread, grow and rearrange. My three-year-old loves it. Mind you, there is no plot whatsoever, but really, what kind of story are you going to tell about colored dots?

Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers has treated us to another story about the little boy who made best friends with a penguin. In this follow-up, penguin is determined to learn to fly. When he sees an opportunity to be a human—er—penguin cannonball, he gets so excited that he forgets to tell the boy where his is going. The fat little penguin is adorable and watching the two play backgammon together is charming. I must say that this story doesn’t have quite the same sweetness as its predecessor Lost and Found but it’s still a great story about friendship.

Tags: bedtime stories, Charles P. Rogers, Children's book reviews, Herve Tullet, Oliver Jeffers