Storytime With Venessa: The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Piper McCloud can fly!  But not everyone in Lowland County is as excited  about that as Piper is.  After causing a sensation with a fantastic display of her abilities, Piper is approached by Dr. Letitia Hellion, who runs I.N.S.A.N.E, an institute for children with extraordinary abilities like Piper.  Piper doesn't want to leave her ma and pa, but believes this is for the best.  She will be with other kids just like her, she might even be able to make friends!  Piper settles in at her new school but it takes time to learn the rules and put up with the light hazing from the other students.  But as Piper gets to know the other children, adapts to the rigorous schedule, it doesn't seem so bad.  In fact, she's starting to enjoy it, especially now that she's making friends.  But there is something sinister going on and Piper discovers they are not safe at I.N.S.A.N.E.


The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester is another great book Venessa and I read together.  As usual we have a video review with Venessa and my thoughts will follow.  V was a little impatient (she's been into MythBusters lately and we've been watching it on Netflix) so the video is not too long.  

My thoughts: I really like this book.  Piper is such a wonderful, strong and determined young lady.  She's kind but is not a push over.  I really liked the way her relationship with Conrad, the local genius at I.N.S.A.N.E., developed.  They were enemies but when Piper learned the truth about him, they banded together and became great friends.

There are some pretty harsh moments in this book. Some physical and emotional torture happens.  It's intense, but when I think about it, it's nothing different then what I've seen on Avatar: The Last Airbender.  I think it helps to generate conversation with your kids about people and their motives and most importantly, being true to yourself no matter what.

This book is very easy to read aloud but there's a lot of emotion going on and there were a couple of times where I was tearing up.  That don't help when you're reading aloud!  My one critique are the abilities of the children.  They are the usual flying, telekinesis, weather manipulation, etc. that you've seen in X-Men.  BUT, it's still a really enjoyable book because there are some very moving and surprising moments, such as the real motives of Dr. Hellion and that the children are not the only ones with amazing powers.  The end is left slightly open for a possible sequel.  I haven't read if there will be one or not but it ends in a way where you can let your imagination do the rest if there isn't, which I think is great.  

Storytime With Venessa: Avatar The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 1

It’s time for another episode of Storytime With Venessa! In this installment, Venessa and I will share our thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 1, which takes place a year after the events of the cartoon series.


The Hundred Year War is over.  To bring balance back to the world and to make things right with the Earth Kindgom, Fire Lord Zuko, along with Avatar Aang, are overseeing the removal of all Fire Nation colonies that settled in the Earth Kingdom during the war.  It's not an easy task.  Citizens of the Fire Nation are being asked to leave their homes, their livelihoods behind.  Many have never set foot in the Fire Nation before.  The new Fire Lord must balance out his commitment to do what is right for both the Earth Kingdom and his own people.


Below is Venessa expressing her thoughts and I will follow up with mine.

Take it away, Venessa!

   

My thoughts: I really like where they are going with this. I see hints of what is to come that sets up events for The Legend Of Korra. Even with the fun, teenage antics, there is a very serious side to this tale. It's the end of The Hundred Year War and it's dealing with reconstruction and how to handle the Fire Nation colonies that settled and developed deep roots in the Earth Kingdom. We also have a new Fire Lord who wants to do what is right but is still inexperienced when making decisions that will affect an entire nation.  It's some pretty heavy stuff for these young people to deal with.


I think my only critique is that we don't see how much Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph have really grown.  It has only been a year and we do know that Aang and Katara have been helping to relocate Fire Nation citizens.  But we don't really get to see how the war has affected or changed them.  I'm hoping we will get to see this in Parts 2 and 3.  We do get to see how it has affected Zuko and the pressure he is under as the new Fire Lord.  Zuko has been known to wrestle with what he knows is right and what is expected of him.  Now we get to see it under a whole new set of circumstances.  It's all still very engaging and entertaining and keeps you wanting more.  The artwork is great, the characters look just like they do from the cartoon but just different enough to show that some time has passed.  There is also the comedy balanced out with the depth that I've come to expect from this series.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what's next in Part 2.

Storytime With Venessa: Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty is about twins, Joules and Kevin, who have been sent to Camp Whatsitooya while their parents attend the annual SPAM convention. All is normal at camp until strange happenings begin to occur: missing candy, camp counselors acting strangely, large amounts of marshmallow fluff ordered and served to the campers. It’s up to Joules and Kevin, along with Nelson, a fellow camper, to figure out what is happening and try to save the other campers and the world from the Fluffs!

While I participated in the Science Fiction Experience, I thought it would be fun to find a book I could read to Venessa that fit in as well. Here is Venessa talking about how much she liked the book and I’ll follow with my opinion.

(Disclaimer: Things get a bit… out of hand. And we are in no way Detroit Tigers fans. Oakland A's all the way! (though we do not approve of the Manny Ramirez signing but anyways...) Venessa’s softball team is called the Tigers. This is her first year playing so she’s pretty excited.)

Alright, enough from me, here’s Venessa!

Additional thoughts about this book from a parent’s point of view: I purposely chose this book because 1) it was one of the few sci-fi books I was able to track down (not that my search was that intense) for children her age 2) the silly title seemed like something that would amuse Venessa and 3) the story included a female character.

A lot of the sci-fi children’s books I did find did not include any female characters in the summaries. I was very disappointed! I wanted my daughter to know that it’s not only the boys who can have all the fun adventures. I really like Joules in this book. She’s right there, on equal ground, ready to save the other campers, along with her brother, and was ready to fight the Fluffs!

This was a fun book to read aloud. There were some tongue tied moments but there’s some fun interaction in this book with short comic panels and charts. There are parts that really make you chuckle. It’s a book that’s best experienced with a young one where you can build up the suspense and use silly voices to entertain them as you read.

Storytime With Venessa: The Emerald Atlas

Normally I’d have a video of Venessa giving her thoughts on the books I’ve read to her. But it’s been a while since we finished The Emerald Atlas, and Venessa fell asleep a few times throughout our journey. Not that the book was boring! No, far from it. It’s just that this was the longest book we attempted to read together and our reading time is close to her bedtime and she’d just fall asleep. Kids these days, falling asleep at bedtime like they’re supposed to! Honestly, what will they do next? Volunteer to clear the table after dinner?

Anyways, you’ll only get my perspective of The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. It’s the story of Kate, Michael and Emma, three siblings, shuffled around to different orphanages, still holding onto the belief that their parents are still alive and will come from them one day. Their last stop is a mysterious house in a mysterious valley that is devoid of children. It’s here that they discover a magic book that takes them back in time where a terrible Countess has the valley under her control.

This felt a little like familiar territory. We’ve got a trio of children discovering magic for the first time, which made me think of Harry, Hermione and Ron. There’s also a strange man with a sword who came to their rescue and protected them from evil creatures wrapped in bandages (called Screechers). This reminded me of Aragorn protecting the Hobbits from the Black Riders in The Fellowship of the Ring, and these Screechers were also very reminiscent of the Dementors from Harry Potter. There’s also a magic book that reminded me of Riddle’s Diary from Harry Potter, the book Bastian reads in The Neverending Story and the Book of Gramarye from The Dark Is Rising. And of course when magic is involved there has to be an old wizard who knows more than he lets on and slowly reveals more when he sees fit (visions of Gandalf, Dumbledore and Merriman). Oh and there’s Dwarves too.

BUT I think it’s because of these very familiar elements I liked this story. I love Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Neverending Story and The Dark Is Rising. I love the different elements of these stories wrapped up in this new, thrilling adventure. This book does have a voice of its own with a different story to tell and I really enjoyed it.

There were times though when the author would begin describing a situation, only to rewind to explain how they got there. This happened a few times and confused me and Venessa. Also there were some really long sentences. However, it didn’t keep this book from being one that was still very easy to read aloud. And I do love Kate, Michael and Emma. They felt like real kids, the way they would pick on each other and squabble the way siblings do, yet they care very deeply for each other as a family should. I want to give them all hugs. I’m definitely looking forward to Book 2 to see what happens next as they learn more and more about their magical abilities. And the cover art is just beautiful!

Next up for us, Redwall by Brian Jacques! I did a happy dance when Venessa picked this book for me to read aloud to her.

Storytime With Venessa: Thanksgiving Special

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. We most certainly did and while I miss our family in California, I’m grateful to enjoy a day with my husband and daughter. And with that I present a Storytime With Venessa video!

Last week I wrote she got a Magic Tree House book, #29 Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne, from the school book fair. And she’s already on her second read! Plus, she’s been reading on her own! I’m so proud. In the video Venessa will read a couple of pages and we’ll talk about the story a bit.

FYI: I haven’t read this story so I really don't know what it's about. Like I said she’s been reading on her own. Also, we had some technical difficulties during “filming”. We lost power for two seconds in the house and then the batteries in the Flip video died. Oh well, enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Storytime with Venessa: Video Review of The Trouble With Tink

This episode of Storytime With Venessa features a video review of The Trouble With Tink, part of the Disney Fairies series of books! Take it away, Venessa!

Additional thoughts about this book from a parent’s point of view: This was a fun book. It's a cute story of Tink losing her hammer and too afraid to tell anyone and the trouble she got into for keeping it secret. There was even an appearance from Peter Pan which was fun and Tink still doesn't like “The Wendy". However, this is one of those tongue-tied books that make it difficult to read aloud at times. You try reading “fast-flying-talent fairy” or “pots-and-pans-talent fairy” fives times fast! Or have them all clustered in one sentence!

Now we're off to read The Emerald Atlas together!

Storytime With Venessa: Video Review of The Boxcar Children

This episode of Storytime With Venessa features a video review of The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner! Take it away, Venessa!

Additional thoughts about this book from a parent’s point of view: I really liked it. For a while I've grown weary of reading picture books. I think we've read through them several times now and, well, most of them are not written to be read aloud, and you would think they would be!

So I decided to sit with Venessa each evening to read chapter books. She’s getting older and I think we’re ready to tackle some more advanced reading for her age group. The Boxcar Children was a good book to start with. It was such a wonderful book to read aloud. No tongue tied sentences that didn't sound right and it was very easy to read with expression and give personality to the characters. Venessa and I both approve of this book very much and hope other parents will read it aloud with their own kids.

Now off reading "The Trouble With Tink" together!

P.S. Happy first day of 2nd grade, Venessa!

Storytime With Venessa: Battle Of Storytime

ME: Venessa, let’s read The Graveyard Book next.

VENESSA: No, it looks scary.

ME: No, it’s fine. Neil Gaiman is awesome. He’s the genius of Sandman, Anansi Boys, I liked American Gods and he was brilliant with Terry Pratchett in Good Omens!

VENESSA: No, it looks scary.

ME: You like Coraline and he wrote that too!

VENESSA: No, it looks scary.

ME: What are you taking about?! Look, let me read the back cover to you...

Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy – an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack – who has already killed Bod’s family…

Well, anyways, you’re no fun! How about we read The Boxcar Children?

VENESSA: Okay.

ME: Now, when I was little, I read The Boxcar Children, it was one of my fav…

VENESSA: Just read it already!

ME: Okay, okay…!

Storytime With Venessa

An original story by Venessa. No script, no rehearsals. It's short and sweet... just like Venessa! Enjoy!