Children's eBook Review: Ingrid Williams' Bing and Nero

Bing and Nero, by Ingrid Williams

Bing and Nero, by Ingrid Williams
My Rating: 4.5 enthusiastic stars
Just won a Top Shelf Book award!

Book summary: 

Bing is a boy without a dog. So what does he do? He creates a robot friend instead!

Storyline: 4 stars

4 stars for an adorable storyline. I like how Bing innovates and creates a solution when he's denied his wish to have a dog. So positive! 

Illustrations: 5 stars

5 stars for these illustrations. They are colorful, crisp and professionally done. 

This eBook deserves a hardback version. And I'd like to see it be a little bit longer. Williams assures me that the next book in the series will be longer--and we don't have long to wait. Book 2 should be out in October/November of 2014. 

Williams created this adorable animation of Bing and Nero:

          

Bing & Nero just won a Top Shelf Book Award  which explained: "Why[did] it [win]? For its ingenuity and creativity! Because the main character is smart, creative, and takes action to create. He's a thinker and a doer!"

Author Ingrid Williams was kind enough to answer some of my questions:

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

A. We Knew This Chick Was Trouble or Life Is What Happens While You´re Making Other Plans I think it would depend on who you asked!

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

A. That is impossible to say, but Ian McEwan´s Amsterdam and Frank Conroy´s Body & Soul have me mesmerized every time I re-read them.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A. Probably Winnie the Pooh –just replace the honey with chocolate.

Q.  What character from all of your books are you most like?

A. Probably Minxie the cat in Bing & Nero. Minxie hops into all the fun, but is prepared to dive back under the bed in a second if the robot starts to act dodgy.

Q.  Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

 A. Definitely not any of the Game of Thrones books! Maybe Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I think I could very much enjoy a weekend in a chocolate factory...

Q.  What inspires your writing?

 A. My children´s book writing is inspired entirely by my 5 year-old son and his interests. I make up stories for him. I make a note of the ones he wants to hear again and again.

 Q.  What is your favorite thing about being an author?

 A. Seeing something that has been invented in your head come to life. And seeing little kids fall in love with your book. 

Q.  What is the toughest part of being an author?

 A. That would be the fact that nothing gets done by itself. The creative part is all play, but that is only the beginning. If a story is going to become a book, then you have to embrace the serious work of making something out of nothing.

Q.  If you could not be author, what would you do/be?

 A. At this point, I think I would probably be a publisher and spend my time hunting for good writers to bring to the world.

Q.  What inspired your book cover?

A. The cover is supposed to capture the feeling of fun and friendship and freedom that is so much at the heart of the story. You have a boy and the robot he created sharing a shining moment of fun together.

Q.  What is your favorite season?

 A. Fall. Because the days are still bright and beautiful, but the nights have the promise of things to come in the air.

Q.  Are you working on something new?

A. I have written the second Bing & Nero book and am sketching out the third

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A.  I hope that if they have a small boy or girl who is mad about robots that they will have a peep at Bing & Nero because it is guaranteed to be a story they will love. Even kids that don´t read a word of English just lose themselves in the illustrations. And satisfied kids is what any children´s book exists for! 

Want more information on author Ingrid Williams or her book Bing and Nero? Check out her Author page on Amazon and GoodReads, her website, her Twitter account at @bingandnero, her Facebook page, and the GoodReads and Amazon link of Bing and Nero.

Children's eBook Review: NS Blackman's DinoTek series

   

I have four dinosaur fans in my house. As a mother of four boys, I've learned more about dinosaurs and read more dinosaur books than I ever thought I would. But I've stumbled on a dinosaur chapter book series with a unique twist. This Dinotek series, by NS Blackman, is a marriage of machine and dinosaur in a very unusual way. 

To sum up the story of Book 1:

In this illustrated chapter book, Marlin Maxton heads over to the museum with his school group, and he discovers more than he'd ever thought to see--dinosaurs made of metal. Their machinery isn't moving and his inventor uncle advises him to clean them. Evenings Marlin could've spent playing video games were spent wiping down dinosaurs, small and large. Then he discovers their batteries, a man who wants to sell them as scrap metal, and a cockpit inside the T-Rex. Time for an adventure!

Storyline: 5 stars

I enjoyed the pairing of machine and dinosaurs and museum. It felt unusual. It also felt like it inspired kids to tinker, which is a valuable lesson to children everywhere. I look forward to reading the sequels (how will Maxton defeat the greedy museum worker?). 5 enthusiastic stars. 

Illustrations: 5 stars

Love these illustrations. They add sparkle to the well-written tale and are a good match for an imaginative-machine story. 5 lovely stars.

Total: 5 stars

NS Blackman, Author

Author NS Blackman answered some questions:

Q. What character from all of your books are you most like?

A. Hmmm… probably Uncle Gus, the adult in the book who helps the boy hero Marlin through the adventure. I like old machines and making things – just like he does in the books. 

Q. What is your favorite thing about being an author?

A. Using my imagination to create something that people enjoy – when readers say they’ve liked my work it’s a great feeling.

Q. What inspires your writing? 

A. Telling stories – to my children and my friends. I also love reading of course. 


Q. What is the toughest part of being an author?

A. When you know something isn’t quite right but can’t work out how to fix it. You just have to give it time – I often go for a walk to get fresh ideas.


Q. If you could not be author, what would you do/be?

A. I’d like to do lots of things for a few weeks at a time. I think most people would be a lot happier if they could do a mixture of jobs – fresh air, helping people, using your creative skills – these are all the things that make us happy. So perhaps a tour guide to London – I love living here and showing people around it.


Q. What is your favorite book of all time?

A. It’s changed at various times of my life but they include Pride and Prejudice and The Lord of the Rings.

Q. Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A. If I have to choose probably Watson in Sherlock Holmes – observing and recording all the action going around him!


Q. Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

A. The Hobbit – I would spend a lovely couple of days in Hobbiton, have a pint at the Green Dragon and see if I could get myself invited to a party!


Q. What is your favorite season?

A. Autumn, definitely – I’m not sure why but I’ve noticed that it’s the time of year when I feel most creative and enthusiastic, whatever I’m doing. As the nights draw in there’s definitely something magical in the air!

Q. What inspired your book cover(s)? Or what is your favorite book cover and why?

The Secret Dinosaur covers definitely have a ‘traditional’ feel, which I think suits the museum setting of the stories, and the tone of the writing. I hope they stand out and are attractive to look at. I really love illustrations and I still have many of the books which I spent hours looking at as a child. People notice the ‘Tintin’ influence in my pictures – less well known are the wonderful ‘Rupert Bear’ annuals of the sixties and seventies - these are amazing works of pen and ink art which I still treasure.

Q. Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

A. I get some lovely interruptions when I’m doing school readings. Young readers are always very diligent about correcting me if I get the name of a dinosaur wrong. I do like this – it’s wonderful for a child to feel like an expert and even better if they can correct an author during his talk!

Q. Are you working on something new?

A. Yes, yes, yes – I’m always writing and drawing. I’m going to add to my Dinotek short stories for pre-school children (The Amazing Dinoteks) and I’ve got two more Dinotek longer books coming along and two other children’s book projects lining up behind. The only thing standing in my way is time!

Q. Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A. If you come across an old mechanical dinosaur, be nice to it!

Want to find out more about the Dinotek series? Check out Blackman's website, and GoodRead links to Book 1 and Book 2 or click on the covers above and you can read the reviews and buy the book on Amazon.

Children's eBook Review: The Adventures of Titch and Mitch: Shipwrecked

My Rating:

Illustrations: 5.0 stars (adorable, and plenty of them, especially for a chapter book)

Storyline: 5.0 stars (page after page of innovative action and unusual adventures keeps the interest of children with its innocent fun)

Overall: 5.0 Stars

The Adventures of Titch and Mitch: Shipwrecked

Titch and Mitch are pixies who get themselves in and out of trouble with their brave daring and sometimes just plain clumsiness. Stumbling down a hill and into a "giant" who wants to take them to "Biology" (whatever that is (they think)), Titch and Mitch barely escape onto a boat which shipwrecks and into more adventures they go, meeting a dog, turkey, fairy, rabbits, vicious hawk and a painted-yellow seagull!

The illustrations are reminiscent of the 1930's, almost each page of this e-book has adorable pencil drawings that add tremendously to the story (loved the Dragon Mouse!).

I hope to read more in this series and am glad to see another quality children's book in ebook form.

This is book one (out of five) of the Titch and Mitch adventures. Here are the covers (and links) to the other four:

          

 I enjoyed Shipwrecked so much that I invited Garth Edwards to interview. This is what he said:

Valerie Harmon: How did you become a children's book author?

Garth Edwards: On leaving university I worked in the chemical industry for many years, a rewarding occupation, although writing was always my main love. At the time I had to support a mortgage, a wife and two small children so the idea of becoming a full time author remained a dream until recently when I took the opportunity to jump ship and start writing for real.

I went back to the stories I told to my children when they were little. I found they loved stories about dragons, wizards, fairies, goblins, giants, talking animals so together we made up a world of fantasy. I showed them how to use the magic words "What if...?"

VH: How do you come up with your ideas?

GE: Here's how it works: One day I was inspecting a turkey farm and was amazed at the hundreds of Christmas turkeys gobbling around the floor of a huge barn. What, I thought, if one of those turkeys was an incredibly intelligent bird and very different from all those other turkeys in the barn. So it was that Wiffen the most intelligent turkey in the world was created and what a preposterous creature he turned out to be (see The Adventures of Titch and Mitch - Shipwrecked)

What if the huge hedge that ran alongside a holiday home we once rented in Wales was really hiding a mysterious and forbidden land inhabited by strange creatures? This led to an exciting adventure book called Escape from Mercy Hall, which turned into a trilogy.

What if there really was treasure at the end of a rainbow (see The Adventures of Titch and Mitch - The Trolls of Sugar Loaf Wood)?

VH: How did you find your illustrator?
GE: It was obvious I needed an illustrator before I submitted my books to a publisher. I found a web site where artists looked for work and I advertised for someone to illustrate a book about two pixies aimed at 5-8 year old children.

I received 184 replies from artists with samples of their work and they came from 17 different countries. I was bowled over with the response. I whittled them down to a short list and my wife and I selected Max Stazyuk as being quite an exceptional talent.

Max lives in Kiev in the Ukraine and although he does not speak English his wife does so communication is fine. He sent me his samples and they went with the book to a publisher. The publisher was impressed and invited him to London and so the books came alive.

VH: What is your favorite thing about being an author?
GE: There is never a dull moment. Starting a second career with something you love doing is great. My imagination is never idle.

VH: What is the toughest part about being an author?
GE: The time the publisher had in staying afloat when book stores were closing down. I had to take back all my publishing right and join the rush to ebooks if I was going to stay being an author. The only rights I had sold were the audio rights to the BBC and I have to say that the actor who reads them did a brilliant job. he gave all the characters a slightly different accent and tone. A real talent.

VH: What is your favorite book of all time? Children's book? Adult book?
GE: All the books by Roald Dahl are my favorite children's books. The adult book would be Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

VH: Which character from any book are you most like?
GE: Peter Pan.

VH: What character from your books are you most like?
GE:That would be the crazy boy Todd who makes his first appearance in Secrets of Mercy Hall. He started out as a minor character and changed from funny troublemaker to hero.

VH: Which book would you like to take a weekend vacation inside of?
GE:Wilbur Smith's The River God. I'd like to see at first hand life in ancient Egypt and the Valley of the Kings.

VH: What is your favorite season?
GE: Summer time. Light nights, cheerful people, barbeques, summer sports and so on..

VH: Have you had any funny experiences that happened while promoting your books?
GE: I was invited down to London by the publisher to talk to a primary school on World Book Day. I was collected at the railway station by the rep for the publisher and she met up with two people from a bookshop who were driving separate cars and one of them had a stock of my books.

The driver from the book shop said she would lead and we would follow because although none of them knew the way she had a "sat nav gismo" that would take us there. We left London and somewhere in the countryside outside the city we got lost. There were three cars driving in convoy down country lanes until finally we arrived at a derelict old school. The new school had been rebuilt some distance away and the sat nav hadn't been told.

When we arrived at the new school there was no time for lunch and I had to go straight into the school hall and perform. The school had made a big occasion of it and all the children were dressed up as characters from their favorite book. This included the teachers with the headmistress, Mrs Smith, dressed as the Queen of Hearts.

I thought it went well with a lot of laughter and support. At the beginning I told them about a large prehistoric egg washed up on the beach and at the end of my talk I would ask them what they thought would be in it.

"Now what about the egg," I said finally. "What do you think came out of it? Would it be frightening?"
The first hand that went up was that of a sweet little girl about 6 years old and she said.
"Mrs Smith 'cos she's my worst nightmare!"

VH: Anything you want to say to followers of this blog.
GE: If people keep buying my books I'll keep writing. In the North East of England there's a school scheme where children age 10/11 read and write reviews of a book. My book Escape from Mercy Hall is one of the books they use and I have to judge the winners. It is very satisfying to read these reviews and that alone would keep me writing. One day I'll blog some of the reviews they come up with but there's no time in this interview.

If you want to know more about the Titch and Mitch adventures or their author Garth Edwards, here are some helpful links:

Books Website

Author Garth Edwards Website (under construction)
Titch and Mitch Facebook page
Author Garth Edwards page on Amazon
Author Garth Edwards page on Goodreads

Cheers!

~Valerie Harmon

(disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review and I'm not affiliated in any way with the author)

Author Interview: Lynda Carter and her Cedric the Shark series

This Author Interview is with Kay Carter who wrote and illustrated two books in the Cedric series: Cedric the Shark Gets A Toothache, and Cedric the Shark Has His First Day At School.

Valerie Harmon interviews Kay Carter:

Valerie:   What is the toughest part of being an author?

Kay: Too many ideas and not enough time.

Valerie:   What is your favorite book ever?

Kay: Very difficult question - probably Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or We Of The Never-Never by Jeannie Gunn.

Valerie:   Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

Kay: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks

  

Valerie:   What inspired your book cover for Cedric the Shark Has His First Day at School? 

Kay: Children love colour and silly ideas. The idea of riding to school in a seashell, pulled by a seahorse and driven by an octopus tickled me. 

Valerie:  Are you working on anything new?

Kay: All the time. I am in the middle of another Cedric experience (coming very soon) and am attempting my first romance novel.

Valerie:  Anything you want to say to people reading this post?

Kay:  If you have a hankering to write (I believe we all have an unwritten novel within us) do not feel afraid to put pen to paper and express yourself. Amazon Kindle is the ideal platform to test your ability and I still believe today that your cover and title are probably the major items that help sell your book so take some time and choose carefully.  

Click here for the Facebook page for Cedric's books.

Thank you Kay and dear readers. Happy reading and writing,

~Valerie Harmon

(Disclaimer: Valerie Harmon received a free copy of the these books in exchange for a fair and honest review)

Children's e-Book Review: The Fruit and Veggie ABC Book by Mary Lee

Today's Children's Picture e-Book Review is The Fruit & Veggie ABC Book, written and illustrated by Mary Lee.  Ages 3-8.

My Ratings: 

Overall: 5.0 Stars

Cover and Illustrations: 5 Stars

Story: 5 Stars 

This is a book for pre-schoolers that teaches each letter of the English alphabet.

As I scrolled through each letter, I kept wondering what fruit or veggie would go with the letters V, X and Z. I recognized the Valencia Orange and Zucchini (of course!), but I didn't recognize the fruit Ximenia (a character named Squish explains how to pronounce "Ximenia," thank you!). 

Of course I had to look Ximenia up to find out what it tastes like: a sour plum best eaten slightly overripe. And now I know! And so do you.

Here is a picture of a Ximenia:

I give this book five stars for its cute illustrations, big letters perfect for little fingers to trace, and the fun character Squish who keeps showing up  on the pages with little comments.

~Valerie Harmon

(Disclaimer: Valerie Harmon received a free book in exchange for an honest review)

Children's Picture e-Book Review: The Smartest Princess by Mary Lee

Today's Children's Picture e-Book Review is the The Smartest Princess, written and illustrated by Mary Lee.  Ages 3-8.

My Ratings: 
Overall: 5.0 Stars
Cover and Illustrations: 5 Stars
Story: 5 Stars 

This is a princess book that emphasizes brains AND hearts. Three smart princesses compete in the annual princess intelligence contest (WPIC-World Princess Intelligence Challenge) and they learn from a fourth princess that kindness is a smart too.

I read this book with my 8 year old daughter. She enjoyed the pink and purple illustrations, the adorable princesses, and how the littlest was the wisest. 

I liked how this story emphasizes that real princesses have smart brains and caring ways.

The illustrations are darling, colorful and so appealing to girls. For example, the floor to ceiling books in the library were all color coordinated, a detail that I thought cute. 

The storyline is uplifting and fun to read, with an ending that I didn't predict. Kindness rules! I highly recommend this book.

~Valerie Harmon, The Kindle Book Review

(Disclaimer: Valerie Harmon received a free copy of the this book in exchange for a fair and honest review)

Children's e-Book Review: Princess Kiah series

Today's Children's Picture e-Book Review is the Princess Kiah series, Princess Kiah and the Peas, Princess Kiah and the Frog, and Princess Kiah and the Glass Slipper, written and illustrated by Joy Findlay for girls Ages 3-9.

My Ratings: 
Overall: 4.0 Stars
Cover and Illustrations: 5 Stars
Story: 3 Stars

Kiah is a girl who reads princess stories. She applies the stories to herself, with mixed results, but she always knows her parents love her. 

The illustrations are gorgeous. They are delicate and girly and would make nice wall posters. The storyline is cute and simple and my 8 year old daughter cuddled with me as we read them. She REALLY liked Princess Kiah and the Peas story. Probably because she could relate, being a Princess too! 

I rate the storyline a 3.0, but the illustrations a 5.0, which makes a total of 4.0 stars. Fun little tales! They are short, so I am glad they came in a set of three. 

~Valerie Harmon

(Disclaimer: Valerie Harmon received a free copy of the these books in exchange for a fair and honest review)

Children's Book Review: Wisdom, The Midway Albatross

Today's Children's Picture e-Book Review is Wisdom,The Midway Albatross, written by Darcy Pattison and illustrated by Kitty Harvill, for Ages 6-12.

My Ratings: 
Overall: 5.0 Stars
Cover: 5 Stars
Illustrations: 5 Stars
Story: 5 Stars

This book is about Wisdom, who is a Laysan Albatross over 60 years old! A story of miraculous survival against natural and man-made disaster, this mostly true tale and its beautiful illustrations keeps children interested while they learn some science. I enjoyed reading it and so did my 5 and 8 year old children. 

Author Darcy Pattison has pieced together a story for Wisdom, backed up by metal bands on her legs that began on December 10, 1965.  If you are like us, you'll head to the computer to look up more facts about Wisdom and her chick. We found pictures!!

Here is Wisdom and her latest chick (in Feb. 2013) found on the US Fish and Wildlife Service website. She looks so sweet and nurturing!: 

Here's a closeup picture of Wisdom's chick from the US Fish and Wildlife Service website. So cute and fluffy!:

I'm so glad Darcy took the time to write this book--Wisdom's tender story deserves a wide audience!

~Valerie Harmon, The Kindle Book Review

(Disclaimer: The Kindle Book Review received a free copy of this book for an independent, fair, and honest review and is not associated with the author or Amazon.)