Tag: Suspense
BIO – To be quite honest, ‘The Moonling’ was a family effort in every sense of the word – to begin with; the story was our late grandmother’s idea, in addition to stumbling upon the story ‘The man from the moon’, the daughter furthermore shared it with her own child and grandchild who saw this simple but compelling story as an opportunity to save this place we call home. ‘The Moonling’ is the grandson and great-grandson’s rendering of a never forgotten Oma Mutti’s idea – A children’s picture storybook almost four generations in the making. 
Illustrated by PAVEL GOLDAEV
SUMMARY
Bedtime is here, it’s time for a game. Yousuf and his mom decide Adventures are waiting to be explored, as reality and dreamland collide.
Come join them on this journey to a land where dreams come true. From musical birds to a wacky pirate take our hand and join the crew.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
It’s bedtime for Yousuf, but he’s not feeling very sleepy yet. So, Mommy comes up with a new game for them to play. It is called Imagination Time Travel. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Imagine all the places we could go, and the things we could do. What? Oh, I didn’t tell you how to play this marvelous game. Of course not! You’re going to discover the most wonderful things when you read Yousuf’s Everyday Adventures – Dreamland with Mommy. Hmmm, maybe I can tell you a little bit about Yousuf’s travels. I mean after all they are really dynamic. First, there’s—no, I’ve got stop this right here. If I don’t, I’ll spoil all your fun in reading Yousuf’s Everyday Adventures – Dreamland with Mommy with your parent(s).
I can tell you that the UNIQUE thing about Yousuf’s Everyday Adventures – Dreamland with Mommy is the Imagination Time Travel Game and the ETHNIC thing about this book is it’s main character–Yousuf.
RECOMMENDATION
Yousuf’s Everyday Adventures – Dreamland with Mommy is recommended for First Time Readers (1 – 8) and Middle Grade Readers to age 10. It is also recommend for any child that likes to play games of using their imagination.
BUY IT HERE: Paperback on Amazon E-book on Amazon
BIO – Dana Salim loves singing silly songs, standing in the breeze and eating chocolate cake. But most of all she loves spending time with her son, Yousuf, and her husband. From kayaking and hiking to caves and waterfalls, to reading new books and learning new things; everyday holds an exciting adventure for the family! And now she has made her dream of being an author a reality by publishing her children’s book series “Yousuf’s Everyday Adventures” which includes two titles “Dreamland with Mommy” and “Beautifully Different. Dana’s childhood adventures were split between Amman, Jordan and Vancouver, Canada. She finished Industrial Engineering at the University of Jordan before moving to Ohio, which was home for four awesome years. And now she resides in McAllen, Texas where she is always on the lookout for new adventures with her family.
Dana founded DS Publishing, LLC with her husband in August, 2016. Their mission is to provide products that instill and encourage diversity, acceptance and confidence in one’s self and dreams.
And if there’s one thing she would want to tell you right now it would be “Believe in yourself and go after your dreams, it’s never too early or too late. Right now is the best time to do it!”
Illustrated by KELLY CLINE
SUMMARY
Sidney Snail is so sick of Slipperyville that he wants to go on an adventure–any adventure–anywhere but here! A timely word from mysterious Old Samuel Snail convinces Sidney to give Slipperyville one last chance before he snails out of town.
Sidney will help show children (and adults!) that they can find magic, mindfulness, and meaningfulness in even the simplest things. All you need is a change of perspective.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Everyone loves to go on an adventure, or vacation as some of us call it. Be it Disneyland, Universal Studios, or Knotts Berry Farm. Okay those are my adventures. But would you like to know where you can find one of the best adventures. How about right in your own backyard? That’s what Sidney did. At first, he wanted to travel to someplace far away from Slipperville. But, he had never done that. So, he talked to old Sam who gave him some very sage (wise) advice. “You can leave (Slipperyville) any old time. But it’s always wise to find out What’s at the End of Your Nose first.”* What’s at the end of his nose? How exactly does one find out what’s at the end of their nose? Welllll, first you have to…hmmm. Maybe… Come on, we always go through this. Me and my big mouth. It always wants to give out the entire story. But, as always, I know it will be so much more fun to read Sidney’s story yourself, so that you can be part of the adventure. But, maybe I’ll just tell you this little…. No, I’m done. What makes What’s at the End of Your Nose a UNIQUE read is the little teeny bit of romance. Eww? Awww, come on, it’s not bad. It will just make you smile.
RECOMMENDATION
What’s at the End of Your Nose is recommended for First Time Readers (1-8) and for boys of Middle Grade Readers to age 10 who love bugs. It also makes a great bedtime story.
BUY IT HERE: Amazon
BIO – Becky Benishek studied English and Environmental Science at Lawrence University, and always hoped to turn her lifelong loves of writing, animals, and trees into something wonderful. She lives with her husband, Dave, and their guinea pig, Teddy.
*Changes were made to the quote for clarity for my young readers and to highlight the book’s title.
SUMMARY
Creatures of Dawnia is a fantasy adventure series focusing on a group of animals and other ‘fantasy’ creatures living in the fictional city of Dawnia, and contains many diverse short stories focusing on the different adventures of the main characters. The first book, Baby Rescue, is a longer story that sees the main characters come together for the first time. The characters get to know one another and become friends whilst in the middle of an adventure to save a baby piglet from an evil goblin and his polar bear henchmen.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ
The main characters of Baby Rescue – Creatures of Dawnia—Book 1 are a very different and unusual group. Let’s see there’s Fuzz, a mouse and Dack, a pterodactyl. They met when Fuzz was trying to get away from him because he didn’t want to be his dinner. Fuzz wasn’t successful, but that mouse used cunning and wit to stop Dack from eating him. Wait, that was after Carla, the sheep, brought the piglet to Bert, the pig, and Maggie, the cow, who lived on Dawnia Farm. It was Maggie’s job to take care of the piglet, but she couldn’t get it to stop crying. Somehow, the polar bears showed up, followed by the goblin. Then they were in the forest and met up with the dwarfs, Dougle, Dula, and Snuffy. Of course, their adventures took them to Louis. Now Louis is… Hmm, there is so much I want to tell you about Baby Rescue, but I don’t want to give away the story. The adventure is too great! I can tell you that the UNIQUE thing about Baby Rescue – Creatures of Dawnia—Book 1 is its cartoon features. Who doesn’t love a good cartoon?
RECOMMENDATION
Baby Rescue – Creatures of Dawnia—Book 1 is recommended for First Time Readers (1-8) and Middle Grade Readers to age 10.
BUY IT HERE; Amazon or Smashwords
BIO – Sam Savelli is a children’s writer, and creator of the internet series ‘Creatures of Dawnia‘ for children. He first came up with ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ at the age of 12 years old, after drawing a set of animal characters from a drawing book. After putting all the characters together in a story called ‘Baby Rescue’, he went on to develop the characters and create ideas for more stories in the series. Over the next seven years, Sam wrote and created a great number of ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ stories.
In 2016 he wrote his one hundredth ‘Creatures of Dawnia’ story and finally decided that it was about time that he did something with these stories. Having written so much, for no one other than himself and his younger sisters, he wanted to publish the stories to a larger audience. So, he set up the website dawniacity.com and began publishing the stories online and releasing them as ebooks.
Aside from ‘Creatures of Dawnia’, Sam continues to work on a number of other writing projects. He aspired to become a writer from a young age, and plans to devote more time to his writing after completing his degree at the University of Warwick.
THE LIFE OF NUZZELS
NUZZELS THE NOSEY SKUNK
FINIS T. JONES
Illustrations by KALPART
SUMMARY
This charming book follows a young skunk that loves adventure. Nuzzels goes against his mother’s wishes, as well as the advice of his siblings, when he leaves the safety of home to visit the forest. He meets several new animal friends.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Nuzzels did something that he wasn’t supposed to do. We’ve all done that at least once in our short lives. You know when Mom or Dad tells you not to touch this, or do that, and definitely, absolutely, positively do not go outside. Come on Mom, we’d all do that if it led to a great adventure, and for Nuzzels the Nosey Skunk it did just that.
The Life of Nuzzels – Nuzzels the Nosey Skunk is a little animal mystery for kids. What makes it UNIQUE is the interesting twist that is given towards the end of the story. Let’s start with the mystery part first. As Nuzzels leaves his home he comes across a family of animals who were small and had bushy tails. As he got closer to them, they stood up on their rear legs, sniffed the air, and then ran off. Ran off, from this handsome little guy. Oooooh, ha ha ha, that’s right, he’s a skunk, a smelly skunk. That’s why they ran away, but what were those animals? How about this group, they had short tails, furry coats round ears and long noses. They seem a lot like the others but they’re completely different. Alas, they too could smell Nuzzels, so he left without trying to talk to them.
Now for that little twist—what? I can’t tell them about the twist? Whyyyyy? I really want to tell them about it. Okay, okaaaay. You’re right I don’t want to spoil this delightful book for them.
RECOMMENDATION
The Life of Nuzzels – Nuzzels the Nosey Skunk is for FIRST TIME READERS (1-8). It would also make a great bedtime story.
BUY IT HERE: Amazon
BIO – Finis T. Jones was born on a farm in Honey Grove, Texas in 1929. His childhood was difficult, to say the least. At a very early age he developed a wild imagination, partly to escape his many tribulations. He lived and worked on his parents’ farm until, at the age of twelve, he said goodbye and hitched a ride to Dallas, where after bending the truth about his age, he got a job with Sears & Roebuck. He had been there for a couple years when he decided to move to Houston. Here he met and married the love of his life. Many years after leaving the farm, he returned to Honey Grove to visit his parents for the first time. He took along his beautiful wife and two of their three children. Through the good times and the bad, he has never lost that incredible imagination, which shows in the stories he tells.
MYSTERY ANIMAL SOLUTIONS Squirrels, Bears
BUZZY AND THOMAS MOVE INTO THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE
VICKI TASHMAN
Illustrated by FATIMA STAMATO
SUMMARY
It’s 1801 and life is good for Buzzy the dog. She lives with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, but her life turns upside down when Thomas tells her that they’re moving to the President’s House. Buzzy doesn’t want to move. She’s afraid to leave the comfort of Monticello. What will she do? This enjoyable children’s book teaches kids about President Jefferson, the new breed of dog he brought home from France and confronting issues about moving. If your child loves books by Robert Dawson like “Ben and Me,” then he’ll love Buzzy! Historical fiction at its best: learning from the pets of famous people in history.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Have you ever had a chance to talk to a dog? I mean really sit down, just you and the dog and have a conversation? Why are you laughing? Okay, maybe it is a little funny because you say dogs can’t talk. Yes, I do know that it is common knowledge that dogs don’t know what you are saying either—or do they? I know my dog understood every word I ever said to her, and showed her understanding and responses through head tilts, whimpers, and quiet barks.
So I wasn’t surprised at how Buzzy expressed her feelings when she heard about Thomas moving from Monticello to the President’s House and that he planned to take her with him. She wasn’t…, You see none of the other animals were… I expected her to—well she didn’t do that. Then, I expected her to—oh, that didn’t happen either. What? What did I expect would happen? What? What did she do? You’ll solve that mystery when you read Buzzy and Thomas Move Into The President’s House. What is it that makes Buzzy and Thomas Move into the President’s House a UNIQUE read? It’s what Buzzy did just before they left Monticello. You know, I could have never gotten my dog to do that. Do what? Are you kidding? You’ll find out when you read it.
RECOMMENDATION
Buzzy and Thomas Move Into The President’s House is recommended for First Time Readers between the ages of 4 – 8.
BUY IT HERE: AMAZON
BIO – Vicki Tashman has always loved historical fiction. Inspiration struck four years ago when her daughter graduated from college and moved back home with two cats in tow. She imagined the cats belonging to Cleopatra and, wow, the stories they could tell! After researching many people in history, she settled on writing her first children’s historical fiction book about Thomas Jefferson and his dog, Buzzy. Other books in the works are about Queen Victoria and her dog, Dash, the Wright Brothers and their dog. Vicki has a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado. She is a breast cancer survivor and has been an advocate for ten years. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Children’s Book Writers of Los Angeles (CBW-LA), the Publisher’s Association of Los Angeles (PALA) and The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two golden retrievers, Ricky and Georgia.
LET’S GO BUNGEES
NAVA ALMOG
ILLUSTRATED BY KEREN ALMOG
SUMMARY
We are so happy to have you with us on this marvelous adventure to explore the world.
Together we will go places, see new faces, learn a lot, and have tons of fun.
Hidden in our books are secret links. Find them, and with one click you will be up high, looking out at new horizons.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Let’s Go Bungees is the first in a series of interactive books that take children on an adventure around the world. As they learn about different places, people, and cultures, children will be able to get an animated version of their journey through links that are hidden (in plain sight) throughout the book. For me it was an exhilarating experience and a UNIQUE way to see the world. Your tour guides in Let’s Go Bungees are Ming, his wife Sheen, and their friend Yoga. Because they are Japanese ladybugs, Let’s Go Bungees is also an ETHNIC read.
RECOMMENDATION
Primarily, Let’s Go Bungees would be recommended for First Time Readers (0 – 8), but with the interactive links, I also recommend this book for Middle Grade Readers (9 – 12).
BUY IT HERE: AMAZON
BIOS
Nava Almog was born in Italy, raised in France, Israel, and Africa. She spent her childhood traveling the world in the company of her parents, Nava fell in love with the wonder and adventure of discovering new people, places, and cultures.
As far back as she can remember, Nava has written or drawn the stories of her journeys, and she has passed on these passions to her children.
Nava and her daughter Keren (who also loves to travel) have written and illustrated stories based on their own experiences so that children all over the world can discover new places, cultures, and friends through the adventures of the BuggeesBunch.
Keren Almog-Shalem came into the word in a whirlwind of happy enthusiasm. She has been a creative adventurer since she was a child, and loves to travel the world searching for the most unique, special and daring experiences. She climbs the highest mountains, bungee jumps, sky dives, and generally seeks the most daunting challenges.
As an artist, Keren is a marvel at transforming an idea into a project or product, and it is she who has infused the Buggees with such humor and joy.
Like her mother, Keren loves to cook and to paint. She also plays beach volleyball and tennis and loves a day in the sun.
LORETTA’S PET CATERPILLAR
LOIS WICKSTROM
ILLUSTRATOR FRANCIE MION
SUMMARY
Loretta finds a caterpillar egg on a milkweed plant. She breaks off the leaf and brings it home. Mom won’t let Loretta keep it in the house, so she tapes the leaf back on the plant, and watches over the egg. It hatches. It eats the leaf, and more leaves. As the caterpillar grows and molts, Loretta shoos away a bird that wants to eat it. Then a wasp, and even a ladybug. The caterpillar survives. When it forms a chrysalis, a lizard bites it. It heals and eventually a monarch butterfly emerges . In a mixture of pride and sadness, Loretta watches her friend fly away. Plus information on migration, obtaining milkweed seeds for your area, and how to recognize male and female monarch butterflies.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Loretta’s Pet Caterpillar is a fascinating adventure about the transition of a caterpillar from egg to butterfly. Egg? Yeah an egg!, I did not know that. You see, I thought I knew everything there was to know about a butterfly. But it turns out, I know very little. As you will see when you read Loretta’s Pet Caterpillar. But, you know, an amazing thing is how they determine… Wait! I’ll let you find that out for yourself. The UNIQUE thing about Loretta’s Pet Caterpillar is that it’s a picture book that reads like a chapter book. Older kids like pictures too, and these are done quite nicely.
RECOMMENDATION
Loretta’s Pet Caterpillar is recommended for First Time Readers (1-8) and makes a good bed time story. But, don’t exclude your Middle Grade Readers (9-12) who love nature, science, or pictures in their books.
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon
BIO
Every morning and evening, my husband and I walk our dogs and pick up trash around the neighborhood. We live many miles away from our children and grandchildren, so we don’t see them very often. We have an organic garden, and a make-shift greenhouse in the basement for starting 
seeds. We live in the inner city, so there’s no place to park a car. We ride our bikes everywhere that’s practical and we belong to a car co-op. When we want a car, we rent it by the hour. We only need a car about once a month.
At the moment, I’m taking a screen-writing class which I’m loving. I also belong to Toastmasters to improve my oral storytelling skills.
Francie Mion and I just put out a color edition of Ladybugs for Loretta and Bees in Loretta’s Bonnet. Francie is currently making the illustrations for Loretta’s Pet Caterpillar.
I’m working with Lucrecia Darling (co-author of Reluctant Spy) on Xenia and the Deekatoo, a book about undocumented aliens and mythical creatures.
WONDERWORLD: THE MUSICAL
BRETT SCHIEBER
SUMMARY
Wonderworld: The Musical is a Tim Burton style fairytale about Max, a lonely and confused boy who struggles with distinguishing reality from fiction. An outcast, he is picked on in school and his only solace is found in his art (his “Wonderworld”). At his lowest moments, his creations come to life to sing to him. Can his art save him?
A DIFFERENT KIND OF READ REVIEW
Have you ever felt that you didn’t belong? That no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t make friends or people found you weird? That was Max’s world. He always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. To end his confusion and loneliness, he discovered Wonderworld, an imaginary place created solely by his imagination, and a box of colored pencils.
Now the thing about Max is that—. Oh, I can’t tell you that part. I don’t want to spoil it for you. In fact that part, that thing I can’t tell you about is what makes this a UNIQUE read. It also shows that the evil person and the good person are—oops, almost.
RECOMMENDATION
Wonderworld: The Musical is recommended for Middle Grade Readers. However, the musical version of the book is a great teacher for First Time readers or as a bedtime story for those children that can’t read yet.
BUY IT HERE Amazon (Book) Amazon Music (Musical Version)
BIO
Brett Schieber is the musical half of the electro-acoustic duo Arcanum. He also records solo music and gigs frequently. In addition to being an in demand writer, producer, and session musician for other artists, he writes and records popular educational music for children under the name of Mark D. Pencil and Friends with his friend, Ace. He loves all animals, Duran Duran, and Star Wars. Tree, the narrator and vocalist of “Wonderworld: The Musical”, is the lead singer of the critically acclaimed electro-acoustic duo Arcanum. He produces solo music, art, and writings under the moniker of Kobritz. He does not own a computer.
Childhood was a magical time for him. Benjamin grew up in a neighborhood full of kids. Every day was filled with imagination, adventures, fantasy, and wonderful stories. In school he loved any project that let him explore his creativity.