#NetGalley Book Review: The Madman's Library by Edward Brooke-Hitching

This is fascinating - especially for book nerds (like me)!
The Madman's Library
The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History
by Edward Brooke-Hitching

ASIN : B08M5GNCM2
Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK (October 1, 2020)
Genre: NonFiction, Educational, World History
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

'Anybody who loves the printed word will be bowled over by this amusing, erudite, beautiful book about books. It is in every way a triumph. One of the loveliest books to have been published for many, many years' Alexander McCall Smith
'Quite simply the best gift for any book lover this year, or perhaps ever' Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times Books of the Year
'An utterly joyous journey into the deepest eccentricities of the human mind… The most cheering, fascinating book I’ve read for ages' Guardian
From the author of the critically acclaimed and globally successful The Phantom Atlas, The Golden Atlas and The Sky Atlas comes a stunning new work. The Madman’s Library is a unique, beautifully illustrated journey through the entire history of literature, delving into its darkest territories to hunt down the very strangest books ever written, and uncover the fascinating stories behind their creation.
This is a madman’s library of eccentric and extraordinary volumes from around the world, many of which have been completely forgotten. Books written in blood and books that kill, books of the insane and books that hoaxed the globe, books invisible to the naked eye and books so long they could destroy the Universe, books worn into battle, books of code and cypher whose secrets remain undiscovered… and a few others that are just plain weird.
From the 605-page Qur'an written in the blood of Saddam Hussein, through the gorgeously decorated 15th-century lawsuit filed by the Devil against Jesus, to the lost art of binding books with human skin, every strand of strangeness imaginable (and many inconceivable) has been unearthed and bound together for a unique and richly illustrated collection ideal for every book-lover.

Review:
I enjoyed the great extent of details and illustrations shared in this book. The introduction indicates the Google Books project set out in 2002 to scan the then known 129,864,880 books. The book opens with illustrations of a multi floored library, then a partially naked alien warrior (with exposed parts), and Chinese illustrations of figures using flatulence as weapons. So now that he has your attention, the author can share about size (so large to require an engine to turn pages, small enough for a locket and smaller), and materials (including skin and tin, inks and bindings with poisons like arsenic).

Scan the table of contents and you will see the diverse topics the book is going to share. I loved the Books that Aren’t Books chapter and Cryptic Books. The Curious Collections and Curiosities of Science are cool too, as are all the chapters.

This is certainly a good table conversation book but it could also be great for creative inspiration for book nerds. Not that you want anyone inspired by the blood and skin books but there are plenty of items that are worth being inspired by! I recommend this to every book lover to enjoy the history and variety of books.

Source: 4/4/2021 from NetGalley Read Now. This qualifies for 2021NetGalley goal.

#NetGalley Book Review: LOVE by Corrinne Averiss

This has a very good message that is sweetly delivered.

LOVE
by Corrinne Averiss

ASIN : B08NCN6LJD
Publisher : words & pictures; Illustrated edition (January 19, 2021)
File size : 10598 KB
Print Length : 32 pages
Children Age : 4-6 Years
Genre: Children, Educational, Emotions
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0.

Funny, emotional, and uplifting picture book about separation and love, to help children understand their emotions.
Everyone loves everyone in Tess’s house, but when Tess has to leave for school for the very first time, she is worried that her family’s love might not stretch that far. Mom explains that love is like a string, it connects people together even when they are far away. At school Tess notices that all the children have strings! Some are new, some are old, some stretch a long way, and some even stretch right up into the sky. But what happens when a string breaks?
Love is the third in a trio of feel-good picture books from author Corrinne Averiss (Joy (2018), Hope (2019)) - a pure delight from start to finish. A wonderful story that subtly tackles difficult topics of death, grief, separation, and overcoming anxiety.

Review:
Tess is blessed to have a warm and lovely family consisting of mother, father, daughter and son. The time comes for Tess to go to school and she is concerned about leaving her family. Her mother explains that love is a string, connecting people even when they are far away. Tess’s teacher encourages her and reinforces the message. Tess sees other children with strings and one has a string that connects even an absent parent. But how will Tess react at the end of the day when the other children leave and her parents haven’t yet arrived?

This is a lovely picture book and an easy read for young children. The message is beautiful and perfect to share with children who will be experiencing time away from their parents whether for school or perhaps for deployment or medical reasons. The illustrations are clear and charming. I highly recommend this, and I would like to see Ms. Averiss’ previous books too.

Source: 2020 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: A Tangle of Brungles by Shobha Viswanath

This has great images and a fun, if nonsensical story.
A Tangle of Brungles
by Shobha Viswanath and Culpeo Fox (Illustrator)

File Size: 22942 KB
Print Length: 34 pages
Publisher: Karadi Tales (August 28, 2018)
Publication Date: December 1, 2019
Language: English
ASIN: B0821CCYL1
Genre: Educational, Illustrated, Middle Grade, Picture Book
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.

To conjure up the charming Mr. Brungles, a coven of witches stir up the Great Brungle Brew. For this they toss in a parliament of owls, a cloud of bats, and a quiver of cobras, among many others. Do they succeed? The book is a hilarious twist on collective nouns.

Review:
One of the coven of witches decides she is ready to marry and she has chosen the handsome Mr. Brungle as her mate. Now, with a multitude of collective nouns -- lounge of lizards, mischief of mice, a quiver of cobras are just a few. The Great Brungle Breww comes together but will Mr. Brungle appear and cooperate in the plan?

I totally loved the idea of the collective nouns. Who knew that multiple cats are a clowder? As fun as the plurals are, the placement is random and the story pretty nonsensical. I think the effort of the collective nouns gets a little lost in the presentation. I will say that the illustrations are stunning in color and rendering. I suggest checking the Look Inside feature to see if it gets your interest or would be suitable as a fun teaching tool.

Source: NetGalley 2019-20 (Selected in December but received 2020.) This qualifies for my 2020NetGalley and 2020Alphabet goals.

#NetGalley Book Review: Don't Dangle Your Participle by Vanita Oelschlager

This is cute and I appreciated the fun lesson.
Don't Dangle Your Participle
by Vanita Oelschlager

Age Range: 5 - 8 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 3
Paperback: 22 pages
Publisher: Vanita Books (May 1, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1938164033
Genre: Children, Educational, Grammar, Writing
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Words and pictures show children what a dangling participle is all about. Young readers are shown an incorrect sentence that has in it a dangling participle. They are then taught how to make the sentence read correctly. It is done in a cute and humorous way. The dangling participle loses its way and the children learns how to help it find its way back to the correct spot in the sentence. This is followed by some comical examples of sentences with dangling participles and their funny illustrations, followed by an illustration of the corrected sentence. Young readers will have fun recognizing this problem in sentence construction and learning how to fix it.

Review:
I used to love to diagram sentences in English class when I was in early school years. (My son totally disliked diagramming even though he was an excellent student.) The beginning of this book explains the verb and the participle adjective to describe a noun. The authors then show how dangling participles change the meaning of a sentence, often making no sense or nonsense. The illustrations and text give many fun examples of a sentence in error and then its correction:

Incorrect example: Growling as they ate, the children gathered around the lions’ cage.
Correct example: Growling as they ate, the lions attracted the children to their cage.

The beginning technical discussion and even some of the examples may not work for very young children, so it is important to use this with the appropriate age group who are at this level of learning. The illustrations by Mike Desantis are active, cute and highlight the examples very well. The sentences are also fun, creating some very silly situations that children can enjoy.

I did feel that several of the corrected sentences were awkward. I think this is because there could have been a clearer written statement without using the participle. Setting that aside, I think this book makes a good tool to help explain the participle and correct use.

Source: 2019 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2019NetGalley and 2019Alphabet Goals.

Book Review: FIFO 50 STATES by Hayley Rose

This is a charming way to share state information with children.
FIFO 50 STATES
by Hayley Rose
Illustrator: Jessie B. Orlet

Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Flowered Press (March 15, 2017)
ISBN-10: 0998248347
Genre: Children's Picture Book, Educational
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

In this delightful rhyming story, Fifo, a warm and loveable brown bear, is bitten by the travel bug. Fifo dreams of diging up diamonds in Arkansas, looking for fossils in Kansas, enjoying a delicious bowl of gumbo in Louisiana, and even seeing a Broadway show in New York. Yes, America is an exciting place! Fifo's second book is full of adventure. A colorful reference-like geography book, Fifo discovers the wonders each state has to offer. He learns along the way each state's capital, shape, flag, motto, and much, much more. The possibilities are endless! So, come along with Fifo and you'll soon discover the beauty of America one state to another. A positive experience for both Fifo and the reader. Learning should always be this much fun!

Review:
This is fun and educational for young readers. Each state gets a descriptive page and an illustration that depicts more features of the state. The states are presented alphabetically and each descriptive page provides the number order that the state joined the United States, the capital of the state, the state flower and the state bird. Below the description is the state motto. These elements are pulled into the illustration but additional features are included such as the shape of the state with the capital marked by a star, the state flag and a prominent sight such as surfing for Hawaii and alligator wrestling in Florida. The illustrations are lovely, providing additional tidbits for an adult to learn and to share with a child.

My granddaughter and I began reading together and made it to Illinois where their family now lives. She was especially interested to see Hawaii and Mississippi where they used to live and Florida where P-pop and Grandmom live.

The only thing that made this drag a bit is that each page repeats several phrases for the rhyme. This actually got tiring after about 10 states. I felt those extra three lines could be used to suggest other prime features of each state. Still it is a wonderful learning tool for parents and children to share time together. I have not read any other Fifo books and it was fun to meet this charming bear in his travels.

I received this from the author for Amazon Review Campaign through Pump Up Your Book.

Additional Information:
 Author's Website
Follow at: www.facebook.com/booksbyhayleyrose 

AMAZON * GOODREADS