Ant in the Mud, I See the Classroom, I See Families by John Shefelbine, Illustrated by Eve Aldridge and Center for Collaborative Classroom
These are three easy to read phonics books. The "I See" have text that can be viewed and read. They make for an easy way to start. Ant in the Mud is a bit more complex.
A Court of Silver Flames (Part 1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation): A Court of Thorns and Roses, Book 4 by Sarah J. Maas
A woman has sex and questions whether her partner likes it as much as she does. Then she fights and does violent things. There is also a somewhat sentient house he gives the woman romance novels to read. It is much too long and tedious. The full cast audio with sound effects is the one redeeming grace. If only it was a worthwhile story. This is part one of two, but seems to come to a conclusion.
Forge: The Seeds of America Trilogy, Book 2 by Laurie Halse Anderson
A slave save a soldier and tries to enlist in the revolutionary army. His master had promised him freedom for enlisting, so he proclaims himself a free enlistee, though he does not have papers. While some soldiers respect him, he experiences racism as well as other cruelty at the hands of others. His former master later appears and takes him back. There is mixed reaction to the board looking at his case. He meets an old friend and they hatch a plan to try to escape. The book brings up the conflict of a war that aims for equality for all in a society that still condones slavery.
This short book has pictures and text about chameleons. It is fairly easy to read (once you get past the title word.)
Monkeys have hands with fingers and thumbs that they use to drum and perform other tasks. The story utilizes the sounds to construct a word symphony. There is rhythm, rhyme and you can't help but crescendo up to the climax. The length is just right. The pictures work well. The book is a great fun to read.
A dog dreads the big kisses that a lady gives it. To avoid kisses, the dog gets itself very dirty. The lady doesn't want to kiss the dog, but gives it a bath instead. It is easy to read with fun pictures and stories.
This is a Seuss book about reading. There are various places you can read as well as different things you can read about. There is plenty of humor in the drawings as well as nice rhythmic rhymes. It is the "series of short scenes" Seuss book rather than a "story" book. It is not the best Seuss book, but not the worst either.
Animals talk about everything they will do to the baby. In the end, mama duck kisses the baby. The illustrations are mostly in black and white with a bit of yellow to brighten up the baby.
Dad takes kids to the zoo. They are excited to plan the trip, and then enjoy the various experiences at the zoo. The story is told in a sing-song fashion that makes it fun to read. At the end, the book includes music for the song - I'm not sure sure I've read it with that tune, but even without that tune, it is hard to read without using a sing-song voice. The illustrations add an additional level of fun to the story.
Froggy dreams about his new bike. He suddenly wakes up and is excited to go. Dad limits him to an affordable, practical bike. Then dad repeatedly says he won't let go - then he let's go. Then he repeats it again. Froggy successfully rides his bike. It is a bit annoying that he says he won't let go so many times. Is that the only way to get Froggy to do it willingly?
This is a fairly detailed account of the Easter story made for kids. The illustration have a "fun" quality to them. The story is easily understandable and flows well together.
This is a "phonic" version of a Fly Guy book. The story is roughly the same as the original. However, the words are changed to emphasize certain short-i words. It is not quite as good as the original but not bad.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The author was born in Ohio, then moved to the south and lived with her grandparents for a while before the family moved up to Brooklyn. There were a few trips back to the south after that. Her grandmother was a devout Jehovah's Witness and made sure the kids studied the bible. Her grandfather was a smoker and her father was largely absent. Subtle racism was still a challenge in the late-1960s south. A black person may be able to enter an establishment, but may not be served. New York was a different experience than she expected. She had a fairly supportive family and was doing fairly well financially, though they did have some challenges of poverty at various time. There were various struggles going on, but from the optimistic view of a child it was the small bits of everyday life that were more important.
The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind by Jonah Berger
A catalyst makes it easier for a chemical reaction to take place. In the context of this book, a catalyst makes it easier for somebody to change their mind. Often, we try to push changes on people. We present more evidence to try to convince them that our view is correct. However, this will often lead them to build up greater protection. A better solution is to help bring down their barriers to change and let them change their own mind. The author presents an example of a swat team vs. hostage negotiator. The team is ready to come in with violence. The negotiator simply talks with the suspect and gets them to come out on their own.
The book includes examples from marketing, youth culture, politics and more. People often have risk aversion and favor things they already have. Making returns easy helps reduce the barrier to purchase. these leads to greater sales. People are also less willing to return things they already have. People are also likely to follow trends of their peers. Kids don't listen to adult advice about not smoking, but other kids do a good job convincing them.
The points in the book make sense, however the execution can be challenging.
Pride and Prejudice [Audible Studios] by Jane Austen
In high school, we had a menu of projects that we could work on. The "easiest" one was to watch the video of Pride and Prejudice and write our thoughts on it. I tried that, but could not stay awake long enough to figure out what was going on. I tried to "cheat" by reading the book instead. This put me to sleep also. I gave up and decided to produce a writing portfolio instead. Is now a good time to give Jane Austen a try again?
Alas, my experience has been only marginally better.
I did manage to stay awake.
I didn't grasp much of what is going on.
There is a family with a number of girls. They want to get married. Darcy is some rich guy that they like. However, he likes a different girl than the one that likes him. There are also conflicts about money and wealth. That is about all I got out of it.
This book has the simple story of Noah in verse. For an "uncredited" book, it is not that bad.
A kid worries he is falling apart. Stuffing is coming out of his belly button. His hair is falling out. He brain is coming out his nose. He is losing his teeth. The glue holding him is not working anymore. In the end he finds out that this is all normal and he is not falling apart. It is funny in text and drawings.
Little girls do ballet. There are some stickers at the end. It is easy to read, but there is not much to it.
The bear family is doing spring cleaning, but the cubs get sidetracked playing ball. They repent and clean their playhouse after papa chases away the spiders. The parents then quote some bible verses that may be tangentially related, but don't feel necessary for the story. It is not bad as the series goes.
There are some monkey hands that can clap. There are also a few pictures from Curious George books, but at the core, this is just a nursery rhyme book, milking a Curious George brand extension.
Baby racoon doesn't want to go away. Mom kisses his hand, and now he can feel his "kissing hand" any time he feels lonely and needs comfort. The illustrations are nice, but the book tries too hard to have a message.
Randomize: Forward collection by Andy Weir
Quantum computing has made casino's random numbers predictable. The only solution is to install a quantum computer. However, the wife of the installation tech has entangled the long term storage, allowing her to know the values the casino uses. She plans to make off with a fortune. Alas, the casino checks her background and plans to arrest her. She tries to talk her way out of it by offering to partner to sell tech to other casinos. It ends with her getting escorted to her room. Was she really set free? Or is there more to come. Quantum computing can really cause issues with the security we currently rely on.
