reviewing
Book Review: From an Idea to Nike
From an Idea to Nike: How Marketing Made Nike a Global Success
by Lowey Bundy Sichol (Goodreads Author)
by Lowey Bundy Sichol (Goodreads Author)
3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
This book tells how Phil Knight began his business with a simple idea for a better running shoe and how it developed into the massive global company it is today. Focusing on the marketing and the innovative concepts that built the Nike empire, this story explains how a business can use good branding, endorsements, and an understanding of the needs of their customers in order to succeed.
I really enjoyed reading this book! It is written for young children, so many business concepts that a child wouldn’t know like “Revenue,” Investments,” or “Board of Directors” are explained with definitions for the bigger words. There are also “Fun Fact” boxes within the text that give extra tidbits of information about how the Nike company was built.
There are funny anecdotes about how the company received its name, designed the classic Swoosh logo, and developed its rapport with athletes, then began reaching out to pros for endorsement deals. Continue reading
Book Review: The Mozart Season
The Mozart Season
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
Allegra is a violinist entering a prestigious Mozart music competition. At 12 years of age, she is the youngest finalist in the competition, and works closely with her violin teacher to be prepared. But as she memorizes the Mozart concerto, other things in her life begin to affect her music.
Her mother’s emotionally wounded friend, Deirdre, who is a genius vocalist, makes Allegra wonder about how pain can find a voice through music. Allegra’s grandmother, who escaped the Nazi death camps, urges Allegra to embrace her Jewish heritage, and Allegra reflects on her identity as a musician. And there is a mysterious homeless man who haunts all the local concerts in the park, dancing by himself in the back and searching for a song he can’t remember.
Her mother’s emotionally wounded friend, Deirdre, who is a genius vocalist, makes Allegra wonder about how pain can find a voice through music. Allegra’s grandmother, who escaped the Nazi death camps, urges Allegra to embrace her Jewish heritage, and Allegra reflects on her identity as a musician. And there is a mysterious homeless man who haunts all the local concerts in the park, dancing by himself in the back and searching for a song he can’t remember.
As a musician, I enjoyed this story so much. The writing is quite accurate about how one feels about learning music, and embracing it, and connecting with the composers; how you can make yourself crazy practicing too much, how your nerves will go haywire before or after a performance, how music shapes everything you do and everything you are.
Continue reading
Book Review: Jennifer Murdley’s Toad
Jennifer Murdley’s Toad
by Bruce Coville, Gary A. Lippincott
by Bruce Coville, Gary A. Lippincott
4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
Jennifer wishes she could be beautiful, but feels ugly and dumpy. When she buys a talking toad at the Magic Shop, her entire life changes, and she is whisked on an adventure where she will have to choose between pursuing beauty or saving her friends.
I loved this hilarious story, and read it all in one sitting! The madcap plot is full of surprises, and the snappy dialogue makes every page interesting. I enjoyed the magic system and how it interacts in strange ways with the modern world.
I thought Jennifer was sweet and REAL and beautifully awkward. Her family is quirky and weird, and her friends are peppery and unreliable. The best part of the book was Jennifer’s various relationships with her parents, siblings, and school friends, and of course, her magical talking toad.
I adored every chapter! Can’t wait to read more from this series.
Book Review: Wizards of WaterFire
The Guild of the Wizards of Waterfire (The Wizards of Waterfire, #1)
by Iain Reading (Goodreads Author)
by Iain Reading (Goodreads Author)
3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
Memphis and her friends are wizards, using elemental power over Water and Fire to create a unique magic. But the rules of their magic guild are very clear; each guild must have exactly five members, no more, no less. When a member of their guild dies, Memphis scrambles to find someone to fill the empty place before their elemental magic spirals out of balance. Flynn seems like the perfect candidate to join the WaterFire guild, and Memphis senses a strange connection to him from the beginning. As the wizards work together to keep the balance within their guild, they must face ancient mysteries, and travel to the headquarters of the WaterFire elders to uncover the dark secrets of the deepest elemental power. Continue reading
Graphic Novel Review: The Iliad
The Iliad
by Gareth Hinds
by Gareth Hinds
2 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
This graphic novel retelling of Homer’s Iliad was not quite what I expected. It’s much too word-heavy for a graphic novel, and I found myself bogged down in the text. Most of the panels have so much text that there is barely room for the artwork. And the artwork itself is nothing special. I didn’t care for the cartoony look, and it just didn’t grab my attention. It looks somewhat amateur, or hastily drawn.
If you are a big fan of the Iliad, you might like this, but I did not enjoy reading it. Usually I love classical literature, and I have read The Iliad before, so I was happy to be revisiting the story of the Trojan War with all the drama. But this book does not deliver drama. It feels stale and static, like the characters are all made of stone.
Disappointed in this one. Continue reading
Picture Book Review: Gorgeous Ruth
Gorgeous Ruth
by Albert Chang, Caroline Attia
by Albert Chang, Caroline Attia
2 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
Ruth has a chipped tooth, and a chipped tea cup, but she doesn’t let it bother her, preferring instead to play and run on the beach.
This picture book has beautiful illustrations with billowing lines and colorful figures. I really loved the movement in the pictures, and how cute Ruth looks! She looks sweet and cheerful on every page. The sweeping wind and rushing waves are the perfect backdrop for the energetic Ruth, but I also enjoyed how peaceful the artwork is as Ruth lays down to sleep.
This picture book has beautiful illustrations with billowing lines and colorful figures. I really loved the movement in the pictures, and how cute Ruth looks! She looks sweet and cheerful on every page. The sweeping wind and rushing waves are the perfect backdrop for the energetic Ruth, but I also enjoyed how peaceful the artwork is as Ruth lays down to sleep.
The one thing I did NOT enjoy was the actual story. It was not exactly clear what the relationship was between Ruth’s chipped tooth and the broken cup. Did she chip her tooth on the cup? Or is she just comparing her tooth to the cup?
The story is told in really terrible poetry. The meter is off. Some of the words don’t rhyme. I don’t know why people think children’s picture books should be in rhyme. It would be a much better story if they just told the story, instead of painfully attempting to rhyme “beach” with “feet”, and “sea” and “dream”. *cringe*
Continue reading
Picture Book Review: William Sheepspeare
William Sheepspeare
by Courtney Acampora, Maggie Fischer, Zoe Perisco
by Courtney Acampora, Maggie Fischer, Zoe Perisco
4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
“To baa or not to baa… That is the question.”
The cuteness factor in this board book is through the roof! Reimagining the life of William Shakespeare as a sheep, everything is transformed into animalistic phrases, words, and illustrations. William Sheepspeare writes “ram-ances” instead of “romances”, and “shearious” tragedies like “Lamblet, MacBleat, and Julius Fleecer”.
Introducing young children to the beautiful Globe Theater and Sheepspeare’s home in Stratford with his family (his “ewe, Anne Hoofaway” and three “lambs”), the simple story-telling is the perfect style for little readers to learn about this historical figure. Continue reading
Book Review: John Winthrop, Oliver Cromwell, and the Land of Promise
John Winthrop, Oliver Cromwell, and the Land of Promise
by Marc Aronson
3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads
This book explores the connections between two historical figures, John Winthrop and Oliver Cromwell, as both attempt to establish a new order in their respective lands, America and England.
John Winthrop based his new colony on the idea that God was guiding the Puritans’ community to a righteous way of life. Oliver Cromwell believed that God was guiding his army to purge England of the old evil ways and establish a better government for the British people.
