The Art of Tangled & The Art of Frozen

My first two books I read in 2014! The Art of Tangled and The Art of Frozen are essentially illustrated documentaries of the development of the movies. It contains sketches, drawings, some photos, all used for the concept and design of each of these two movies. While containing these beautiful drawings and photos, the books are separated into chapters that focus on different parts of designing the movie. The are worth your time if you enjoy the movies, or are interested in developing movies, or art.

The Art of Frozen is 160 pages long, with full colored drawings and concept art. It takes you through the process of designing the world of Frozen and the different characters. Did you know when they were originally starting Frozen, Elsa was going to be an evil snow queen with black hair? And she had a very different hairstyle when they switched it to blonde.
One thing I enjoyed about it was learning about developing Elsa and Anna's relationship. When they decided to have them be sisters, they had all the women in the studio with sisters come in and tell them what it was like, and that is how they developed the relationship!
And Elsa doesn't 'shoot snow from her hands', the magic comes from her body and affects the molecules and atoms in the air, changing them to become snow/ice/frost. And there is so much more in the book! But because I don't want to spoil the  movie, that's all I will say. So be sure to read this after you see the movie if you don't want spoilers.

One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.

       The Art of Frozen is a CLEAN READ

      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Frozen a 3.5


Now, The Art of Tangled has a similar format as The Art of Frozen, however with Tangled the writing is done from a different author. The majority of the writing is still composed of interviews as it is in the Frozen book, but you can tell a difference with this different author. like The Art of Frozen, The Art of Tangled is 160 pages long with full color illustrations. Such an enjoyable read, and because I love love love Tangled, I had the songs going through my head anytime concept art for that song appeared and I just loved it. I enjoyed reading The Art of Tangled more than Frozen, but only by half a point. Tangled's art book had more art in it, and more detail in the development process.
I loved learning where they got inspiration for designing the world of Tangled. In Frozen it was Norway, with Tangled...well, it was interesting. Originally Tangled was going to be a comedic satire on fairytales, but then they went for a more serious direction and was heavily inspired by Rembrandt and his use of light. When that started to get to dark, they needed a new source of inspiration, and so they go to classic Disney. The inspiration for the world of Tangled ended up being Disney! They referenced many of the Disney Renaissance movies (Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella), and they sent a group to Disneyland to take pictures of anything that inspired them artistically. even before reading the book I could see hints of previous Disney movies in it, but now that I know how they took used those movies for Tangled, I can see it even more! Absolutely spectacular!
Not only that, I got to know Rapunzel's character even more, and that just made me so happy :D

One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In my reviews I will give a rating and a reason for that rating.

       The Art of Tangled is a clean read (one mention of 'damn', though that is it)

      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Art of Tangled a 4

The Fellowship of the Ring

I am going to begin by saying after attempting to physically read the book multiple times and stopping because it was just so much to read, I got the audio book and started listening to it. I would listen to it as I drove, plugging it into the radio, to make the thirty minute drive into town more enjoyable. And if I was cleaning the house I'd put my headphones on and listen to it with my ipod. Next I am going to get The Two Towers so I can start listening to that :)

I also need to say that I am biased. I love the Lord of the Rings movies. I never did read the books before seeing the movie (probably because I was a little girl when the movies came out). But I always intended to. I read the Hobbit twice before the movie came out (and not because I jumped on the bandwagon. A few years before for fun and the year before for school). I actually found the Hobbit a much easier read than the Fellowship of the Ring.

Back on topic, though. I'm biased mostly in how I picture the characters (Viggo Mortensen is the PERFECT Aragorn. Really, all the actors have become the characters to me I cannot imagine them a different way.) But I think the one thing that really struck me as different from the book and the movies is Legolas.

I disliked Legolas in the book! I was not expecting that. They way they portray Legolas in the movies is so different from the book, at least to me. In the movie Legolas is amazing. In the book, he is just 'eh'.

I loved how much more Legolas and Gimli's friendship is developed in the book though. The movie failed in that regard, and I always loved Legolas and Gimli's friendship in the movie. The book was great in that respect :)

And Boromir. Woooooow. You really really get his character more in the book than the movie.

I definitely found the book an enjoyable read and hope to read it again in the future. People seem to say you either love or hate the book, and although I won't go around saying I loved the book, I did really like it.




 One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
  fantasy, adventure, magic

        Language:
   None.

        Sexual/Romantic Interaction
 None

        Violence
 Nothing real objectionable. It is fantasy, so there are some darker themes throughout, but nothing I believe a teenager would have trouble dealing with. 

       I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a rating of mild PG

      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Fellowship of the Ring a 4

Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs

I worked on reading this book all of November, and finished it last night. I cried at the end. Mattie's story is such a heart warming story, not because he had a terrible disease, but because he let his 'heartsong' shine through it all aspects of his life. This memoir was narrated by his mother, with Larry Lindner writing it out. She said she was always a story teller, not a story writer :)

I think the favorite thing I had about this book, was the humanity in it. I was recently on a trip that had workshops and tables where you could do different things. At one of the tables were different quotes that you could read to find a word that inspired your to write on a card decorated with your fingerprints. The word I chose was 'HUMANITY'. I have noticed that many times that we have a tendency to portray humans and our humanity as a curse. 'I'm only human.'

That's right, you are only human, but you are a human created by GOD. God said you were good. He called humans 'very good'. Being human is not a curse, we might fail sometimes in being human, but that is not the curse. The curse is our fallen, sinful, souls.

And we seem to portray celebrities as selfish, cold hearted people. But in this book, you see a side of them you have never seen, because you never allowed yourself to see it before. Many times I had to pause and just look up at God and say "Thank you for humanity". Humanity is a beautiful thing to treasure and protect, and I believe that is what Mattie knew with his heartsong of peace. The best way to treasure and protect humanity is with peace.

I have added all of Mattie's books of poetry to my 'to-read' list. He was such a beautiful, and talented boy. I highly recommend this book.

I decided not to give a 'clean or not' review for this book. But I would rate Messenger a five out of five just for the joyful message is brings.

Recent Reads

I have a couple of books that I have read, but have decided not to do an individual post for because I procrastinated so long on them. The books are City of Ashes, the second book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and The Royal Ranger, the 12th (I think) book in a series that was suppose to have ended about a year ago! Leaving the library I was so excited after finding it.

First, City of Ashes. I started reading this book a couple of days after reading Mockingjay, to give myself a chance to get over the emotional trauma from that book. When I sat down and started it, page one I was relieved. Finally! A book written in third person! After reading so many books written in the first person recently, it was such a relief to finally have one in third person to read!

Plot wise, the whole thing is moving at a fairly fast pace, for the fact that each book so far has covered the span of a couple of weeks to a month of time, with some time change inbetween. I feel like it is all being well done, and I am looking forward to starting the next book.

I was especially in love with the character development of Jace in this book. I felt like this was his book to develop. Book one really gave you a chance to get introduced to the characters, and in book two those characters were expanded on, but I feel like Jace was the most. I really hope in the third book Cassandra Clare does more developing on Clary. Although the book is mostly from her point of view, you got to see it from many different angles (main reason I prefer third person writing to first person writing in books), and I thought she executed that well.

I would also give this book the same rating and warning as the first.

Now for The Royal Ranger, by John Flanagan. I love John Flanagan's writing, and his characters. I have gotten so attached to them all over this series and was so sad when it ended (hence my enjoyment when I found this new book!). It took me about a third of the book to get use to the time lapse and to picture the characters with their aged appearances, but it didn't bother me. I love the story for this book and thought he did a great job, as always, with the entire thing.

It is so easy for me to fall in love with the characters John Flanagan writes. And Will and Halt's witty and sarcastic personality is perfect. Sheer perfection. I laugh out loud while reading these books. And he does action/battle scenes amazingly. Add Will and Halt with those scenes and you have highly memorable books. They are serious, but light and funny. I adore them all, and just love love love love love them. I haven't read his 'spin-off' series with the Skandians, but I can't wait to start, because I love his writing so much. My only fear is that I won't love it as much as Ranger's Apprentice.

The ending of this book did leave it open for more in the series, but I hope John Flanagan leaves it as it is. I don't want to much of a bad thing, and I'm afraid that any more Ranger's Apprentice won't be good.




    One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
  Fantasy, medieval-esque, knights and kings

        Language:
  None

        Sexual/Romantic Interaction
   Married couples, and some romantic relationships, but none objectionable.

        Violence
  Murder, death, and some violence, but nothing too disturbing.

       I would give The Royal Ranger a rating of heavy PG

       On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Royal Ranger a 5

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story

My local library had an event tonight. Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a Holocaust survivor, came to speak about her story as told in her memoir Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story. Although Lila Perl wrote the book with background information, Marion and her mother, Ruth (who died last December, and lived to be almost 105 years old) gave many first hand accounts for the book (a majority of the book is made of quotes from Marion and her mother). The story is beautiful and inspiring. I really felt like I had just sat down and listened to my grandmother tell me a story of her childhood when I read it. It is worthy of a spot on your bookshelf.

And because I went to listen to Marion, I stayed to have her sign my copy of the book (which I had just got in the mail yesterday, and a good thing because they were sold out by the end of the event!).

"To Sara - With my Best Wishes. Marion B Lazan, November 2013"

I (*cough*mydad*cough*) had the courage to go over to her husband while we were listening and have him sign my book also :)

"Best Wishes, Nathaniel Lazan"

I don't say much when I meet authors/famous people, because that's just how I am (And I'm just excited to have the opportunity to see them in person and listen to them speak). But I made sure to thank her for sharing her story with me. She is a beautiful lady. I'm glad I got to meet her.

And it was nice because my daddy was with me, and my little brother got to hear most of her speech before he went to his class. I love being able to do things with my daddy. I will be sharing Marion's story with my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.

I love how she proceeded to share end her speech:

"We are the last generation [my generation] that will have 'direct contact' with the veterns of WWII and Holocaust survivors. It is our job to share their stories with our children and grand children and great grandchildren."

And that is why I buy books. Because when I die, my descendants won't just have my legacy, but the legacy of many others, too.

Blogtober #14 - Fairytales, Tristram & Iseult

     Many of my friends know that I am a die hard for fairytales. From Disney, to Brother's Grimm, to fantasy stories, those are my favorites. I love reading Shakespeare (when I have time because it takes some effort to read his work), and (of course) love stories are my favorites. A friend recently shared the following song with me and the story it is based on. It reminded me that I had heard of the story and knew of the basic plot line, but had never finished it or fully learned the story. And it is the story of Tristram and Iseult (also called Tristan and Isolt, sometimes Tristan and Isolde, depends on translation)

The song and story are beautiful. My friend said this is her new favorite love story, whereas it was Romeo and Juliet (honestly I was never found of Romeo and Juliet, but Tristram and Iseult I am). Granted the following quote is from Wikipedia, it gives a good background to the story:

Tristan and Iseult is a legend made popular during the 12th century through French medieval poetry, and inspired from archetypal Celtic legends. It has become an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.

There are many different renditions of the story (one of the popular ones is by Matthew Arnold). But the one my friend referred me to is from Cornwall's Wonderland by Mabel Quiller Couch. You can find her version of Tristram and Iseult here along with some other stories from her book.

There are also some beautiful paintings of Tristram and Iseult.

like this one painting by Hugues Merle

Tristram and Iseult has been written into songs, poems, movies, and plays. Although I am not familiar with any other versions besides Mabel Couch's, I really prefer this love story to Romeo and Juliet. First, Tristram is a noble knight (at first he was stuck up, but despite the short length of Mabel's version, you can see his character growth fantastically in it), and he tries to do well to all. If he and Iseult hadn't been under the effects of a powerful love potion, I think they could have moved on to other people (since Iseult married Tristram's uncle, because his Uncle knew they had a thing for each other and wanted to hurt Tristram out of envy). I think that is way I find this story more appealing than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, because this is tragic because no matter how hard they tried to move on from each other, they couldn't through no fault of their own.

This is a beautiful story, and well worth reading more of.
(And as for a rating, I would give it a light PG, it is considered by many as an adulterous relationship, and there is blood, fights, killing, and poison, so I would be comfortable (in regards to Mabel Couch's version) to let 12 + read it)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

     Where to begin...well, let me begin by saying I did not cry while reading this book. I did not even tear up. I did, however, end with a feeling of numbness. Let me try to put that feeling into words...

     I find the whole concept and plot of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne intriguing. It isn't often you get to read a book from a nine year olds point of view set during the Holocaust, whose father is a Nazi. I do like what john Boyne had to say about writing about the Holocaust:

"The issue of writing about the Holocaust is, of course, a contentious matter, and any novelist who explores it had better be sure about his or her intentions before setting out. It's presumptuous to assume that from today's perspective one can truly understand the horrors of the concentration camps, although it's the responsibility of the writer to uncover as much emotional truth within that desperate landscape as he possibly can.

Throughout the writing and rewriting of the novel, I believed that the only respectful way for me to deal with this subject was through the eyes of a child, and particularly through the eyes of a rather naïve child who couldn't possible understand the terrible things that were taking place around him. After all, only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other side of the fence, staring through from our own comfortable place, trying in our own clumsy ways to make sense of it all."

      Again, I find the whole plot concept of the book very intriguing. However, I think John Boyne failed in some regards to properly tell the story. Bruno, the German nine-year old whose point of view we read from, pronounced German words wrong. Auschwitz was pronounced 'Out-With' by Bruno all throughout the book, and even when other characters in the book pronounced it correctly, it was written as 'Out-With'. Führer was pronounced 'Fury' the entire time, despite correction from multiple people. I don't know if John was trying to convey the naivety of Bruno by writing the words as Bruno pronounced them, or John just didn't know how to spell them and didn't want to take the time to learn. German was the spoken language, translated into English for the readers sake, but John's failure in using correct German spelling for Auschwitz and Führer made it seem like Bruno was a native English speaker trying to pronounce German words, instead of a German pronouncing German Words. It might seem a petty and insignificant thing, but even small things like this can really effect a persons take of the book.

     And the naïve Bruno seems to be taken to the insane level. Surely even a nine year old would have enough sense to know that the things on the other side of the fence aren't as fun as he pictures. He watched for a year and a half as his friend grew thinner and thinner and starved. He watched as a soldier beat a Jew mercilessly. And yet he is still envious of all the people on the other side of the fence, all the Jewish boys have hundreds of friends to play with. He never really did listen to what Schmuel told him about life on the other side of the fence. I found Bruno a selfish brat, honestly. Seems cold hearted, but for a boy portrayed as smart and yet extremely naïve...it just wasn't believable. And surely after over a year of sneaking out of the house everyday at the same time, someone, even one of the servants would have grown suspicious? And at the end of the book, surely everyone at the house would have been busy packing, and he wouldn't have had the opportunity to sneak out?

     The more I think on it, the more I find I not so much dislike the story or plot, but I dislike how John wrote Bruno. Not to mention little to none character development. And the ending...I knew something bad was going to happen, although I didn't expect that. It was twisted, and I'm ranting to much on this. I've probably spoiled a bunch. I know John was trying to make a point that those who did not experience the horrors of the Holocaust can never really comprehend it, but surely we aren't as naïve and stupid about it as Bruno was! He didn't know what Jews were, he didn't know about the war going on, or what concentration camps were doing, and his tutor was drilling them on geography and historical events!

     And thus concludes my rant on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Brilliant idea, poorly executed in my opinion. But not a wasted read. Maybe someone with a less hardened heart than I would find it more moving then I did?




      One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 The Holocaust, Jewish concentration camps, Nazis, WWII

       Language:
None explicitly written, but multiple times a 'bad word' was said but omitted in the text because naïve Bruno wasn't entirely sure what it meant, he just knew it was bad.

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Bruno's sister flirts with a Nazi soldier multiple times.

       Violence
It's the Holocaust, although it isn't extremely descriptive be warned of the ending two chapters

      I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a rating of heavy PG


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a 2

God Grew Tired of Us, A Memior

     I ran into a friend the other day at the library. We talked for a bit before she dragged me across the building to check out a book, God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau. She told be she had watched the documentary on it (same titled as the book) but didn't want to read the book until I had done so she would know if it was worth it. Haha, I guess that is what happens when you are a bibliophile and you have some not-so-bibliophile friends.

     When I read the introduction, which gave a detailed account of what happened the night his village was attacked by Arab soldiers called 'Djellabas', I felt like crying. Perhaps it is because I normally fiction that ends 'happy', but to know that events like that take place and are real is sometimes very difficult to understand. John's journey from Sudan to America is inspiring. And his comparisons of the Sudanese lifestyle and American lifestyle is very thought provoking. I liked what he said about America and it's 'tribes'.

"America as many tribes. Irish, German, Mexican, Greek, Chinese, Italian, and on and on through scores of other ethnicities, religions, and languages. Jews and Christians and Muslims. Great-grandchildren of slaves and great-grandchildren of slaveholders. Those who crossed the ocean in first-class cabins on luxury liners and those who traveled in steerage. Red-state citizens and blue-state citizens. Unlike the Dinka [John's tribe from Sudan], whom God placed along the Nile long, long ago, Americans live in a young and restless country. Everyone is an immigrant in this nation of immigrants; even the so-called 'Native' Americans once traveled to this continent from Asia. As an outside to the U.S., who knew next to nothing about America before arriving on these shores in 2001, I have observed many things that others have stared at but failed to see. Too many Americans have put on blinders. They see only what they choose to, not taking the time or effort to try and understand the big picture. I believe a macroscopic view of America must take account of all things that make this country great, as well as the things that stand in the way of its achieving even more greatness." (God Grew Tired of Us, chapter 6)

     John is very proud of America, he continually blesses it and will do anything to help America, just as he would do anything to help his homeland. I love what he had to say about America's great strength too.

Without even pausing to think, I can tell you America's greatest strength is its enormous spirit, manifest in its generosity. Americans deserve huge credit for giving to those in need. They open their checkbooks and make donations to people in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, and in devastated New Orleans, and they seldom know personally who benefits from their altruism. Nowhere else in the world do people give so much, so freely, with no expectations in return...You tell an American you need assistance, and chances are you will find in his or her response the spirit that made this country grow and prosper. (God Grew Tired of Us, chapter 6)

     After reading this book, I feel good. I feel inspired. I feel like my opportunities here in America as an American citizen are endless, and I am so proud of this country God has blessed us with. I also have a great respect for the Dinka culture, and want to learn more about them. I think it would be a good thing to incorporate some key Dinka teachings into my everyday life. This is a book that makes you think, and is well worth it.

     I love the story that John Bul Dau shared with us, and I hope you will take the opportunity to read his story too.




      One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 Survival, Hope, perseverance, war and its aftereffects.

       Language:
None.

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
The Dinka practice polygamy, John marries a woman, but it's all done in a modest and 'courtship' like manner.

       Violence
War time violence. Shooting, starvation, burying dead friends who get eaten during the night, and so on.

      I would give God Grew Tired of Us a rating of light to mild PG-13


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give God Grew Tired of Us a 4.5

 

Cold Case

     Cold Case by Julia Platt Leonard is a mystery novel for middle-school kids. When Oz's brother is accused of murder, and Oz is told the terrible truth about his father, he and his best friend, Rusty, investigate to find out the truth that links the present to the past.

     This was a nice, easy read. There wasn't anything special about the book, but it was nicely written and a good plot line. I figured out who the culprit was with a third of the book left to go, but there were some loose ends I couldn't figure out that were cleared up at the end. For her first novel, Julia Leonard has a good start. If I ever feel like it, and if she ever releases new novels, I wouldn't be against reading them.




      One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
Murder, mystery, detective

       Language:
None, but if I am remembering correctly there were a few instances of taking the Lord's name in vain.

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
None.

       Violence
Murder, some gun violence, dog attack, kidnapping

      I would give Cold Case a rating of mild PG


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Cold Case a 2.5

The Princess and the Goblin

     If you like C.S. Lewis' Narnia, then you will like The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. C.S. Lewis even said himself, "I regard George MacDonald as my master."

     The Princess and the Goblin is the story of Princess Irene and young miner Curdie. The Princess lives in a house next to the mountain, and the mountain is full of mountain goblins. The goblins come out at night to pick on any stray travelers who come across their paths. The only way to scare the goblins off is to sing rhymes and not be afraid. Soon after Curdie saves Irene and her nurse from goblins he discovers a terrible plot being planned by the Goblins to attack Irene's mountainside home. The question is, will it be too late for him to save her?

     Just like Narnia, The Princess and the Goblin is full of magic and mythical creatures. Narnia is written in a similar fashion to George MacDonald's fairytale. With the basic foundations of believing without seeing, trusting when the path seems long and winding and does not go how you expect, and even the unexpected boy or girl can be a hero, or prince, or princess.

     One of my favorite quotes from this book is "People must believe what they can, and those who believe more must not be hard upon those who believe less."

     This book was masterfully crafted and written, a beautiful read and great addition to anyone's (young or old) collection.



     One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
  Christian, fairytales, magic

       Language:
  None

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
  Purdie and Irene kiss at the end

       Violence
  Goblins attack the house. Goblins and their 'pets' are killed and injured. Purdie is hurt, but Irene's grandmother heals him.

      I would give The Princess and the Goblin a rating of G

      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Princess and the Goblin a 5

The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book One - The Field Guide

     Not surprisingly, this was a very quick read for me. This was actually my second time reading this book from the Spiderwick Chronicles, I never did read the others. But when your younger sister insists you read it, you should oblige her.

      Written by Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi, The Field Guide was written after receiving a 'letter', informing them of the magical and invisible world of faeries and creatures around us. They then met with the Grace children, and wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles in hopes to open our eyes to this invisible world.

     The Grace children have moved, their parents are divorced, their dad left them, and not to mention their new home is a dump. I believe Holly and Toni did a commendable job portraying the anger and angst some children can feel after their parents divorce.
     Being written for children (10-13 is the range I would give), the writing is simple to understand, yet gives enough detail for a picture to be formed in your head. The illustrations (The handiwork of Toni DiTerlizzi) were cute and well done, but there were incidences when the picture in my head did not match the picture drawn. Personally, I like the picture in my head better, but don't ask me to draw it, I'm not that talented.

     One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
Post-Divorce. Trust and distrust. Faeries and magic/mythical creatures.

     Language:
Mallory says 'crappier' in the beginning, otherwise there is zero cussing or swearing. They do, however, poke fun at their 'insane' aunt a couple of times.

     Sexual/Romantic Interaction
The Grace children's parents are divorced.

     Violence
Jared would get in fights at school. Mallory and Simon get bruised. Mallory's hair is tied to her bed frame. Simon's pet tadpoles are frozen in the freezer, and his two pet mice get kidnapped, but are returned unharmed.

     I would give The Field Guide a rating of PG

     On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Book one of the Spiderwick Chronicles a 3