Category: Book Review

Book Review: Three BIPoC Children Books

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Today’s Book Review blog is a little different. I am recommended three non-fiction children books by BIPoC authors. Informative, innovative artwork, and fun, children non-fiction books give one time to read non-fiction, becoming informed on history and science. I highly recommend working your way through the non-fiction children section of your local library. Added bonus is picking up materials on BIPoC history, artists, and authors.

Today’s books are:

The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island words by Marni Fogelson with Mahani Teave and pictures by Marta Álvarez Miguéns

One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest University by M.O. Yuksel (Author) and Mariam Quraishi (Illustrator)

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise (author) and Paola Escobar (Illustrator)

 

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR The Girl Who Heard the Music

Imagine living on a tiny island more than a thousand miles from any other inhabited place! That’s where a girl named Mahani lived―on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Mahani grew up taking music lessons on the island’s only piano. She had the talent to become a great pianist, but pursuing that dream meant leaving the home she loved.

As Mahani toured the world as an acclaimed concert pianist, Rapa Nui stayed close to her heart. She knew the island struggled with problems like ocean trash and wondered how she could help. So she returned to Rapa Nui with a new dream―to build a music school! The unique building is constructed with recycled trash and has solar panels and a food garden. Now Mahani is helping build a more sustainable future for her island home―where the music continues.

The perfect choice for parents looking for:

  • Inspiring nonfiction about women making a difference
  • Stories about sustainability and saving the environment
  • Kids STEAM books.

MY REVIEW FOR The Girl Who Heard the Music

Do you have a young musician in your home? This non-fiction autobiographical children’s book tells the story of Mahani Teave (who co-authored this book with children’s book author Marni Fogelson, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens).

The line that got me was “In the teacher’s living room, Mahani practiced the notes…until one day, CLICK!” I have seen that happen when a child is learning to read. And it is true for anyone who has found their passion, be it sports, music, painting, or embroidery. At some point something just clicks, and this, this is your love! It might even be Legos or gardening.

The pictures are beautiful, making it easy to fall in love with Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The book ends with two pages of facts, making this book a great choice for home schooling on a variety of subjects from how the Pacific islands were settled, to different languages, the the Moai (the Easter Island heads), to ecology, and social planning.

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR One Wish

Fatima had one wish . . .

Fatima al-Fihri loved to learn. She wanted to know everything, like how birds flew, why the sky was blue, and how flowers grew. But more than anything, she wanted a school for all, where anyone could study and become whatever they wanted, like teachers, scientists, and doctors.

As she grew older, Fatima carried her one wish inside her, through good times and bad. Fueled by her faith and her determination, she worked hard to make her one wish come true. For over a thousand years, Fatima’s one wish—her school—served students and scholars from around the globe, and it continues to do so today!

With lyrical text by M. O. Yuksel (author of In My Mosque) and stunning illustrations by Mariam Quraishi, this true-life portrait of an extraordinary Muslim woman shows the importance of never giving up on your dreams and how we all have the power to change the world for the better.

MY REVIEW FOR One Wish

The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets do not leave behind gold or silver coins but rather they leave behind knowledge. (Hadith 3641)

Some children crave learning; Fatima was once such child. More than that was a desire to have a place of learning for everyone. Thanks to growing up in a rich family who managed to survive a displacement and a short time as refugees plus a beneficial marriage, she was able to do something beyond wish. She built a university and a community center – one whose history and activities have continued from 859 C.E. to its integration into the modern Moroccan university system. A University impacting history and the world. She built with purpose and the world has benefited.

This biography picture book includes three pages of history and a glossary at the end. The pictures are colorful without being overwhelming.

 

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BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR Planting Stories

An inspiring picture book biography of storyteller, puppeteer, and New York City’s first Puerto Rican librarian, who championed bilingual literature.

When she came to America in 1921, Pura Belpré carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy.

Brought to colorful life by Paola Escobar’s elegant and exuberant illustrations and Anika Aldamuy Denise’s lyrical text, this gorgeous book is perfect for the pioneers in your life.

Informative backmatter and suggested further reading included.

A Spanish-language edition, Sembrando historias: Pura Belpré: bibliotecaria y narradora de cuentos, is also available.

MY REVIEW FOR Planting Stories

Some people report things can’t be changed, then you stumble across a story like Pura Belpre who through one simple action following another introduced the Latinx community to the public library system in the 1920s, starting children librarians performing puppet shows, and publishing bi-lingual children books.

This book features many Spanish words mixed in with English. If you are reading this to your children and you have not studied Spanish for some time, you might want to practice before reading it.

The pictures are colorful, show representation and clothes appropriate to the times, and are fun. Paola Escobar does a wonderful job as illustrator.

You can make changes by planting seeds.

Book Review: Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

Erin Penn 1 Comment

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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker (a pseudonym for Tom Holt)

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K. J. Parker’s new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten.

 

MY REVIEW

I love military sci-fi and/or fantasy, especially when it isn’t traditional forces. In Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, the protagonist isn’t a solider per se, but an engineer. The book also isn’t exactly a fantasy sci-fi, as no magic or wizards appear in the first book of the series, other than tech wizards/engineers – but the whole world has a fantasy feel with non-human mixed with human races in a medieval-like setting rife with emperors and gladiators.

That said (1) the SNARK – pitch perfect for engineers dealing with normal soldiers and civilians; (2) the SEIGE of a capital city and the resources available within; (3) the FRIENDSHIPS between slaves and non-slaves, between enemies and allies, between haves and have nots; (4) the TOOLS of walls and sapping and siege engines and ships – so many lovely tools; (5) the HORROR of tools of war used on humans.

This book, though first of a series, completely works as a stand-alone. I have looked at the blurbs of the other two books of the trilogy but have no urgency to read them. But Sixteen Ways also is a gateway hook into everything and anything by K.J. Parker – as soon as I have time and money I want to read everything by them! The author is amazing. The story is amazing. The concept is amazing. Be amazed. It’s like being pummeled by stone balls; the story will break you with loving engineering.

BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 7: This Inevitable Ruin

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Comments I wrote during a buddy read of THIS INEVITABLE RUIN

Page 12 – And I thought Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, stored in his inventory, was a big, bad boom. These idiots went and made CARL!!! the bomb. (He was always “the bomb”, but now, for real, for real.)

Page 24 – Crawler count 32,429 … down from 8 billion people. The countdown toward extinction continues.

Page 106 – The All-Tree roots connecting to everything. Could be useful…what can Carl do with that?

Page 189 – One of the others on the Buddy Read: “Sooooo tedious. I’m not into war strategies.”

My response: ”I’m trusting Carl to blow something up really, really big by the end.”

Page 210 – “He was real. A real life snuffed away.”
Every time I see something like that, I see red. Like, what is the entire planet of Earth humans (and dolphins and other sentient creatures)????
(And this, boys and girls, is why you never should dehumanize anyone. You can consider them monsters, but they are human monsters. They are always real.)

Page 233 – “Welcome to the party, pals.”
Sooooo, that happened.

Page 318 – “WARLORD CARL: Unleash, Tina!”
Go-go tutu little-big girl. Sparkle the world!

Page 347 – Another person on the Buddy Read: “This may be my least favorite book so far.”

My response: “Yeah, I’m here for the characters more than the strategy…but this level has long been promised, so I just got to get through it.”

Page 400 – A question from the Buddy Read: “What is with the metaphor the AI just used?? Also wtf does he mean he had a family?”

My response: “I think the other AIs from previous crawls can communicate, and that would be his family. As for the metaphor – seems like two people are giving the AI advice, one is Agatha (she is sharing the Residual stuff with him – I don’t know if her ex- is a previous AI, or maybe a full primal?)…and the other? Hmm, who does Agatha hate – would it be the other part of the residual community or something else. Likely something else if the “old boyfriend” and the “other woman” are from the same “community”. I don’t know…yet. Well, we all have our limitations.”

Page 424 – “Warning: Scolopendra Stirs.”
Does it also cook and bake?

Page 495 – “I promised I wouldn’t poke at those outside the original primary zone without a good reason.”
Who did the AI promise? Was it Orren, who wanted to make sure all the previous agreements are still in place. Was it his family, the other AIs? Was it a promise he made himself, to not get hurt by the edges of his programming to keep him in check (everyone has their limitations)?

Page 589 – “DONUT: SAY THE WORD, AND DEATH WILL RAIN IN MY NAME.”

Do you remember this cuteness from Book 2 “Carl’s Doomsday Scenario” (see below)? I thought it was just a delightful joke and a bit overdone by the programmed bad guys. Little did I know Matt’s plan.

“…now this great deceiver, this devourer of all that is holy, has a name. She is Donut the Oak Fell. The Death upon Us All. She Who Ends.”

Page 651 – Action item three: “During the Peeling phase, revert to the rules of the original Faction Wars. Warlords and all soldiers of the defeated team should automatically die if they lose during the peeling phase.”

Wow, isn’t that going to change things a bit. Does anyone else have emergency action items left to revert this? I don’t think so. Can’t remember, but I don’t think so.

Dang…just dang. And with the “die for real” in place on top of the “die in game”, all the outworlders who had been holding back, hoping to survive this by not being in the front lines, are going to go ballistic. And the changelings…could they just replace the people on the crawler team as they die? Not kill them, just replacement. Although, they do tend to be more proactive than that.

This is going to be a blood bath.

Page 695 – I hope whoever Samantha is, her real self is as unhinged as her present one.

Page 718 – From the Buddy Read: Somehow I thought Ferdinand was a chonky boy 😅 I just read he’s skinny? *sigh. remodeling mental image*

My Response: Whatever he is, he is an orange cat.

Page 719 – 120,000 children??? There are less than 32,429 crawlers left (how many started the book). That isn’t a glitch, that is a hostage situation.

Page 744 – Called it, The Oak Fell.

Page 753 – Well that battle scene is vividly gory even by Matt standards. Do I even want to know how he is going to outdo this in book 8?

Page 754- The Lorena B. (abbreviated for spoilers) achievement. LOL.

Page 771 – He still has the bucket of glitter, and I still want a glitter bomb made.
That particular Chekhov’ s gun had better get used at some point. I’m just saying!
P.S. And it will need to involve Tina’s magical wand.

Page 791 – “We all have our limitations.”

Page 810 – “Reward: Toasty Food” – Oh, that is a quest I am going to fulfill. I love me toasty food…starting with s’mores, then grilled cheese, and other sandwiches, savory toasted cheese, …the list goes on.

Page 821 – Crawler Count: 20,221
Wow, that is amazing for the end of 9th level.

Page 823 – He.let.the.ring.go.
HE LET THE RING GO!!!!!!!
I didn’t think he could/would do that. I thought the claw was in too deep.

Page 830 – Suspect everyone.
Oh no, is Jamal a changeling?
No, they can’t do that with a tattoo, can they? Hmm.
On the other hand, imagine some poor changeling assigned to recreate Jamal.

Page 840 – Go Katia, save the children!!!!
The stakes just got raised impossibly high…

Page 845 – FOR YORK (he needed poetry)
Death doesn’t count.
Unnumbered children in orbit
and on the ground.
Death doesn’t count.
Crawlers, all numbered, providing
entertainment televised.
Death doesn’t count.
AIs, gods, CEOs, and pets,
gathered in the black embrace.
Death doesn’t count.
The breath of atoms and
the planets holding life.

Page 859 – (Last page, last paragraph, “normal” section, hardback edition)
Oh. That’s not good. Not good at all.
That is outside the sphere of influence.

Page 870 – (Last page of Backstage at the Pineapple…)
Oh, that is going to get messy too.
(The mimics going a level down.)

Series of Transcripts for Dungeon Crawler Carl

  1. Book Review (SERIES): Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 1-3 (12/16/2025)
  2. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1 (12/17/2025)
  3. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 (12/19/2025)
  4. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3 (12/20/2025)
  5. Book Review (SERIES): Dungeon Crawler Carl Books 4-6 (2/17/2026)
  6. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 4 (2/18/2026)
  7. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 5 (2/20/2026)
  8. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 6 (2/21/2026)
  9. BuddyRead Transcript: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 7 (7/25/2026)

Other Cool Blogs: Children Board Books

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Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash

Another blog recommendation for children’s literature by way of the A-to-Z blogging challenge (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/). I previously recommended a source for children non-fiction books in February (Other Cool Blogs: Children Non-Fiction Recommendations 2/26/2026). This time one of the bloggers, Laura, provided a list of Board Books for Babies. I chose the COLORS board books as the blog of choice, but they are all amazing!

If you are looking for books for your child or if members of your friendship circle have been adding children to the population, you might want to give a look at the full month of books for ideas and recommendations. The blogger does have associate links to Amazon, so if you are going to buy the books, be sure to go through her so she gets some of the benefit.

2026 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Colors

Book Review: Auntie Heroes

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Auntie Heroes (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 74)

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They’ve been overlooked, underestimated, and politely sidelined for decades. Fine. That’s fine. Let them keep underestimating.

In the pages of Auntie Heroes, meet ten women of a certain vintage who possess particular sets of skills and absolutely zero patience for the alternative. A fire fairy stepmother navigating werewolves and blended family politics. A retired intelligence operative who knits Kevlar scarves and outsmarts Belarusian thieves in a foreign embassy. A grandmother farming fourteen hundred acres with alien assistance — and handling the unfriendly ones with a shotgun full of rock salt. A sharp-eyed matron in a Lovecraftian coastal town who defeats an elder god with Eternal Father Strong to Save and a can of extra-hold hairspray. A suburban gardener who discovers her neighbor’s invasive kudzu is a Cold War-era biological antenna siphoning encrypted data from Fort Meade — and handles it accordingly.

Across fairy tales, spy thrillers, alien farms, suburban horror, and the salt-choked streets of a town that smells permanently of low tide, these women share one defining trait: they have been here long enough to know exactly what needs doing. And they will absolutely do it.

Stories include: “Stepmother Ever After” by Nancy Frye • “Calhoun Blood” by D.S. Ligon • “The Squamous Among Us” by Spearman Burke • “Salon and Subversion” by Tuvela Thomas • “A Dressing Down” by Aelth Faye • “From the Ashes” by TC Ross • “Knit One, Sanction Two” by Ted Begley • “Pruning with Extreme Prejudice” by Michael Patrick Coady • “Walking the Beans” by Rick Cutler • “The Knitting Circle at Innsmouth” by Malory

The world has a great many hind ends that require a proper thrashing. We’re betting on the lady with the flamethrower.

 

MY REVIEW

Auntie Heroes, like most anthologies, is uneven in tone and skill from the various writers involved in the project. But the shift of tone and skill is minimal, as this is a Raconteur Press Anthology and they have the formula down for creating pulp anthologies on a regular basis. If you like pulp short stories, I highly recommend the whole line for consistent interesting stories. All the anthologies are stand-alone, even the Moggie ones.

I love the theme for Auntie Heroes – older women, whose bodies may be a little long on the mileage, but the experience which came with it makes them forces to be reckoned with. Note that while the anthology is woman-theme, many of the stories are written by men. It was edited by a woman.

As is typical of my reviews of anthologies and collections, I will now do a short one-to-two line review on each of the stories:

Stepmother Eve After by Nancy Frye – Fairy Tale: An epistolary short story between Hansel and Gretel’s new stepmother and her witchy sister. Family will help family. (4 star)

Calhoun Blood by D.S. Ligon – Urban Fantasy: When something walks in with your mother’s face, you need the help of your auntie. (4 star)

The Squamous Among Us by Spearman Burke – Urban Fantasy: Don’t mess with an old woman’s book club members. (4 star)

Salon and Subversion by Tuvela Thomas – Humorous, cozy thriller: Best of the book. My mother laughed herself silly while reading it and kept wanting to share bits with me but couldn’t since I hadn’t read it yet. Very very funny. (5 star)

A Dressing Down by Aelth Faye – Thriller: Most people don’t look beyond the clothes and gray hair, which helps when rescuing kidnapped privileged daughters. (4 star)

From the Ashes by TC Ross – Fantasy: Children are to be protected even when the world, or at least the forest, is on fire. But how can a tiny old fairy save a baby before the fire rushes past? (4.5 star)

Knit One, Sanction Two by Ted Befley – Thriller: The thing about old people is they come with experiences. Is the little old lady working reception a knitter or international spy? (5 star)

Pruning with Extreme Prejudice by Michael Patrick Coady – Science Fiction (techno-biology):Kudzu is always an invading force, no matter how pretty it looks. Gardening club must go to war with a neighbor’s unfortunate taste in landscaping. (If you are not used to technobabble, this can be a rough read. But worth it if you love puttering around in suburbia flower beds.) (4.5 star)

Walking the Beans by Rick Cutler – Science Fiction (Aliens and Men-in-black): Always be neighborly. (4 star)

The Knitting Circle at Innsmouth by Mallory – Horror: Pie-judging at the town faire in this Lovecraft inspired short. Of all the stories, this one is furthest from the feel of the anthology and is very confusing for people not used to seeing a Lovecraftian story mixed in among normal fantasy. (3.5 star)