Sunny's bookshelf
Sunny's bookshelf photo by Judy Solomon

Online book reviews since 2011, the very best in reviewing – connecting good readers with equally good writers

Children’s early and middle readers

The Honey Jar
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

The Honey Jar

The Honey Jar, An Armenian’s Escape to Freedom, is Joan Schoettler’s captivating tale of a young boy’s 1920, escape from his war-torn home in Armenia.

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El Deafo
Children's graphic novels
Sunny Solomon

El Deafo

El Deafo – Cece Bell’s superhero, airborne with a red cape and, do our eyes deceive us, wearing a hearing aid? This is a graphic

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The Phantom Tollbooth
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth – You are never too old to read and love Norton Juster’s 1961 novel marketed for children. How is it possible to

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Too Small Tola
Authors of color
Sunny Solomon

Too Small Tola

Too Small Tola shares something with children worldwide. Too Small Tola, by Atinuke, is close to the perfect storybook for early readers. One thing children

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The Clockwork Crow
British Authors
Sunny Solomon

The Clockwork Crow

The Clockwork Crow, first in a new series by Catherine Fisher. I feel on pretty sure ground when reviewing children’s picture books, but lacking a

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Sylvie
Autobiography/Memoir
Sunny Solomon

Sylvie

Sylvie – A graphic memoir and a story for the whole family. I am always a bit wary of reviewing any book, fiction or nonfiction,

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Pax
Animal stories
Sunny Solomon

Pax

PAX What? Another kids’ book? Well, yes, and no. Two things compel me to pick Sara Pennypacker’s Pax for my next review. First of all,

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Will You Be My Friend
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

Will You Be My Friend

WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND Back in 1994, Irish writer Sam McBratney, and British illustrator Anita Jeram, published the picture book, Guess How Much I

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Freedom Soup
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

Freedom Soup

FREEDOM SOUP Just in time for New Year’s Day celebration is another great picture book from Candlewick Press. Freedom Soup is proof that the publishing

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Wild at Heart
Animal stories
Sunny Solomon

Wild at Heart

WILD AT HEART, MUSTANGS AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE FIGHTING TO SAVE THEM I reviewed Terri Farley’s Wild at Heart back in August of 2017. This is

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My Grandma and Me
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

My Grandma and Me

MY GRANDMA AND ME – Unlearning Otherness one child at a time. Picture books have, for me, become a passion. As much as their stories

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Louisiana's Way Home
Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

Louisiana’s Way Home

Louisiana’s way home is longer than she thinks. Kate DiCamillo’s character Louisana Elefante is not new to her many fans who have read Raymie Nightingale

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Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

Good Rosie!

GOOD ROSIE! As a book reviewer, I have no favorite genre; if a book is well-written, I will unabashedly tout its merit. In the case

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Zora & Me
Authors of color
Sunny Solomon

Zora & Me, The Cursed Ground

ZORA & ME, THE CURSED GROUND, the power of childhood memories to raise a forgotten writer back to a deserved literary recognition. When Candlewick Press

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Children’s early and middle readers
Sunny Solomon

Du Iz Tak?

DU IZ TAK? If I were still selling books at a brick and mortar, Carson Ellis’s Du Iz Tak? would be flying off the shelf.

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