Alexis Lampley's Blog, page 5

Maddie moo Picture Book Review: Builder Brothers Big Plans

Written by: Jonathan and Drew Scott
Illustrated by: Kim Smith

We were sent this book in exchange for an honest review. 

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was actually super adorable. Sometimes, when someone famous to adults does a kids book, something gets lost in translation, but I don't think it was the case for this book at all. 

Honestly, the only negative was that it wasn't actually clear which twin was which, so we had to guess (and eventually look up their IG handles to match them to the little crochet dolls of them). For the record, Drew is wearing blue. Easy to remember.

I loved the story of these two kids who were determined to create something even though the adults in their lives were sortof doubting them or thinking they were dreaming too big. I also love that what turns out to be a mistake that could potentially dishearten them doesn't end up slowing them down at all. They find a way to persevere and use the mistake to their advantage which is a really great message. 

Overall, I'm happy to have this book in our collection, and I must say, adding the puppy element kept Madeline extra engaged in what was looking for a second to be something she was going to lose interest in. She ended up listening intently to the whole story, so well done! Haha

This title will be on sale tomorrow! (October 2)

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: Sleepy the Goodnight Buddy

Written by: Drew Daywalt
Illustrated by: Scott Campbell

We were sent this book in exchange for an honest review. (Actually for most of these, I think they only hope we post a photo, but I enjoy doing them for book reviews as well, so... take that for what it's worth).

I always find the exhaust-yourself-to-sleep type of books to be really funny from a parent's standpoint, because they're so true. But usually I have a tickle of worry in the back of my mind as we read that these books are just giving Madeline ideas for how to stall going to bed that she may not already have thought of. So for the most part, I tend to avoid them at bedtime.

However, this one is quite ridiculous and funny, so I feel like it manages to set itself apart from the others in that you've got this little toy that is supposed to help the main character to sleep and it's just being ridiculously annoying (so basically mimicking a toddler lol*sob*) to the point that the kid is so frustrated with the toy that he falls asleep. It's really funny! And I love the tiny cameo that The Day the Crayons Quit makes, since it's by the same author. (You'd have to have read the book to catch it, which I love. It'll be fun to see when Madeline catches it. Might be a while tho for her).

Overall, this is really cute and actually one I won't avoid at bedtime. Which is a major win for a bedtime book!

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: The Day You Begin

Written by: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Rafael Lopez

We were sent this book along with a Middle Grade book that I featured for Instagram, so it was a pleasant little surprise in the package!

I am so happy to add this one to our collection. It is going to be one of those books that will really resonate with Madeline as she continues her journey through school. As kids get more aware of each other's differences and their own. As the social environment of a classroom of children inevitably gets a little harder to navigate each year.

This is a lovely and encouraging story that will help Madeline, hopefully, to empathize with her classmates as well as recognize situations that she herself feels the way the characters do. 

The story shows how children can feel left out and alone because of their differences, be it cultural or social or any number of ways that people are different. But as the story progresses to the end, you see how these different kids can find common ground and start to feel like they are part of the group and not alone at all, even through their differences. It encourages kids to open up to others and be proud of what makes them who they are and accepting of what makes others who they are. 

We will definitely be reading this one a lot, I have a feeling.

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: The Bee Book

Written by: Matt Holbein & Emily Brooks

We were sent this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so this might be the coolest book we own! It's a work of folded art! The amount of pages hidden inside this little hexagon is truly something special. 

It starts as a sunflower, with six pie-shaped wedges to unfold. Each wedge reveals a flower name and a type of bee. You then unfold that wedge to reveal artwork of the flower and bee on another little hexagon. Repeat this step for all six wedges and that's layer one! Layer two features artwork of bees and flowers and three wedges. Unfold these three wedges to discover three really interesting facts about bees on the wedges and reveal a smaller hexagon inside! Around the edges of this smaller hexagon are six more little info snippets. The small hexagon itself is split into three wedges, one flower per wedge. Unfolding those wedges reveals info about each flower! Inside that is another hexagon featuring six wedges and six bees (one bee per wedge). Open those wedges to reveal the name of the bee and a larger image of it. And finally, in the depths of that last hexagon is one that does not unfold, with another really cool fact about bees. 



This book is truly fantastic! And it wasn't just Madeline who learned something about bees, which is great. I was learning, too! But seriously, I recommend this book on the sheer fun factor alone! The info is a delightful bonus!

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: Magic Beach

Written by: Alison Lester

We were sent this copy by a friend for Madeline's birthday last year.

This adorable book is all about imaginative play! Each page features a scene that seems like a normal beach activity. But then the children say it is a magic beach, and the next page you see it through their eyes. The scene turns into something daring and adventurous, exciting and magical. It's really fun!

I also like the length of the book. I find that for bedtime, this one does well. She's starting to like longer stories and this is just long enough to be perfect for her, but not so long that I avoid it if she chooses it for one of our reads because it'll take forever. 

We chose this book for this particular review day, because we happen to be at a beach on vacation ourselves, and this book just absolutely captures the spirit of being a kid on a beach. 

We love this book!

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: Look

Written by: Fiona Woodcock

We were sent this copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was absolutely adorable and really clever! I don't think Madeline quite grasped yet how fun this book is, since she doesn't read yet. The premise of this book is that it's an entire story made up of words that have two o's side by side in a word. 

The story is about a brother and sister whose day is spent going to the zoo. They wake up in the morning, they get ready, they head to the zoo and see and do all kinds of stuff, then head home, take a bath, and go to bed. But the pages mostly consist of just one word per page. Zoo! Cockatoo! Balloons! And so on. 

The use of artwork within the word itself (particularly when it comes to the o's) is also really engaging. For example, the word cockatoo uses the eyes of the bird for the o's.

There is definitely a simple but effective lettering aspect here with the use of the o's, so of course that gets an extra thumbs up from me (the girl who hand letters for a living). 

I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to see how Madeline reacts to it as she learns more and more about letters and words. For now, she is enjoying it as a story, and that works, too!

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

by: Reni Eddo-Lodge
In 2014, award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way that discussions of race and racism in Britain were being led by those who weren't affected by it. She posted a piece on her blog and gave it the title: "Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race'
Her words hit a nerve. The post went viral and comments flooded in from others desperate to speak up about their own experiences. Galvanized by this clear hunger for an open discussion, she decided to dig into the source of these feelings.
The result is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary examination of what it is to be a person of color in Britain today. Exploring issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race, Reni Eddo-Lodge offers a new framework for how to see, acknowledge and counter racism today. {cover copy}
It is important to me that I continue to improve as a person throughout my lifetime, constantly trying to challenge myself and my views so that I can grow and learn and set the best example possible for my daughters so they won't have to start from the same spot that I did, but witness my growth and let that be their square one. One of the ways I have challenged myself recently is to look at how open-minded and accepting I think I am, listen very hard to what minorities in all aspects are trying to say, and learn where I'm failing. So when I saw this book, I knew it was something I wanted to read. I also knew I had to have this particular edition, because the graphic design on this thing is SO CLEVER. That being said, I went into this with an open heart and an open mind, willing to learn what I could and to accept that what I discovered about myself might not make me feel wholly comfortable. 
I will admit that this was the case, though it wasn't as bad as I thought, since I have been working on improvement in this area for some time, and started off in a better place for accepting growth here than many I know. But I must admit that I was guilty of actions or thoughts that I was unaware of at the time were adding to systemic racism or at least unhelpful for seeing things the way POC do. For example, in college I believed I was once the victim of "reverse racism". Now I know better. (Though I've known for a while, I didn't really get the specifics of how this isn't the case until it was articulated here in this book). Did I feel it was unfair that the three black teens who wouldn't move out of the way of the side of the mall walkway I was on nearly ran me over as they walked? Yes. Did I assume they thought I was from the South, where I had just moved, and therefore probably racist/grown up around racist people? Yes. Did I therefore believe they instantly hated me because I was white? Again, yes. And hey, maybe they did. But it was one split second that still stands out to me because that's all I have experienced that gave me any inkling that I was being treated unfairly because of the color of my skin. POC have to deal with that feeling literally every day. 
Anyway... I found this book to be incredibly important and wishing quite often that those who need it most would read it, but knowing in my heart that they are the last people who would. Maybe they'll stumble upon my review and at least read the quotes that stood out to me. (Though to be honest, I marked SO many more than what I copied down here, but they were pages at a time, so I had to be a little picky in what I included below). 
I highly recommend this book.
(the quotations below come from the UK version so things are spelled weird. Yes, that's right, friends across the pond, I said you spell things weird. It's true). 

On 22 February 2014, I published a post on my blog. {first line}
"G...the gulf of an emotional disconnect that white people display when a person of colour articulates their experience."

"The emotional disconnect is the conclusion of living life oblivious to the fact that their skin colour is the norm and all others deviate from it."

"At best, white people have been taught not to mention that people of colour are 'different' in case it offends us. They truly believe that the experiences of their life as a result of their skin colour can and should be universal. I just can't engage with the bewilderment and the defensiveness as they try to grapple with the fact that not everyone experiences the world in the way tha they do. They've never had to think about what it means, in power terms, to be white..."

"The journey towards understanding structural racism still requires people of colour to prioritise white feelings. Even if they can hear you, they're not really listening. It's like something happens to the words as they leave our mouths and reach their ears. The words hit a barrier of denial and they don't get any further."

"Worse still is the white person who might be willing to entertain the possibility of said racism, but who thinks we enter this conversation as equals. We don't."

"Amid every conversation about Nice White People feeling silenced by conversations about race, there is a sort of ironic and glaring lack of understanding or empathy for those of us who have been visibly marked out as different for our entire lives, and live the consequences. It's truly a lifetime of self-censorship that people of colour have to live."

"It must be a strange life, always having permission to speak and feeling indignant when you're finally asked to listen."

"Although I analyse invisible whiteness and ponder its exclusionary nature often, I watch as an outsider. I understand that this isn't the case for most white people, who move through the world blissfully unaware of their own race until its dominance is called into question. When white people pick up a magazine, scroll through the Internet, read a newspaper or switch on the TV, it is never rare or odd to see people who look like them in positions of power or exerting authority. In culture particularly, the positive affirmations of whiteness are so widespread that the average white person doesn't even notice them. Instead, these affirmations are placidly consumed. To be white is to be human; to be white is universal. I only know this because I am not."

"Thinking about power made me realise that racism was about so much more than personal prejudice. It was about being in the position too negatively affect other people's life chances."

"We don't live in a meritocracy, and to pretend that simple hard work will elevate all to success is an exercise in wilful ignorance."

"Colour-blindness is a childish, stunted analysis of racism."

"Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted  by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon--earned or not--because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system."

"Those who are coded as a threat in our collective representation of humanity are not white."

"White privilege is dull, grinding complacency."

"Racism does not go both ways. There are unique forms of discrimination that are backed up by entitlement, assertion and, most importantly, supported by a structural power strong enough to scare you into complying with the demands of the status quo. We have to recognise this."

"It's about time that the critiques of racism were subject to the same passionate free speech defense as racist statements themselves. Freedom of speech means the freedom for opinions on race to clash. Freedom of speech does not mean the right to say what you want without rebuttal, and racist speech and ideas need to be healthily challenged in the public sphere. White fear tries to stop this conversation from happening."

"White people are so used to seeing a reflection of themselves in all representations of humanity at all times, that they only notice it when it's taken away from them."

"If, as they say, racism doesn't exist, and black people have nothing to complain about, why are they so afraid of white people becoming the new minority?"


• something • {last word}

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime!

Written by: Cate Berry
Illustrated by: Charles Santoso

We were sent this copy in exchange for an honest review!

Okay, so first of all, this title is adorable. I kindof want to start calling my daughters Penguin and Tiny Shrimp now lol

That said, this whole book was actually adorable and really fun to read to Madeline at bedtime. Penguin and Tiny Shrimp are most certainly not going to bed and will not be doing any bedtime related activities. In fact, they will be doing all kinds of very crazy things and they will not in any way get tired at the end of the book. Except of course that they totally will. 

This one is simple and fun and we both enjoyed it. I think as we continue to read it and as she gets older, she will find it funnier and funnier that they fall asleep by the end of the book. Sometimes the subtle funny things go over her head a bit unless I spell them out for her. In the meantime we will enjoy the fact that this adorable duo goes to some extremes to avoid bedtime!

Maddie Moo Kids Book Review: Marlo and the Dinosaurs

Written by: Christopher Browne

We were sent this copy in exchange for an honest review!

So first of all, this book is about a dog and his adventures with dinosaurs. If that doesn't get your kid excited, I'm not sure it can be done! Okay maybe that's a bit biased. I just know Madeline loves her some dinosaurs, so you go adding a puppy in the mix and its already a step ahead. 

This is the story of a dog whose imagination takes him on a wild dinosaur-filled jungle adventure through the houseplants by his dog bed. There are only words are the first and last couple of pages, so you spend the majority of the book sortof sight-seeing along with Marlo. We are fans of the create-your-own-words-for-this-story type of books, so this is a fun one for us. And there's also the bonus of a seek and find in every page to find Marlo's friends, so its engaging on more than one level. 

I really love books that highlight imaginative play, and this is no exception! This book is really cute and fun!

The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

by: Douglas Adams
Don't Panic. {cover copy}
This particular copy I was reading from was the Barnes and Noble leatherbound edition, so it didn't have cover copy. It did contain all the stories in one big book, which was nice. It also had a fantastic and funny introduction. 

I loved this story. It was so quirky and fun and weird and perfect. It's like a well plotted dream. And the writing itself is very clever and well done. This was a really enjoyable little ride through space and time and I am so glad I've finally read this book.

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. {first line}
"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."

"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now."

"So long and thanks for all the fish."

"Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?"

"The major problem--one of the major problems, for there are several--one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem."

"Now I lay me down to sleep, Try to count electric sheep..."

"That young girl ... is one of the least benightedly unintelligent organic life forms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not to be able to avoid meeting."

• instead • {last word}