Review: Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret by Wanda Coven

Blurb:
Heidi Heckelbeck seems like any other eight-year-old, but she has a secret: She’s a witch in disguise. Careful to keep her powers hidden (but excited to use them all the same), Heidi’s learning to live like any other kid—who just happens to be witch. And with easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, Heidi Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

Heidi and her brother Henry have always been homeschooled—until now. But Heidi is not happy about attending Brewster Elementary, especially not when meanie Melanie Maplethorpe turns Heidi’s first day of school into a nightmare by announcing that Heidi is smelly and ruining her art project. Heidi feels horrible and never wants to go back to school—but while sulking in her room at home, she remembers her special medallion and Book of Spells. With a little bit of carefully concealed magic, Heidi might be able to give Melanie a taste of her own medicine….


A Review by KK:
This is a really good book for a chapter book. I read it all in one night. Heidi is a witch, but I didn't know she was a witch, and I thought my mom was making it up. But she really is a witch!

She had to keep it a secret and I think I really want to try the spell, but I don't have a medallion or the eye of a gingerbread man.

Heidi is homeschooled and when she has to go to a normal school she is scared and doesn't have any friends. She makes one friend, but there's a mean girl named Melanie who is really mean because Heidi is new to the school and Melanie is super mean. She had to go to the principal's office, she was so mean!

At the end, Heidi still doesn't like school or Melanie, but she has a nice friend named Lucy and her brother an mom try to help her like school too. And she says, "One thing is for sure, I'm not going to forget who I am. I'm HEIDI HECKELBECK, and I'm a witch!"

I like how there are a lot of pictures, and I like how the words are bigger. It makes it easier so you don't get lost in the book.

I think this is a good book for a second grader. It was a bit easy for me, but I like it a lot. I give it 500 stars, but my mom says I can only give it 5.

Review: Oh the Things My Mom Will Do by Marianne Richmond

Oh, the Things My Mom Will Do by Marianne Richmond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My mom liked this book. It didn’t seem to be for little kids. It was meant for moms. Like maybe I would buy it for my mom on Mother’s Day. It told about the life of a mom who does everything for you if you’re a little kid.

The mom does a lot. She takes care of the hamster when it’s sick, and I know my mom took care of my cat when he was really sick, so I know it’s stuff moms do, but it’s not fun to read.

I think the pictures were for grown ups too. I liked it, but I don’t like it a lot and I don’t want to read it again.


***ARC courtesy of Jabberwocky Kids/Sourcebooks



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My Review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My 8year old's review:

I think it is LOL is funny. I think everyone should read it. Get it from the library. I like it better than the Big Nate books. I like how this book is about greg's life and all the funny things that happen to him. It makes me think about what high school is gonna be like.

Greg only has one friend and the rest of the guys are bulies. They pick on him, and one of them actually punched him!

[I asked my daughter what happened next? Did he fight back? My kid says "No because it's called Diary of a Wimpy Kid, not Diary of a Bully." Lol okay then kiddo]

I like the pictures and how they're mixed with pages that don't have pictures too. I think this is more fun to read than some of the other books my mom picks out. I want her to buy me all of them.

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Book Review of Carrot by Vanita Oelschlager

A Review by KK

blurb: 

 An ordinary house cat, Carrot envies the life of the pampered yacht cat Buffy and dreams of all she could do with such luxury, but comes to realize that her life is actually richer in many ways.

I love Carrot. it is a cute book. It should be a library book so other people can enjoy it. And if people enjoy it you could make it a book to buy at the store. I enjoy the whole book. I like that the pics are beautiful.                                                         Thank you Vanita  Oelschlager 

***ARC courtesy of  Vanita Books

The Riotous Rocket Ship Robbery by Kim Donovan

The Riotous Rocket Ship Robbery by Kim Donovan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review posted on Got Fiction?

My 7 year old daughter's review:

"I like it. The pictures are cool, especially in color. I want more pictures though. But the bad guys were funny. My favorite part was where he said Werewolf Alert."

My review:
This was a fun take on Supers-this time we have school for the super villains. If anyone ever saw that movie Sky High it reminded me of that-where they fly to a school especially for Super Villains and they have normal school behavior. There are the cool kids, the new kids, the bullies, it’s a good set-up. It was quite a crack up.

The characters went to classes like "World Domination" with teachers named "Dr. Super Evil" and I caught myself smiling a lot as my daughter read this to me.

The fact that their teachers would have accepted "trying to take over the world" as an excuse for being tardy cracked my daughter up. I got a kick out of the antics since it’s a school of villains, the teachers are a wee bit different than your normal high school or middle school.
I think it was a nice break from reading the Jewel Fairies and Captain Underpants that we read almost every night.

The only thing I'd suggest is that 7 is a bit young to enjoy it to its fullest. I'd recommend this chapter book for age 9 and up.

***Review copy provided by author


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Fun Goodies

I don't know if any of you have heard of Birchbox, but it's a fun box you get every month (it's $10 a month), and inside it is all kinds of goodies. The April Birchbox shows Stila lipgloss, Nars facial cream, all kinds of fun brands and products.

I waited for so long on the waiting list, I got bored.

A friend of mine told me about the Glam Bag instead. Same deal. $10 a month for a bag of makeup, but this time, it's not samples. It's all full-size products! I'm thrilled. I was emailed today that mine is on it's way. I can't wait to see what's in it :)

VoxBox

So a friend introduced me to this awesome program called Influenster.
You take quizzes and surveys and they send you a Vox Box. In mine, I got a Ghirardelli Sea Salt and Caramel chocolate bar, a new Venus Embrace Razor, a great fragrance from Bath & Body Works called Forever Red (it smells divine!), and some pretty cool erasable pens by Pilot. I'm thrilled!

I think I'm going to start blogging more over here, and I'll probably post my cool Vox Box goodies too :)