Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Books 3 and 4 - The Spacedog Cometh and Target: Earth by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Since this is a review of two books in the middle of a series, I'm going to refer you back to my earlier review of the first two books: 

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat and Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat, Book 2: Enemies by J. Marciano, E. Chenoweth, and R. Mommaerts

But, in case you don't feel like reading that, I'll give you a quick rundown of the first two in this delightful middle grade series. The first Klawde book is about an Evil Alien Warlord Cat named Wyss-Cuzz who has been banished to the most horrible place in the universe: Earth. On Earth, Wyss-Cuzz expects things to be as advanced as they are on his home planet but unfortunately it's a primitive place inhabited by ogres who call themselves humans. Wyss-Cuzz is quickly adopted by a boy named Raj and renamed Klawde. In the first book, the evil kitty is trying to get back to his home planet by creating a transporter with the help of his devoted minion, Flooffee-Fyr. 

In the second book he tries to train a crew of kittens to be warriors and things don't work out quite as Klawde anticipated. I reread the first Klawde book but couldn't locate my copy of the second, so I just skipped over it. 

Note: There are some spoilers in these two mini reviews. If you're worried about that, scootch on down to the rating. 

In the third book, The Spacedog Cometh, a dog is sent from one of the many dog planets in the universe (who knew there were so many?) His mission is to punish Klawde for destroying a planet.

Meanwhile, Raj's parents have gone on vacation and he's being watched by his ajji (grandmother), who has brought along a dog that she's fostering. After the spacedog arrives, she takes him in and Klawde must figure out how to deal not only with a dog that can't talk but also with this alien dog who has it in for him. 

With the help of his minion, Flooffee-Fyr, Klawde uses a device like a Go-Pro to beam back films that make him look heroic. But, then he makes the mistake of leaving the camera on at exactly the wrong moment. 

In the fourth book, Target: Earth, Klawde decides he needs to find a way to create an army, take over satellites, and defeat humankind. He starts with a few squirrels in the neighborhood, using them as zombie spies and testing his ability to get them to do his bidding.

Meanwhile, Klawde has been able to acquire some fancy technology by creating his own currency, KitKoin, and becoming filthy rich. In the process, he spoils Raj a little and Raj has to learn a lesson from that. 

Why does Klawde want to kill humans after they've treated him so kindly? Because he has lost the admiration of his many subjects after having to behave submissively to a dog. Will Klawde be able to vanquish his enemy? Or will the FBI agent who lives nearby thwart his efforts?

Both highly recommended - I'm not sure reading them back-to-back would work for everyone and, in fact, even I had to occasionally take a break and read a few pages from a different book to reset. But, I still love this series and if I can, I'll collect them all. There are currently 6 books in the series. I particularly love how this strange, otherworldly creature that looks and sometimes behaves like a cat (not a nice cat, but his humans still love him) is contrasted with a totally normal, slightly quirky family who are kind and loving. Also, Raj begins as a bit of a fish out of water in the first book but quickly finds friends and with each book his connections to people in the neighborhood grows. The human side is really quite lovely, although he does have his nemeses in the form of a group of bullies. 

Note: I'm trying to get back to pre-posting so that all of my posts are up by 7:10 AM for the early risers who like to read posts before or on their way to work but last night I was thwarted by a power outage. Oh, well. I'll keep working on it. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Where Are the Galapagos Islands? by Megan Stine

I don't have a whole lot to say about Where Are the Galapagos Islands? but I thought it was an excellent little book. One of the books I threw in my cart when I went crazy at Book Outlet, I bought the book specifically because a friend is leading a tour of the Galapagos Islands in the future (probably in 2022; hard to say, at this point) and I realized I haven't read anything at all about the Galapagos Islands in quite some time. Most of what I've read in the past probably had to do with Darwin. I've read his Voyage of the Beagle, long ago, and that was enough to pique my interest in the island's amazing wildlife.

The book describes the history of the islands' discovery, why nobody settled on the Galapagos Islands for hundreds of years after they were discovered, the visits by pirates and privateers, which country the islands belong to, the animals that are unique to the Galapagos Islands, how turtles on the various islands got Darwin thinking about the differences that led to his evolutionary theory, which islands are now occupied, the destruction humans have already caused, and why travel to the islands risks ruining everything.

I thought for a children's book that's so slim (112 pages), Where Are the Galapagos Islands? was stunningly informative. It was particularly interesting to me that the blue-footed booby is a Galapagos resident because a friend (not the same friend who is leading the tour) had just posted a photo of a blue-footed booby on Facebook right before I read the book. I'd just glanced across it, thought "Cool," and said nothing. And, there they were in the book, apparently unique to the islands. Double cool.

Highly recommended - Whether you have a child who likes learning about the world or loves nature, or you're thinking you want to head to the Galapagos Islands yourself, one day, Where Are the Galapagos Islands? is an excellent read, entertaining and much more informative than I expected. I usually pass on children's books after I finish them but I think I'll hang onto this one in case I decide to go on that tour and want to reread it closer to the time.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Flubby is Not a Good Pet and Flubby Will Not Play with That by J. E. Morris

It's National Pet Day and I've partnered with Penguin Random House to talk about 5 children's books (I'll be doing this in three posts) with pets in them. The two Flubby books shown with my Isabel are about a lazy cat. Both are great for beginning readers, with simple, easy-to-read words that are somewhat repetitive for the sake of ease. Flubby looks a little like Isabel, doesn't he? There is a real-life Flubby, whose photo is inside the cover of the second book, Flubby Will Not Play with That.

Flubby is Not a Good Pet by J. E. Morris tells the story of Kami's pet cat. Flubby is a chunky cat who doesn't do the things his person, Kami, wants him to do. He doesn't sing like her friend's bird, catch like another friend's dog, jump like a frog, or even run inside when it rains.

But, when it thunders and both Flubby and human are frightened, they need each other.

Cat and other pet owners will totally get the theme that what really matters is the affection between pet and human. The simple words for early readers make Flubby is Not a Good Pet a great book either to read to a small child or for new readers to practice beginning reading skills, especially little animal lovers.

In Flubby Will Not Play with That by J. E. Morris, Flubby's human, Kami, brings him a bag full of toys that she's bought for him but Flubby is not the most energetic cat. He doesn't want to play with the bird or chase the wind-up mouse. He's not interested in the dangling fish and the big mechanical toy terrifies him.

Kami apologizes to Flubby when the bag is empty. There are no more toys for Flubby to try. But when Kami runs out of options and leaves the room, Flubby discovers the empty toy bag is very fun, diving into it head-first.

Another easy-to-read and adorable Flubby book, perfect for little cat lovers. The simple illustrations and Flubby's expressive face are cute without distracting from the text.

I loved both books and I confess I'm probably biased because I'm a cat lover. I've met cats like Flubby. Mine are both energetic and enjoy their toys but some cats are seriously picky and even the two I'm owned by aren't interested in the same things. Bags, of course, are always tempting (like boxes).

My thanks to Penguin Random House for the two Flubby books, which I hope to share with my grandchildren. My eldest granddaughter is definitely a pet lover (she and Fiona kitty became friends during a recent visit) and is already beginning to read at 4 years of age. I wish she was closer so we could read these books together, right away!!!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Who Was George Washington Carver? by Jim Gigliotti and Who Was Genghis Khan? by Nico Medina

First an explanation of this tour: The WhoHQ Blog Tour is a review of the books in a children's biography series, now with a companion show called The Who Was? Show on Netflix. I'll describe the books, first, and then the episodes I viewed and how they portrayed the content of the books.

I've always thought of George Washington Carver as "The peanut butter guy," because he's often falsely described as the inventor of peanut butter. Who Was George Washington Carver? by Jim Gigliotti will open your eyes to the real story of George Washington Carver, and it's a doozy. Born a slave, taken in by his owners and educated, taught to care for plants and animals and do chores like laundry and sewing, even as a child he was known as a bit of a miracle worker with plants.

He had a burning desire to learn, a sharp mind, and a willingness to work hard to get the education he desired. A scientist, inventor, business owner, and educator, George Washington Carver was an amazing man who dedicated his inventions, his writings, and business ventures to improving the lives of people.

All this and more is in Who Was George Washington Carver? At 105 pages, the book is slim but Gigliotti packed a lot of information between its covers and with a stunning clarity. I was impressed by how much I learned from this little book. Gigliotti gives you a thorough overview of Carver's life and the illustrations add an extra dimension, with images of the places he lived and worked, maps, inventions, and people who were important to him.

Who Was Genghis Khan? by Nico Medina had the same effect on me that Who Was George Washington Carver? had - mind boggled at how much I learned in such a short time. I think I'd just thought of him as some legendary conqueror who went around slaughtering people for the spoils, and that was that. Instead, I learned that by invading other Mongolian tribes on the Steppe, he not only united a people but created a decent society out of one that was formerly a bunch of tribes who invaded each other whenever they needed something.

He introduced wealth sharing and a delay in hunting so that animals had time to grow, allowed freedom of religion, created a written language and a postal service . . . all sorts of things that we might consider modern or progressive were introduced by Genghis Khan.Who Was Genghis Khan? is a single page longer than the bio of George Washington Carver, so they really cram a lot of information between their covers. I didn't know, for example, that Genghis Khan never allowed anyone to paint his portrait or represent him in any other way. So, we have no idea what he looked like; we can only guess based on how other Mongolians looked.

Both highly recommended - I received both of these books for review and I only wish they'd sent me the entire series. The Who Was? series is a great way to introduce children to a variety of important historical characters.

Netflix has a show that serves as a companion to the Who Was? book series called The Who Was? Show and I watched the episode that describes George Washington Carver and Genghis Khan. I admit, I was a little stunned to find it so goofy. I wasn't entirely sure I found it all that educational, either. So, I watched another episode (Pablo Picasso and the Wright Brothers). This time, my husband sat down and watched with me. It was a lot more palatable the second time. Young actors dress up as the characters. They dance, they sing, they tell jokes, and they act out scenes from the lives of the famous characters. Sometimes, they'll show a brief cartoon or have a cartoon character interact with the humans. Point being, I was looking at it all wrong, at first. I was watching from the perspective of an adult who had read the books and was expecting all that information to be crammed into an episode. But, it's geared to kids, of course, and once you know what to expect, it's great.

Watching an episode that was about characters whose biographies I had not read really gave me a good perspective of how much information they managed to impart. Husband also reminded me that our kids watched something similar when they were young: Beekman's World, a science show that was goofy but informative. I didn't remember the fact that it had a huge rat character; I do recall the kids loved it, though, and that's what counts.

Bottom line - I recommend the series, but I'd suggest watching an episode before you read the book, if you plan to do both. Either way, they're both informative. But, the books go into a great deal more detail, of course.


Fiona Friday was moved to Thursday, this week, due to today's book tour: Fiona Fursday

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.