Kay Woodward

I love the idea of modernized, less sexist fairy tales, but I am not sure if this one is a little too simplistic. In this version, Prince Handsome is the character that has a curse put on him. He will prick himself on a sharp object and fall asleep as well as the rest of the court. His parents try to protect him but his friend brings pointy plastic swords from his kingdom and the curse kicks in. Over the years a city builds up around the castle and no one even knows it is there. Princess Anya, an engineer, brings an antique drill and gets to the Prince. She wakes Prince Handsome who immediately wants to get married. She vetoes that and they go watch a movie. The illustrations are great -- colorful, whimsical, and modern -- but the story itself leaves something to be desired.

Thanks to Netgalley and Capstone Global Library for the opportunity to read and review this book.… (more)

What would Catherine the Great do if she was bullied in her class's WhatsApp chat? - The answer can be found in this book.

The book portraits 25 strong women from all over the world and world history, and each of them answers the "What would she do?" question to a problem middle-school children might face.

It is not a self-help book, rather a book that is supposed to encourage children to stand up for themselves and gives them ideas how to overcome an ostacle.

The portraits are easy to understand and the pictures accompanying them are exqusite.

This review is based on a NetGalley ARC of the German edition, called "Power Women" provided by the publishers.
#NetGalleyDEChallenge… (more)

It's an interesting structure—to present a situational question at the end of each "chapter" and offer a possible solution inspired by the woman just profiled—but like all the other books of this ilk flooding the market, the chapters are too short. Additionally, some of the questions at the ends of chapters felt like there was a lot of maneuvering done to get them to fit the life and behaviour of the woman profiled.

The illustrations, though, are fabulous and I can't wait to see the finished book and see them all in full colour.… (more)