J.C. Phillipps

A pleasant surprise! The opening starts with Pacey trying to be a responsible babysitter to her younger sister Mina. Mina is obsessed with unicorns and tea parties and just wants to have fun. It is not stated how much older Pacey is compared to Mina, but she deems herself too mature for tea parties and unicorns and the shenanigans start from there.

This story got a bit unexpectantly dark, and there are actual stakes here! I love books that do not treat children as if they are stupid. show more Everyone’s not going to get a happy ending, but it’s fun to read. I thought the pacing was good because they spent just enough time exploring Rundyland. The character’s motivations make sense even if some are a bit wacky. I’m interested in reading book two now.

3.5 show less

What fun! This book for young children is everything a book for that age should be, and my granddaughter will love it. It's brightly colored with uniquely simple illustrations, and yet many pages have extra things in the illustrations that children will notice and want to point out or talk about. The text is large and simple and yet tells an adventure story with plenty of action on this family's picnic. The story teaches lessons about things to consider and how events can go wrong but all we show more need is imagination for a happy ending.

I love that the author is also the illustrator. The facial expressions on both people and animals are precious. The dad wears glasses and kids notice such things.

The author personally signed my copy with a note and original drawings! Love the squig (squirrel).

In our family, books, especially children's books, become heirlooms. So far, we've passed down some for 5 generations and this book will become one of those. It's really adorable for a little one, and fun for Mom and Dad to read as well. I hope J.C. Phillipps is busy making more books. show less

This one started off slowly but grew on me when the character of Slasher, the unicorn, started fleshing out. Pacey herself can be a bit annoying (Slasher actually called her an egotist), but when she admits fear over some things, it eases a little.

I enjoyed reading this book for a few reasons. The illustrations in this book complimented the written text well and overall enhanced the story. The illustrations were all large with vivid and bold colors. They also had a textured look to them, which gave the book an almost 3D affect. A key part of this book’s plot was the main character, Wink, not fitting in with the other ninjas at the school because he wanted attention. Although Wink is a good ninja he wants to be noticed and applauded show more for his skill, which goes against the ninja teaching of stealth, silence, and humility. Not fitting in with others is something that many children struggle with. However, this book showed that it is okay to be different and that your differences can be a point of pride. For instance, at the end of the story Wink joins the circus where his differences that made him a bad ninja help him become a great performer. In addition, the descriptive and figurative language in the story helped to engage the reader and give them a clear mental picture. Some powerful descriptive phrases included “he moves like a gazelle-swift and graceful,” and “his spirit shines like the morning sun.” show less