Book Review: The Lolly Shop by L, B & E Hackney

The Lolly Shop

by

L, B & E Hackney 

 

Publisher: Self-published

Publication date: 6th July 2021

 

Genre: Children's chapter book

 

Pages: 142

 

Format read: paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the author

 

About the book

 

Join in the magic with Bax and Ethan as they make sweetness and mayhem in their lolly shop.

These lovable characters solve many problems with their special magic, loving and caring, working hard and having fun. Unfortunately they also create unexpected problems when their sweets have real magic added. Follow their triumphs and despair as they help their family through rough times.

 

My review

 

The Lolly Shop is a cute story about two boys who, wanting to help their parents out financially, make their own lollies and sell them in their lolly shop. 

The boys accidentally mix magic powder into a batch of lollies and when they taste the lollies they start to float. Thinking what great fun this is they start to mix the powder with different lollies and get different powers, such as speed, invisibility and super jumping.

 

The lolly shop was popular before but now everyone wants to try the magic lollies.

Much fun and mayhem ensues with the children playing tricks with their magic abilities. However the magic also helps some children overcome their fears.

Parents and teachers start to complain. What will the boys do to keep the children and the adults happy?

 

The Lolly Shop is fun, crazy and magical. Dot loved every minute of the story and it elicited many giggles as i was reading. I loved the interaction between the two brothers.

The two boys prove that they can work hard and keep up with their school work whilst they have a bit of fun with the magic lollies.

 

The story promotes imagination, teamwork and community spirit.

 

Recommended for 4 - 8 years

 

Dot's rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Lauren lives in a seaside suburb of Brisbane. She lives with her beautiful man, Geoffrey and their two boys Baxter and Ethan.

Together they love exploring, trying new things, laughing and being amongst nature.

 

Another pastime of theirs is story telling. Whether it be a bedtime story, a campfire story or a road trip story - they love each taking a turn and seeing where the story takes them.

They love their animals at home. They have chickens, fish, cockatiels and a recently adopted dog.

 

For many years Lauren worked in aviation however the pandemic put a stop to that so together they decided to put pen to paper and wrote this story. 

Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021

 

                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21

 

 

Book Review: Treasure Hunt at Pirate's Paradise by Mahima Kalla

Title: Treasure Hunt at Pirate's Paradise
Author: Mahima Kalla
Illustrator: Maria Titova
Series: The Audacious Adventure Series #1
Publisher: Self published
Publication Date: August 2018
Pages: 105
Format Read: Ebook
Source: Courtesy of author

Leia is a history teacher with a fascination for pirate history and culture. She is one of select few people who know about the existence of Pirate's Paradise - a tiny deceivingly beautiful island, tucked away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The island’s picturesque beauty could easily mislead the untrained eye, for amid the stunning forests and colourful birds, lay many grave dangers. Legend has it, that hidden in the hinterland of Pirate’s Paradise, is ancient pirate treasure.

When Leia is given the opportunity to go treasure hunting at Pirate’s Paradise, she couldn’t think of a better travel companion than Krish. Krish is her 12-year old nephew with a passion for wildlife and adventure.

Together they make a great team. But, Pirate’s Paradise is not for the faint-hearted. Will Leia and Krish successfully navigate the many dangers of Pirate's Paradise and find the ancient pirate treasure?  

Treasure Hunt at Pirate’s Paradise is the first in the Audacious Adventure series and an excellent first chapter book. The print is large and well spaced and the illustrations are bright and captivating.

Pirate’s Paradise is an island tucked away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Very few people know it exists. The island is picturesque but hidden amongst its beauty were a myriad of dangers.

Leia, who loves adventure and has a fascination for all things pirate, is given a map of Pirate Paradise. She had heard the island had hidden treasures and ancient magical items. Not wanting to go alone Leia asks Krish, her 12 year old nephew, to accompany her. She knew that Krish was smart as well as adventurous.

The story has themes of patience, working together and problem solving as they decipher the map and work out the riddle to follow the clues. As they navigate the mysteries and dangers of the island they deal with feelings of frustration and learn not to give up.

The magical elements are easy to visualise and the story is both atmospheric and suspense filled. It is filled with adventure and sparks a child’s imagination.

Dot really enjoyed this story because, just like Leia, she loves everything pirate. The story was a great length to read in one sitting and the beautiful colour illustrations dispersed throughout brought the story to life.

Dot’s favourite part was when the fire fairy appeared to light Leia and Krish’s way through the dark cave. She is happy for the story to be read over and over again.

This is a splendid first introduction to urban fantasy and magical elements.

Suitable for ages 3+ (read to me) or 5+ (read alone).

My Rating 5/5                          🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Booktastic Link it up Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Jo Linsdell where book bloggers can link up their latest book related post.

photo courtesy of Goodreads

Mahima was born in India, and moved to Australia after high school, to study at university. One day, while babysitting her nephew who was going through a ‘pirate-phase’ at the time, she made up an impromptu story starring him and herself. That night, she went home and wrote the story down. Few months later, the story had developed into the first book of the Audacious Adventurers Series, 'Treasure Hunt at Pirate's Paradise'.

She has always been passionate about storytelling, and believes that stories can have a big impact on people's lives. She has enjoyed writing ever since she was a child. Her first piece of writing was a poem she wrote when she was 7 years old. When she is not working or writing for children, she enjoys meditating, getting out in nature, and spending time with her family and friends.

 

 

Book Review: The Toad Who Loved Tea by Faiz Kermani

Title: The Toad Who Loved Tea

Author: Faiz Kermani

Illustrator: Korey Scott 

Publisher: Matador

Publication Date: 28^th January 2018

Pages: 48

Format read: Paperback

Source: Author supplied

 "The crowd clapped as Tungtang sipped the tea elegantly from a tiny porcelain cup. They sighed as she gently swirled the tea in her mouth. They applauded as she rolled her eyes, and they cheered as she rocked from side to side, trilling "Why, this is toad-ily tea-licious!" What happens when you brew together a toad who likes tea, a cruel crow, snobby customers and an ancient prediction?

A strong, fragrant story full of unexpected adventures that will take you and Tungtang, the tea-loving toad, from a muddy pond to Queen Catherine's Olde English Tea Shoppe for a real clash of cultures. Tungtang's story of her discovery of tea and humanity will change her (and the way you look at tea) forever. The Toad Who Loved Tea is the hilarious tale of a tea-loving toad's unconventional journey from a muddy pond to an elegant tea shop.

Tungtang always thought of herself as an adventurous toad until one day a nasty crow laughs at her stories of adventure and tells her real adventure is going far away to somewhere you have never been. Tungtang decides that if she is going to be a real adventurer she needs to something different, something unheard of. She is going into the town!

Grandpa Nutbelch tells her about Dustysox the Great and his prophecy about a toad that goes on a journey and achieves great fame among the humans. Tungtang believes she is the one to fulfill the prophecy.

Once she gets to the town she takes up residence in a tea shop. She loves the smell and taste of all the different tea blends. She causes quite a lot of trouble in the shop during the day, stealing buns and upsetting tea cups but she always manages to escape detection. All this disruption is causing problems for the tea shop owners and the shop may have to be closed down. Will Tungtang be caught? Will the shop be closed down? How will Tungtang fulfill the prophecy?

This was a fun book to read and Tungtang was such a cheeky toad stealing sticky buns by day and hiding in the storeroom and rolling in the tea at night. Names like Lady Lobsterpants, Dustysox and Muddybum are sure to elicit a few giggles. Tungtang’s observations of humans and their ways was also quite amusing.

The illustrations by Korey Scott were colourful and brought the story to life.

The Toad Who Loved Tea is a wonderful story about adventure and discovering your true talent quite often lies in the things you love doing.

Written as a first introduction to chapter books with full page illustrations it is best recommended for ages 3 -7 years

 

In his free time, Faiz loves writing funny children's books, especially frog-themed ones (frog-friendly fiction).

These include My Alien Penfriend, Golbo the Spider's Amazing Vacuum Cleaner Adventure, The Frog Who Loved Mathematics, The Frog in the Skyscraper, The Frog Who Was Blue and The Toad Who Loved Tea.

His books have won awards in the US and UK and have been translated into French, German, Spanish and Russian. He is involved in various literacy projects with schools and is always happy to hear from anyone on ideas for educational collaborations.

You can read my review of The Frog Who was Blue here