Blog Archives
Captain Fantastic and the Chocolate Planet
Captain Fantastic and the Chocolate Planet by Tommy Balaam is an imaginative and educational children’s adventure story of a spaceship captain and his dog Winston. When Winston is hungry and they find that there’s no food in their fridge, Captain Fantastic gets an idea. They travel to a Chocolate Planet full of sweets and treats for them to devour. They roam around, eating nearly everything in sight. When they return to their ship they’re so stuffed that they can’t fit through the door and don’t feel well. How will they ever get home?
Tommy Balaam’s has fun story full of vivid imagery, and it’s use of onomatopoeia and rhymes just makes the book much more engaging an interesting. The art in the book reminds me of a comic book style, with bright colors, clear pictures with some depth to them along with floating text boxes. The detailed artwork is visually appealing and will easily capture any child’s attention. This book does a fantastic job of delivering a message on health, eating, and exercise. It is certainly one of the more creative ways that I’ve seen to educate children on these topics.
I am giving Captain Fantastic and the Chocolate Planet, by Tommy Balaam 5 out of 5 stars. Filled with incredible artwork, a sweet story, and fantastic characters, this a perfect gift for young readers.
Pages: 32 | ASIN: B08PJPWJ18
Whales and Magic Sinbad’s First Voyage: The other Odyssey
Sinbad the Sailor sets out over the sea to retrieve his fortune with all his remaining goods on board. They alight on a beautiful island – but no it is a huge whale who, awakened by their shouts, tosses Sinbad painfully into the sea. Magically rescued he is befriended by a great king, and his ship, with crew and full cargo wondrously returns. Sinbad returns to his beloved Baghdad, now a rich man – till the next voyage! A tale from the Arabian Nights, a collection of adventures parallel to Homer’s Odyssey. Like your grandmother told you.
It’s Music Time
It’s Music Time by T.C. Bartlett is an incredibly detailed and enchanting children’s story. When a young boy is on his way to his music lesson, he finds himself getting distracted by a group of animals playing their own music. He finds it exciting and joins them, but he risks being late to his class!
T. C. Bartlett has created a children’s picture book with almost no words except on the first and last page to give some context to this visual story. The author does an amazing job of using just illustrations to tell a fun story. Every page is easy to understand and is illustrated with rich color, charming characters, and movement. The transition between black and white and bright colors helps set the mood throughout the book, helping you to better understand the boy’s emotions the entire time. The story is very cute and the art is very well done and I am blown away by T.C. Bartlett’s ability to convey such an enjoyable story with only images.
The use of Bartlett’s beautiful artwork makes the story so much more enticing and makes this book stand out in the children’s picture book genre. The storyline is easily told by character’s expressions and movements, making it an easy read for kids. It’s Music Time is easily the best children’s book I’ve read this month.
Pages: 50 | ISBN: 0998471690
My Buddy Knows
My Buddy Knows… Letters is an educational picture book that teaches children about the alphabet in a fun and playful way. What inspired you to write this book?
I was helping my high school aged daughter study for a chemistry test and we were using flash cards. Afterwards, I was marveling at how often we use flash cards to test our memory.
That got me thinking, “Why don’t we use flash cards for teaching early concepts?” My Buddy Knows series was born.
Fun fact: each of the “Buddies” in the books are named after my children.
I loved the art in this book. What was the art process like in putting this book together?
Surprisingly, all of the art in the books were acquired from a site that offers royalty-free images, approved for commercial use, free of charge.
It was a case study, of sorts, for my YouTube channel for authors, Keith Wheeler Books. I wanted to prove that you didn’t have to spend a lot of money to produce a book, if you focused on quality content and provided your reader with an amazing experience.
How does this book help young children with their alphabet comprehension?
The simple answer is that it makes learning fun. It’s like a game. Plus, as you turn the page, Josh(the “buddy” in the book) pops up in different places.
I can’t tell you how many parents tell me that their child loves to see where he’s going to pop up next.
This is volume one in the My Buddy Knows series. What are the other books in the series and what is the goal for the series overall?
There are currently 4 volumes in the My Buddy Knows series. They are:
My Buddy Knows Letters
My Buddy Knows Numbers
My Buddy Knows Colors & Shapes
My Buddy Knows Baby Animals
I’m also in the process of creating a spin-off series: My Buddy Knows Languages. I’m in the process of creating the first 5 books in the series:
My Buddy Knows Spanish
My Buddy Knows French
My Buddy Knows German
My Buddy Knows Italian
My Buddy Knows Japanese
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Learning the alphabet? My Buddy can help. Big, bright illustrations catch the eyes of youngsters, delighting them and grabbing their attention. The unique flash card approach helps them to learn their alphabet while building their confidence, turning learning into a fun game.
Your preschooler will look forward to learning their letters with this fun and unique book.
My Buddy Knows the answers… Do you?
My Buddy Knows…Letters
![My Buddy Knows...Letters by [Keith Wheeler]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510ff3LGQTL.jpg)
My Buddy Knows… Letters is a delightful children’s picture book that teaches young kids about the alphabet. The story stars Josh, who knows a lot about letters. He shares his knowledge of all twenty-six letters throughout the book by showing the reader a cute picture of an object and then showing them the letter that the object starts with. This is a fantastic way to teach children about the alphabet while also beginning spelling comprehension by associating letters with objects.
The art is simple, bright, and keeps the focus on the object and the corresponding letters, which I found helps kids stay focused. Josh pops up throughout the book in different spots on the page, which I enjoyed, but I would have liked to have seen him in different poses.
My Buddy Knows… Letters is an educational book that is perfect to leave lying around the house for your little ones to pick up and explore themselves after you’ve introduced them to it. Author Keith Wheeler has created a great tool for teachers and parents to begin early alphabet comprehension with their kindergartener or toddler.
Pages: 58 | ASIN: B01N44DWRF
Charlotte’s Snowman
![Charlotte's Snowman by [Lainey Dee, Sarah-Leigh Willis]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5187B6OW5VL.jpg)
Charlotte’s Snowman, by Lainey Dee, is an exciting and touching children’s story of a little girl that builds a snowman for Winter. She expects her snowman to be normal when suddenly, he starts talking! He begins to complain of the cold and she does her best to keep him warm. But, the next morning, Charlotte finds a surprise that she never expected.
Charlotte’s Snowman has an adorable storyline that is easy for children to follow. Charlotte is an incredibly empathetic and generous young girl. She’s a perfect role model for anyone to follow, with a great fashion sense too. This is a great story for parents to read with their children, as it provides topics of conversation on helping others and being empathetic. The art is very detailed with a soft color palette that shows emotion and movement well. The illustrations allow the reader to better understand how Charlotte and the snowman feel throughout the whole book. It was an art style that was reminiscent of Charlie Brown and I truly enjoyed it.
Charlotte’s Snowman is a cute and imaginative story perfect for children and parents to read together during the holidays. It teaches a valuable lesson with an easy to follow storyline along with cute artwork.
Pages: 25 | ASIN: B08P1P97F1
Who’s Jerry? (The Seen and Not Heard Series)
![Who's Jerry? (The Seen and Not Heard Series) by [T. M. Jackson]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ytlnRHTYL.jpg)
Who’s Jerry?, by T.M. Jackson is a heartwarming children’s story of little Imani’s experiences with her Schizophrenic mother. It shows her struggles of not understanding her mother’s behavior, and how it affected her. We get a look at Imani’s life at school and her many jumbled emotions. Then, as Imani learns about her mother’s mental illness, she begins to understand why her mother behaved in such a harsh and hurtful way. Finally, little Imani gets to spend time with her mom again, and do all the things they love.
T.M Jackson succeeded in writing about a sensitive topic like Schizophrenia without it being frightening or uncomfortable. The story was told from Imani’s perspective which allowed us to relate to her feelings and understand what she’s going through. The art all throughout the story was a great visualization of the character’s actions and emotions, it was definitely the strongest component of the book.
I am giving Who’s Jerry?, by T.M Jackson 5 out of 5 stars for its inspiring and heartfelt storyline accompanied by gorgeous artwork. The story is easy for children to understand and is a great tool for kids who may have family members with a mental illness. T.M Jackson was able to show that even if someone in your family has a mental illness, it’s not a bad thing and you can still have a great time together.
Pages: 36 | ASIN : B08N5F5PT7
My Own Mermaid Story…
Milli Mermaid’s PEARL OF WISDOM is a fun children’s book about a girl who goes on an undersea adventure and learns a valuable lesson. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting story?
I lived by the beach when I was a very young girl, and was mesmerised by the mysteries of the ocean.
I dreamed of being a mermaid, hoping for the day a mermaid’s tail would magically appear in place of my legs!
It was such a FUN fantasy, that was perpetuated by any book, movie, or tv show I saw on the subject… This inspired me to create my own Mermaid story…
I enjoyed the moral at the heart of this story. What were some themes you wanted to explore in this book?
Thank you.
Some of the themes explored in my book include: Empowerment, Individuality, Bravery, and Friendship… just to name a few.
What was the funnest scene for you to draw?
That is a really hard question to answer. Each and every page was so much fun to draw!
I loved drawing every colourful scene, with Milli Mermaid, Sammi Seahorse, and the colourful fish, and shells. I also really had fun drawing the scary sea creature scene…
You may have noticed, I drew everything by hand, then experimented with mixed media, drawing the bubbles and pearl on the computer, just for fun… I realise now, I can’t say for sure which scene was the most fun to draw, because they were all so much fun to draw!
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I don’t want to give too much away just yet, however, I can tell you the next book is part of the “Milli’s Musings” series, and is in the process of being written and drawn. It will be out this year, in 2021!
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Seahorse Schoolhouse teaches her a thing or two, but is it what Sammi Seahorse intended to do?
Be the best you that you can be…
There is only one you, and only one me!
LITERARY TITAN 