The Boxcar Children (Boxcar Children #1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner

My Rating: 4 stars

Alysse's Rating: 4 stars

Aiden's Rating: 5 stars

This is a series that I loved when I was younger and in fact I kept most of the books that I had so that I now have most of the collection. I was really excited when my kids got old enough that I could start reading this series with them. This is one of the first chapter books that they read and both my 6 year-old, Alysse, and my 4 year-old, Aiden read the whole book with me. Mostly I just read it out loud to them but they were so excited at times and I loved seeing them enjoying the series as much as I did. 

After doing the last review of a Children's book together with my daughter, my son of course couldn't wait to give his say in this review as well.

My favorite part:

Alysse: My favorite part is when they finally meet their Grandfather and are able to see that he is a nice man and they get to go live with him.

Aiden: My favorite part is when they find the dog and he gets to go live with them. 

What I like about the book:

Alysse: I love how they turned the boxcar into a house and how they all worked together to cook and clean. 

Aiden: I liked how they played with the dog and I also liked when they had the big race and Peter won. 

What I didn't like about the book:

Alysse: I didn't like when they tried to take away Benny in the store, and I was sad that they're parents died and they were all alone. 

Aiden: I didn't like the part when they were in the store trying to buy bread and the woman wasn't very nice to them and wanted to separate them. 

Do you think you friends would like this book?

Alysse: Yes!

Aiden: Yes. 

This is a book that I loved growing up so obviously my review is in part based on the nostalgia of growing up reading this series. There are some words that were hard for Alysse to read but overall the book is fairly easy to read and there is plenty going on to keep any child attentive. 

A Warm Welcome (Disney Frozen: Anna and Elsa #3) by Erica David

My Rating: 3 stars

Alysse's Rating: 5 stars

Date Finished: September 19, 2016

This is a book that I read together with my 6 year-old daughter, Alysse. To mix things up again I decided that it would be fun if we reviewed this book together. Obviously, her viewpoint is going to be different than mine and these books are more geared towards her anyways. So, here is what Alysse thought:

Favorite part:

My favorite part is when they met the Summer Queen. I liked when Elsa was talking with the Summer Queen. I like it because they are both Queens and they both had very pretty dresses. I also really liked the Summer Queens hair and she was really nice. 

Things that I liked about the book:

I liked when they were crossing the desert and had to hide under the boat. I also liked seeing how all the people reacted to Olaf  since they had never seen snow before!

Things that I didn't like about the book:

I didn't like it when they had a sand storm because that was scary.

As for me, I obviously didn't have the same views about the book. Overall the book was well written and it was very fun to read together. I also enjoyed seeing Olaf and his interactions with the people. The one thing that was disappointing for me is that in the end the Summer Queen didn't have any powers. I understand that that was part of Elsa's disappointment too, but we spent the whole book being excited about Elsa meeting someone else with powers and when it didn't happen it was a bit disappointin. But still a very fun read for younger kids, with fairly simple sentences and plenty of pictures included along the way. 

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 15, 2016

While there are a lot of Children's series that I really enjoy reading, I must admit that this book didn't really draw my attention when I read the summary. But, my children showed interest in wanting to read it together so I decided to go ahead and read it beforehand to see if it was any good.

To start with, I will say that I enjoyed Seraphina as a character. She was a bit odd and interesting which goes right along with who she is. She was very desperate for friendship which made her quite naive, but again, based on how she was raised, it was also understandable (although I would have expected her to be skeptic and stand offish instead, but I can see where lack of affection made her desperation for a connection with someone).

All of the other characters aren't really developed in too much details except for their interaction with Seraphina. 

And while I will say that I enjoyed the book and he characters, I must admit that the book is very slow going. Although all the drama happens within just a couple of days, there are parts of the book that take a long time to build up and it can be a bit boring at times. 

I was also disappointed with the mystery side of it. Mostly because there was not much of a mystery. The first person she suspects ends up being the culprit. And while I understand that this is a children's novel, you can't underestimate their intelligence. Almost everything points to the same person almost from the beginning and that takes out a lot of the mystery. The best part about a good mystery is the misdirection and second guessing.

And while the ending had plenty of fighting with the way it wasn't written I just didn't feel suspense or resolution like I wanted to. Yet, despite all of that I still found it to be an enjoyable read.

Death Weavers by Brandon Mull (Five Kingdoms Series #4)

Finished: July 12, 2016
Overall Rating: 3 stars

I want to preface this by saying that I love Brandon Mull! The first book I ever read by him was Fablehaven and I couldn't put it down. I loved the whole series and now I'll read just about anything he writes. I enjoyed the Beyonders series and so far I'v enjoyed this series. I will say that the other two series haven't been quite as good as Fablehaven. With Fablehaven, I was up all night reading and I couldn't wait for the next book to come out. And while I enjoys this series, I don't feel the same pull to read it as I did with Fablehaven.

The book was enjoyable but partway through the series new characters were introduced, and two of them were Ferrin and Drake, some of the main characters from the Beyonder series! I was so excited to see characters from other books being brought in! And what's more, the world building leaves room for introducing other fun characters along the way.

Compare to the other books, this book was a lot more running around than actually fighting (which makes sense considering how the echolands work) and there were some new concepts introduced. It didn't have me on the edge of the seat like some of the other Brandon Mull books I've read but it was still a good read and I look forward to the next book (especially now that Cole finally has his powers!)