Second Chance Sam: King of the Junkyard and Carol's Quest for Courage

Happy last day of November! Happy Thanksgiving! Happy (belated) black Friday! Happy holidays to everyone out there! 

Today I bring you two reviews from an author I had reviewed before: JoAnn Sky. For those who have not read the previous review (see here), Ms. Sky combines her love of books and rescue pups together to bring stories for children in her Santa's Dog series and also the new Second-Chance Sam, King of the Junkyard. A portion of the proceeds from these books goes towards Dogs & Books, an organization that supports animal rescue causes. Please check them out! Along with the books mentioned, the website also has dog related gifts for sale, which is great if you want to support a cause and give out something really neat for the holidays! (There is also a holiday promotion happening until December 14th, if you want a good gift and a discount!)

(c) Dogs and Books, JoAnn Sky, John Tatulli

Second-Chance Sam, King of the Junkyard is by JoAnn Sky and illustrated by John Tatulli. Please see below for their bios. This book is a super cute rhyming story for children. It teaches children about the older dogs who are sometimes not chosen at rescue shelters. But, luckily for our story, little Sam finally finds a home. This short story will definitely warm your heart and entertain your children. The writing is perfect and the illustrations are very colorful. I recommend this book for children 4 years and older.

(This book is so cute, my mom who is a preschool teacher is most likely going to swipe my advanced copy! :) )

(c) Dogs and Books, JoAnn Sky, Ed Koehler

Carol's Quest for Courage is also by JoAnn Sky, illustrated by Ed Koehler. This book is the sequel/second in the Santa's Dog series for children. Carol is a dog who loves to sing, leaves the North Pole on a quest to find a place to sing her heart out. Along the way, she meets a girl named Aly and finds a home where she can sing with her new family. A very colorful and lively book for Christmas, this story has more words than Second Chance Sam and is recommended for children around 5 years and older.

Please give these books a read, especially if you love dogs and/or have children! You will not be disappointed! If you are curious to learn more about the author or the illustrators, please check them out below. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will write again in December!  

(c) JoAnn Sky

About the author, JoAnn Sky (visit her website here):
JoAnn Sky is an award-winning author and two-time Golden Heart® finalist who writes children’s stories as well as young adult and adult contemporary romance. She’s combined her love of books and dogs in both her award-winning SANTA’S DOG series and SECOND CHANCE SAM series. She hopes you enjoy reading it as much as she has enjoyed creating it. Originally from the Midwest, JoAnn currently lives in northern Nevada with her family and three crazy rescue dogs.

(c) John Tatulli

About the Illustrator, John Tatulli (visit his website here):

John Tatulli is an American born Illustrator who could always draw.  He spent hours on end with his headphones on drawing whatever came to mind.  At a young age he specialized in Pen & Ink over pencil sketches mostly.  As he got older his work progressed into his love for Children's book art. Now his passion is creating emotionally striking illustrations and kid friendly artwork hoping one day to illustrate some of the original stories his Dad used to tell him before bed. When he isn't drawing and creating he is a family man who is happily married to his wife of 12 years.  They have a great Dog named Sasha and are on a mission to adopt their first child.  John is an avid Air soft player, enjoys disc golf and spends quiet time reading.

(c) Ed Koehler

About the Illustrator, Ed Koehler (visit his website here):
Ed Koehler is an illustrator specializing in fun, lively art for children's books and other products. His work has been published around the world and has received numerous awards. His expertise is in Christian publishing but his work extends to general interest, editorial, and cross-generational books and materials. He has designed and illustrated projects as varied as multi-media stage sets, environmental graphics for a large church youth center, and smart board Sunday School curriculum. He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators and the St. Louis Artists Guild.

Happy Halloween!

(c) Ylanite Koppens, Pexels

Happy Halloween! Are you in an area where you have snow today? So cold and such odd weather! I remember Halloween always being cold, but I don't ever remember snow! One good thing is the fact that it is weather you can settle down with, read a good book, and drink a good cup of coffee (or tea). :)




I have a few more random book updates for you, which may be of interested if you like to travel:

• There is a Free Little Library in Mize, Mississippi is designed to look like Doctor Who's TARDIS. (How cute!)
• The Book Fairies strike again, this time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leaving free books for Banned Books Week - including copies of Harry Potter!
• The New York Public Library has again found an innovative way to have more people read. They have posted classic novels on Instagram for you to read for free. FULL novels. The project is called Insta Novels, makes it super easy to read on the run. You can read to your hearts content, but make sure you have a good internet source - no one likes unnecessary cliffhangers.
• Speaking of New York, although this is part of a fictional universe, if you are a fan of Marvel / Spiderman, take a moment to read The Daily Bugle, now online!
• Flotsam, California has a book vending machine for an elementary school. Students who show acts of kindness and are "caught in the act" are rewarded with special tokens to use for the book vending machine to buy a new book for themselves. We could use more of these around!
• Mark Twain's original signature was found in a cave in Hannibal, Missouri. You can visit the cave made popular by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and see if you can spot where Sam Clemens signed his name, too.
• For those who love romance, but do not know what to read next, try this Book Finder book search by Smart Bitches. I have to say, it is pretty fun to see what comes up and what you have not read yet. ;) 
• For those who love those online book scavenger hunts, the New Adult Winter Scavenger Hunt will be here soon enough! The game will start again towards the end of December. What is "new adult"? It is the genre of books for the (rough) ages of 18-25, with topics that touch upon more mature topics than your typical young adult books and may contain sex scenes. Think books from authors such as Sarah J. Maas (i.e. A Court of Thorns and Roses).

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I also wanted to share some bonus photos from the graphic novel The Last Amazon, because so much work went into the project, I just want to share it with you, fellow readers! Just as a refresher from my last post, The Last Amazon is an indie graphic novel from Apotheosis Studios by author Jamison Stone, illustrator David Granjo, and supporting artist Carlos Cardona. You can buy a copy on their website here (it's currently on sale!).

The Last Amazon (c) Apotheosis Studios

The Last Amazon (c) Apotheosis Studios

The Last Amazon (c) Apotheosis Studios

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(c) Valeriia Miller, Pexels

I have a couple new books for children to review that look to be great presents for the holiday season. Keep a lookout for more to come!

Stay warm and stay safe today, whether it is trick or treating, going to a party, or just relaxing and watching a scary movie. Until next time!