I’ve had opportunity to read and comment on two children’s books these past few months.  Both show great potential.  The first one is by Eve Culley and is called, “Adventures in Barn Town”. Unfortunately, neither of the authors have completed an author page, so I’m unable to give you more information or show you a photo of them, which is such a pity.

While I’m on the sideline subject of visibility, I would like to mention that I’ve had to look very hard for some of the authors’ websites who are on my TWEET SUPPORT LIST – some of the links presented on twitter do not work, but I wanted to find you.  Can you imagine if others – potential customers and/or readers were looking for your beautiful faces and well-written children’s stories – how would they get to know you without accurate information? Fortunately, our Rave Reviews Book Club encourages us to be aware of our author brands and Social Media presence.

Adventures in Barn Town by Eve Culley

Book Description

Welcome to Barn Town where the residents are friendly and there is mischief and mystery around every corner. Things are changing in Barn Town and Ol’ Stripe is keeping his eye on the new arrivals and the current residents in an attempt to keep the peace.

My Review

“The author, Eve Culley, sent me a copy of this lovely, entertaining story told by Ol’ Stripe, Barn Town resident, in her book entitled, “Adventures in Barn Town.” The author has a smooth writing style which I like and which makes each new animal adventure easy to read to younger listeners. My grandson who is seven also likes to read and so he read a few of the adventures by himself.  However he battled ever so slightly with the print being a bit too close together.  I personally would have liked to see more illustrations as well as “hear” Ol’ Stripe’s conversations with other creatures who come to the farm – a bit more showing, a little less telling – even though Ol’ Stripe has a very descriptive way about him!  Nevertheless, I always appreciate a traditional children’s story told from the heart, so based purely on the quality and contents of the stories, I recommend this book as a great bedtime story for younger listeners.” 

Pepper, Pumpkin and the Magical Pajamas: Pumpkin is Missing by Rita Madison

Book Description

A fun and exciting book for early readers. Pepper, Pumpkin and the Magical Pajamas is a series about a 7 year old girl, her cat and a pair of magical pajamas she received as a present from her grandmother. Pepper uses her pajamas to help her solve problems or overcome situations. She loves her cat, Pumpkin, which is also her best friend. In this edition, Pumpkin is missing and Pepper searches all over to find her. Pepper finally has no choice but to put on her magical pajamas to locate her friend.

My Review

“This little story is very cute and I’m sure any little seven year old girl will enjoy reading about Pepper and Pumpkin, and yes, many children will relate to the anxiety felt by Pepper when her beloved cat got lost. Pepper’s search takes her all over the house, looking for Pumpkin, and during this time she remembers how lovely it was when she first got Pumpkin.
Positives for me. Judging this little book by its cover – it deserves five stars – beautifully and imaginatively illustrated; something which is very important in the children’s literature genre; the story flows well and there is just the right amount of dialogue along the way; there’s a mystery – what happened to Pumpkin; there’s a solution – the magical pajamas.
Books for the author’s intended age group would be most suited at about 30 – 40 pages. The story is too long for this age group and because of exorbitant printing costs when it comes to colour illustrations, a shorter book WITH colour illustrations would make it more cost effective for the customer. I do however feel that the illustrations let the story down. The eBook at least, should have the same quality illustration as the front cover, i.e. in colour. I realise that paperback colour printing will make the book expensive. If the author intends for the paperback to be used as a colouring book and not just for reading pleasure, the value of this little story will increase tremendously, in my opinion.
I received a copy of this book via BooksGoSocial.”

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