#VBT- Review: Cool Kids - Arlene Freeman - October 2021 Starting a new school can be difficult to make new friends as you are chucked in the middle of groups of people who have been friends for years. For someone who has been to many different schools, it was something I experienced quite a bit. In Cool Kids, Michael has just moved to a new town and starting a new school. He of course wants to fit in and becomes friends first with the bullies. Michael starts to be mean to other kids but soon he realizes that this isn't fun and he doesn't feel great being a bully as though kids fear him, they don't want to be friends with someone mean to them. About halfway through the book, Michael decides to change his tune and starts to become a good role model at school by making friends and being nice to everyone and soon he becomes the most popular boy in their class that he even influences the bullies to become one of the Cool Kids. This was a good read with a lesson and moral to le...

Review: Emma's Quest - T.R Willard - June 2021 As a former children's librarian, I have read a lot of picture books, and some of them you grab as they sound fun and exciting and cute tales but as you read them, you get a fright as it turns out to be a bit of a depressing read and the worst thing is when you are reading it in front of children as you are like um, ok. Do I keep reading or just quickly change to something more upbeat and happier? That is how I felt with Emma's Quest as the book starts with a happy little Emma and then it moved to a sombre part as Emma is an only child and gets a bit lonely. She decides to go for a walk and meets a bunch of different creatures, each she asks if they want to be their friends but then again it turns to very left-field as each animal is worried if they go with Emma, they will be killed and turned into items like snakeskin bags, beef and bear rugs. I have to admit, that this isn't a book I would read to children as I can see...