What would Ula read?

5 out of 5 🌟 Savoring every page May is a businesswoman and she's working in her own company - Word Saver Inc. where she literally saves the day. Her main job is helping people with something she's really good at, the words. There's also Stu who badly wants to become her sidekick but does a businesswoman need one? The book is showing May saving the day by changing the letters in dangerous words. It is a similar concept to 'Words' World' where everything is built out of letters. Just after her first adventure, my son was trying along with May to solve the next literacy puzzle. That book was a lot of fun for both of us!  I love how inclusive this title is by showing black girls as entrepreneurs and a boy in the wheelchair playing along with everyone else without any acknowledgment of his disability. 'May Saves the Day' is a hilarious book about word games, independent females, and the power of teamwork. It shows that even the most successful people can us...

5 out of 5 🌟The Father of India Little People, Big Dreams  are short children books about exceptional people  who changed the way we’re looking at the world now.  They're enjoyable pieces of non-fiction  to savor along with your tiny humans.  I love biographies of people who dared to be different, and these short books are one of my favorites. Each book in the series is illustrated by different artists with their unique style that even non-art-savvy like me can appreciate.  'Mahatma Gandhi'  is painted by Albert Arrays with pencils and watercolors and his images fit perfectly into a very tea-like climate of British colonies from a century ago. The story itself depicts the life of Mohandas (who then became Mahatma Gandhi) as an activist who made his non-violent fight towards India freedom.  Even if this short book is destined for children, it contains a lot of information concentrated on an encyclopedic-style page at the end. Most importantly, eve...

4 out of 5 🌟Toddler's city guide  ‘Little Cities’ is a series of board books for the youngest readers about the major US cities. The books focus on the main tourist attractions and landmarks. Illustrations are informative but simple, and they remind me of infographics in educational pamphlets. The ‘San Francisco’ book is brief but full of knowledge that fitted into only ten pages. It tells about the most famous city sites and day trips one cannot miss when visiting the city. This volume doesn't include the page about food like the other books from the series. Overall, it’s a good work to engage children's curiosity about the city before and during the trip. Many thanks to the publisher DK and NetGalley for the digital ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Field Guide to the Undead 4 out of 5 🌟 Let's talk pseudoscience 'Zombies of the World' pretends to be a non-fiction encyclopedia of the undead around the world. The book consists of a few parts. My favorite was field guide, where (just like in other field guides!) each species is described with a schematic picture, characteristics, range of occurrence, and conservation status (yes, some of them are endangered species!). There are also zombie encounters in history, a survival guide, chapters about the science of undead, social studies, and many more. As a consequence, this title is an eclectic mixture of everything that is currently known about zombies in the universe created by Ross Payton and it's served with grave seriousness that makes me laugh more than once. I greatly enjoyed the illustrations of each zombie species with their cartoonish gruesomeness. Since the book is a mixture of sources, also graphical design differs from chapter to chapter, and the rest of t...

4 out of 5 🌟 Learning if fun! 'Secret Explorers' is a new series about a group of children from around the world with scientific expertise in various topics from space through dinosaurs to volcanos. Each volume brings a new mission to resolve with the help of the most knowledgeable explorers in a particular topic. 'The Lost Whales' book takes place in the South Pacific Ocean and the chosen explorers for that mission are Connor the marine expert, and Roshni the space explorer. As always, the role of sidekick will be revealed during the mission. 'The Secret Explorers' are packed with action and useful information about the given topic. At the end of each book, there are a few pages with iconographic and schemas to sum and explain all the scientific data used in the story, the glossary, and a quiz to test the knowledge. In 'The Lost Whales' readers get to know about... yes, whales but also the ocean's ecology and global warming that poses a real danger...

4 out of 5 🌟Science in action 'Secret Explorers' is a new series about a group of children from around the world with scientific expertise in various topics from space through dinosaurs to volcanos. Each volume brings a new mission to resolve with the help of the most knowledgeable explorers in a particular topic. 'The Comet Collision' takes place in outer space and the chosen explorers for that mission are Roshni the space explorer, and Ollie the rain forest expert. Why a rain forest specialist in space? That would be explained during the mission! 'The Secret Explorers' are packed with action and useful information about the given topic. At the end of each book, there are a few pages with iconographic and schemas to sum and explain all the scientific data used in the story. In 'The Comet Collision' readers get to know about Saturn and its moons, space probes, and our solar system. My kid is a science-geek he really enjoyed that aspect of the book. Also...

5 out of 5 🌟Escapist Wonderland Goldie Vance is living and working along with her father at Crossed Palms Resort in St. Pascal, Florida. On paper, she's responsible for valet parking but in the meantime, she works as a detective along with her coworkers solving the cases that arise in the hotel. In volume one they're facing the mystery case of Mr. Ludwig and his missing jewelry. While this novel is designed for the younger audience, I found it a captivating easy-read that brightened up my mood almost instantly. The storyline is fast-paced and funny with multiple plot twists. And oh, the illustrations!  The very first thing that came to my mind after opening 'Goldie Vance' for the first time was 'OMG! This is so cute!' (sic!). The cheerful illustrations created by Brittney Williams and colored by Sarah Stern have a bright and colorful style that reminds me of girlish cartoons. Recently, a few people have asked me about a 'feel-good book' that ...

4 out of 5  🌟 A great guide to finding new sounds White Lion Publishing created another book of 'Cult' makers - musicians. The series includes also filmmakers, artists, and writers. Each volume presents 50 personas that are considered cult-ish in their field.  Who can be considered a cult artist? 'Cult Musicians' describing them as a wide spectrum of makers who left their mark on the music and their legacy is still inspiring people today.  Worth mentioning that all the books from the series present authors from every part of the world (which is rare in our English-oriented society). Each description includes an informative biography with mentions about the most famous works and what was the inspiration for them. I didn't know many of the portraited artists, hence this title certainly expanded my horizons of musical knowledge. With special appreciation, I read about female artists who lived (or still live) in their better-known husbands shadow, therefore...

3 out of 5 🌟Bookish tour of Beijing 'Beijing: A Symmetrical City' shows architectural schema the South-North axis that was used to create that Chinese city. The book works as both as a guide to the city and its structural design showing each part of the old town with its purpose and layout description.  The book is labeled as children but the number of facts and schemas can be overwhelming. Hence, it's not an entertaining title for kids but work for either teenagers or adults to extend their knowledge about Chinese culture or the city of Beijing. 'Beijing' is heavily illustrated by the author Dawu Yu in the traditional style with abundant details. I love the minuteness of each drawing and the immerse feeling they create. Overall, it's a great book for every  Chinophile or architecture enthusiast. The book provides a lot of information and details that you need to be ready for! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest...

Relax. Restore. Re-energize. This work is great for everyone who’s either at the beginning of their yoga path or finds yoga exercise classes (or videos) challenging because of their health issues or lack of flexibility. Each pose is extensively explained with step-by-step pictures and many modifications, that make exercise accessible for everyone. ‘Restorative Yoga’ is also encouraging to practice people who normally may feel excluded from the Instagram-ready world of exercise. Many pictures in the book represent older people and pregnant women, which is reassuring and comforting for everyone who ever felt insecure with yoga. I’m not a yoga rookie, I’ve been practicing it more-less for about ten years, hence many information in the book wasn't new to me. The part I liked the most was the ready-to-go collections in the last part of the book. They’re targeted for specific issues like back pain or feeling of anxiety and contain a set of poses with proposed time. I love the aesth...

50 Nonconformist Novelists You Need to Know 4.5 out of 5 🌟Ultimate TBR guide I need on my shelf 'Cult Writers' book shows portraits of fifty novelists from the last century who are the most memorable personas and were either a symbol or an anti-symbol of their time and culture. Worth to mention that the book presents authors from every part of the world (which is rare in our English-oriented society). Each description includes an informative biography with mentions about the most famous works and what was the inspiration for them. I really enjoyed this collection, I found a lot of information about the writers I already know and respect, as well as new authors to put on my to-be-read list. Illustrations created by Kristelle Rodeia was captivating and perfectly captured each of the portraited novelists with all their quirks and habits. This title is a must-have for every bibliophile. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an hones...