Category Archives: Read To Me Dad

Book, Photo-A-Day, Read To Me Dad, Review

Review: Explorer Academy Book 6 – The Dragon’s Blood

The Dragons Blood
Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01049

We received a free copy of the latest book in the Explorer Academy series by Trudi Trueit to read and review. Opinions are our own.

This Summer I read through the first five books in The Explorer Academy series. This is a series that is inspired by the National Geographic society and is published through National Geographic. It is a science fiction novel series where the science fiction is things not too far outside the realm of possibility. There are thins that may not even be a few years off as technology progresses. Then there are things within the series that seem way far outside of possibility. It is a fun series to read with tons of great puzzles and a pretty intricate plot with some big mysteries. I do not know how many books are planned for the series but the major mystery is nearing an end.

With the fallout from the gut wrenching events of Book Five hanging heavy on Cruz he has to put that aside and keep searching for the cipher because Nebula is closer than he knows. Our main character, Cruz Coronado is closing in on the last pieces of the cipher with the help of his friends on Team Cousteau. However, can Cruz trust everyone on his team or on the Orion, the amazing ship that the explorers are on as they cross the globe on their adventures? Reading this series makes me wish that this was real and that I could travel on one of these teams.

This book has the Explorers traveling to places like China and Tasmania. They are on the hunt for evidence of a species that was thought to be extinct. Meanwhile Cruz is coming to terms with the information that he learned in the previous book. Information about his mother’s formula and about him specifically.

It was a nice addition to the series but makes me really look forward to the seventh book because we are so close to finding the answers to so many questions. But, like any good series there are always more questions to ponder.

the book is filled with excellent illustrations as well as profiles on real like scientists and their own projects and how they relate to the content of the book. I love that these books add that information at the end of each book. I think the series can get kids thinking about all the possibilities out there and then seeing that real life scientists are working on so many projects that are similar to what they just read about is inspiring. You can pick up this book and the previous five books in the series through our Amazon.com affiliate link.

Comic Book, Read To Me Dad, Review

Review: Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld – a Middle Grade Graphic Novel

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld

We received a free digital copy of Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld for review. Opinions are my own.

I enjoyed reading Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld. This new graphic novel is about Princess Amaya of Gemworld and the Amethyst kingdom in Gemworld. Amaya begins the story spoiled and a bit of a brat. she torments the servants of the castle with her powerful magic. She mostly steals treats from the baker. One day she and her brother end up in the royal vault and they cause some trouble there. This causes her parents to send her to Earth for one week so that she can see what living without magic would be like. Maybe that would straighten her out.

Something goes wrong and Amaya ends up on Earth for three years and she completely forgets who she was back in Gemworld. She makes new friends and is living like any normal kid in a suburban neighborhood.

She is brought back to Gemworld by another kid and once she is back she slowly begins to remember who she was and realizes that she was a real brat and she needs to step things up because there is major trouble in Gemworld. It is up to Amaya and her friends to set things right, but can she do it?

The book was a fun one with great storytelling and illustrations. I liked the overall character and her friends. I know that my son will also enjoy the book because he has been devouring graphic novels as quickly as I can put them in front of him. The book is out today and we saw it in one of our local comic book shops. You can go to yours and get it or you can help us out and use our amazon.com affiliate link below. I also have a more official description of the book and a sample page

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld - a Middle Grade Graphic Novel.

Amaya is something of a troublemaker. She and her brother have great fun together until a magical prank goes much too far and, to teach her a lesson, her parents ground her…to Earth! They hope a whole week in the mundane world will teach her that magic is a privilege…and maybe washing dishes by hand will help her realize the palace servants should be respected.

Three years later, Amy has settled into middle school and ordinary life. She has a best friend named Autumn, loves soccer, and spends a lot of time in detention for standing up to bullies. She also doesn’t remember any other home. So when a prince of the realm brings her back to Gemworld and restores her magical destiny, how will she cope?