LITPICK REVIEWS

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was very engaging, and I liked how the author was able to add the science fiction element of aliens to Maddy and Grace’s sleepover. I also liked how throughout the book, Maddy and Grace stayed very open-minded even when they were meeting the aliens who were very different than them. The author did a great job of using aliens to represent things that are different than us, and I liked how Maddy and Grace were able to find similarities between themselves and the aliens by the end of the story. This book showed the importance of being kind to others even if they are different than you, and how we are all more similar than we think! Lastly, I enjoyed the colorful illustrations in this book as I think they helped me understand all the new settings in this book such as the spaceship and different planets. This is a great book for young readers who like Science Fiction!

Maddy and Grace Solve the Crime is an excellent book for young readers. The author is able to take the plot of packages going missing around the neighborhood and makes it more suspenseful and interesting with the involvement of suspects and fake packages! I enjoyed how the author gave the reader a limited amount of information at a time, which allows the reader to solve the mystery along with Maddy and Grace. In this book, we learn a lot about a new character Billy, who is a kid that often gets bullied at school. We also get to see his growth as the book progresses and how much everyone’s kindness affects him and leads to his happiness. This really helped to show how much a small act of kindness can make an impact on someone else’s life. This book also contains colorful illustrations, which did a great job of adding to the suspense of the story by portraying a limited amount of information to help you solve the crime along with Maddy and Grace. Overall, this book is an excellent story to teach young readers the importance of kindness and not judging someone before you get to know them.

Overall, this is an excellent picture book. The plot of the story was suspenseful, and I liked how throughout the story there was always something mysterious going on. I think the author found a good balance of making the story spooky and suspenseful without it being too scary. Additionally, the pacing and storyline of the book were very well-written. The timeline of the story and Maddy and Grace figuring out what happened with the haunted house seemed realistic, which I liked. Additionally, I like how the author added clues throughout the scenes, so the reader can figure out what is happening in the story alongside Maddy and Grace. The colorful illustrations also helped me visualize the various spooky scenes that occurred in the haunted house! Lastly, I liked how the book showed the importance of following the rules, even if you are trying to find out the truth!

I really enjoyed reading this book. While the main plot of this book is a familiar one (getting lost while on an adventure) the author did a great job of making it more exciting by adding elements such as a shark out in the sea and another ship. I also felt that the story was well-written and progressed at a speed that felt exciting the entire time I was reading it without any pauses in the story’s suspense. The author also set up the scene very well for the readers with the descriptions of the beach and all the fun things at Maddy’s grandma’s house, which made it easy to relate to Maddy and Grace’s excitement about their adventure throughout the book. The illustrations also added to this and helped showcase the different settings such as the water. This book also showed Maddy and Grace’s resilience as they never gave up even when things started to get tough. Overall, this is an awesome book for young readers to read by themselves or with the help of a grownup that teaches about the importance of being prepared!

I loved the idea of three friends being so heartbroken over the zoo’s closure that they decided to take matters into their own hands to try to re-open the zoo. Even though the girls were young, they still put their ideas together and let their ambition lead them in trying to save what little was left of the zoo. I think this teaches children that it’s okay to think out of the box and want to be involved in your local community even though you might be young. There is no age minimum on trying to lend a helping hand to someone or in this case a local zoo. This instills into children that no matter your age, if you put your mind to something, you can make it happen.

Another thing I loved was how the community came together once the girls got everything started. This teaches children that sometimes all it take is one person to get a community involved in achieving a goal that everyone could benefit from. I feel this was a great story to plant the seed into a child’s mind that helping a community benefits everyone involved. This story promoted community teamwork starting with Maddy, Grace, and Mia.

The illustrations provided were done in muted tones for readers of all ages to enjoy. The illustrations were full-paged and had plenty of details for readers to stop and take in each picture before turning the page to continue the story. They perfectly complemented the author’s written word.

Overall, Maddy and Grace Save the Zoo (and introducing their friend, Mia) is a story that will entertain readers as they turn the pages. It has great characters, a wonderful storyline, and fun illustrations to enjoy throughout.