Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Bug on a Bilke

My lunch break Net Galley reads today were Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Bug on a Bike. I appreciate all the publishers who offer these titles up to librarians and reading advocates who do their best to seek out the very best books for their book collections.

Julia’s House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke
First Second Books
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ben Hatke has his pulse on what children like to read. Julia's House for Lost Creatures is a sweet story of a girl who lives in a house that rests upon the back of a giant turtle (although you don't realize this until the end of the book). Julia moves to the beach and finds her new home too quiet so she makes a sign welcoming lost creatures to move in and boy do they! First comes a kitten and then a troll soon followed by a variety of interesting creatures who have lost their homes. With so many guests, chaos ensues so Julia makes a new sign with a list of chores for everyone. Once peace is restored the faucets begin to leak and drip so one more sign is needed- a help wanted sign for a repair-person. I love the illustration of the steam punk looking repair-creature.

Julia's House for Lost Creatures is a winner and I will be buying a copy.

Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe
Lerner Publishing Group
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Bug on a Bike is a rhyming story of a bug who leads an eclectic assortment of friends up, down, around, and over until they reach a big party. I read Bug on a Bike on Net Galley and some of the word bubbles were not visible to the reader so it might have been a bug birthday party. I admire writers and illustrators but this book did not work for me. The rhymes did not flow easily and the illustrations were not vivid enough for my weak eyes. I did like all the party illustrations-they were lively and fun looking.

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