Review: Great books all in one spot
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 16, 2013
I haven't read the fourth book as of yet, but here are my reviews of the first three. Strongly recommend them.Jocker and Bivy: Saving Upworld is a very creative story of two little sibling birds who have quite the adventure when they fall from the nest and venture into the "giant's house."The animal characters the author uses to tell his story are likable and easy for a child to relate to. The birds are curious, just as children are, and the secondary characters are a nice mix of personalities.book 1I read this chapter book with my children and there were plenty of laughs, from both them and I. The story progresses quickly enough that the kids stayed entertained, but it also taught them a few things along the way about insects and the featured animals.Jocker and Bivy are the type of characters that a child can grow to care about in a short amount of time and I think the author did a good thing by turning this into a series. By the time we finished the first book, my kids were already curious about what the second in the series would feature.There are a few slightly scary moments in this children's book, but nothing that will send your little one to bed with nightmares. Moms and dads should be aware that there are slight mentions of what I would call "boy humor" in this story, mentions of bodily functions and so forth, but they are not written in a way that promotes being disgusting and they did evoke a laugh from my kids (all boys.)I think this is a good opener for a series of books that children between the ages of 6-10 would particularly enjoy. My only real criticism would be that I believe this book could benefit from a few illustrations. My kids were flipping back to the cover every time a new character was introduced to see what they looked like, and they did mention that it was too bad there weren't any pictures inside. For a beginning reader, this would be simple enough to read without much help, and for older kids it would be a fun chapter book.Overall, I was impressed by the quality and originality of both the story and the characters.book 2I was quite impressed with the first book in this series and therefore was excited to read the second with my children.In this book, Jocker and Bivy are off on another adventure, this time with even more peril, riddles and new friends to be made and enemies to avoid. This is a very cute story for children and also enjoyable for the parent (I can vouch for this.)The author has created characters that are easy for kids to return to and want to follow on further adventures. I particularly enjoyed that the characters have a lot of good dialogue amongst them, encouraging my kids to want to act out the stories and say the lines the characters say in the book.Each one of these books has been a way to transport your child's mind to a place where animals get to speak, make decisions and go on really fun adventures. I could not ask for anything better than that.If you have a child that is ready for a chapter book, this is a great place to start.book 3This is the third Jocker and Bivy book that I have shared with my children and as before, the humour and adventure held their attentions fast. This story is cute and takes the characters to a new and unfamiliar place where they must rely on the bonds of friendship and their wit to outsmart the enemies they face.In my opinion, this is an excellent series for kids. I would like very much to see the author continue expressing his ideas in further books. T.J. Hawk has a good sense of what entertains children and how their mind works.The chapters in these books are reasonable length and would be ideal for a reader that is just beginning to advance into reading alone and without much assistance.If you are searching for a good book series that will keep the young ones entertained during a trip or as a gift, this series would be one I recommend.