Beginner Readers…Anna & Elsa: Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic

warmwelcome

David, Erica. A Warm Welcome ( Anna & Elsa: Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic series , Book 3). New York: Random House, 2015. 978-0-7364-3289-4. 122 p. $9.99. Gr. 1-3.

Princess Anna and Queen Elsa have set out to help a neighboring queen who they believe is in trouble. They travel to Summer Land, also known as Eldora, to see if the queen needs help controlling her powers of heat and fire, since the rumors state that the land is stuck in eternal summer. Along the way, Olaf keeps everyone cool with his hugs, but Elsa’s magic doesn’t seem to work in this hot, dry land. After crossing a treacherous desert, the friends reach the capital city and find out that all is not as it seems.

This is the third book in the Anna and Elsa: Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic series for beginner readers. These books are popular with the first and second grade crowd. The larger font and colorful illustrations will appeal to a reluctant reader. Frozen books are always popular, but these well written adventures encourage readers to jump from smaller books to a chapter book format. They also have uplifting themes of friendship and caring that make them worthwhile for any beginning reader.

Fantasy      Donna Fernandez, Calvary Christian Academy

iceengine

David, Erica. The Great Ice Engine ( Anna & Elsa; Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic series, Book 4). New York: Random House, 2015. 978-0-7364-3431-7. 123p. $9.99. Gr. 1-3.

There is commotion in the center of town, and Anna and Elsa go to see what is happening. They see Oaken, the large happy store owner we met in the Frozen movie. Oaken has used lots of spare parts to invent an ice cutting machine. When Kristoff sees how fast it is, he challenges Oaken to a contest, man vs. machine. Anna helps Kristoff “train” for the contest. When they finally compete, Oaken and the ice machine are the winners. The next day all of the ice harvesters disappear. Anna ,Elsa and Olaf search for them fearing that they have been kidnapped. Will the snow storms erase their tracks? Will they find them in time?

In this fourth installment of the Anna and Elsa: Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic series, inventive ideas are at the center of the story. Oaken’s Rube Goldberg-like invention is run by his pet mouse, Lars, and put together with a lot of spare parts. When Kristoff loses to the machine, Oaken suggests that they work together to harvest even more ice. This is a good compromise between man and machine. Working together, they ultimately problem solve to save poor Lars the mouse who is exhausted. Frozen meets the Maker movement!

Fantasy     Donna Fernandez, Calvary Christian Academy