Monique Peterson

Two things you need to know:

I loved the movie. Yes, it's cheesy, poorly written, with silly songs. Yes, it relies too heavily on the better Laurel and Hardy version(and that only works because Laurel and Hardy are Laurel and Hardy). But the dresses. The dresses! And the little story book town. And, as campy as they are, the villains! Not to mention Ed Wynn's fumbling adorable-ness. My poor parents would roll their eyes every time I chose it and even I was dead tired of the nonsense by the time the "battle" at the end happens. But I stayed in the room because I wanted to see that last dress.

Two: I literally read Heather Dixon Wallwork's books based on the fact that all I knew about her was that we shared a love of those dresses. That was literally the only reason I picked up her books. And you should check out her Story-monster website for the proof.

So, all of that is to say that I was extremely disappointed in the book. Extremely. Tom is relegated to the role of friend. They showcase one of her best dresses, but only bother to illustrate her a couple of times. And the ending seemed a bit rushed and a bit cliffhanger-ish. This series of books could be used to get a whole new generation addicted to the old shows but instead the audience is rather vague. It's not there for the die-hard fans and it's not there for potential fans. Then what purpose do they serve? This disappointed reader genuinely wants to know.… (mere)

This book probably has the oddest proportions for a non-art book that I've ever read, but it was fully necesary to showcase the wands from the Harry Potter cinematic universe in their full glory. In a few cases it would have been nice to see multiple views of the wands to show the designs fully (not all were completely symmetrical), but overall we get standardized representation and good quality for all the subject material. The two wands which are non-standard (Hagrid's pink umbrella which contains his wand fragments and Lucius Malfoy's cane which conceals his wand) get lovely fold-outs so that they don't get proportionally crushed. Unfortunately the text did not quite live up to the quality of the photos, since they chose to go for brevity rather than completeness. The HP fandom are known enrds who love all the trivial details of the franchise, so it seems a touch silly that the authors chose not to include all the standard details about each wand's makeup. Most of the information has been compiled on the Harry Potter wiki and has been widely discussed by J.K. Rowling either in the books themselves or on Pottermore. Obviously they will have to re-release the book once the Fantastic Beasts franchise is complete, so maybe they'll give us the complete goods then.… (mere)

This book provides a brief look at 24 of Disney's animation films. Each includes a very brief synopsis, some questions to test your knowledge of the film, an activity related to some aspect of the film, some memorable quotes, and a receipe. This book is primarily intended, in my opinion, for family activities. It would be a great book for a grandparent to use with grandchildren, perhaps as a fun afternoon's activity or before seeing one of the films. The book provides nothing for serious Disney film collector.… (mere)