Joey Madia, New Mystics Reviews

   (HRPR Blackberry Publishing, 2021). ASIN: B09FKTCVZP When I was a boy, I was lucky enough to have a giant finished basement in which to play. My grandfather, a talented wood-worker, made my brother and me a big toy box (you had to be careful, because if you didn’t lock the hinges, the heavy lid came down on your head while you were digging to the bottom for some action figure you needed RIGHT NOW). After a long day of active imagination and deep-immersion play (which I never outgrew: I am a writer, actor, and content creator), it was then time to clean up. Uh-oh! What a mess! Hundreds of toys spread throughout the room and my Dad on his way home from another long, frustrating day at work. Suddenly, it was a shift from the free-reign of imagination to the discipline of having to follow the rules in a hurry. My solution? I would take two of my father’s barstools (the cool kind, with circular seats that swiveled) and drag them over to the toy box. Instant garbage truck! ...

   (Australia: Odyssey Books, 2020). ISBN: 978-1925652918 Let’s face it: we are all in need of some new and different heroes. With the recent success of Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes—sister of Sherlock and Mycroft—on Netflix, it could be that the next big thing in inspiring role models is a young girl armed with a keen imagination, broad knowledge, an adventurous spirit, and a flair for story (think Greta Thunberg). All of these boxes are checked by Ann Harth’s delightful character, Bernice Rose Peppercorn, as they were “back in the day” by Charles Schulz’s Lucy, Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking, and Judy Blume’s Sheila the Great. Bernice, a journaler and fledgling writer, is also a fan of a big-time celebrity who lives near her, Crystal Bell, who makes action adventures with a hint of mystery, with titles like Murder in Mumbai . The inciting incident is when Miss Bell’s house is robbed. Bernice is armed with her notebook, in which she makes entries—with her...

  “On the Importance of Dreaming”: A Review of Dreamy Days and Random Naps by Mawson/Mark O’Dwyer (Publisher Obscura, 2020, www.publisherobscura.com ), ISBN: 978-1922311139 Comprising heartwarming photos of stuffed bears, costumed and posed with fun props and interesting, engaging sets, Dreamy Days and Random Naps recalls the wisdom of JRR Tolkien and Maurice Sendak, who said that they did not write books for children—it was the publisher and others who said they did. While visually appropriate for children as young as three or four (and, having raised children of my own, that is an interesting time when it comes to the politics of   napping), the deep wisdom of this book will be appealing to parents, grandparents, teachers, and others who need a reminder that dreaming and imagination are, as Albert Einstein said, more important than intelligence. Not that Mawson the bear and his friends are in any way UN-intelligent. Although ready comparisons can be made to the giants ...