Ten Sleepy Sheep is an adorable board book set on a farm in the Australian bush. Gently counting animals who are ready for bed down from ten sheep to one snuggly, sleepy joey, this new book from Renée Treml is as sweet as they come. Each spread features a group of gorgeous, very sleepy animals […]
Review: 1,001 Creatures
1,001 CREATURES by Laura Merz and Alino Jarvinen Translated by Emily Jeremiah Merkat Press Yonder Picture Book Non-Fiction/ Zoology 64 pages ages 4 to 8 From the dung-beetle to the blue whale, no creature is too humble or huge for Finnish author and illustrator duo Laura Merz and Aino Järvinen in 1,001 Creatures, a […]
Review: Piper Picks the Perfect Pet
Piper’s dilemma is which pet to choose. So many types of dogs: ones that prance, others that dance, one that is flouncy or another that’s bouncy. Or perhaps a cat? A tabby? A Persian? A Manx or Siamese? One that sleeps all day long, or the kind that are poetry in motion. What about other […]
Peter’s War: A Boy’s True Story of Survival in World War II Europe
Published by Holiday House Summary: Peter was born to a wealthy family in Berlin, German in 1930. All that changed when Hitler rose to power, and his Jewish family had to escape, first to Belgium, and then to France. In the summer of 1942, Peter’s parents sent him to summer camp. While he was there, […]
Review: Challenger Deep
Caden Bosch lives a double life – seemingly a normal adolescent boy, quirky, smart and fun, living in suburbia, juggling the demands of friends, schoolwork and leisure. Yet he is simultaneously working as the artist in residence on board a ship with the mission to explore the deepest part of the ocean, the Challenger Deep […]
Review: I’m A Hero Too
2020 has been challenging and emotional. And for our kids, it’s been frustrating and confusing. Life changed in ways it had never changed before. We had to stop doing a lot of the things we loved to do. There are so many new rules we have to follow. In I’m a Hero Too, we step […]
Review: Puffin Little Scientist: The Solar System
The Puffin Little book series makes facts and figures super fun and super accessible for kids. Little Scientist: The Solar System takes kids on a space adventure. It introduces kids to key space concepts, like orbits, gravity and atmospheres, and dives into everything you need to know about the planets in our solar system, including […]
Review: The Austen Girls
The Austen Girls is a fictional story featuring real life people, written into a plot inspired by the times. Writer and presenter, Lucy Worsley (you might have seen her on TV), is the Chief Curator at Britain’s Historic Royal Palaces and has many historical facts and experiences to draw upon. In The Austen Girls, she’s […]
The Campaign by Leila Sales, illustrated by Kim Balacuit
Published by Harry N. Abrams Summary: Maddie Polansky’s pretty sure seventh grade will suck, with art class offering the only bright spot on an otherwise dismal daily schedule. So when she hears that unopposed mayoral candidate Lucinda Burghart is planning to cut the school’s arts funding, she feels desperate enough to try to do something […]
Letters from Bear by Gauthier David, illustrated by Marie Caudry
Published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers Summary: Bear is sad that his friend Bird has migrated south for the winter. He plans to write her a letter each day, but by day two, he’s decided to travel to be with her. Each letter describes a different adventure, with an illustration to go with it. […]
Review: We Love You, Magoo
Dogs are practically human, aren’t they? Magoo seems to think so. Magoo is a dog, and he’s a crazy, loveable hound. Unfortunately for Magoo, much as he’d like to do the things his humans do (like eating eggs for breakfast), there always seems to be a canine alternative. No chewing the toys for Magoo. He […]
🎃 Nine Old and New Favorite Halloween Picture Books
Halloween is coming, but there won’t be any trick or treating in most places around the country. This year, my young readers and I will be doing a zoom party. To get ready, we pulled out some of our old favorite Halloween stories, added some new ones into the mix, and came up with these […]
Review: How to Break an Evil Curse by Laura Morrison
HOW TO BREAK AN EVIL CURSE Chronicles of Fritillary, Book 1 by Laura Morrison Black Spot Books YA Fantasy 410 pages Princess Julianna may be cursed to dwell in darkness, but she’s no damsel in distress. How to Break an Evil Curse is the first book in a fantasy series about a princess who may […]
😷Five Picture Books About Animals and Other Creatures (and what we can learn from them)
Here are five of our favorite stories featuring anthropomorphized animals and other creatures that we have read this year. Don’t Worry, Little Crab written and illustrated by Chris Haughton Candlewick Press, 2020, 48 pages One day, Very Big Crab tells Little Crab it’s time to leave their tide pool and head to the ocean. […]
The Cat Man of Aleppo
Published by G. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers Summary: Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, a.k.a. Alaa, lives in Aleppo, a Syrian city that has been devastated by war. He’s stayed in the city, driving an ambulance and helping people however he can. When he finds stray cats wandering around his neighborhood, he decides to buy them […]