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When the Shadbush Blooms
When the Shadbush Blooms, by Carla Messinger and Susan Katz, illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden With Thanksgiving approaching, this is a great book for anyone who wants to try to have a discussion about what Native American life actually was like- and is like. Unlike so many books about Native Americans, this one includes the present […]
Who Is Driving?
Who Is Driving? By Leo Timmers This is another excellent Gecko Press book that we received from my in-laws in New Zealand. The author is Belgian. The joy in this book comes from the pictures, as different animals show up driving different vehicles. My kids also loved the “crash!” at the end. I’ve categorized it as […]
The Last Stop on Market Street
The Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt De La Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson This is one of the books we currently have out from the library, and I love it so much that I decided to post about it right away. It is a sweet story about a little boy riding the bus […]
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, by Cressida Cowell, illustrated by Neal Layton Emily Brown is having adventures with her rabbit Stanley, and keeps getting interrupted by representatives of the queen, who wants Stanley for her own. There’s enough repetition in how the story is constructed that it held my kids’ attention even when they […]
Mouse Makes Words
Mouse Makes Words, by Kathryn Heling and Debora Hembrook, Illustrated by Patrick Joseph My last book was a book that my five year old likes to “read” to me, so I decided to make my next book one that she actually will try to read. I think this book is a great choice for a reluctant […]
Blue Hat, Green Hat
Blue Hat, Green Hat, by Sandra Boynton This book has been one of my younger daughter’s favorites for years. She likes to read it to me. For quite awhile, she read it like this: “Blue hat, green hat, red hat, poots!” She has lost that particular adorable mispronunciation and now reads it properly as “Blue […]
A Mammoth in the Fridge
A Mammoth in the Fridge, by Michaël Escoffier and Matthieu Maudet This book is French surrealism for children, and it is marvelous. A family discovers a mammoth in their fridge… and a charming story ensues. This was another gift from New Zealand and the wonderful Gecko Press. It is translated from the French. It came […]
The Monster in the Mudball
The Monster in the Mudball, by S.P. Gates This is an action-packed chapter book about a monster that escapes from an ancient mudball into modern England, and the efforts of a couple of kids and one seriously cool Artifacts Inspector to recapture it. The characters in this story are diverse- the kids are Asian, the […]
All the World
All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee I unabashedly love this book, with its subtly hopeful message, lyrical language, and beautiful pictures. It was a birthday gift to my younger daughter from one of her best friends at day care. I can’t remember exactly which birthday- either her 3rd or 4th- […]
Juneteenth for Mazie
Juneteenth for Mazie, by Floyd Cooper I am adding an extra post for this month, because my heart hurts, and in some small way writing this makes me feel better. It is going to be longer than most of my posts here, because what I want to say about this book needs some explanation. Like all […]