BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SOME
Join Santa and the elves as they are getting ready for Christmas Eve.
Sliding scene changers will be fun for young eyes and hands, who will want to flip the pages back and forth to make the changes. The rhyming is simple and a little stiff. A good optional holiday book.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Little Sebastian, the turtle, is relaxing with his dad. in the grass. Sebastian wonders what kind of things dads can do. Dad then goes on to describe what animal dads can do. Sebastian then guesses which kind of animal his dad is talking about. Sebastian decides who the best daddy is in the end.
Horn creates a sweet story all children can relate to. Meserve echoes with playful illustrations. She fills the pages with movement enough for any reader to enjoy.
MOMMAC
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Willy Bunny is bored. His father gives him the idea to go count everything he sees and share it with the family. Willy starts by counting himself as one. As Willy walks along, he counts various things up to 20 and then by 10s to 90. At dinner he shares his counting adventure with his family. Willy and his dad end their day by going out on the porch to continue the count to 100.
Richard Scarry takes the cake on this delightful adding and subtracting book. Along the way, children are able to categorize by color and activity also. This delightful book can be read over and over by both children and adults. It is so very entertaining!
MOMMAC
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Follow along with the gray whale migration from the warm sandy shores of Mexico all the way up to the cold Arctic waters with our bilingual narrator, Juana, a newly born gray whale.
I loved the bilingual text and thought the illustrations were engaging. I could see being a great read-aloud for a dual-language immersion class. It also could be a great book to add to a science picture book collection.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Charley Mouse keeps her house clean and immaculate at all times. She also cleans houses in the Wild Wood and the Magical Forest for other creatures. Monday through Wednesday she cleans for Moles, Frog, Fox, and Wolf. Thursday through Friday she cleans for the Witch, Unicorn, Gingerbread House, and Dragon. At each house, she is asked to collect some items that have been misplaced. She returns to her tidy house to rest before starting another work week.
If this book is an example of Katerina Gorelik's work, all her books would be best sellers! The highly detailed, adorable illustrations could keep one busy for a long time. Not only that, but the neighborhood she has created with maps and storyline are just as adorable. Each page makes the reader smile.
MOMMAC
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: FEW
Snarky Sharky is the biggest thing on his reef. But he is a bit tired of all of the attention, of the dull surroundings, and of the sea creatures who are constantly admiring him. But when he ventures off the reef for the first time, a surprise awaits him.
The story dragged with all of Sharky’s lines being sarcastic and a bit annoying - while I liked the surprise awaiting him, it was a one pager and the whole thing just didn’t feel finished.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
What is a volcano? Come along with Jackson and Li as they dive into the basics of a volcano and then tour 23 volcanic sites around the world with more detailed information.
I love this highly illustrated non-fiction book. Each page is full of fascinating tidbits in a highly digestible fashion. I would love to buy extra copies of the book and divide the pages up for a class to investigate each site further.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
A simple story to illustrate how we are all different (but with a lot of similarities) and how that is something worth celebrating.
I liked the overall message of the book, and the illustrations were cute and quirky, but it didn't have enough uniqueness to make it one that I would recommend everyone to read or add to their library right away.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Explore the many ways and reasons why we laugh.
Wiseman’s illustrations are a joyous way to talk about all things laugh related. From what a laugh sounds like, to good and bad reasons and situations that make us laugh, I had such a good time enjoying Tudor’s work. It will a lot of fun to share out loud - there are pages that are guaranteed to make your audience LOL or ROFL!
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Rabbit and Weasel are trying to convince Pig that he needs to take a bath, but Pig is not interested.
Thomas has another silly, short book for us. Her whole cast of characters is so much fun to follow. There are at least a dozen books now. And this one would be great for a small one who doesn’t want to take a bath.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Fanny and her family left their home in Russia when the tsar started burning their villages and homes. In New York she found a place where she could learn and grow, even if she was being urged to learn housekeeping and get married. Throughout her life she encouraged others to learn about their own origins and to learn about others - “The more you learn about someone’s life, the harder it is not to like them.” When she eventually became the director of a Boston public library branch, she created a week of celebration around Hanukkah to help the new American Jews learn their background and to open Jewish traditions and cultures to other ethnic groups.
The title of the book is misleading - while it does lead to the beginning of Jewish Week, it is more Fanny’s story even though we don’t learn her last name until the last page of the book. It is a story of immigration and persecution and finding your own path in the world - which happens to lead to the formation of Jewish Book Week. Lovely illustrations for a quiet story. It could lead to a discussion of “Week” celebrations of various kinds.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Sanger and Fox have given us a humorous, but fact-filled look at different animals that use poop for a variety of reasons. While it made me a little queasy, I know that young readers, especially boys, love learning about and talking about poop.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
