BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Burton Intersperses verses from traditional Christmas hymns with a well-paraphrased version of the story drawn from the Bible. Caparo’s illustrations glow and together they create a beautiful Nativity story.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Count from one to ten. Each page has a tactile number, the correct number of dots for the number, and the touchable letters.
The pictures have some tactile elements, but you can’t really discern the picture from touch alone. If only the words and numbers were also reproduced in braille, I would give this a chef’s kiss. But nonetheless, children will enjoy the sensations provided by the textures as they enjoy the bright illustrations.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: NOT RECOMMENDED
A little girl is going to the all night parranda with her family. As she listens to the different instruments played by the participants, she tries to find an instrument and rhythm of her own.
The illustrations are full of life and joy. I was disappointed, however, that the parranda is only explained in the back matter - I was hoping for a new book about a community celebration. Also, the text seems to want to rhyme - some of the sentence constructions are a little convoluted in that way. UT - while a few might be considered slant rhymes, most of them aren’t even close to rhyming.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL (4-6) – ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: MANY
Miles Bacon is the Big Rig Pig and he can haul it all! Time and again, Miles is called on to help out with different heavy loads, just adding them onto his semi-truck. Uh-oh! Miles’ truck is now broken. Who can he call to help him haul the rest?
First of all, the storytelling and illustrations are very clever. There are all sorts of fun details to uncover on each page. I love the mixed media composite illustrations. I really liked this story, but I’m not sure how you could use it in a classroom setting. Regardless, I think it’s an engaging story with great illustrations. I think it would be a great read-aloud.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
An ode to pumpkin and some is its many uses.
You know what doesn’t make sense - Showing pumpkin bigger than your head right in the middle of listing different ways you can eat pumpkin. That is the only misstep in an otherwise cute book celebrating the vegetable of the season.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
When the crocodiles try to take a group photo, they are interrupted by a Zebra’s cheeky butt. Don’t worry - when the zebras want a photoshoot, they will get interrupted in turn - and so down the line.
If you aren’t afraid of animal butts, you will have a lot of fun with each flapped page. The final page has an even funnier twist.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: MANY
Learn lots of different concepts with dinosaurs as you push, pull, flip, slide your way through.
The flaps are thinner, so make sure you keep an eye on the very handsy kids (like my grandson). But I love the wide variety within and the expressive, colorful dino illustrations.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Rain frog has a bad case of resting frog face. He doesn’t mean to look perpetually grumpy - its just a quirk of nature. Or maybe he does have a reason to be grumpy after all?
What a great companion for Perry and Hanson’s previous I Am NOT Happy.
A ready-made mini lesson on not judging anything (or anyone) by what you think you’re seeing on the outside.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
The year the reindeer go on strike, one brave corgi wants to step in and help. But their queen has lost her heart to help ever since her human passed away. Three brave corgis sneak out to help Santa anyways. but if they poop out halfway around the world, will any one (or pup) be able to step in and save them?
I wasn’t prepared for how cute Smith’s latest book truly is. I like that sometimes it rhymes, but most of the time it doesn’t. The corgis are adorable.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SOME
When the sun warms the Arctic ice, the thinnest ice starts breaking apart and becomes pack ice - shimmering ice islands that harbor life all around them.
Hevron simply shows how important pack ice is to the few creatures who live in the Arctic regions. The back matter talks a bit about how climate change is affecting the fragile ecosystem that is centered on pack ice. If I were teaching elementary school, I would want all of the Tiny Habitats books.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL (4-6), MS, HS – ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: MANY
Owl Capone has one of the biggest hearts, and one of the most popular restaurants, in the Windy Forest. However he is unexpectedly betrayed when one of his closest friends, Gus the Rat, opens a rival restaurant. Can Owl win back the hearts (and stomachs) of his customers?
If you had told me there was a picture book about Owl Capone (actually Al Capone), I wouldn't have believed that they could make a gangster story appropriate enough for young children, but by golly, they did it. Older kids and adults reading this are totally going to see all the Godfather/gangster references, but a younger reader is just going to love the animals in clothes eating (not-so) vegetarian wraps. I loved the word play, even if I was mildly horrified by the alluded demise of Gus the Rat, but that is La Famiglia for you.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
