How It Works: Rocket
by Amelia Hepworth, David Semple (Illustrations)
5 out of 5 stars

This cute board book teaches all about how rockets can go to outerspace, how astronauts can land on moon, and how they reenter earth’s atmosphere for a safe return. The die-cut pages are layered to show the inside of the space ship, and all the different stages of space travel.

I love this such interesting little book! This is the perfect way to introduce rockets and space travel to little readers. The illustrations are bright and fun with a little mouse hidden on every page. The design is simple and clear, and the text is easy to understand.

The Stories of Musical Instruments
by Štěpánka Sekaninová, Jakub Cenkl
4 out of 5 stars

This book tells the history of musical instruments around the world with short bios about famous musicians and composers. My favorite part is the development of the piano since I am a pianist. There are sections about rock bands, percussion, woodwinds, string orchestras, jazz bands, brass bands, and military bands. There are chapters about beautiful instruments from India, Russia, Scotland, Mongolia, China, Japan, and Africa.

I loved the cute illustrations in this book! The artwork really brings the history to life. There are a cricket and a songbird who pop up in every page exploring the different types of instruments.
I like that the design has small paragraphs of text so that it is easy to read and absorb the snippets of information. As a musician, I really appreciated all the music history, the explanations about types of music, the nature of sounds for each instrument, and how different styles developed.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of both these books from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.