Dino Train (On-Track Learning)
by Christopher Robbins, Susanna Covelli (Illustrations)
This cute little book folds out into a long train with adorable dinosaurs from A to Z. The illustrations are delightful, and I love the adorable designs for the dinos. They look so friendly! I got to learn the names of some dinosaurs I had never heard of before. I like that the “wheels” of the train have little dino claw prints on them. So cute!
The edition that I have has a cover that doesn’t quite line up when you close it. The word “train” is out of alignment between the two sides of the cover. It’s a minor thing, but I have come to expect excellent attention to detail from this publisher, so it surprised me that the words on the cover don’t line up properly.
I was surprised that the book doesn’t explain that most of what we know about dinosaurs is theory and conjecture. There is a timeline with the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods outlining so many millions of years, but it is not included that those times are a theory. It even says on the back cover, “Amazing FACTS about Your Favorite Dinosaurs Large and Small!” But we don’t know for a fact that certain dinosaurs had feathers or certain colored skin or when they lived. That’s all someone’s theory; not proven fact. Even in a children’s book about dinosaurs, I expected a much higher integrity of information. The back cover should say “Amazing THEORIES about Your Favorite Dinosaurs Large and Small!”
Disclaimer: I received copies of 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.
Fall Frolic in the City
by Cathy Goldberg Fishman (Goodreads Author), Melanie Hall (Illustrations)
This board book celebrates different religious festivals and cultural traditions around the world which occur in the Fall. Children buy round bread for Rosh Hashanah. They celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). They buy mooncakes for the Chinese Moon Festival, hang lanterns for Diwali, and celebrate the Hindu goddess Durga. As we visit each festival, we count from 1 to 10.
I really liked the beautiful paper-style illustrations in this book. The artwork is gorgeous!
It was certainly interesting learning about all these different festivals around the world, but I’m not sure that a child who is young enough to be reading a board book would be able to understand the significance of all these different religions. It might be a good teaching tool to introduce to children about how different religions around the world celebrate their traditions, but that would be up to each parent to decide when their child is ready to learn about those things.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book 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.
Thankful Animals, Thankful Me
by Steve Metzger (Goodreads Author), Angelina Ardinskaya (Illustrator)
Each of the animals are thankful for something that is important to them. Penguins are thankful for the snow. Bees are thankful for their home in the hive. Birds are thankful for the sky and for trees. The wolf is thankful for his close family in the pack. Even a little bug is thankful for a leaf. At the end of the book, the reader is asked to list things that they are thankful for too!
I love the positive messages in this book about gratitude. Being thankful is the key to happiness and contentment in life. It’s such an important lesson to teach young children!
The illustrations are really cute and I liked the style of the artwork. Each animal has an adorable design and we get to see the background setting where they have their habitat.
I enjoyed the rhyming text. It is perfect for reading aloud with little children!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book 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.
Petite Mouse Takes a Nap
by Karin Argoud
Petite Mouse is avoiding her nap. We count from 1 to 5 as Petite Mouse sniffs a rose, dances down the street, waves her tail to the music, and gets a snack. On each page, the reader can place their fingers through the die-cut holes to make her tail move, or tap her little feet, or wiggle her ears. When she finally settles down for a nap, our five fingers can hold her snuggling safe.
This is such an adorable board book! It’s so clever the way the openings line up your fingers to be the little feet, tails, nose, or ears of the mice characters. Even as an adult, I enjoyed dancing my fingers around to be the dancing feet, so you know a kid would really love it!
I love the pretty illustrations! Petite Mouse is so cute and sweet. I love her little overalls and delicate tail. Adorable!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book 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.
Luminous Libro 