Bella and the Lost Ball
by Kateřina Svozilová, Mag Takac (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Bella has lost her favorite ball. She asks the animals for help, and tries to describe the ball to them so they can help her find it. The bird has seen something beautiful, but it is not Bella’s ball. The butterfly has seen something red, but it is not Bella’s ball. The cat has seen something round, but… nope. The dog has seen something with dots on it, but it’s no use. Bella has to continue the search to remember where she left her ball.

My Cup of Art
by Katerina Karolik

3 out of 5 stars

This board book uses the styles of various famous modern painters to imagine how they might paint an ordinary cup. A cup painted by van Gogh might look more like a vase of sunflowers. A cup by Malevich would probably be a big black square with a handle. Picasso might paint a person’s head as a cup. What if the diner in Edward Hopper’s famous diner painting was actually one huge cup where the diners were floating inside the drink? Kusama might make a cup of polka dots.

Best Test
by Pippa Goodhart, Anna Doherty (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

The animals find a delicious strawberry, but begin to quarrel over who will eat it. They put together a race to see who is the “best”, and the winner will get the strawberry. They devise different obstacles and tests for the race. Frog wants a hopping obstacle. Mouse is good at coloring and wants a coloring test. They also have to guess what is in a mystery bag, and make the best funny face.
As they go through the different challenges, some of the animals struggle. But their friends stop to help them through each task. They all cross the finish line together, holding paws. They never do discover who is the “best”, but they do become best friends!

A Parliament of Owls
by Devin Scillian, Sam Caldwell (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

A young girl calls each group of animals to convene for a huge photo. A parliament of owls arrive on a tree, along with a murder of crows. There is a warren of rabbits, a gaggle of geese, and a raft of otters. Some of the strangest groups are the memory of elephants, the charm of hummingbirds, and the pandemonium of parrots. When the animals are finally assembled, the girl takes a massive group photo with all the animals together!

Albie on His Way
by Jutta Bauer, Matthias Wieland (Translator)

4 out of 5 stars

The king asks Albie to deliver a message to the neighboring kingdom, but Albie gets delayed along the way. First a father squirrel needs help after a bad fall. Then a mother pig needs a babysitter while she goes shopping… for a week! Albie meets an old animal who walks very slowly, but they travel together for a while. Albie decides to take a different path through the mountains, and ends up right back in his own kingdom! By now so much time has passed, that the king decides that the message doesn’t matter after all.

The Unbreakable Thread
by Emily Joof (Goodreads Author), Asma Enayeh (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

As a little child begins to grow up, the unbreakable thread of love between mother and child is stretched, but never broken. The child learns a little more independence all the time, learning to walk, going to school, making friends, and finally graduating from school. But all the time the love of the mother is there to encourage and comfort. That support is what gives the child strength to explore and learn. And all the time, the unbreakable thread of their bond is always changing and always constant.