Picture Book Review: Indestructibles: Let’s Go Outside! and Let’s Be Kind

by Ekaterina Trukhan (Author) (Illustrations),Amy Pixton (Creator)

5 out of 5 stars

Let’s Go Outside – This book takes the reader on an outdoor adventure where we can stretch up like a tree, swim like a fish, and buzz like a bee. The writing is very simple, and just right for babies and toddlers learning their first words. I love that each page shows a parent and their child having fun in the forest or by the ocean.

As the parents and children explore the outdoors, there are little animals peeking out from behind the trees or swimming in the water. The little snails, turtles, frogs, and butterflies are so cute! There are birds, bunnies, and baby foxes too! So adorable!

Let’s Be Kind – This book teaches babies and toddlers about basic manners, saying please and thank you, and sharing toys with others. The writing is very simple, and just right for babies and toddlers learning their first words. Continue reading

Board Book Reviews: Good Night, Baboon! and ABC Dance!

Good Night, Baboon! by Sabrina MoyleABC Dance! by Sabrina Moyle
Good Night, Baboon!: A Bedtime Counting Book
by Sabrina Moyle (Author),Eunice Moyle (Illustrations)

5 out of 5 stars

Good Night, Baboon! – While the other animals get ready for bed, one baby baboon is determined to stay up! Baby baboon burps during snack time, brushes his bum instead of his teeth, plays loud lullabies on electric guitar, and runs around causing mayhem, until finally baby baboon is ready for a goodnight hug.

I love how this book is designed as a counting book, and we count down each animal group getting ready for bed. 9 skunks take a bath, 8 hamsters have a bedtime snack, 7 sloths put on their PJs, etc… and through it all, baby baboon is getting into trouble! Baby baboon manages to bounce across each page, getting into shenanigans before bed and monkeying around. I love how irreverent this book is!

ABC Dance The animals are all dancing in a massive parade of exuberant dance moves! From aardvarks to zebras, every animal group is hopping and stepping and thumping their tails. They show off their skills with the fandango, the waltz, the can-can, the tango, the hustle, and ballet.

Continue reading

Picture Book Review: Welcome to Jazz

Welcome to Jazz by Carolyn Sloan
Welcome to Jazz: A Swing-Along Celebration of America’s Music, Featuring “When the Saints Go Marching In”
by Carolyn Sloan

5 out of 5 stars

Three cats visit a Jazz club in New Orleans, and learn all about how jazz music is made. They learn about beats and rhythm, melody and harmony, various instruments and their sounds, and how improvisation works. They learn a little about the history of jazz and how it all began in Congo Square in New Orleans, Louisiana.

I am so impressed with this book! The whole design is wonderful, and I loved the recordings you can play by pushing the buttons. Each button plays a different section of “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and teaches the reader about which instruments play harmony, melody, and bass lines. Then the entire band comes together with the vocalists to play the song. Continue reading

Picture Book Review: Maisy Gets a Pet

Maisy Gets a Pet by Lucy Cousins
Maisy Gets a Pet
by Lucy Cousins

5 out of 5 stars

Maisy visits her friend Penguin and gets a new kitten. She plays with the kitten, feeds it, and cleans the litter box. Maisy has to take her new kitten to the vet, and make sure the kitten gets plenty of exercise and sleep.

This is such a sweet book to teach young children about caring for pets, and how to be gentle with animals. Maisy has to be responsible, but can also have fun with her new pet. I really love the teaching moments in this book, and how it is presented in an entertaining way for toddlers. Continue reading

Book Review: Phonics and Sight Words Storybooks

Learn to Read by Laurin Brainard

Learn to Read by Kimberly Ann Kiedrowski

by Kimberly Ann Kiedrowski

5 out of 5 stars

 

The Sight Words Storybook has short stories for beginning readers that focus on two sight words for each story. One story has the sight words “a” and “little”, so the story uses those words again and again. “A little shirt, a little sock, a little shoe, a little hat…”

 

The Phonics Storybook includes short stories that focus on word families, such as words that end with -et or words that end with -ig. So the first two stories have a lot of words like “vet, pet, wet” and “pig, jig, dig, wig.”
At the end of each story there is an activity page where the child can trace words, complete a maze, do a word search, or circle the words from that word family.
Each story has bright illustrations with cute characters. I like how simple and fun the stories are as the characters go to the beach, take their dog to the park, ride in an airplane, and follow a treasure map. Some of the characters are human, and some are animals, but every story is adorable!
Continue reading

Activity Book Review: Mermaids!

Mermaids! by Courtney Carbone
Mermaids!: A Coloring and Activity Book for Kids
by Courtney Carbone

5 out of 5 stars

This book has word searches, coloring pages, mazes, spot-the-difference puzzles, and dot-to-dot activities all with a mermaid theme. Dozens of different mermaids and ocean creatures are everywhere! There are little stories about mermaids and how they love to sing, comb their hair, and have tea parties underwater.

The mermaids help a turtle to get out of a net. They explore old shipwrecks looking for treasure, and discover new animal friends. They practice their swimming skills and their music. There are so many cool mermaid things in this book! Continue reading

Book Review: My First Animal Activity Book

My First Animal Activity Book by Krissy Bonning-Gould
My First Animal Activity Book: For Kids 3-5
by Krissy Bonning-Gould 

5 out of 5 stars

This book has coloring pages, mazes, spot-the-difference puzzles, and dot-to-dot activities all with an animal theme. The activities are perfect for ages 3-5 with simple designs and bright colors. Not every page is colored, some are black and white, but all the designs are so cute! The animals are adorable.

The activities include things like drawing a line from an animal to its type of food, helping a penguin through a maze of icebergs, or finding 3 differences in two pictures. The first pages are very simple, and they gradually get slightly more complex towards the back of the book.

Every page looks so fun, and is sure to catch the attention of young children!

Picture Book Review: That’s Life

That's Life! by Ame Dyckman
That’s Life!
by Ame Dyckman ( Author),Cori Doerrfeld (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

When Life knocks on the door, one child learns that Life is weird and wacky and not always what you expect. But if you can embrace Life and weather the storms, Life can be a beautiful journey.

This book is so cute! “Life” is portrayed as a little gray monster dude who cavorts around, pulling pranks, and having adventures.
The text of this book is full of wisdom and encouragement, but the illustrations are what make it so fun and silly!
The text says “Life is short.” and the illustration shows Life trying to reach up a tall table to get a cake. The little Life monster guy is ACTUALLY too short to reach the table. haha! The book is full of silly puns and jokes like that. I love how clever the story is! Continue reading

Activity Book Review: Ocean and Zoo Animals

4 out of 5 stars

These search and find books have tons of wonderful facts and information about the ocean and zoo! The illustrations are colorful and vibrant with all those tiny details to look for in the scenery. The ocean scenes cover a multitude of areas, including tide pools, coral reefs, arctic oceans, shipwrecks, the deep sea, and swamp lands.  The zoo scenes include African plains, jungles, Asian mountains, the Amazon, Arctic tundra, and deserts around the world.

Each page is loaded with factoids and interesting information about ocean and zoo creatures, and a sample picture of what to look for in the scene. There are ocean facts about mammals, fish, coral, plants, crustaceans, sea birds, and even geological formations found in the ocean like thermal vents.  The zoo animals include reptiles, bugs, endangered animals, nocturnal animals, and mammals and birds of all kinds.

The only thing I didn’t like is how the colors tend to blend in with each other, making it more difficult to see what you are searching for, and a lot of the items are half hidden behind other things, making it difficult to find them. I wouldn’t recommend this for little kids, but ages 7-10 would enjoy the challenge.

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.