picture book

Picture Book Review: This is a Taco!

Posted by

0

This Is a Taco! by Andrew Cangelose
This Is a Taco! 
by Andrew Cangelose, Josh Shipley (Artist)

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


Taco is a squirrel who loves to eat tacos, and he agrees to be in this book to teach young children about squirrels, with the understanding that there will be tacos in the book! But Taco gets more than he bargained for when he is mistaken for a flying squirrel, forced to eat tree bark, and hunted by a ferocious hawk. Can Taco take back control of the narrative before it’s too late?

I love books that break down the fourth wall, especially picture books. As Taco becomes increasingly anxious about the chaotic turn the story is taking, he does a beautiful job of addressing the reader directly and including the audience in the book narrative. The writing is quite clever, and similar to another favorite picture book, The Monster at the End of this Book !

The illustrations are so lovely! Colorful and funny, each page has a charm all its own. Taco is so cute!! He’s cuddly and adorable, and I love his funny facial expressions.
Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: Narwhal and Jelly

Posted by

0

Peanut Butter and Jelly by Ben Clanton
Peanut Butter and Jelly (A Narwhal and Jelly Book #3) 
by Ben Clanton (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars


The cuteness!! The adorableness!! The sillyness! I can’t get enough of Narwhal and Jelly. They are so cute and lovable! Narwhal has some strange eating habits, so Jelly tries to help him broaden his culinary comfort zone with hilarious results.

Each little comic is so delightfully funny! I laughed my head off, and smiled and chuckled with glee. I love the simple yet striking illustrations, and the bright colors. I love the sweetly imaginative dialogue and storylines.

I can imagine reading this aloud to a child and having so much fun together! Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: Wild Zoo Train

Posted by

0

Wild Zoo Train by Carmela LaVigna Coyle
Wild Zoo Train 
by Carmela LaVigna Coyle (Goodreads Author), Steve Gray (Illustrations)

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

The Wild Zoo Train is leaving the station, and the conductor calls out, “All Aboard”, while the children pile into the cars. One little girl is very concerned that their stops are not on the Zoo Map, but the conductor safely shepherds the children through the jungle, the desert, savanna, and
Antarctic, with a surprise destination at the end that is definitely NOT on any Zoo Maps.

When the children disembark at each place, the conductor tells them to look out for various indigenous animals, and the cartoon illustrations of the animals are colorful and they each have funny expressions on their little faces.
Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: My Hike in the Forest

Posted by

0

My Hike in the Forest by Neecy Twinem
My Hike in the Forest 
by Neecy Twinem

4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

This children’s picture book takes the reader along for a hike in the woods, searching for animal tracks, noticing interesting plants and animals, and exploring through the streams and bushes and trees. Each two-page spread focuses on one animal or group of plants, with a story that follows the hiking trail, and little factoids about the animal/plant written in a border around the edges of the page.  Continue reading →

Book Review: Fairies 1,2,3

Posted by

0

Fairies 1, 2, 3 by Liza Gardner Walsh
Fairies 1, 2, 3 
by Liza Gardner Walsh, Hazel Mitchell (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations)
5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

So much cuteness!! Adorable baby fairies take a bath, play hide and seek, slide down a mushroom, fly with a bird, and finally fall asleep on their rose petal beds.

Their cute little wings are just as unique and bright as their own little fairy selves. Each baby fairy is diverse and colorfully dressed. Such sweet illustrations with pretty little details will keep any child interested looking for butterflies, inchworms, and ladybugs on each page. The plant-life gives the perfect background for this fairy world with acorn hats and leaf showers for the tiny folk.

A charming board book that teaches little ones to count, and play and fly with the fairies!

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 influenced by anyone.

Comic Review: Little Pierrot Vol. 1

Posted by

0

Little Pierrot Vol 1 by Alberto Varanda
Little Pierrot Vol 1: Get the Moon 
by Alberto Varanda

3 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

 

This collection of comics doesn’t have a continuous storyline, but little snippets of a boy and his friend the Snail, who dream of going to the moon. They watch the stars together, read books, dress up in costumes, and avoid schoolwork.

Most of the individual comics don’t actually have a funny punchline. It’s just sort of whimsical and random with no real point. It reminds me a little of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” with the moon and stars and a dreamy child drifting along through an aimless plot. Continue reading →

Comic Review: Wallace the Brave

Posted by

0

Wallace the Brave by Will Henry
Wallace the Brave 
by Will Henry

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

 

Oh my goodness, I adore this comic!! So much cuteness and hilarity!
Wallace and his best friend, Spud, meet the new girl at school, Amelia, and are very impressed with her courage and baseball-throwing style. Each page has its own funny little punchline as we follow Wallace’s strange interactions with friends and family at school, at home, on the ocean, on the field, through the summer and winter and all the in-between times.Wallace’s fisherman father, his creative mother, and weird baby brother make a delightful home setting for the antics and whimsical conversations of a little boy curious about the world and determined to dream big.
One of the best things about this comic is Wallace’s close relationship with his parents.

Continue reading →

Picture Book Review: Is a Worry Worrying You?

Posted by

0

Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff
Is a Worry Worrying You? 
by Ferida Wolff, Harriet May Savitz, Marie Letourneau (Goodreads Author)(Illustrations)

5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads

This is such a fun and hilarious book about dealing with anxiety and learning not to worry. I love how the more serious advice is interspersed with funny examples. The advice includes simple things like activities to take your mind off your worries, and encouragement to face your worry and see if it really makes sense.
The silly examples include things like, If you are worried about a hundred elephants coming over for tea, but you don’t have any teabags, then offer them lemonade instead!

The cute illustrations make the book so fun to read, and really enhance the advice given.
Above all, this book encourages children to talk about their anxiety with a friend, and share their worries with parents, so that those fears lose their power over you. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Little Red Wolf

Posted by

0

The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais
The Little Red Wolf 
by Amélie Fléchais (Illustrator)

2 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


What the hay kind of bedtime story is this?!?! The last line reads, “In his rage, misfortune struck. So sad and horrible, that he could never forgive himself.”
And that’s it! That’s the end. Everyone depressed and distraught forever. OMG, what is WRONG with this story?

The artwork is so lovely, so beautiful. Subtle colors and lines, pretty little details of forest flora and fauna. The beginning is whimsical and sweet as a little wolf travels through the forest to take a dead rabbit to his grandmother’s house. He follows a butterfly, and explores a little mousey hole, and stops to look at a beetle.

Then it gets gross.

First of all, dead rabbit in every scene, just laying there in the basket, being dead and all. Also, the little wolf gets hungry and decides to eat just one of the rabbit feet as a snack. Oh, yum. Dead bloody rabbit feet. Never mind the bones. Continue reading →

Book Review: I Hate Reading

Posted by

0

I Hate Reading: How To Get Through 20 Minutes of Reading A Day Without Really Reading
I Hate Reading: How To Get Through 20 Minutes of Reading A Day Without Really Reading by Arthur Bacon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Whahahahaha! This is hilarious! The perfect book for kids who hate reading and would rather play outside. This book offers tips on how to trick your parents into thinking you are reading, when really you are just moving your eyeballs from side to side on the page. Such a funny book with almost no illustrations, but still colorful and clever.

What a great way to take the pressure off when a kid doesn’t care for reading, and get them interested in reading again! This book is very sneaky about getting kids to read, because when you’re laughing you will WANT to read. Continue reading →