The Colorless Chameleon
by Hayley Irvin, Rachel Bostick, Cassidy Reynolds ( Author), Samantha Jo Phan (illustrator)
5 out of 5 stars

Chameleon is very quiet, and doesn’t speak up very much. She relies on her expressive colors to tell her friends what she is feeling, but sometimes they misunderstand. Elephant asks to borrow Chameleon’s blue, and Lemur asks for red. Crocodile just takes Chameleon’s yellow without even asking, but Chameleon doesn’t know how to tell them no.

Chameleon confides in her friend, Flamingo, who encourages her to speak out and really tell her friends that she is not okay with giving away her colors. Chameleon gathers the courage to ask for her colors back.

Tyrone O’Saurus Dreams
by James Howe, Randy Cecil
5 out of 5 stars

Tyrone’s family all have different ideas about what he should be when he grows up, but Tyrone has a secret dream to be a dancer. He meets some dancers at a gym. They are working out to be stronger. Will Tyrone have the courage to join them at a dance class? Will he ever admit to his family that his true dream is not what they had imagined?

What a great story! I love that, although Tyrone is worried that his family will not understand, they are actually very supportive and kind. Tyrone is such a sweet character, and I love his character growth as he finds the inspiration to follow his own dream, instead of letting other people influence him into doing other things.

Baby Moses in a Basket
by Caryn Yacowitz, Julie Downing (Illustrator)
4 out of 5 stars

As Baby Moses floats down the Nile river, some animals help him drift along and keep him from harm until he arrives safely in the arms of the Egyptian princess who will adopt him.

I thought this was such a sweet story about little baby Moses! It’s nice to imagine that God really did send animals to watch over the baby.

One-osaurus, Two-osaurus
by Kim Norman (Goodreads Author), Pierre Collet-Derby (Illustrator)
5 out of 5 stars

Some little dinosaurs decide to play a counting game of hide and seek. The dinos all sneak quietly through the pages to find a place to hide, but dino number 10 is stomping onto the scene with a roar!

The adorableness is strong with this one. I loved the cute storyline, and the sweet little dinosaur characters. The story is fun with plenty of action and engaging rhythms in the narration.

Mindi and the Goose No One Else Could See
by Sam McBratney, Linda Olafsdottir (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations)
4 out of 5 stars
Mindi insists that she is being harrassed by a big goose which no one else can see. Her parents try to reassure her that there is no goose, but Mindi continues to be afraid. Her father asks for advice from a wise old farmer, who introduces Mindi to a very special goat. Is there a way for Mindi to get rid of that menacing goose once and for all?

The illustrations are beautiful, and I love the soft art style. I think it’s very clever the way the illustrations use shadows to suggest that the imaginary goose is lurking in the background.

The Hidden Triceratops
by Richard Bevan (Goodreads Author), Io Shepard (Illustrations)
2 out of 5 stars

This book is about two smaller dinosaurs, a triceratops and pterodactyl, who become friends. They help each other to find food, and they trick a T-rex and escape from him.

I think the backstory of this book is really sweet. The author and his little neighbor teamed up to write the story and do the illustrations. As a friendly collaboration, it’s adorable. As a published book, it has a serious marketing problem.

Based on the illustrations and cover, I got this book to share with my 3 year old nephew. However, it is much too text-heavy for a young child. The amount of text would be more appropriate for an 8-10 year old reader, but the subject material is too condescending for that age group. The tone of the story is more suited to young readers, and the illustrations are for young readers, but there is way too much text on the page for a young reader.

Muddy Hands, Sudsy Hands
by Christine Prill, John Konecny (Illustrations)
3 out of 5 stars

A little boy wonders, What is the big deal about washing your hands all the time? Then he realizes the mud and dirt and germs that are on his hands, and decides to wash his hands thoroughly before eating a meal.

The simple illustrations are cute, and I liked the funny expressions on the little boy’s face when he realizes just how dirty his hands really are. I’m not a big fan of the computer-generated art style, but it is well done and colorful.

Spin a Scarf of Sunshine
by Dawn Casey, Stila Lim (Illustrations)
5 out of 5 stars

Nari has a little sheep, and uses the wool to make a scarf. She washes the wool, brushes it, and spins it into yarn. She dyes the yarn with natural marigold dye. When the scarf gets old and tattered, she puts in the on the compost heap, and uses the compost to grow new plants for her little sheep to eat.

In the Land of Fairies
by Daniela Drescher
3 out of 5 stars

In every season, the fairies have special tasks and parties. In the spring, they greet the new flowers. At Midsummer, they have a dance. In the fall, they help the forest animals to gather food. And in the winter, they wear soft cloaks to keep warm.

The fairies look depressed. Not a single fairy is smiling in this entire book. Most of them are frowning or looking vacantly into the distance. It would be fine if some fairies were smiling and some were frowning, but there is no other expression, no other emotion. There is no variety at all. Every single one of these fairies looks sad and depressed.

Evie and the Strawberry Surprise
by Stefanie Dahle
4 out of 5 stars

Evie the Strawberry Fairy is confronted with a mystery. Her magic wand is missing. Hedgehog has weird red spots all over. Laurel’s hair has turned orange. Summer heard a loud bang that frightened all the sunshine out of her. What could these things mean? Together the friends decide to investigate.

I liked this sweet story, and how the friends work together to solve the mystery. It’s imaginative and funny! However there were a couple of things towards the end of the story that were not explained. Evie finds her wand, but it is broken. A big deal is made about how she can’t use her broken wand. Two pages later it is inexplicably mended. The text just says, “Her wand was mended, and everyone was happy.” But they don’t show HOW she repaired her wand.