El paraguas de Cebra
by David Hernández Sevillano, Anuska Allepuz (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Cebra tiene un paraguas enorme y, durante la temporada de lluvias, algunos de los animales preguntan si también hay espacio debajo del paraguas para ellos. Gacela, Rinoceronte e incluso Elefanta se aprietan bajo el paraguas. Pero, ¿qué pasará cuando León quiera unirse a ellos? ¿Descubrirán por qué Cebra tiene un paraguas tan grande?

¡Esta historia es tan encantadora y divertida! Me encanta el estilo de escritura y la forma en que crea un ambiente acogedor para los amigos bajo el paraguas. Cantan canciones, cuentan historias y juegan juntos. Beben chocolate caliente y escuchan la “música de la lluvia sobre el paraguas”.

Keep Reading to see the Review in English!

Sneaky Shadows
by S.C. Manchild, Sam Caldwell

3 out of 5 stars

The reader is prompted to guess what animal is making the shadow. On the next page, the animal is revealed, but it isn’t always what you might think. A shadow that looks like a camel is actually a llama balancing two jellies on their back to look like humps! A shadow that looks like an elephant’s trunk is actually a swan’s curvy neck.

Some of this book was really cute and funny, some of it was weird and strange. There is a shadow of a gorilla and a snake kissing. The text says they are “young and in love” and “spend most of the their time kissing.” That doesn’t seem quite appropriate for a children’s picture book. I mean, there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, but it’s just weird.

Thundermaestro
by Annemarie Riley Guertin, Maria Brzozowska (Illustrations)

3 out of 5 stars

A little girl uses a stick as a baton to conduct the symphony of rain and thunder in a summer storm.

Maybe because I’m a musician, I had high expectations for this book. I expected a lot more descriptions of sounds and musical phrases, rather than the constant repetition of the same words. Since the premise of the book is about using your imagination, I guess I expected it to be more imaginative and less repetitive.

Pippin paints a portrait
by Charlotte Mei

3 out of 5 stars

Pippin is a little dog trying to find his own artistic style. He decides to do a self-portrait, but he doesn’t want to just copy other artist’s styles. He has to figure out his own medium and his own artistic energy. His friends are all doing self-portrait’s too. They are all doing different styles like Picasso, Degas, Van Gogh, and Matisse. Can Pippin find his own way to make art even if his friends are all doing something else?

The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky
by Kim Jihyun

5 out of 5 stars

A boy visits his family in the country, and follows a path through the trees. He discovers a lake and swims in the clear water. He soaks up the sun from the boat dock, and finally goes back home to have a happy supper with his family.

There are no words in this book. No text. Just beautiful black and white art work that says everything. This is such an emotional book. The illustrations are so simple, yet powerful to bring up strong feelings. Peace and adventure and comfort and warmth. The curiosity of what could be around the next bend in the path, behind the next tree. The bright sunlight sifting through the cool of the water. I can almost hear the birds in the forest. This book is poetry.