Love You Forever

Love You Forever, written by Robert Munsch. If you have not read this book to your child you need to, especially if you have a son, although as the mother of a daughter it was always one of our favorites as well. The story is short and well paced, and funny. It will keep your children’s attention and the repetition throughout guarantees that after just a few readings your kids will be reading it along with you. This helps with word recognition for the pre readers in your family. This short little book starts with a mother holding her newborn … Continue reading →

Where’s Walrus Book Review

Where else but in New York can a Walrus hide in plain sight? Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage is a delightfully charming book that will soon become a favorite in your household. The bright, simple illustration, cool and playful, can be soothing balm when you’ll been inundated with busy books that are well, far too busy. And when you just can’t read one more rendition of Horton Hears a Who, you’ll enjoy the clever story line of this book. It focuses on our friend, the Walrus, who slips past the diligent zookeeper. Walrus goes on on many adventures, from building … Continue reading →

The Leaping Sliding Sprinting Riding Science Book – Bobby Mercer

The Leaping Sliding Sprinting Riding Science Book by Bobby Mercer has 50 sports related science activities. Even kids who aren’t great at sports can use this book to have fun and learn at the same time. Considering that the Olympics are coming up, I’m sure there will be extra interest in sports in the next few months. Each of the activities has a list of equipment you need. Most of the activities use sports equipment such as footballs, stopwatches, skateboards, and bicycles, and they may need things like pencils, calculator or rulers. Each activitiy also has instructions, followed by a … Continue reading →

The Best Little Monkeys in the World – Natalie Standiford

The Best Little Monkeys in the World by Natalie Standiford is a “Step into Reading” book, recommended for 1st through 3rd graders. The charming plot and illustrations also make it a great book to read aloud. Marvin and Mary are too little monkeys who live in a house on stilts in the jungle. Their parents are going out and have asked a teenaged monkey named Judy to babysit for them. Mary and Marvin are excited because Judy lets them do anything they want. Their mother tells them to be good; Judy assures her that her children are “the best little … Continue reading →

Extreme Pets! – Jane Harrington

If you have an animal lover in the family, or if your family is considering a new pet, pick up a copy of Extreme Pets! by Jane Harrington. The book is loaded with marvelous color photographs. While Extreme Pets! makes owning these unique pets look very exciting, it also deals with the realities of cage cleaning and costs. The book also emphasizes responsible pet ownership. The book starts with a pet pact – making sure that the owner knows they are responsible for special feeding, care, safety, potential allergies, and medical care. Extreme Pets! is wire bound, which makes the … Continue reading →

Guess How Much I Love You – Sam McBratney

There seem to be more books about mothers and children than fathers and children. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney is a fun exception, with a little male competition. The story is about two rabbits, Little Nutbrown Hare and his father, Big Nutbrown Hare. Little Nutbrown Hare holds onto his father’s long ears to make sure he’s listening. He wants his father to guess how much he loves him. His father says he doesn’t think he could guess that. Little Nutbrown Hare stretches out his arms as wide as possible and tells his father he loves him … Continue reading →

There’s a Big, Beautiful World Out There! – Nancy Carlson

In her children’s picture book “There’s a Big, Beautiful World Out There,” author/illustrator Nancy Carlson seeks to reassure children that while the world does contain some scary things, it has many, many more beautiful things to appreciate. She knows that there’s a lot of scary stuff out there. What about that big, growling bulldog outside, or that loud thunderstorm that sends rain beating against your windows? Rollercoasters are definitely scary, and so are scary stories in the news, both in newspapers and on TV. It’s very frightening to get up in front of a whole bunch of people to speak … Continue reading →

Night Fell at Harry’s Farm – Carey Hedlund

In the children’s picture book “Night Fell at Harry’s Farm” by author/illustrator Carey Hedlund, we read about a family’s fun night away from home. It’s told in first person, so we’ll proceed in that tense. We received an invitation to go to Harry’s farm for dinner. We all got ready and drove from our city home out to the country. There were a lot of confusing signs, and we got lost. One street was blocked because of a fire. When we asked directions, we could tell which wrong turn we’d taken. At last we knew which way to go. We … Continue reading →

Henry’s Show and Tell – Nancy Carlson

“Henry’s Show and Tell” by Nancy Carlson is the cute story of a little gray mouse named Henry. He loves to go to kindergarten and listen to stories, learning his letters, singing songs, and painting pictures. He has a wonderful teacher named Ms. Bradley, and he really likes to go outside and play ball with his friends. But with all these things to love, unfortunately there’s something he doesn’t love . . . show and tell! He likes hearing what the other kids have to share. It’s interesting to hear them talk about their collections, their favorite things, and their … Continue reading →

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child – Sylviane Donnio

The title of this children’s picture book brought me up short when I saw it at the library, and then I just had to pick it up. I loved it. Little Achilles Crocodile has always eaten bananas for his breakfast, and every morning, his mother compliments him on how big and strong he’s getting. But one day, he decides he’s not going to eat his bananas. What he really would like is to eat a child. “But children don’t grow on trees!” his mother points out, and tries to get him to eat his bananas. He refuses. So his father … Continue reading →