Blog Archives
Hooray for Heidi! (The Sumatran Trilogy)
Heidi, the Sumatran turtle, is excited for the day ahead. Today is the first day of the Sumatran Games, and this is the first time she gets to attend. Heidi moves as quickly as she can, given her short turtle legs, but she falls behind the other animals. Finally, a kind, friendly elephant named Jose stops and asks if she needs help. When she explains she is trying to get to the games, Jose picks her up and carries her the rest of the way. Once at the games, the two new friends watch the events, and Heidi becomes sad watching all the things she can not do. Eventually, Jose also grows sad because of Heidi’s morose attitude. Once Heidi realizes her lousy attitude has upset her new friends, she comes up with a plan to make them both feel better about the skills they do possess. While her plan doesn’t work out exactly as they hoped, they learn a valuable lesson about teamwork.
Hooray for Heidi! written by Emma Sandford and illustrated by Olena Osadcha is a beautiful picture book about teamwork and appreciating the unique skills that everyone has. Not everyone in life is strong, fast, or flexible, but that does not mean that they do not have value. This children’s book highlights that kids often feel self-conscious when watching others that have better skills or abilities than themselves. It can be challenging to overcome those feelings and feel valuable.
Emma has written this fantastic book showing that everyone can contribute and be a valued member of the team. With a focus on teamwork, kids will learn how helping others and working together brings its own rewards, even if it is not the trophy they were after. The other focus in this whimsical picture book is friendship. For example, an elephant and a turtle become great friends despite being so different from one another. This is an excellent example for young children to look past the physical differences in each other and value people for who they are inside.
Hooray for Heidi! is a beautifully written picture book that teaches children the value of friendship and teamwork. This would be a wonderful book for preschool and kindergarten classrooms to help kids learn how to work together to achieve a common goal. There is also the message that sometimes things do not go as planned, which is okay too!
Pages: 30 | ASIN : B0BFNT32T1
What a Muck
Have you ever found yourself trying to help someone with a task but then finding yourself making an even bigger mess? In What A Muck by Linda Sachs, Drew finds out the answer to that question is an absolute yes!
While Mom and Drew are packing up the car with gardening tools to go help Papa Lou in his garden, Drew accidentally locks the keys inside their car, they must walk to Papa Lou’s house in the hot sun, leaving them unable to garden and clean up the muck.
Now Drew has another idea. Drew wants to help Papa Lou, so Drew hops in the truck and proceeds to pull the stick shift down. The truck begins to roll away. Thankfully before the truck could crash into a pole, Drew was able to clean up the muck and knows now that it is important to ask how to be helpful.
In this charming rhyming children’s story, we follow young Drew, who only wants to be helpful but causes some chaos instead. Drew’s heart is always in the right place, but it is hard to figure out the correct way to help. I felt the situations Drew got into could realistically happen to other children; this makes the story both comical and frightening. This amusing story reminded me of reading about Curious George with all the unintentional mishaps that Drew ends up in.
The author has a great vision with the message in the story, such as that it is important to want to be helpful but even more important to ask HOW to help. In addition, I enjoyed that the book also shows children playing an active role in activities with family, which is extremely important for children’s self-esteem.
What a Muck by Linda Sachs and illustrated by Katrina Sachs is an entertaining picture book that shows children the importance of not just helping but making sure they are helping in a manner that is actually helpful. This would be a great aid in teaching children the importance of communication, teamwork, and trust.
Pages: 31 | ASIN : B09XWHT8SL
The Awkward Dinosaurs
Have you ever wondered about lesser-known dinosaurs? Do you ever wonder if there are some strange ones that you might not have ever heard of or imagined your own new and exciting ones? The Awkward Dinosaurs by Kellen Roggenbuck is a humorous and delightful picture book that children and adults will be able to laugh and giggle at. Each page introduces a previously unheard-of dinosaur with an awkward personality or physical trait. One thing these dinosaurs do not lack is self-confidence. They are all happy with who they are and how they look.
Author and illustrator Kellen Roggenbuck has created a picture book that will capture the interests of babies just learning to look at pictures to adults that want good clean humor. I genuinely laughed as I read through this children’s book. Shyladon is probably my favorite dinosaur in this collection. I love how just because he isn’t a fan of large crowds, he is fine and not ashamed of this. Children will have no trouble finding a dinosaur in this book that they can relate to and appreciate.
The awkward dinosaurs teach young children that being different is okay and something to be proud of. If you are different and stand out from a group of friends, that is not bad; everyone is unique, even if they think it is awkward at first, like glowing in the dark or being plaid.
The Awkward Dinosaurs is a magical picture book that would make a wonderful gift for young children just getting interested in books as the bright colors, and entertaining illustrations will keep them engaged. It would also be a great addition to a kindergarten or preschool classroom to help teach and celebrate diversity.
Pages: 28 | ISBN: 0578799103
Never Give Up
A family of penguins has left their icy home to take their son to a university in England called Ox-fjord. Junior Nerdy-Birdy Pingo-Bongo dreams of becoming a famous ice cream maker. On the way there, their aircraft malfunctions, and they are forced to land in a desert. Here they are distraught and have no idea how to get their plane fixed. Rather than give up all hope, Junior convinces his parents to make their dreams come true there in the desert and bring the ice cream they love to the people there.
Never Give Up by Anna Maledon and illustrated by Wenny Stefanie is an inspiring and creative story with many lessons packed in. Children will learn from this picture book about using their imagination, problem-solving, immigration, entrepreneurship, and different climate and weather conditions. The author uses humor to help teach many of these lessons and show children how even when things look impossible, you should never give up on your goals.
The artwork in this beautifully written picture book brings the characters to life, their personalities jump off the pages, and you feel all the emotions they do as you read through this story. The expression on Junior’s face as he goes through the different stages of the story helps young readers understand the complex emotions he is experiencing. This is a great way to teach emotional empathy and social skills.
Never Give Up would make an amazing gift for a classroom teacher or for someone getting ready to graduate as a reminder to never give up on their dreams. Of course, there will always be setbacks, but learning to adapt and see through the problem is what makes a person successful.
Pages: 47 | ASIN : B0B5FJ2D1R
1 2 3 Count with Me on Granddad’s Farm
Children’s author Valerie D. Johnson has written an engaging counting book titled 1 2 3 Count with Me on Granddad’s Farm. This heartwarming story about a family visiting the family farm is told through counting different things on the farm, starting with one farmhouse sitting on a hill. Then, as the family counts to ten, readers follow along and learn about life on a farm.
This excellent picture book has a lot to offer young readers. The first thing that stood out to me is the different levels of text, giving children of different ages the ability to read and grasp what is going on in the story. Each number is displayed in numerical form as well as spelled out. Next is a simple sentence that beginning readers can follow. After that is a longer explanation of what is happening in the story. This fantastic book can be read at all levels and still make sense. It is easy to follow the numbers and the illustrations done by Cee Biscoe read along without having to read each of the descriptive paragraphs. One example is on the page for number 6. “Six horses work on the farm. Can you find all six? count with me!” This is enough for children to understand the number and count along, but there is more information about horses, what they like to eat, and how to care for them. This layout allows the book to have greater educational use and keeps it interesting for a broader range of children.
1 2 3 Count with Me on Granddad’s Farm will encourage children to read and learn to count while learning about life on a farm creatively and actively. Counting along with the storyteller makes this an active reading children’s book rather than one they would just sit and listen to. At the end of this book, there are notes and discussion starters, as well as a dice counting page. These extra resources are invaluable to teachers and home educators to help turn this into a complete learning unit. This would make an excellent addition to a home or classroom library.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B0B498WYW2
M.J. And The Big Kitchen Window
M.J. is a friendly and curious dog. She loves to look out the big kitchen window in her home and see everything that is going on. She will often bark to get her mom’s attention and show her what is happening outside. Today she sees a rabbit, a squirrel, and a bird all out front. M.J. wants to go out and say hello to these new animals. After barking some more, her mom takes her out on a walk where she can see them all up closer. After their walk, M.J. returns to her place in front of the window to await more new friends to look at and meet.
M.J. And The Big Kitchen Window, written by Vera Harris and illustrated by Tania Ramirez Cuevas, is an enjoyable picturebook that any dog owner can relate to. This is a wonderful children’s book to read to babies and toddlers. It encourages pointing out and identifying different animals and repeats the animals to help reinforce the words and picture connections.
One of my favorite parts of this entertaining book is the illustrations. The expressions on M.J. and her mom are realistic, and I can actually visualize the conversations happening in my own home. While written for children, I could definitely relate to this entire book unfolding in my own home. For this reason, I think parents will enjoy having this book and it becoming a favorite read for bedtime or story time.
M.J. And The Big Kitchen Window is a delightful picture book that families will be able to enjoy together. It would be an excellent addition to a classroom library as well.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B08JD3H24W
Summertime with Snowman Paul
Paul is not your typical snowman; rather, he is alive and does not melt away with the winter snow. So, Paul stays with his friends year-round and participates in all their fun activities. However, summer is more challenging; a snowman does not do well even if he doesn’t melt away. So, his friend Dan comes up with a plan to help Paul survive summer and have fun too. But, can Dan’s plan really work and save summertime for Paul?
Summertime with Snowman Paul, written by Yossi Lapid, is a fun and entertaining picture book that preschoolers and kindergarten readers will enjoy. The full-page colorful and whimsical illustrations are done by Joanna Pasek. Kids will enjoy seeing popular summer activities in the book and will be able to understand why Paul is so sad to be missing out on them.
What I really love about this children’s book is the imaginative character of Paul. Kids are used to seeing other pop culture snowmen, but Paul is different, and I feel more relatable. Dan’s compassion for his friend Paul is also a wonderful message for children to read about. They learn how important it is to help out your friends and that not everyone has to enjoy the same activities to be friends. While Dan and his friends want summer by swimming and going to the beach, it just does not work for Paul. So instead of leaving him behind, Dan problem solves a way to make him comfortable and help him enjoy summer with his friends. The world needs more friends like Dan.
Summertime with Snowman Paul is a magical picture book that will have children and adults laughing and enjoying the antics of a snowman trying to find a way to enjoy the summer heat. Along the way, children learn a valuable lesson about compassion and friendship.
ASIN: B0B1HJ46YW
LITERARY TITAN 