Xander's Panda Party

Xander's Panda Party
Written by Linda Sue Park
Illustrated by Matt Phelan
Recommended for ages 4 and up

DELIGHTFUL.

This is my new favorite children's book. And that is not an easy accomplishment.

In Xander's Panda Party, by Linda Sue Park, Xander wants to throw a panda party. For pandas. But he's the only panda at the zoo. So he plans a bear party. But when he gives Koala her invitation, she points out that she is not a bear, but she would still like to come to the party. So Xander plans a mammal party. But Rhinoceros refuses to attend without his bird. So Xander plans a bird and mammal party. But Crocodile points out that reptiles and birds are distantly related...I think you can see where this is going. In the end, everyone parties!

This is the rare children's book that has nearly perfect rhyme and rhythm. The first sentence (and you have to let it roll off your own tongue; it won't work just in your head) is, "Xander planned a panda party." Go on, try it. You can whisper it if you have to. I won't tell anyone. And the story only gets better from there.

And the ILLUSTRATIONS. Don't even get me started. I want to hang them on my wall. Well, maybe a nursery wall. And they complement the story so well. I just can't say enough good things about this cute little book.

Xander's Panda Party is available on Amazon.com. To purchase, click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

Leaf Man

Leaf Man
by Lois Ehlert
Ages 3-6

Leaf Man is a pretty popular autumn read-a-loud, but I thought I'd post it for those of you who haven't read it yet.

The story begins, "Leaf Man used to live near me, in a pile of leaves." But the wind blows Leaf Man away, and we watch as he flies over gardens, marshes, farms, rivers, and meadows. Someday, you might find him floating past your house.

The best part of this book, though, is that it's almost entirely illustrated with leaves. Leafy chickens, gourds, fish, butterflies...it opens up all kinds of possibilities for creating leaf pictures with your kids.

Leaf Man is available on Amazon.com. To purchase, click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

Hank Finds an Egg

Hank Finds an Egg
By Rebecca Dudley
Recommended for ages 2 and up

Cuteness alert! Hank Finds an Egg, by Rebecca Dudley, is so stinkin' adorable that I can hardly stand it.

Oh, and The Boy likes it, too.

Hank is a little...bear, I think?...who finds an egg on the ground in the forest. He sees that its nest is high above him in a nearby tree, and try as he might, he can't reach the nest to put the egg back inside. He takes care of the egg overnight, then returns to the tree in the morning. Hank finds someone there who can help him, but they'll have to work together to return the egg to where it belongs. The sweetness of the ending might knock you over.

This is a wordless picture book, which really works here. I'll be keeping my eye out for more books by Rebecca Dudley.

Hank Finds an Egg is available on Amazon.com. To purchase, click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

Julius

Julius
Written by Angela Johnson
Illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Recommended for ages 3-6 

We've already taken Julius back to the library, but I'll tell you what I remember about it.

I remember that Julius, an enormous Alaskan pig, was given to Maya by her grandfather, who lives in Alabama (but winters in Alaska). Maya and Julius have a lot to learn from each other and accept about each other at first--like manners (for Julius) and appreciating jazz music (for Maya). In the end, they become devoted friends.

I remember the vibrant illustrations, and I remember the sweetness of friendship existing between Maya and Julius, who are so cartoonishly different. Friendship isn't necessarily about being the same--it's about learning from each other and enjoying each other's differences.

Julius is available from Amazon; click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

Forever Friends

[Note: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose the reviewed books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

Forever Friends is the story of the friendship between a bluebird and a bunny. They become friends one spring, and they play together throughout that summer and fall. When winter approaches, the bluebird says that she must fly south for the winter, and that she'll be back again in the spring. The bunny waits patiently all through the winter, and when spring returns, so does her bird friend.

This story reminds me of City Dog, Country Frog (I love that one, by the way)--except that in this book, the friend really does return after the winter ends.

I know I say this all the time, but I'm going to say it about this story, too: the illustrations are fantastic. I'm a sucker for cut-paper illustrations anyway, and I was fascinated by the way Berger used magazine print and graph paper to create such beautiful pictures.

This story is pretty simple, so I'd recommend it to be read-aloud to younger children, although older children might appreciate its simplicity as well.

Forever Friends is available at Amazon.com.
Written and illustrated by Carin Berger
Approximate age range: 3-7 

And Then It's Spring

And Then It's Spring is a simple story about...well, spring. It begins, "First you have brown, all around you have brown...", and follows a boy as he plants seeds, hopes for rain, waits and waits...and then it's spring. 

The illustrations really carry the story. The text describes what the atmosphere is like--brown, rain, greenish hum--but it's in the illustrations that you see the boy, his dog, the turtle with the little red cap on, and the bears pulling up "please do not stomp here--there are seeds and they are trying" signs.

I'll be honest: I must have been in a bad mood when I read this book the first time. I didn't like it at all. But the second time, I loved it, and I've loved it just as much every time since.  


And Then It's Spring
Written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Age range*: 2-5
My rating: 5 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: The books reviewed here are books that I own or that have been checked out from the local library. The links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

If...

I loved If..., by Sarah Perry. It's just so...weird.

As you turn each page, you'll see a phrase starting with "if." For example, "If leaves were fish..." The next page has a picture to go along with it, like a bunch of green fish clinging to a tree branch. Turn the page again, and you'll get something equally improbable and imaginative.

That's it.

Some of the "ifs" (and their accompanying pictures) grossed me out a little bit, like "If toes were teeth..." and "If caterpillars were toothpaste..." Kids will love those, though. My favorites are "If frogs ate rainbows..." and "If lightning made rhinos..."

So, if you're looking for a book to spark your kids' (or your!) imagination, I highly recommend this one.

If...
Written and illustrated by Sarah Perry
Age range*: 2-5
My rating: 5 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: The books reviewed here are books that I own or that have been checked out from the local library. The links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

Green

Green isn't a story book, exactly--it's a collection of shades of green. I checked it out from the library because I've had a hard time finding good St. Patrick's Day stories, so I figured I'd cast a wider net this year and pick up some books about the color green, rainbows, that kind of thing.

Little did I know how awesome this book would be.

Each two-page spread features a different kind of green--jungle green, lime green, faded green, and so on, with beautifully painted illustrations. Each spread has little die-cut shapes in it, and what you see through the shapes on one page becomes something totally different on the next page. For example, the "forest green" page has two cut-out leaves on it. Turn the page, and the same cut-outs become two little brown fish on the "sea green" page.

It's fascinating. The Boy and I have been through this book several times, just in the last couple of days. I recommend it for preschool- and elementary-age kids, parents, and teachers.

Green
Written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Age range*: 2-7
My rating: 5 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

The Emperor of Absurdia

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose these books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

We loved this one. It was recommended to me by a good friend, who has excellent taste in kids' books. We've already taken it back to the library, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I can get the main idea across here.

The Emperor of Absurdia is basically what it sounds like--it's about a little boy who lives in a funny, absurd land. It begins, "The Emperor of Absurdia was having the most extraordinary dream. All of a sudden he woke to the hoots of the sky fish nibbling the umbrella trees." (I looked that up. Haha.) He soon discovers that he's missing his snuggly scarf, so he hunts all over Absurdia for it. He also encounters creatures like dragons and a pointy bird with a pointy-sounding squawk. Good fun.

At the end of the day, the little emperor tumbles into bed--don't worry, he found the scarf--and on the last page, you can see that he's woken up as an ordinary boy whose bedroom has some familiar-looking elements in it.

Kids'll love this one. The younger ones might not totally follow what's going on, but I think they'd still enjoy the detailed pictures and the silly--ahem, absurd--adventure of the young Emperor of Absurdia.

The Emperor of Absurdia is available from Amazon.com
Written and illustrated by Chris Riddell
Age range: 4-7 (Age ranges are very flexible.)

Life-Size Zoo

This book isn't technically a story, I know. But it's for kids! And Isaac, The Boy, and I are all fascinated by it.

Then again, we're kind of a nerdy family.

Life-Size Zoo is a collection of photos of animals at their actual size. Some of the animals in the book, like a hedgehog, easily fit on the page. Others, like that zebra there, don't. And some animals have fold-out pages, just to fit a tiny fraction of their faces.

Each animal's page has a sidebar with interesting facts. For example, The Boy was a-maze-d that a baby koala is the size of a jellybean. That kind of thing. There are three other books in this series, as well: Life-Size Farm, Life-Size Aquarium, and More Life-Size Zoo.

I recommend this series of books for pretty much any kid. Younger ones will enjoy looking at the pictures, and older kids will be fascinated by the photos and the facts.

Life-Size Zoo
Edited by Kristin Earhart
Age range*: 3-100
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--I usually just get them at the local library.

Creepy Carrots!

This story isn't about Halloween, but the "creepy" factor makes it a good Halloween read anyway.

Creepy Carrots is about a young rabbit, Jasper, who loves to eat carrots out of Crackenhopper Field. He nabs some every time he walks by. Until one day [said in my best creepy-movie-narrator voice]...something changed. Jasper's sure that carrots are following him. But every time he turns around and looks, there aren't aren't really carrots there. Or are there...?

I won't give away the ending, of course. The Boy and I both liked this book. The illustrations don't get any creepier than what you see on the front cover, and the black/white/orange color scheme gives a nice creepy feel to the story [That's the last time I'll use the word "creepy." I promise.] Plus, again, it's nice to read something different from the usual Halloween stories, fun as those may be. The youngest kids might not follow the story very well, so I'd read this one to kids that are a bit older and can appreciate the atmosphere of the story. 

Creepy Carrots!
Written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown
Age range*: 5-7
My rating: 3 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--I usually just get them at the local library.

Chickens to the Rescue

So, it turns out that chickens are pretty useful to have around.

In Chickens to the Rescue, Farmer Greenstalk's family keeps having little crises. Luckily, their flock of chickens comes to the rescue every time! Until Sunday, when they're asleep in their chicken coop...but don't worry. Someone else will step in.

The illustrations in this story are so funny. Each chicken rescue is kind of like what you see on the cover of the book--they really are helping, though. The surprise at the end had The Boy laughing every time he read it. And he read it, oh, probably a gajillion times.

This story is one that will appeal to a wide range of ages. There's minimal text, so it's easy for littler kids to understand what's going on, and the humor in the illustrations is funny even to bigger kids.

Chickens to the Rescue
Written and illustrated by John Himmelman
Age range*: 3-7
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--I usually just get them at the local library.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Read this book. Seriously.

I first saw it, and loved it, as a short film (that went on to win an Academy Award!) when it made the rounds on Facebook several months ago. It looks like the short is available on iTunes now; there's also an app to go along with it. You may be able to find the short on YouTube somewhere.

Anyway, the picture-book version finally came out in August, and it's just as gorgeous as the short. It's a story about the importance of books and words--Morris' life is full and joyful with them, but gray and dreary without them. Unfortunately, I don't think I can do the story line better justice than that, so you'll have to go out and find a copy of the book yourself to really understand how powerful it is.

Oh, and I think The Boy liked it, too.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Written and illustrated by William Joyce
Age range*: 5-8
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--I usually just get them at the local library.

The Chalk Box Story

Looks like The Chalk Box Story is actually out of print--and this is the best photo of it that I could find. It's a shame, really, because I like it better than some of Don Freeman's books that still are in print.

[But not better than Corduroy. We are Corduroy fans all the way.]

Anyway, this little story is about a box of chalks that work together to make a picture. The blue chalk goes first and draws the sky and the ocean, the brown chalk draws a tree trunk, and so on. Eventually they've drawn a picture of a boy and a turtle on a tiny island, with a ship way off in the distance. The boy in the picture is sad, and the chalks don't know what to do...and you'll have to read the rest of the book to find out how it ends.

This book is kind of different, since it's about chalk rather than about kids or animals. But I like that about it. It has a sweet message about teamwork, and I highly recommend checking your library for a copy.

The Chalk Box Story
Written and illustrated by Don Freeman
Age range*: 3-7
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: The books reviewed here are books that I own or that have been checked out from the local library. Some links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

Good Luck Bear

I know it's August right now, and nowhere near St. Patrick's Day. But in my defense, Good Luck Bear was not shelved with the St. Patrick's Day stories. And I can see why, I guess--you can be lucky year round, can't you?

Anyway, this book is about a little bear who finds out that four-leaf clovers are lucky. He searches and searches, but never finds one. His friends are not helpful at all. (They're funny, though.) The illustrations are adorable, and the underlying message is about friendship, and I could go on and on here, so just read it already!


Good Luck Bear
Written and illustrated by Greg Foley
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--I usually just check them out from the library. 

Penguin

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you right now that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose the reviewed books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

The author-illustrator of Penguin, Polly Dunbar, is a totally new discovery for us. We've checked out several of her books now, and every one (so far) has been absolutely charming.

In Penguin, a little boy named Ben gets a penguin for his birthday. But Penguin won't say anything, no matter what Ben does. Ben tries tickling the penguin, dancing with the penguin, shooting the penguin into outer space on a rocket ship...but Penguin stays still and silent as, well, a toy.

That is, until a big, blue lion eats Ben. Penguin comes to the rescue, and then...well, you'll have to read the story.

This story is good not just as a cute story about a boy and his penguin, but also as a story about friendship.

Penguin is available from Amazon
Written and illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Approximate age range: 3-6

Alligator Alphabet

Alligator Alphabet is great for kids who are still learning their letters, but who have moved beyond the board book stage.

Each page has a letter with an animal that goes along--alligator, bear, camel, and so on--and some rhyming text. Your little one will recognize most of the animals in the book, but they'll also get to learn a few new animals. (Unless your child already knows what an umbrella bird is...I didn't.)

The illustrations are pretty cool; they're done in colorful paints in a whimsical style.

Little Boy is way past the letter-learning stage, and he still liked this book. It can definitely be enjoyed by a wide age range.


Alligator Alphabet
Written by Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Stephanie Bauer
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 5 stars [out of five] 

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library. 

The Snowman

Life has been crazy lately! But I'm back (for now). I just noticed that I didn't even post any Valentine's stories this year...but I did a few last year, so I guess that's not a total loss.

Anyway, we've been reading a lot of winter-themed books at our house, in between the Christmas stories and the Valentine's Day stories--and I'm trying to squeeze some in now, before we get to St. Patrick's and Easter.

The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, is a wordless picture book. (I've heard that there's a version out with words now, but that the wordless version is better--it has more pictures and more of a story to tell.) Some kids love this kind of story, especially pre-readers, who feel like they can "read" the story on their own. Other kids aren't really into it. Little Boy is kind of neutral about them, so I get wordless books from the library occasionally, but they're not usually favorites for him.

This story is about a boy who has an adventure during the night with a snowman. The boy invites the snowman into his house and shows him all kinds of wonders--like the stove, which the snowman stays far away from, to a set of false teeth floating in a glass of water, to an ice chest. Then the snowman takes the boy outside, and they fly up into the sky, over cities and forests, and then back home. The next morning, the boy goes outside to play with his friend again, but finds that the snowman has already melted.

This, depending on your child, is a good place to say, "The end!" and leave it at that, or to talk about what happens when friends go away.

The Snowman
Written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs
Age range*: 4-7
My rating: 3 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library. 

Bear Stays Up for Christmas

We love the Bear series by Karma Wilson. And this one is one of my favorites in the series.

Bears, of course, hibernate in the winter. But Bear's friends come over to his cave to help him stay up for Christmas this year. Bear's pretty sleepy, but his friends sing carols, bake, and do other fun Christmas activities to help their friend stay awake. When Bear's friends each fall asleep, Bear stays up and makes Christmas presents for them. And then, Bear gets a little surprise visit from a jolly visitor.

The Bear series of books uses some vocabulary that's a little advanced for smaller kids, but the pictures help tell the story. This book is also secular, but it does celebrate friendship and giving.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Written by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
Age range*: 4-7
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas

Here's another story about Fletcher. (We read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves a few months ago.)

This time, he's worried that Santa won't be able to find his friends, the rabbits, on Christmas Eve because they've moved to a new burrow. So he makes little arrows out of sticks and lays them on the ground from the old burrow to the new one. Ta-da! Now when Santa arrives and finds no rabbits, he can follow the trail to the rabbits' new home.

But then, Christmas morning, Fletcher wakes up and finds that snow has fallen and covered up all of his arrows! He runs to the rabbits' new burrow in a panic, and finds that Santa has found the rabbits' new home all on his own. Yay!

Sweet little Christmas story. I like Fletcher (love the illustrations). The Fletcher books use vocabulary that's a little tougher than I'd usually choose for this age group, but the context and illustrations communicate the story very well.

Fletcher and the Snowflake ChristmasWritten by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Age range*: 3-7
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.