Eleven Wonderful Picture Books

 Two books by Emily Thomson 

The illustrations in both books are beautiful.  The animals have that adorable, want to cuddle them look to them.

All the Baby Animals in the Wild

 

In this book  we learn about the animals that are in the wild . She has included the monkey, zebra, rhinoceros, a giraffe, hippo, tiger, hyena, elephant, antelope, and lion. The author has created a simple rhyming book that gives one or two characteristics of these wild animals.

 

All the Baby Animals in the Woods

In this second rhyming book we get a look at animals that live in the woods.  It also is written in a rhyming format. The animals in this book include a fawn, bear, flying squirrel, raccoon, owl, porcupine, fox, and lynx.  It also shows them cuddling with their mothers and talks about what they do as babies until they grow up. She has included a link to LiltHouseKids.com for a free coloring book.

 

Bob and Larry in the Case of the Missing Patience – Karen Poth

Bob and Larry are detectives. Larry carries around a stuffed badger to help him remain courageous They have to teach a new group called the Pod Squad to be great detectives.  Their first case they get a tip on the Masked Door Slammer.  There are too many of them to fit in the detective’s car so they take the Pod Squad van that breaks down.  This causes them to miss the Masked Door Slammer. The peas rolled down the hill and this causes Larry and Bob to use hateful words towards them.  They suddenly find themselves investigating another case.  They think they have caught the culprit only to discover things aren’t what they thought.  As they learn the truth they also learn how hurtful words can be if they aren’t used for good.  Great lessons in this book.

 

Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully – written by Jane Lovascio; story idea by Anna Stover

Bella and Casey meet their new neighbor a Doberman named Roscoe. When they say hello and welcome him he is hateful to them. They decide to try the next day. When their Frisbee accidently flies over the fence Roscoe refuses to give it back. Casey and Bella decide to walk to the park where they meet a wise owl named Opie. The owl tells them that Roscoe is a Bully. He explains what a bully is and how to deal with them.  This is a must read book.  See how Casey and Bella help stop bullying.  Then read the story behind the story that was originally written by 10 year old Anna Stover. The basic story line and ideas for stopping bullying are in both stories. This is a wonderful way to teach young kids what to do if they or someone they know are being bullied.

 

Cat Cabby – Christina Tran

Cassidy cat is a cab driver who falls asleep as he is driving. He picks up Ginger cat to take her to a birthday party.  Ginger has a plan to help Cassidy stay awake.  She is going to play music but forgets the music. She has to get to the bakery to get the cupcakes.  Cassidy starts the car and falls asleep but still gets her there safely.  Cassidy is very sorry.  Read this book to see how Cassidy’s friends help him with his problem and then read to learn the true story behind Cassidy Cat.

 

 

Hero Cat – Eileen Spinelli

Eileen Spinelli is one of my favorite children’s authors.  Hero cat is the story of a mother cat who entered a burning building five different times to save her kittens.  She brought them out one at a time.  This simple, short story is based on the news story of a cat who did just that.  For this reason she is considered a hero.

 

 

It Stinks to Be Pink – Kathryn L. Novak

On an island called Flora live creatures that are round, fluffy and brightly colored. They have black markings on their puffy bodies. The children go to school and then love to play in the beautiful flowers on their island.  All of the fuzzipuffs love to play outside except for Spotty.  Everyone thinks that Spotty doesn’t like them because he always seems sad or mad.  Spotty thinks no one likes him or wants to play with him because unlike the others he is pink. Spotty decides he is going to run away to the Dark Forest.  It is the only place they are forbidden to go.  Spotty finds a magical mirror?  Read this wonderful book about self – image to find out what happens to Spotty and the other fuzzipuffs.

 

Mia’s Tooth Fairy – Yosifia Porat

Mia is about to lose her first tooth. She is very excited that the tooth fairy will visit her. She talks with her friends about it.  She decides to write a letter to the tooth fairy to make sure she remembers to visit her after she loses her tooth.  When the letter is returned she makes a video and puts it on YouTube in hopes the tooth fairy will see it. Read to find out if Mia gets a visit form the tooth fairy.

 

Rainboy Full of Joy – Eli

This book was different.  Troy is a young boy who looks out the window and see something strange.  He is not sure whether he should tell his parents.  Rainboy speaks to him and tells him to come out and play.  He asks him what he would like to do then tells him to grab hold of his tail.  They are transported to the area Troy wished for.  After a while they meet two new friends, Ned and Ted.  Each of them get to make a wish and then it is time to go back home.  Read all about their adventures in this cute book. Then ask yourself, if Rainboy visited you, where would you wish to go?

All Sheep Love to Sing - Paula McBride
In this cute book all the sheep were practicing for the 'Great Anwen Sheep Singing Contest'. That is all of the sheep except for the smallest one, Emlyn.  He was too shy to try to sing.  On the day of the great singing contest. Emlyn stands at the top of a mountain to hear better. Suddenly he spots danger.  Read this book to find out what he does to save the other sheep.  This was a cute book with wonderful pictures

Ten Busy Brownies - Talia Haven
This simple story is a counting book. It starts out with one little brownie guarding the dreams of children as they sleep. Then there are two brownies are cleaning up clothes and toys.  It continues adding a number and what the brownies are doing all the way up to ten.  In case you don't remember what  a brownie is, they are similar to goblins but usually live in houses and help out.  The story is delightful, the pictures are very colorful and give you something to sit with your child and have them find different things in the pictures. This is a great book to teach children to count to ten.

How to Promote Your Children's Book - Katie Davis

I was excited to participate in the promotion of this book. I received a copy from the author to read and review.  What you get here is my honest review.

Promoting my first book was extremely hard and that is probably why it has not done as well as I’d like it to.  I can take the advice in this book and apply it to not only my first book but to the one I have almost finished. Shy by nature, promoting myself and my work has always been an issue.  I am a National Board Certified Teacher.  I missed getting the certification the first time around by nine points.  When my mentor, someone who had been an evaluator in the process looked over my results her words were no surprise.  I missed it because I did not promote myself.  I grew up believing if you did that you were vain and self-centered.  In writing you have to promote yourself whether you are self-published or traditionally published.

Katie’s book takes some of the sting out of what seems like such a daunting process.  I was pleased to see that some of the things I had already done with my first book were things she had recommended in her book. I was also shocked at how much more I could have done. As a teacher, I loved the section on “Teacher’s Guides”. The proper way to use “Social” media is hit on which makes it very relevant to every author and really focuses on the social part of it. When I promoted my first book I was afraid of offending everyone by talking about my book on Facebook.  I had come across people who made it clear they hated and unfriended people who they felt used them just for that purpose. There is a right and a wrong way to use social media.

Another thing that was especially helpful to me was all of the links she included in the book.  This is a book that you need to read with a pen and pad at your side as there will be so much you will want to go back to or check on. Keeping a notepad handy helps.   This book doesn’t come across a stiff how-to manual.  Instead it is more like sitting down with a group of writing friends and discussing ways to promote your book, what worked and what didn’t work.

So how much do I believe in this book?  I have a group of middle school students who participated in NaNoWriMo.  I am going to tell them and their parents that this is the book they need if they are serious about getting their book published.  I am also going to work with them on some of the ideas in the book.  That is how much I believe in this book.

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Student Saturday: Duckling Ugly - Neal Shusterman

Student Reviewer: Grant

The book Duckling Ugly was a really good book because it had good detail, and taught a good lesson. The lesson learned was to think before you do. The book would really paint a picture in your mind about the setting. It was very descriptive. I might warn you there is a little sadness in the beginning and also at the end,

The time frame of the book is pretty modern, I think that the year is 2011. The story takes place in a small town named Flockcrest. There are mountains on the northwest side of the town. Somewhere in the town there is a cemetery where Clara visits almost every day. There are a lot of characters in this book. the main character is Clara. Clara is an ugly girl who can literally crack a mirror just by looking at it. She also sleeps standing up in the northwest corner of her room at night. Grenado is a kid who once sat in the mercy seat (the chair across the table from Clara). Tud Tuddie is an ugly boy like Clara. He got made fun of a lot and went missing a few years back. Clara's mom and dad always supported Clara and always loved her. Her brother was always a smart aleck towards Clara. Her mom and dad were not happy about that. One more character in the story is Marshal. She bullies Clara every day.

The plot of the story begins at school when Grenado sits in the mercy seat and Clara ignores him the whole lunch, The next week Grendado comes back to sit in the  mercy seat. He was the first student to sit in the mercy seat more than once. That day Clara sneaks out to go to the cemetery. She was relaxing when she saw Marshal doing graffiti in the cemetery. Clara hid but when Marshal saw Clara he started to beat her up. An old lady came over and stabbed Marshal in the toe and Marshal ran away. That night Clara gets a letter hand delivered to her house that said "find the answers". A kid named Marshal Aster asked Clara to the homecoming dance and Clara said yes. At the dance Clara forces a kiss on her date and he throws up in the punch bowl. After that Clara is so humiliated she drives North West towards the mountains and wanders on a path and passes out near the mountains.

Just like Clara's school, our school and most schools have a hand full of bullies. Also, I think most people have made decisions that were not so smart and hopefully they have learned fro that. I think a lot of people can relate to this.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good descriptive book and a little bit of drama with emotions. It can be a little confusing so you want to focus while reading the book to get the most out of it. Overall an 8 out of 10 stars for this book.