Eight Picture Books

Little Buggies by Cindy Bracken 
A cute little book with wonderful rhymes that teaches children to look for specific insects. This is done in a fun and lyrical way.

Little Monsters It’s Time to Go to Bed by Olivia Longray
This is a very cute way to teach children the importance of brushing their teeth. The illustrations were bright and cheerful. The message is one every parent will love to read to their children. Children will rush to brush their teeth after reading this book to put their own little monsters to bed.

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub
This is a cute story of a red pencil who is challenged to write a story. But, this is not just a cute story. There is so much to learn throughout this book. When Mrs. 2 tells her class they are going to write a story she has the writing "story path" on the board. Little red is given a basket of useful words as she goes off on her writing journey. The book demonstrates the importance of using vivid words to spice up your story We learn how too many adjectives ca bog your writing down. Run-on sentences, as well as, chasing something new can lead to a wonderful ending. This is a wonderful take on the "Little Red Riding Hood" story with a twist. This is a great way to introduce story writing ot only to the youngest writers, but also to the reluctant writer. This is a bok I will definitely use in my classroom.

Rocks and Minerals of the World by Baby Professor 
I know this is just an introductory book. I purchased it because I have always loved rocks and minerals. Some of the words used in the book, such as igneous could have been defined in a glossary/dictionary in the back. I felt like the book just suddenly ended. Those are my only complaints with this book.

The Case of the Missing Money at the Zoo by Betty Smith
When a class gets the opportunity to take a trip to the zoo, one young boy makes a bad decision to steal money from the teacher. This author’s books are written to teach children valuable lessons. In this case it is the lesson of not taking what is not yours. A simple lesson told in a simple fashion.

The Moody Monster by Sarah Read
When Monster wakes up after a bad dream he finds himself mad. He doesn’t understand why. To make matters worse his mom isn’t home. His aunt fixes him a breakfast he doesn’t want and he decides he’s not going to school. When his mom comes home he tells her about his dream and the way he feels. His mom helps him learn to calm himself to make himself feel better.

The Pillow Parade by Edward Dron
Olive is a rabbit who loves to bounce. She bounces very high. One day she meets a sheep who also loves to jump. The sheep belong to a special club where they jump so children can count them and go to sleep. What happens to those children who live in very high buildings? Can Olive the bunny help? 

The Worry Unicorn by Sarah Read
When Lily has to start at a new school she worries about all of the things that could go wrong. She worries about it so much that she can’t sleep. When she tells her parents about her feelings her mom talks to her about the positive side. She reassures her that her feelings are normal and that she will do just fine.

Seven More Picture Books

A Song of Four Seasons by Helen H. Wu
I love books about the changing seasons. Living in Florida that is the one thing I miss after we moved from Indiana. My two most favorite seasons were and still are Spring and Fall. In this wonderfully illustrated book we see the four bears and their activities as they take us through the four seasons and the activities associate with each season. A wonderful book to read with the littlest reader or great for that early reader. Wonderful, lyrical sing-song writing.

African Animal Facts For Kids by Deborah Bradley 
This book is about 26 African Animals. There is one for each letter of the alphabet with just enough facts about each sprinkled in to hold the youngest child’s attention. The facts are not your common facts. They are very unique like a lot of the animals she listed. Wonderful book for young and old alike.

Get the Poop! The Diary of a Dung Beetle by Damiano Bernardo
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own. This was a cute book about a dung beetle who is out to get a ball of elephant poop so his mom can lay her eggs. Things don't go quite as planned. This was a cute story. The gross factor is definitely there for younger kids. The talk of eating, drinking and bathing in poop will cause children to giggle and gag.

Giggly Bear’s Fun Trip in the Yellow Bus by Kelly Santana-Banks
Giggly Bear is going on a trip to the funfair. He is riding a big yellow bus. There are my rules he must learn and obey while riding the bus. A great book to teac children about riding a bus and bus safety.

How the Movies Were Invented by Gerald Ewing
An absolutely wonderful book. The book is written in wonderful rhyme. This is a book young and old will read over and over again. There is so much packed into one little book. There is so much to discuss. You have the time period, the the idea of how pictures were taken compared to today. Most importantly you learn how still pictures morphed into moving pictures. I learned something I'd always wondered about. Such a wonderful way to teach something without the child realizing they are learning. I would definitely read more by this author.

Let’s Explore Austria by Baby Professor
The pictures are stunning in this book. Once again I felt that it stopped abruptly. It is almost like someone is showing you their vacation pictures and when they get to the last one they just put them away without saying anything. With so much potential I hope that the author will add more to this such as maps, a glossary and fix the ending of the books. I would still purchase these and recommend them.

Let’s Explore Germany by Baby Professor
Another book full of beautiful pictures. Once again I felt it could have used a map or a little more info. Since I am one of those people who would look things up to learn more. Maybe that is what the author was hoping the child would want to do.

Seven Picture Books by Various Authors

Peaceful Night Poetry by Píaras Ó Cíonnaoíth

Peaceful, calming poems relax the mind and comfort the soul. These are all ingredients needed to help one sleep. In this book the author has taken familiar thing to a child; teddy bears, fairies, animals and more. The poetry is soothing. It carries themes of friendship, dreams, being happy. The poems were thoughtful, and like the author said, ‘for ages 3-103’.  The illustrations are simple yet beautiful. I definitely recommend this book.  

99 Bitcoins and an Elephant by Vincent Chen
A young girl with special glasses that allow her to interact with games and worlds she creates accidently breaks them. Her mom takes her to get her glasses repaired. When they are returned there is a bitcoin wallet that pops up. The repairman had used a hard drive from an old discarded pair of glasses to repair them. The little girl uses the bitcoins to show kindness to others.

Elphie Meets the End of the World by Hagit R. Oron & Or Oron Misgav
Elphie is playing hide and seek with his best friend. His best friend’s brother comes in and tells them he heard on the news that the world was ending. Elphie runs home to hide. His parents decide to throw and “End of the World Party”. Elphie learns it was fake news, but more importantly Elphie learns that there is nothing to fear when the family sticks together. It also teaches children to live each day to the fullest. With all that is going on in our world today this is a book to read to children to reassure them that they are safe.

I'm Just Like You by Sharon Cramer

Two orphaned cougar cubs go out one day and meet a stranger who claims to be just like them. He doesn't look like them. But the three of them have fun playing together all day. At the end of the day, they learn that you can have friends who look different from you.

Adventures of the Little Tiger and His Friends by Renate Logina

Little Tiger has always played by himself. As he grows older he wants friends to play with. Everything turns out disastrous. One day he sees an anteater. A boulder has fallen on his tail. Little tiger removes the boulder then plays with it. Unfortunately, it ruins the fun and gets broken. The anteater helps Little Tiger to find friends.

Babaroo the Alien Learns About Bullies by Kate Melton

Babaroo the alien leaves the gray planet and visits Earth. He meets a fox and skunk who make fun of him and his looks. Babaroo feels bad about himself until a snail tells him how to handle bullies. The first rule is to never believe what they say. The snail introduces him to some of his friends. They welcome him. He has fun playing. When Babaroo returns to his planet he knows how to handle bullies.

A Friendship Story: Heart & mind by Nishi Singhal

This is a story that teaches the role the heart and mind plays in our lives.  The lesson these two teach is that you need both to be balanced. You need heart to help you learn to focus on all kinds of things. You need mind to show you how to do it. It illustrates this through two friends, "heart" and "mind". When mind tries to do things apart from heart he finds he has accomplished little.