Category: Book Reviews

Book Review: 1621, A New Look At Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! Last year, I shared one of my new favorite Thanksgiving themed books by Melissa Sweet, Balloons Over Broadway, that celebrates the famous parade and its history. It was again a big hit at this year’s storytime. This year, my mind has been struggling with some different feelings about what used to be a favorite holiday. With my broadening education about the continual stereotyping of Native people in picture books, I’ve become quite disheartened towards typical Thanksgiving picture books with their constant questionable portrayals of “Indians” and misrepresentation of “the first Thanksgiving.” Not wanting to disdain the holiday completely, I am striving to take Debbie Reese’s comment to heart and even beyond books: “Sometimes I think that Thanksgiving books for young children should just focus on things people are grateful for.”

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Book Review: Building Our House By Jonathan Bean

Seems like forever since I have done a book review, but this one has maintained a steady spot at the top of my favorites pile since I began this Cybils craziness. I readily admit, that I didn’t give it much thought when I heard and saw it coming out earlier this year, and now I’m making up for lost time. This is a sweet book about a little girl’s family working together to build their dream home and all the time and effort and love that makes up those walls. Here is Building Our House by Jonathan Bean, 2013.

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Book Review: It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown By Charles M. Schulz

Happy Halloween! I have been wanting to post some fun books all week, and had a few new ones lined up but every time I sat down to write about them, I was stuck. I could not get excited about the reviews and I am not sure why. So I was going to do the lame thing and skip today altogether. And then I spied this book on the shelf and I was once again excited to post. Come have a great vintage Halloween moment with me and look at a gem of a book about a timeless character. Here is It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz, 1967.

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Book Review: Maria Had a Little Llama/MarĂ­a TenĂ­a Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez

I have been longing to post on this book for months now and here I am finally getting around to it. It officially hit the shelves in August, but I have been eagerly anticipating its arrival since April when Betsy Bird posted about it. I knew immediately this one would get me. A bilingual adaptation of the familiar nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” that is unique, culturally informative, and just plain stunning. Here is Maria Had a Little Llama/MarĂ­a TenĂ­a Una Llamita by Angela Dominguez, 2013.

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Sophie

Book Review: Sophie’s Squash By Pat Zietlow Miller & Anne Wilsdorf

Today I’m delighted to share a peek at a brand-new book that I simply adore. I was hoping to fit it into this year’s fall book list, but my book budget is slim and I still await securing my own copy. (Thanks to Union Ave Books for the look into this one.) This is an endearing story about a little girl who takes to a recently purchased vegetable and cares for it despite its growing fragile composition. Here is Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, pictures by Anne Wilsdorf, 2013.

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Book Review: Circle of Seasons By Gerda Muller

Happy October everyone! While some are already whipping out the Halloween decorations with spooky creatures, carved pumpkins, spider webs and more; I plan on focusing a little more on fall. We’ll look at some great monstery type books as the end of the month nears.

For today though, I’m going to do something a little different with a book review and only focus on a portion of the book. I discovered this lovely little creation fairly recently and found the fall portion to be especially perfect for sharing. The rest of the book is excellent too, I promise, but let’s give fall its full due. Maybe sometime we’ll “circle” back for the others. So here we have a few pieces of the fall section from Circle of Seasons by Gerda Muller, 1995.

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