Reviews
Booklist - The Princess and the Cafe on the Moat
Stories about princesses abound, but one such as this, which understands a child’s need to be helpful, is fresh, and will appeal to children and their parents alike. Markarian creates a princess heroine whose interests extend beyond ceremony and fancy clothes. While looking for something View →
Booklist - A Horse Named Jack
Jack, a bored horse living on a farm, has learned how to open the gate to his stall. Looking for entertainment, he sets himself free, kicking off a counting adventure. From 1 soft click of the lock, nature and farm elements such as 3 roosters, 5 kittens, 7 spiders, and 9 apples shape… View →
Kirkus Reviews - A Horse Named Jack
A friendly horse ventures beyond the farmyard. Jack, a big, dapple-gray draft horse, loves it when the neighborhood kids come visit him on the farm. One day the kids don’t show up, and Jack gets bored fast. “So Jack performs his favorite trick— / He lifts his latch with one… View →
Booklist - Good Night, Forest
Despite the title, a cheerful rhyming text opens with morning in the forest, as couplets introduce flora, fauna, and other natural elements: “Good morning, bird. / Sing your song. / Good morning, stream. / Hum along.” Bucci’s multimedia illustrations, composed of dense brushstrokes of… View →
School Library Journal - Hardscrabble
Hardscrabble Gr 4-6– In the early 1900s, the Martins move to Colorado, where Father plans to earn free land by farming government acreage for five years. Twelve-year-old Belle and her family endure a series of harrowing events: baby Sage survives an encounter with a… View →
Booklist - Mela and the Elephant
Mela is a bold and adventurous girl who thinks nothing of setting off to explore the riverbank on her own. When her brother asks if he can accompany her, she refuses because he has nothing to offer in… Thus, her journey along the river becomes a cautionary tale. Mela’s boat View →
Booklist - W is for Welcome
Organized as an abecedary, this book celebrates immigration by painting a picture of the variety of paths taken by people who have settled America over the centuries. Letters of the alphabet are matched with concepts such as freedom, liberty, and heroes, which are accompanied by brief… View →
Kirkus Reviews – Good Night, Forest
Another riff on Goodnight Moon, this one is set in a forest. The opening rhyme sets the scene. “Good morning, forest. / Rise and shine! / Good morning, maple, / Oak and pine.” The text welcomes, in turn, an assemblage of forest flora, fauna, and landscape elements to a new… View →
Booklist - Pippa and Percival, Pancake and Poppy: Four Peppy Puppies
This tremendously fun read-aloud centers on four puppies who meet each other, one at a time. It beings with Poppy, a spaniel who digs under a fence until she finds a sheepdog, Pancake. They play until they happen up Percival, a dachshund. This merry group then comes across Pippa, a… View →
Booklist - Hu Wan and the Sleeping Dragon
In 1572, Hu Wan works with his grandfather in their vegetable garden near the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Their specialty is growing gourds, which are shaped into useful kitchen utensils such as bowls and large spoons to be sold at their village market. Each spring, as the gourds… View →