Posted on by Maureen

I Really Love You by Tatsuya Miyanishi

 

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I Really Love You is the latest book in Tatsuya Miyanishi’s Tyrannosaurus series. Over the years, my family has received the opportunity to read advanced copies of several of these Tyrannosaurus books, so even though my girls are growing out of picture books, it was still nice to revisit the series.

In this book, we are told that dinosaurs in the north speak a different language from dinosaurs in the south. Tyrannosaurus is feeling hungry, and a Tapejara agrees to help him find food. They both speak the same language, so Tyrannosaurus trusts his new friend- but it’s a trick! Luckily, the Tyrannosaurus escapes, and he encounters some Homalocephales. They don’t speak the same language, and the Tyrannosaurus thinks about eating them- after all, he’s still very hungry. But he ends up befriending them, and accepts their gifts of fish, clam, and berries. Despite their differences, they are able to strike up a meaningful friendship.    Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Most Beautiful Village in the World by Yutaka Kobayashi

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The Most Beautiful Village in the World is a picture book written and illustrated by Yutaka Kobayahi. I was excited about the opportunity to read this book because I wanted to share it with my girls. They always enjoy the books I receive, and their feedback is useful in helping me write my reviews.

This is a slow-paced picture book about an Afghani boy named Yamo who lives in the village of Paghman with his parents. His older brother is off fighting in the war, and because of this, Yamo will get to travel to town to sell the fruit they have picked. Yamo has never been to town before, and is somewhat intimidated when his father asks him to walk around with the fruit. Later, he and his father share tea at a restaurant, and they have enough money to buy a lamb. No one else in the village has a lamb of their own, and Yamo is very proud to be able to return home with their new lamb. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein by Linda Bailey

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Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein is a picture book written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Juliet Sarda. I was excited about the opportunity to read this book because I wanted to share it with my girls. They always enjoy the books I receive, and their feedback is useful in helping me write my reviews.

This is a children’s biography about Mary Shelley, the woman who wrote Frankenstein. Because this is a picture book rather than a chapter book, there is a limited amount of space in which to convey a great deal of information. Mary’s childhood is briefly covered; most notably, that she hid behind the sofa to listen to Coleridge recite the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Much of the book covers her relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley and the circumstances that led to her inspiration for writing Frankenstein. The prose is quite evocative, and one can quite easily picture spending rainy days in a castle with two of England’s most famous poets. The book ends with the enduring legacy of the Frankenstein story.   Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Poco and Moco Are Twins by Jun Ichihara

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Poco and Moco Are Twins is a picture book written and illustrated by Jun Ichihara. My girls have mostly moved beyond picture books, but they still enjoy checking out the digital review copies that I receive.

Poco and Moco are a pair of sheep twins. Poco is a boy, and Moco is a girl. They share similarities, but they also have their differences. Poco likes bread, and Moco likes desserts- but they both like donuts! There’s not much of a plot, but that’s okay, because this book is intended for older toddlers and younger preschoolers. It’s more of a concept book than a narrative.     Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Tell Me a Mitzi by Lore Segal

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Tell Me a Mitzi is a picture book written by Lore Segal and illustrated by Harriet Pincus. I was very excited about the opportunity to share this book with my girls because this was a book I remembered from my own childhood. We loved this book so much that we even named one of our cats Mitzi, and she was my mother’s favorite cat of all time. I still have my copy of this book on cassette, probably a relic from a Scholastic book flier.

Mitzi is a young girl living in New York City, and this book is made up of three short stories about the titular girl and her family. They are fairly short stories that start out like everyday occurrences, but there is a little twist at the end of each story. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Sam the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems

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Sam the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World is a picture book written and illustrated by Mo Willems. It’s somewhat of a sequel to Leonardo the Terrible Monster, which has always been one of our favorite Willems books. I preordered this book six months ago, and everybody was so excited when it finally arrived.

Sam is a little boy who is afraid of everything except for his monster friend Leonardo. One day, Sam and Leonardo meet Kerry and Frankenthaler, who are a girl and monster duo. Both children are scared, and it is quickly established that they are not afraid of the unfamiliar monster- they are afraid of the unfamiliar child. What can Leonardo and Frankenthaler do to help their kids see that they might have more in common than they thought? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Adventures of King Rollo by David McKee

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I remember watching King Rollo on Nickelodeon back in the 1980s. We also had a couple of the books. It seems like a lot of people don’t remember it, so I was very excited when I saw a set of King Rollo books on Amazon.

The Adventures of King Rollo is a set of four little hardcover books written and illustrated by David McKee. They come packaged nicely in a sturdy cardboard slipcase.

King Rollo and the Bread shows King Rollo trying to improve upon a farmer’s simple meal of bread by having his Magician change the bread into many different foods. The moral of this story is that simple is sometimes best. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Here Comes Teacher Cat by Deborah Underwood

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I preordered this book back in March, so it was very exciting when the Amazon delivery van pulled up in front of my house. My three girls wanted to read this book immediately, and I was happy to oblige.

Here Comes Teacher Cat is the fifth picture book in the Cat series. These delightful books were written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Claudia Rueda. If you aren’t familiar with Cat, you should know that the books follow a similar format. The narrator addresses Cat directly, and Cat responds by holding up signs that express his feelings. Cat is a bit of a curmudgeon and he can be selfish at times, but he has a good heart.

As the title suggests, Cat spends this book working as a substitute teacher for a class of little kittens. At first, he seems intimidated by the job, but he quickly realizes how much fun he can have and the students seem to appreciate his “improvements” to music, building blocks, and art. But can they clean up their mess before Ms. Melba returns? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

I Will Love You Forever by Tatsuya Miyanishi

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I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I Will Love You Forever is a picture book in Tatsuya Miyanishi’s Tyrannosaurus series. My girls have enjoyed reading the other books in this series, so I was looking forward to sharing it with them.

The story begins with a female Maiasaura finding an egg in the forest. She brings it home to her own egg, and sits on both eggs until they hatch. She is a little alarmed when the egg she found hatches into a Tyrannosaur, but she is determined to raise both babies as her own. She calls the baby Maiasaura “Light” and she calls the baby Tyrannosaur “Heart”. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Dragons Love Tacos 2 by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri

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My three girls loved the first Dragons Love Tacos book, so I preordered the sequel here on Amazon a couple of months ago.

Dragons Love Tacos 2 is a picture book written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that dragons like tacos. But what would happen if we ran out of tacos? Well, in this book, you’ll find the answer to that question. Here’s a hint: it involves a time machine. But you’ll have to read the book to find out more than that! Read more