Full Reviews Index
A Gift for Abuelita: Celebrating the Day of the Dead
A Gift for Abuelita: Celebrating the Day of the Dead / Un regalo para Abuelita: En celebración del Dia de los Muertos is a bilingual picture book. It provides a good introduction to the impact of the Day of the Dead in this story of a little Mexican girl who is mourning the death of her beloved grandmother and hoping to find some comfort through Day of the Dead activities.
Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead
Children’s Picture Book Review - Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead, by photojournalist George Ancona, is an excellent children's picture book, which provides a good introduction to the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico.
The Magician's Elephant
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo is another in the Newbery Medal winning author's novels for children 8-12. The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo is a fascinating and mysterious book for tweens.
A Story For Bear
Book Review: A Story for Bear is not only a charming children's picture book, but A Story for Bear also highlights for adults why reading books to babies and very small children is so important.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
I fyou are looking for a fun alphabet book for your children, from babies to six-year-olds, I recommend Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a children's rhyming alphabet picture book by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault. During his career, Bill Martin Jr wrote more than 200 children's books.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney is book four in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The first was Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The second was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules. The third was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw. If you are looking for middle school humor for tweens and young teens, I recommend Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney and the other books in the series.
Faraway Home
Faraway Home is a poignant children's picture book that tells about an American child's fears when her father has to return for awhile to his beloved homeland, Ethiopia. Those fears are assuaged through the stories he tells her of life in Ethiopia when he was a child. The little girl comes to understand how much her father misses Ethiopia. Faraway Home provides a look at the immigrant experience at a level young children can comprehend.
Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts
The children's poetry book, "Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts," written and illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines, uses patchwork and appliqued miniature quilts as a backdrop for poems about the seasons. This beautiful children's poetry book is also a favorite with adults.
Peepers
This children's picture book is by Eve Bunting and is illustrated with beautiful paintings of a picturesque New England village during the fall foliage tours. In this children's picture book, two boys come to appreciate the views of the "leaf peepers," the busloads of tourists who descend on New England in the for the fall foliage tours.
September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City
Children's Nonfiction Book: Reporter, author, and editor Wilborn Hampton provides a nonfiction book for children 11 and older about the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City using his own experiences and those of several other people who lived through it to make this children's nonfiction book come alive.
Celebrate Halloween
Celebrate Halloween is a children's nonfiction picture book that is part of the Holidays Around the World series of nonfiction children's picture books from National Geographic. Celebrate Halloween, like the other books in the Holidays Around the world series, uses photographs and descriptions to share information about how Halloween is celebrated in different countries.
"The Complete Adventures of Curious George"
The seven children’s picture books about Curious George the monkey that Margret and H.A. Rey created have delighted generations of children and their families. The special collector’s edition of The Complete Adventures of Curious George includes the Rey’s seven stories about the curious little monkey plus several essays that adults will enjoy.
The Journey That Saved Curious George
The Journey That Saved Curious George is the fascinating story of the wartime escape from Paris of Margret Rey and H. A. Rey, the creators of Curious George. The book includes information about both the Reys and their children's books, especially those featuring Curious George the monkey.
First Day Jitters
First Day Jitters is a picture book about starting school with a surprising twist at the end of the book. Julie Danneberg is the author and Judy Love the illustrator of First Day Jitters. This picture book is both fun for kids and a good gift for a new teacher.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
I recommend the picture book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs if you are looking for a story to spark your children’s imaginations and tickle their funny bones. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a bestseller and one of several children’s picture books written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Despite being more than 500 pages long, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is the 2008 Caldecott Medal Winner for picture book illustration. More than 280 pages of the book are illustrations by Brian Selznick. Despite being a novel for 9-14 year olds, The Invention of Hugo Cabret can also be classified as a picture book since Brian Selznick tells the story in both words and pictures.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Middle school students love Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney because of its humorous look at middle school and home life. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney has been such a popular book for older children and young teens that it is now a middle school series.
Picture This, How Pictures Work by Molly Bang
Picture This, How Pictures Work by Molly Bang provides an exceptional look at visual communication through abstract artwork for 9 to 12 years olds. If you are looking for a book for a child who is interested in the art of evoking emotions through line, shape, and color.
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman is both a beginner book for the beginning reader, it is also a good book to read aloud to children two years old and up. Are You My Mother? is a book children love to read (or listen to) again and again.
The Lincolns by Candace Fleming
The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming is a biography of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming is also a reference book about the Lincolns and the times in which they lived. I recommend this history book for a wide range of ages.
Simply in Season Children's Cookbook
Fight childhood obesity with Simply in Season Children's Cookbook. Simply in Season Children's Cookbook stresses "Fun with food from garden to table." Use it to encourage your children to eat healthy foods and fight childhood obesity.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
If you are looking for a picture book for your child that children love to look at and hear again and again, try The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, one of his many popular children's picture books. Your child will enjoy hearing the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle again and again.
An Extraordinary Wordless Picture Book: A Day, a Dog
"A Day, a Dog" by Gabrielle Vincent is an extraordinary wordless picture book that will appeal to older children, teenagers, and adults. If you have a child who enjoys creative writing, this book could serve as inspiration for creating text to go along with the illustrations.
Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry by Jack Prelutsky
If your tween (8- to 12-year-old) wants to know how to write a poem, Pizza Pigs and Poetry, a poetry writing book by Jack Prelutsky may help. The subtitle Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry by Jack Prelutsky is How to Write a Poem. Prelutsky is a prolific writer of humorous poetry for kids.
Papa, Do You Love Me?
Children’s Picture Book Review: Children’s Picture Books – Author Barbara M. Joosse and artist Barbara Lavallee address the universal question asked by children across nations and cultures, “Papa, do you love me?” through a delightful new children’s picture book “Papa Do You Love Me?”