Book Review
Grandma's Roof Garden
Dynamic colored-pencil illustrations match the energy of their subject in this story of a green-thumbed grandmother. Feeding her hens and geese, composting, watering, weeding, and harvesting, it’s all in a day’s work for Granny as...
Book Review
Jump for Joy
Joy has always wanted a dog; Jump has always wanted a kid. As they wait for the right companion, they make substitutes out of flowers, ferns, sand, and snow, but their formed friends never last. The book utilizes white space and stark...
Book Review
If You Are an Artist
Creativity in all its forms is celebrated and encouraged in this picture book that calls to the artist in all of us. “If you are an artist,” the book asserts, “blue is not just blue,” “you daydream adventure,” and...
Book Review
How Dreadful!
A quirky collection of creatures provide a lesson on self-expression in this tongue-in-cheek picture book about the subjectivity of art. Paty’s exhibition is only three days away, and she has little prepared. She calls on her friends...
Book Review
Joelle the Whale Shark Grew and Grew
Joelle the whale shark is teased by her toothier compatriots for her struggles with hunting. She secretly watches Taz, a great white shark, hoping to learn some pointers; she is shocked when she sees Taz fail to catch a fish. After...
Book Review
Where Is Little Stripe's Daddy?
Little Stripe the zebra cannot find his dad. “He has black and white stripes,” Little Stripe says to a monarch caterpillar who offers to help him look. They soon discover that more than just zebras fit that description. Watercolor...
Book Review
Posey's Problem
The unconditional love between pets and their people is honored in this picture book about a resilient champion pony—a tale inspired by a true story. Whenever Posey’s kids get too tall for her, she is passed along to the next child;...
Book Review
The Naughty Bench
A rainy day, a teacher’s headache, and a canceled trip to the zoo spell disaster for the class of Room 4 in this humorous picture book. First, Flynn blows a raspberry; then, twins Ruby and Phoebe start calling one another ugly. One by...