Old Bear by Kevin Henkes is a beautifully illustrated picture book that focuses on the seasons. In this story, Old Bear dreams about the different seasons as he hibernates for the winter. Each dream sequence features season-specific details with some fanciful notions, such as raining blueberries in the summer or crocuses big enough to sleep in during… Continue reading Mini Review: Old Bear
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen is a short tale of a small fish who took a coveted hat from a much, much larger fish. The small fish tries to justify his actions to the reader and brags of his plan to escape throughout the book. Let’s just say it didn’t work out for the little… Continue reading Mini Review: This is Not My Hat
The first time I read this, my “teacher brain” switched on and I thought, “What an awesome book for teaching descriptive writing!” Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino is a picture book about a young Llama asking his friends about their mamas. Each animal responds with a description of his or her maternal… Continue reading Mini Review: Is Your Mama a Llama?
Boost verb vocabulary and enjoy a mini science lesson about mini-habitats of flora and fauna through these fantastic picture books by Denise Fleming! In the Tall, Tall Grass and In the Small, Small Pond both follow the same format. They introduce a specific habitat (the tall grass and a small pond respectively) and attach a few… Continue reading In the Tall, Tall Grass & In the Small, Small Pond
As an English teacher and an avid reader myself, I know that a love of reading starts early. When my daughter was 13 months old, she brought me a book to read. My heart did a happy flip when she first did that, and it still does every time she brings me a book to read to… Continue reading Introducing reading to babies and toddlers: 10 tips
Primer books are great tools for learning basic concepts such as numbers, colors, and shapes. The Market Day! book set by Usborne Books is a cute, small set of these kind of primer books. Books in the set include primers for numbers, colors, shapes, and opposites. The set also includes a pop-up market with stalls… Continue reading Usborne Books: Market Day! Set
Another Caldecott Medal winner, A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka is a true picture book – there are no words in here, and the pictures tell the story. A Ball for Daisy is about a dog named Daisy who absolutely loves her red ball – she plays with it, sleeps with it, and takes it everywhere. While… Continue reading Mini Review: A Ball for Daisy
I’ll just start by saying I’m not affiliated with Usborne books – I don’t sell them, nor do I personally don’t know anyone that sells them. A friend of mine “hosted” an online Usborne Books party, where a sales rep posted a variety of book suggestions to those who “attended” the online event. I ended… Continue reading Usborne Books: Big Book of Little Stories
Gossie and Friends is a series of books by Olivier Dunrea. This series features various goslings (baby geese). Each book in the series tells a little story about the individual gosling, sometimes with a friend, related to whatever that particular gosling’s interests are. For example, Gossie loves her red boots; Booboo loves to eat. Each gosling will come… Continue reading Mini Review: Series – Gossie and Friends
I’m not a cat person – I’m a dog person, through and through. However, this book was too charming to pass up. Caldecott Medal winner Kitten’s First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes, is a beautifully illustrated account of a kitty’s first encounter with a full moon. Kitten mistakenly believes the full moon is a bowl of milk, and ventures… Continue reading Mini Review: Kitten’s First Full Moon
Literature4Littles 