This rhyming picture book aims to teach toddlers and preschool children how to count from one to five and back. Each one is accompanied by a pastel illustration that has a vintage feel. They feature common situations like cooking in the kitchen, playing at the seashore or frolicking on the playground.
The book is an excellent choice for a circle time in nursery school or a bedtime interactive reading activity. Parents of children with sensory needs or occupational therapists will find it useful in improving a child’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
I received a copy of the book from the author and voluntarily decided to read and review it for no compensation.
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I am honored to participate in the 10th anniversay of an event that I have been involved in since its inception. Here’s to all the readers of the world, big and small, young and old, from all corners of the globe.
DREAMS SHARED IN A BOTTLE
Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle
Written by Lea Aschkenas
Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu
A beautifully written and illustrated children’s book with an inspiring message. Arletis lives on a tiny street in a Cuban village. When she gazes at her location on a map in school, she dreams of the world that stretches beyond her small world. While Arletis is content living with her parents, sister, and grandmother, a tiny voice inside wants to know what lies beyond it.
One day, her parents take her to the seashore. Arletis finds a bottle washed ashore that contains a message in a foreign language. She writes back in her native language and hopes for a response. Thousands of miles away, an elderly tugboat captain answers her message. The rest of the tale is magical. Maybe dreams in a bottle come true.
The author is masterful in creating beautiful language phrases to convey her message. For example, “In summer, the heat got so heavy and thick it rolled down the street in dizzying waves…” Images portray the spirit and emotions of the characters. They literally jump off the pages drawing in the eyes of the reader. Bonus features include a Cuban recipe, glossary of unfamiliar words, and a list of resources to continue learning more. The book will be available in Spanish and English editions. Based on a true story, this multicultural tale will delight children and adults of all ages.
Don’t miss this release in April 2023.
THANK YOU to our wonderful MCBD participants and supporters including Co-Hosts, Medallion and Author Levels Sponsors, book reviewers, book donators, and readers!
How to Shrink the Doubt Monsters: Novo the Space Robot Book 1
Written by Charity Froh
Illustrated by ZuzanaSvobodova
This book is part of a picture book series that helps young children gain confidence and solve problems.
Novo is a space robot from the planet, Infinata. When a group of self-doubters invade his planet, the happy robots begin to doubt themselves. Soon after, they can no longer enjoy their favorite pursuits because they no longer believe in themeselves. Novo makes a trip to the planet earth but discovers self-doubters are present there as well. However, the children of earth teach him a valuable lesson. Will Novo succeed in teaching that lesson to his robot friends and save their planet?
The vibrant illustrations pop and the alliteration sentences are so much fun to read aloud. This book invites rereading and its lessons open up children’s minds to discussion of problem-solving.
Highly recommend this series to readers ages five through seven and their caretakers.
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Publisher’s Book Summary: In a colony full of busy beavers, one bashful beaver is hiding a gigantic secret.
Lulu tries to be a typical beaver, but her dream of being an artist is getting out! Despite her friends’ encouragement, Lulu’s struggle with fear and self-doubt has led her into a pattern of destroying her artwork — until an unexpected encounter changes Lulu, and the forest, for good.
With funny asides, sound effects, and elements of comic-book style, this eye-opening tale urges kids to confront gloomy thinking and gives them the courage to bravely share their gifts.
“The idea of feeling…boxed in by others’ expectations…is a complicated subject to tackle, but Gano handles it deftly. Gano’s evocative text, combined with her dynamic and multihued mixed media illustrations, make for an immersive and atmospheric reading experience.”
“[Lulu] loves the rhythms of the world and cherishes her forest neighbors — but she also dreams in color and yearns to chew stumps into shapes. Ebullience ferries this inspiring tale forward, and the revelation of Lulu’s beautiful differences is a triumphant moment for all.”
Bethany Gano’s first large-scale work of art landed all over her parent’s kitchen floor — despite her witty, four-year-old attempt to give credit for the fine piece to her imaginary friends! She never stopped creating, though, and eventually learned the best places to display her artwork. Bethany has worked in the commercial arts for over twenty years and loves storytelling through art and design. She is extra fond of picture books — a place where art and words can’t survive without each other. Lulu the Beaver is her debut picture book.
Off the clock, you can find Bethany covered in paint, playing board games, swimming, daydreaming at the beach, and attempting to walk her dogs. She, her husband, three kids (and other furry and scaly family members) call Central Florida home.
Lulu is a conscientious beaver. She loves the sounds of the forest and appreciates the work of her fellow beaver friends, but Lulu has one big problem. When she dreams, Lulu aspires to become an artist. She feels ridden with guilt because she should be doing a beaver’s work, yet she feels she could also utilize her other talents.
Children learn about the work of beavers, how they cooperate with friendship and hard work to get their necessary chores accomplished but also that there is an opportunity to reach out and follow one’s dreams.
The illustrations are colorful and whimsical. Life-lessons combined with a fanciful picture book tale make this book a worth-while choice for any elementary school-age reader.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win one of three signed copies of Lulu the Beaver or one of two very awesome Lulu the Beaver prize packs: The Illustration Pack or The Blast-Off Pack.
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
THE ILLUSTRATION PACK
A signed, hardcover copy of Lulu the Beaver
A blank sketchbook
A set of four Blackwing Volumes pencils
A pack of metal pencil caps
One custom-painted illustration by Bethany of a name of your choosing (in Lulu’s forest lettering style shown, but the palette can be customized).
Another fun, fast read from the mystery adventure series that features Harley, an almost twelve-year-old cryptologist and official member of The Society for Mysterious Objects. She is the daughter of a famous, archaeologist, Russell James. Harley and her dog, Daisy are accompanying her father on a new job outside of Paris.
An announcement that an object has been stolen from the Louvre sets the plot in motion. Harley joins an educational group of young explorers and meets Veronica, her partner for this adventure. They feel duty-bound to explore the clues and solve the mystery. The setting of underground catacombs provides an eerie background for the middle-grade target audience but this fast-moving adventure will hold the interest of any age reader. Likeable characters, entertaining black and white illustrations, and short chapters appeal to beginning or reluctant readers. Each book of the series stands independently and apart from the rest.
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Publisher’s Book Summary: Gibson the Labradoodle is about to begin her first day of training to become a dog park ambassador, something she has been dreaming about her entire life. Dog park ambassadors hold a very high honor within the dog park community and have many important roles to make sure the dog park is a fun and safe place to be. She has so many great ideas and cannot wait to get started.
While Gibson is training alongside lead ambassador and trainer, Meistro the bulldog, things don’t go as planned. Gibson meets challenge after challenge and isn’t allowed to introduce any of her new ideas. Being a dog park ambassador isn’t what she thought it would be, so she starts to question whether the role is really for her. At the end of her very first training shift, and just as she’s about to give up and tell Meistro she isn’t cut out to be a dog park ambassador after all, there’s an emergency at the river. One of the dog park’s new puppies, Clover, has swum too far out and cannot get back to shore.
Gibson’s best friend and greatest supporter, Stretch the dachshund, convinces her she must help. Gibson springs into action, with Stretch at her side and encouraging her the entire time. Gibson saves the day…almost! Having been swept downstream and far away from the dog park, Gibson is forced to lead the trio back to safety. There’s only one way back through a dark forest with strange sounds and smells. The sun is starting to go down and everybody is tired and scared. But Gibson knows she has to get her friends back home, despite what or who gets in her way.
Kathryn Kazoleas is a Canadian author. Her furry roommates and copy-editors Keeva the cat, as well as Koa and Freddy the labradoodles, inspire her stories every day. The way they see and experience the world inspires her to dream up and express what she can only describe as fun, chaotic, and innocent adventures. Kathryn has been writing for many, many years, with her most recent work being the middle-grade chapter books “Dog Park” and its sequel “Dog Daycare”. Her short story “Just Be There” can also be found in Chicken Soup for the Soul’s “My Hilarious, Heroic, Human Dog”.
A fun book that will delight animal lovers. Gibson and her canine friends are protagonists who personify the lovable canine kingdom.
Their adventure starts with Gibson and her human Tyler arriving at the dog park. Today is a special one for Gibson. She will have her first day of training as a dog ambassador whose job is to see that all dogs follow the rules and ensure things run smoothly so that the humans will continue to bring them to the park. Kazoleas playfully describes the dogs and their antics. Things go awry when a pup named Clover gets into trouble. Gibson begins to wonder if she has what it takes to assume the responsibilities of dog ambassador. As night falls before they can find their way back to the park and danger lurks all around them, it seems all hope is lost.
The book teaches children the value of rules, empathy, cooperation, and a sense of devotion to duty and responsibility. This chapter book does not contain illustrations and with a length of more than one hundred pages, it is suitable for experienced chapter book readers. It is the type of book suggested as a transition before moving on to longer middle grade reads.
I recommend it to teachers as a classroom read aloud as well as dog lovers who enjoy a fun adventure.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy ofDog Park and its sequelDog Daycare!
It’s no fun to have a cold. Children are not the best of patients. In this whimsical tale, the protagonist is a young boy who wakes up with all the symptoms of a bad cold. His mother tucks him back into bed and informs him he will not go to school today.
The little boy does not know how to fight a cold, but he meets Boogie in a dream. Boogie takes him on a journey to meet the worst elements of a cold. He shows the boy how to defeat them.
This book has beautiful illustrations that will have both children and adults amused. The rhyming text and large font are pleasing to the youngest reader. Children learn a lot about colds and how to combat them.
This book is a sequel to How to Catch a Cold and part of a series that will appeal particularly to boys but appropriate for all elementary school age readers.
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Celebration Babies: Highlighting Special Events for Babies, Toddlers, and Children, from Around the World
Written by Stephanie Seidler
Illustrated by Pete Olcyzk
This picture book packs a lot into forty pages. The author covers countries from around the globe and their cultural celebrations. These include celebrations connected with religion, holidays, heritage, and environment.
The description mentions that the book is appropriate for babies and toddlers. While the illustrations will enthrall that age group, the vocabulary and length of sentences are too complicated for that audience. Parents and teachers will need to adapt it to make the concepts clear for them. I would suggest making the font of the text a bit larger so that new readers might be able to handle it better.
Nevertheless, this is a beautiful book to place on a parent or teacher’s bookshelf to celebrate the best of all our cultures and remind children of the beauty of diversity and multiculturalism. I especially recommend it for ages five through nine.
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I grew up in New York City and had occasion to visit Coney Island. The illustrations in this adventure to Luna Park will blow your mind. Based on original vintage photographs, they pop off the page and draw young readers into the story..
Selena, a courageus young rabbit, faces eviction from her beloved home among the sand dunes. A new development named Luna Park will erase it from memory. Millie spies Selena and they become good friends. Together they transport readers on a fantasy adventure as the amusement park materializes. I was impressed by the historical accuracy of the tale, but it is the whimsical fantasy adventure combined with lovable, delightful characters capture the young readers’ attention.
A fine way to introduce history, empathy, friendship to the minds and hearts of readers ages three to eight.
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The Amazing Snowman Duel (bedtime story, children’s picture book, preschool, kids, kindergarten, ages 4-8, Snowman Paul): A humorous tale about friendship, bullying and rejecting violence
Written by Yossi Lapid
Illustrated by Joanna Pasek
Another fabulous adventure in the Snowman Paul series written and illustrated by this talented team. This time around Bill and his friend, Snowman Paul are challenged to a duel by a Nick, a local bully, and his Snowman Nick. Nick is much larger than Paul and very well-armed, but Paul agrees to fight as long as Nick sticks to “snowman rules.” Will this bully play fair?
On the night of the duel, animals arrive by land, sea, and air, to watch the battle. Bill covers his eyes because he fears for his friend, Paul. Who will prevail? Are Paul’s fears justified? I am rooting for Paul, who always seems to come up with the right idea.
This book teaches preschoolers and primary grade children lessons on how to treat a bully, reject violence, and develop the skills to get along with others. I recommend that teachers, parents, and librarians add this beautiful picture book to their collections.
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January 29, 2023
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