Our Hearts: A children’s book about how we navigate all of our feelings together with the ones we love.
Written by Kathleen Davis
Illustrated by Martyna Nejman
This beautifully illustrated rhyming picture book imparts a beautiful message for any age. The feelings we hold in our hearts belong not only to us but to those around us who love and care for us.
Our parents and friends experience the joys and sorrows, successes and failures we hold in our hearts. As we grow older our hearts expand as does the ability of others to share in those feelings. Our ability to love always outshines the feelings of fear and sadness.
I especially enjoyed the multicultural illustrations and the interactive feature, which encourages young readers to find and identify scenes and objects in the book.
Highly recommended for elementary and middle school readers, but a joyful message for all ages.
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A Little Labradoodle Christmas: A Rhyming Picture Book About the Power of Family, Love, and Kindness (The Little Labradoodle 4)
Written by April M. Cox and Kairi Fullerton
Illustrated by Remesh Ram
A cute, Christmas, rhyming picture book for preschoolers and primary grade children with an important message.
Kairi and her pet labradoodles encounter Casper, a grumpy cat on their walk. They decide to spread the spirit of Christmas. They invite the cat to their home to participate in traditions like baking cookies and trimming the tree, but nothing seems to work. Eventually, they find the real reason for the cat’s disdain about Christmas. Will they be able to spread love, empathy and family traditions that will change the tide?
A nice read aloud for the holidays.
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Bembe’s Heart: An old as Earth…this is a story about a boy born without a heart but full of his mother’s love
Written and Illustrated by Marin Darmonkow
This book is a beautifully illustrated folk tale that delivers a message of hope, resilience, dedication, and love.
Readers meet Bembe, a boy born with no heart. That does not deter him from working harder than most, laboring in the fields with his mother by day, and helping her at night while she knits ponchos to make ends meet. All the villagers believe Bembe will not survive.
On the eve of Bembe reaching maturity, the shaman comes to visit their home to see what will happen. The story builds to a climax as the shaman and Bembe’s mother wait. Readers have no idea what to expect.
This book is suggested for elementary age readers, but I feel its message will be better understood by readers in the eight to twelve age range.
Highly recommended reading for parents and teachers to include on their bookshelf.
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Saddlestone Connemara Pony Listening School: Sinead and Strawberry
Written by Elaine Heney
Sinead loves her pony, Strawberry. She experiences anquish when Strawberry throws her one day. Her parents want to get rid of the Connemara pony. Sinead cannot bear to be separated from her best friend.
They find a possible solution. Sinead and her poney are enrolled in a special training school. Strawberry learns how to understand human emotions, while Sinead learns to understand animal behavior, pyschology, and the proper equipment. Each must learn step by step to grow, change, and adapt to each other.
For readers who love animals, especially horses, this book provides a wonderful teaching resource. It is also a tender story of empathy, love, and responsibility. The book is an easy chapter book with short chapters, easy vocabulary, and a heartwarming plot.
Recommended especially for readers in the seven to ten age range, but enjoyable for any age group.
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The author explores the different locations for homes that both humans and animal creatures inhabit. They could be underground, underwater, up in the trees, or under open skies. Some are found in cold climates, and others in warm areas. They might be built of different materials like ice, stone, wood, or even the shell on the animal’s back. Most important, a home can be found anywhere as along as there is a loving support group.
The rhymes are crisp and sharp, the illustrations colorful and alluring.
I highly recommend this book exploring the diversity of our world to parents and teachers of preschoolers and primary grade children.
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Saint Valentine the Kindhearted: The History and Legends of God’s Brave and Loving Servant
Written and Illustrated by Ned Bustard
This picture book presents an interesting review of what is known about Saint Valentine.
Bustard is both the author and illustrator. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations done in woodcut style and then embellished with bright colors.
The story is presented in rhyme. Each part is a kind of vignette about different aspects of Valentine’s life. They include his experiences with individuals as well as soldiers and the Emperor Claudius. Despite imprisonment, Valentine continued to write his poetry about the four types of love and sent some of them as lettters. Hence, the origin of sending Valentine’s on the date of his martyrdom, February 14th.
I believe this book will have wide appeal with Christian schools and parents
Reviewed by Barbara Mojica for Net Galley.
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Adventures into the Heart, Book 2: Playful Stories About Family Love for Kids Ages 3-5
Written and illustrated by Eric Klassen
A rhyming picture book for preschool readers that explores the concept of beauty through an explanation of familiar objects in the ocean. Part of a book series featuring the characters of a bear and a fox.
Children learn through words and colorful graphics that when one has love in the heart its expression cannot be measured. A perfect bedtime or read aloud picture book for toddlers and preschoolers.
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Publisher’s Book Summary: Ten-year-old Molly has always loved having a sister, but sisters are supposed to live together, right? Molly certainly thinks so. Unfortunately, her older half-sister Alison lives on a whole other continent. Their video chats are great, and Molly is thrilled when Alison’s hand-written letters arrive in the mail like surprise gifts.
Still, it’s not enough, not compared to what other siblings have. That’s why when Molly finds out that Alison is finally coming to visit over the summer, she devises a plan to get her sister to stay. But then Alison arrives with plans of her own, a fragile heart gets broken, and Molly stumbles upon a painful piece of her sister’s past. Molly has always loved having a sister, but this is the August when she’ll learn what it really means to be one.
Ona Gritz is the author of two previous children’s books, including Tangerines and Tea, My Grandparents and Me, a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Alphabet Book of the Year and Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine Teacher’s Pick. Her essays and poems have been published widely. Recent honors include two Notable mentions in The Best American Essays, a winning entry in The Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2020 project, two 2021 Pushcart nominations, and a 2022 Best of the Net nomination.
Ten-year-old Molly is excited that Alison, her older stepsister, will be leaving her home in London to visit upstate New York. Throughout the years Molly has carried on a virtual relationship with her sister, meeting only once years ago. Now Alison has graduated university and Molly devises a plan to ensure her visit becomes permanent.
This tale is narrated in first person by Molly. Perhaps she loves Alison too much. Each of the girls have experienced troubles and losses. Molly needs to learn to recognize her sister’s needs as well as her own.
Gritz develops the characters in detail, using apt dialogue that conveys their emotions. She explores family bonds including complex issues like love and loss. The chapters are short and easy to follow. While the book targets a middle-grade audience, it also strikes a chord among adult readers. A great book for a book club or classroom discussion; the author includes starter questions at the end of the story.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of August or Forever, autographed by Ona Gritz, and a glass heart necklace (like one that figures prominently in the story)!
Publisher’s Book Summary: When Angelic hears that Daddy spread his love for her around the whole universe, she worries she hasn’t done the same for her baby brother. Only one thing to do! Brother and sister rocket into the night sky to explore the universe in search of the most awesome thing there. “Space Baby Salute!”
Under multiple pen names, Jay Dee is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author behind chart-topping comics, fiction novels, and business books, including THE NIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and GROW THROUGH IT, which was written, illustrated, and published during the CV-19 lockdown with proceeds donated to coronavirus relief efforts. PASS THE PIG: LEADERSHIP BY ATTRACTION was his first non-fiction book, and he made his fiction debut with the multimedia sci-fi/fantasy THE PLAGUE and EZEKIAL, followed by RENEGAYD, all of which became bestsellers.
Tom McGrath is based in the North West of England, working as a freelance illustrator since 2012. Despite being repeatedly told that all artists drink too much absinthe, cut their own ears off , and only make money after they’re dead – he has always wanted to be one. In fact, this has only encouraged him. He still has both his ears.
Angelica is infatuated with outer space. Her father tells her that his love for her fills the universe. One thing bothers her. Angelica has not spread her own message of love for her baby brother, Ollie.
Angelica cannot sleep. She transports her brother and herself on a trip through space visiting the galaxy, sun, planets, and space objects. She leaves a message of love everywhere they go. Soon she becomes sleepy and decides that finishing the task will have to wait.
This is a charming, picture book that teaches young children about family values and the world around us. Its story contains lots of dialogue among the main characters. The illustrations are colorful and endearing to young and old alike. While I would recommend the book especially for children under five, its universal message is one that should be shared with any age reader.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for the chance to win an autographed copy of Space Baby and a $250 donation to The Planetary Society and its mission to increase discoveries in our Solar System, elevate the search for life beyond our planet, and decrease the risk of Earth being hit by an asteroid.
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
A signed copy of Space Baby
A $250 donation made in your name to The Planetary Society and its mission to increase discoveries in our Solar System.
Phyllis Schwartz is a married mother of two, who, after a highly successful career in the TV news business, finally has the luxury to indulge in and focus on her “civilian” writing. Even as a kid, she kept a diary and wrote little stories and poems, a creative release that continued well into adulthood. She wrote news by day and poetry by night. And despite battling three different types of cancer over more than three decades, she is still filled with energy, joy, and optimism, and she looks forward to writing more poetry and children’s books.
Her writing centers on the beauty she finds daily: Her friends, husband, and two children, as well as her garden and her beautiful beach town residence in dreamy Encinitas, provide continued inspiration for her verse.
A family pulls together to help their mother when she is sick with cancer. They make funny videos, bake cookies, color get-well cards, entertain her and do all they can to cheer her up.
The beautiful, colorful, multicultural illustrations and funny rhymes keep elementary grade children entertained while discussing a serious subject. Young readers learn lessons about compassion, love, empathy, and family resilience while working through a difficult situation.
I would highly recommend this book to parents and teachers, especially those undergoing a family illness as a model of strength and resilience to teach children strategies for dealing with the stress of a family crisis.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a copy of When Mom Feels Great, The We Do Too! and a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card!
August 27, 2025
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