Kid's Book Blog

by Kat Yeh
Grades Pre-K to 2nd

The little bunnies had been naughty and everyone was tired. Mama Bunny told her little bunnies that none of that mattered because she will love her bunnies no matter what. After the bunnies were put to bed, Mama Bunny sat exhausted on the couch until Grandpa Bunny came over and told Mama that when a papa loves a bunny, he still loves her when she's grown and has bunnies of her own.

The illustrations present a busy family in a cozy atmosphere. The childlike actions and emotions displayed by the bunnies will be familiar to most children as they examine the pictures. The dainty drawings were done in a pastel palette with lots of white background, reflecting the mood and simplicity of the story. From the soft illustrations to the tone of text, there is an overall sense of gentleness. However, while children will understand the message of mother's love, the grandfather's tender feelings for his daughter may be a bit beyond their ken.

The story gives me goosebumps. It is a story of enduring love and unconditional love.

A Preston the Pig Story
by Colin McNaughton
Ages 4-8

Preston was walking home from school when SUDDENLY...Preston avoids the scary wolf by chance when he forgets to do one thing or another. The wolf, who is lerking around every corner is left without his afternoon snack while Preston safely navigates home to his mother who gives him a big hug.

Young readers will delight in knowing more than the happily oblivious porcine hero. The art is ideal for group sharing. This story will make a good combination with other fairy tales in which all the pigs might not experience such a happy ending, and is a refreshing relief from the classic tale where the only way to save your hide is to be smart, industrious, and build a very strong house. Zany fun that's perfect for young audiences.

by Nancy White Carlstrom
Pre-K to Kindergarten

Annie Claire is worried about her first day of school. What if she is too tired, spills her milk, falls asleep, etc. Annie Claire's mother talks her through each situation and then gives her an explaination why that isn't something to worry about.

Soothing watercolors, outlined in pen on cold press paper, create soft illustrations that emphasize the fun, excitement, and positive aspects of this milestone. The animal classmates, teachers, school staff, and Mom and Annie Claire are portrayed with subtle facial expressions and gestures that support the text.

What gives this tender title depth is the relationship between mother and daughter. The mother's comments are messages of love and encouragement. Annie Claire poignantly brings the story to its conclusion with a question about what her mother's day will be like when she is at school. This is a great book for kids heading off to pre-school, kindergarten, or day care.

Animals in Groups from A to Z
by Marjorie Blain Parker and Joseph Kelly
Ages:4-8

This is a great alphabet book that shows animals and relates the name of that animal group. It is interesting to find out all the group names, like a bask of crocodiles and a crash of rhinos.

What really makes this book are the incredible illustrations. Instead of calling the pictures illustrations, I want to say artwork. They are gorgeous and lifelike, except for the humor that the illustrator finds in words. For instance, for a run of salmon the artist puts little jerseys on the fish as if they were in a marathon and for a school of x-ray fish the artist puts mortarboards on the fish. It is funny and cute and wonderful.

By Sebastien Braun
Grades: PreSchool-Grade 1

Ed, an adorable mouse, loves his bedtime routine. But Ed does not like staying in bed. Night after night he wakes his parents and climbs in with them, ignoring the cries of "Back to bed, Ed!"

His exhausted parents can take no more and one night Ed discovers a "closed" sign on their tightly shut door. Dad emerges and escorts his son back to his own bed. But the unhappy mouse does not stay put. Instead he gathers up all his stuffed friends and brings them to bed too, declaring, "There's no need to be scared…I'm here now." Finally he is able to sleep in his own bed.

Braun's clean illustrations in India ink with markers and colored pencils are bright and bold. Set against plenty of white space, they show all the emotions of the characters and many interesting details. The simple text works in tandem with the illustrations to produce a great story that's fun to read. What's more, the book has an excellent representation of both Mom and Dad parenting.

This book is great for any dog loving child.

by Holly Hobbie
Ages 4-8
Fanny, who wears eyeglasses, a headband, a tutu, leggings, and sneakers, is no ordinary girl. More than anything, she wants a high-fashion Connie doll. However, her mother does not like the way the doll looks, so Fanny is unlikely to get one. Fanny attempts to resolve this situation by making her own rag doll, which she loves well enough until her friends make fun of it. Fanny decides she likes her doll and brings it on a playdate.

The soft watercolor illustrations show this protagonist to be an independent thinker as well as a talented seamstress. Sometimes not following the crowd can have unexpectedly wonderful results.

By Emma Garcia
Colorful cars beep-beep, toot-toot, vroom-vroom, and whoosh across these collage-like pages, inviting kids along on an entertaining trip. Little ones will love joining in with the sounds, reading them aloud as they watch a little red jeep, big blue van, sleek black sports car, long pink limousine, and big yellow taxi pass by. But what do you get when all these vehicles make their distinctive sounds at the same time? A lot of chugga-chugga, honk-honk noise! But in the end each vehicle finds its parking space and, like all good children, settles down for the night.


Toot Toot Beep Beep follows up on the highly successful Tip Tip Dig Dig. Recommended for any car obsessed child.