Kid's Book Blog

a softly illustrated book about a little rabbitt and his frustration with his mom! a good read aloud for when your having a bad day with your little one!

PreS-K–Sitting alone at the breakfast table while his mother sleeps in, a young rabbit begins to list his grievances: Mommy always sleeps late, never lets him watch cartoons, yells for no reason, is late picking him up from school, and says that she can't marry him even when he gets bigger. “So I'm really mad at you, Mommy,” the little rabbit announces, “So mad I'm gonna LEAVE. I'm going someplace far, far away. GOOD-BYE.” After two wordless spreads, where the clock indicates that only five minutes have passed, he returns to ask if his mother missed him. She replies with a reassuring “SO much!” With a sparsely worded text, the simple, muted watercolor illustrations, outlined with soft charcoal, communicate most of the emotions and provide the rest of the story. Like Anna Dewdney's Llama, Llama Mad at Mamma (Viking, 2007), this Japanese import, a follow-up to The Snow Day (Scholastic, 2009), conveys the sweet and satisfying message of a mother's unconditional love. Perfect for one-on-one sharing and for generating a discussion about feelings, self-expression, and forgiveness.

By Claire Alexander
Preschool-Grade 1
Cinderella meets American Idol in this charming little tale. Small Florence is intimidated by her older sisters, never more so than when she tries singing in front of them. She has dreams of being a pop star, but it is her sisters who take singing lessons. When an Idol-style TV show comes to town, her sisters are ready to audition immediately. Florence wants to try out, too, but when the duo commands her to “sing us a song right now!” she can barely emit a squeal. On the day of the tryouts, the big sisters get their chance—but blow it big-time. The judges and the audience render them small and shy. Meanwhile, a voice belts out from the background . . . Alexander, a talented artist, gets this spread exactly right—two black pages and a spray of golden spotlight with a tiny pig singing a swirl of notes. All of the pictures, in fact, are sturdily illustrated and executed with verve and humor, drawing readers right into a story that will feel happily familiar.

by Wong Herbert Yee
Ages 4-8

Mouse and Mole are very excited. Minkus the Magnificent is in town—ONE SHOW ONLY!—and they can’t wait to sit in the front row and see his tricks. After the abracadabras happen, though, something goes a bit wrong—and Mole is very disappointed to discover that magic is sometimes not exactly what it seems. But Mouse shows Mole that sometimes real magic takes time.

Frequent, small frames resembling comic-book cells are sprinkled among the full-page illustrations, pulling the reader forward. Warm nighttime hues make the magic of Mouse's natural world warm and inviting to new readers.

I liked the onomatopoeias! In the story, "He tossed a stone into the pond: PLOP!" And in the picture mole tosses a stone into the pond. In the illustration you can see the PLOP. The artwork nicely reinforces the story's action, the closeness between friends, and shared wonder in nature's magic. It is very well worked together and it's little details like this that makes the book more fun to read.

by Margery Cuyler
Ages: 4-8

Jessica is a worrier. She worries about everything for her socks matching to doing well in school. But in Mr. Martin's class she has her biggest worry: Brenda Baily. Brenda is a bully, and she won't leave Jessica alone. Brenda teases Jessica about her homework and her skinny legs. It worries Jessica so much that she can't even sleep. Jessica has to stand up to Brenda but she is so worried!Jessica is too afraid to stand up to Brenda until one day at lunch when another girl, Anita, says that Brenda is such a bully. Jessica gathers her strength, "...put her hands on her hips. In a loud voice she said, 'Toothpicks may be thin, but bullies never win!'" And that was enough to keep Brenda away.

The storyline is realistic and kids will relate to Jessica. The illustrations are fun, cartoon-y caricatures. Kids will see  that Brenda is bad news and that Jessica has a meek personality.

This book is great for the kid who worries. There are some things to worry about, but the illustrations make some of the worries seem comical. Hopefully it will help kids realize that they don't have to worry.

My favorite part is when Jessica fell asleep without any worries. :-)

by Michael Hall
Any Ages

The bold digital collages of zoo animals in this debut picture book are clear and bright, and the simple rhymes about feelings will have preschoolers savoring the words, joining in, and pointing at every playful zoo scene, each featuring one animal per page. Even toddlers will enjoy talking about the scenarios, especially after they see the final spread with the small “zookeeper” asleep in his bed, his beloved animal toys snuggled around him.


This book is so darn cute. My favorite page is the Happy Hippos. You'll have to read it to find out just how cute!

By Dave Horowitz
Grades 1-2
This book takes well known nursery rhymes, mixes them together, and creates a story about conquering your fears. Humpty Dumpty has a fall but recovers after the doctor tends to him. However, he is scared and doesn't see the point of climbing walls or doing anything. He sits at home and watches TV in his underwear. After a spider scares him out of his house, Humpty Dumpty ventures out to the wall again. He finds that the King's horse has gotten stuck and needs help. Humpty Dumpty rises to the occasion and saves the day.

Moral of the story, "...from that day on, Humpty Dumpty never climbed again with out the proper safety equipment. Or pants."

This is a very funny book. The font is large and easy to read. The pictures match the theme and style of the book perfect.  There is a good storyline that children will be somewhat familiar with and will get the jokes. The pictures and story aren't too feminine or masculine.

All in all, it is just a great picture book.

Ages 4-8

"It was dark. It was stormy. It was night." The opening lines to this easy reader is a really great example of using simple words and repeition to get a point across to kids. To a young reader, "It was a dark and stormy night" may be a daunting sentence to read. Half of the words in that sentence are not familar to those little eyes causing frustration. But when the kids already know, "It was," the sentence goes much easier. Plus, what a great opening line to a book!


The storyline is cute: Melvin has a flat tire and needs a new one. He rolls into a spooky junkyard and finds just what he needs: a golden! But when the junkyard ghost asks, "Who took my golden tire?" Melvin gets scared.

The illistrations by David Shannon are vibrant and so very cute. This is a great boy book because it is about trucks, but girls won't be offended by it either because the art and  personified car is not overly masculine.

My only complaint is that sometimes the word placement is wonky, not exaclty left to right. This might confuse a new reader. OR it might make reading the book more interesting. Not sure.

I really liked this book.