Posts Tagged ‘book-review’

“In Suzanne Del Rizzo’s picture book, My Beautiful Birds, a young Syrian boy is forced to leave his wartorn home and make the long journey to the relative safety of a refugee camp. The story is enlivened by Del Rizzo’s plasticine illustrations with their rich purple and golden hues. Of all the things that Sami has […]

“Coming to shelves in March is Suzanne Del Rizzo’s My Beautiful Birds (Pajama Press), a new book specifically about Syrian refugees. Rendered in bright and textured polymer clay and acrylic, it’s the story of a boy named Sami, leaving his Syrian home (with a sky full of smoke) to escape war…. Del Rizzo writes in an arresting first-person, […]

“Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho, Illustrated by Brian Deines. What are Vietnamese boat people? Where did they go, and why? This beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book introduces the reader to a real family: two parents and their five children. Told in the voice of six-year-old […]

“This padded storybook with sturdy cardstock pages follows a mother’s persistent efforts to get her sleepy ‘grumple’ out of bed in the morning. Allenby’s intermittently rhyming text traces the mother’s escalating actions, which involve singing ever-louder…Gauthier’s naif collages sweetly emphasize the warmth between parent and child (they resemble a cross between a panda and a […]

“My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book offers a peak inside a child’s mind. The questions a child must have about parents and a failing marriage. Still young enough to believe in magic and miracles, but too young to fully understand marriage, the reality of divorce, or the ailments of the human body. A dream […]

“Toddler-PreS–What to do with tots who don’t like to wake up in the morning? Do you tiptoe carefully around them, or do you wake them up with a tickle and a song? Allenby and Gauthier address this very issue with a patient mother fox who knows just how to coax her own little ‘grumple’ out […]

“For many decades, wolves were absent from Yellowstone National Park. About 20 years ago, captured wolves from Canada were reintroduced into the park by environmentalists….Beautifully illustrated by the author in watercolor and color pencil, each spread brims with the diversity of animals, plants, and insects presently thriving in Yellowstone. Young ones will enjoy the positive […]

“Eleven-year-old Bailey and her brother Kevin are spending the summer with grandma Nana Marie while their parents go to Marriage Repair camp….After rescuing a beached dolphin, Bailey realizes that she can resolve some situations by her own actions, but must accept those she has no control over. This title is written in free verse, with […]

“…Written in light and lyrical free verse, Shari Green’s warm and wistful novel brings Bailey face to face with both hard and beautiful truths about growing up and growing into her own ability to shape the world. …This is the first time I read a book in verse and I simply loved it. Although I […]

“A grumpy man fights a rainstorm and other pedestrians but learns a lesson when his umbrella goes flying. Pithy poetry pairs with artful illustrations in this Canadian import, translated from the French….Arbona’s fantastical illustrations play with perspective, shape, and pops of bright color that enliven scenes primarily composed of black, gray, and white. Buquet’s text […]