Tag Archives: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Owly & Wormy: Bright Lights and Starry Nights! by Andy Runton

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Owly&WormyOwly & Wormy:  Bright Lights and Starry Nights!   by Andy Runton. Ages 2+.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers.  November 2012.  40 pages.  ISBN:  978-1416957751.  $15.99  Fiction.

Quick Summary:  Owly and Wormy are back in picture book format!  This time they have a new telescope and going to do some stargazing.  The only problem?  The leaves from the trees are in the way.  They decide to pack up and go out into the field so they can get a better view of the sky.  Unfortunately, the next day when they head out it is daytime and they can’t see the stars.  Then it gets cloudy and it begins to rain.  Owly and Wormy take cover in a nearby cave but quickly decide to leave because they hear some spooky sounds.  After it rains, they pitch a tent and are ready to view some stars only to find… Owly has dropped the telescope somewhere!  Wormy is brave and guards the campsite while Owly heads back to find his telescope.  He gets lost but finds a new friend who is a bat!  The bat, along with some of his bat friends, helps Owly find his telescope and his way back to the campsite.  When they return to the campsite Owly, Wormy, and his new bat friends all get to enjoy the beautiful night sky.

Our Experience Reading this Book:  We highly, highly recommend it.  I first found the Owly series in the library in the comic book section.  These wordless comic books are sweet and a joy to read with my two-year-old son.  We’re going to end up buying them all because they’re always interesting and fun.  He enjoys them now and I can guarantee you that he’ll enjoy them for years to come.

These books are really wonderful!  I can sit down with my son and make up a complex story with a lot of details or I can give the basic story line and let him fill in his own.  On occasion, I’ve also just handed an Owly book to him and told him to read it to himself while I get something done quickly.

I am so happy to see Owly & Wormy Bright Lights and Starry Nights!  in picture book format.  While I love the original format of the Owly books, I’m just as smitten with them in full color, glossy, picture book format.  I especially enjoy how large the images are and how encompassed my son and I feel when we read through it together.  It’s a lot easier for two people to sit down and read through Owly & Wormy Bright Lights and Starry Nights! than it is for the smaller, black and white comic books.

I have found that the Owly books are a fantastic way to empower my son to take charge of the story.  We will sit down and have an interactive experience where he creates and adds to the story.  I also enjoy it because it forces me to look at the images to tell the story.  Often times it is so easy, especially when I am tired, to overlook the beautiful illustrations of a picture book.  With this book, I got to treat myself to beautiful and fun illustrations.

The text is minimal and limited to sound effects.  There are exclamation points and question marks and equal signs throughout the book.  This has been a great introduction to punctuation for my son.  My son can now easily identify various punctuation marks and their meanings — all thanks to Owly and Wormy.

The Owly books are for people of all ages.  I’m just as comfortable giving this book to my son as I would to a teenager.  Everyone will enjoy these books.  I predict that these will be classics.  These books are so good and sweet without being sappy or overly sentimental.  Andy Runton has really created an amazing series and I’m so happy to see his second picture book featuring our heroes.  I can’t wait for more.

Where Obtained:  Library.

FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Website:

Some of My Favorite Reviews of This Book:

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Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and Illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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Bot + BoyBoy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and illus. by Dan Yaccarino.  Ages 1+. Knopf Books for Young Readers. April 2012. 32 pages.  ISBN: 978-0375867569 $16.99

Why Am I Reviewing this Book? Because this is one of my son’s new favorite books.

The Short:  I’ve seen a lot of people recommending this book on various blogs and so I finally checked it out from the library.  It is such a sweet book about friendship.  It is simple and happy.  All of the characters are good.  It promotes goodness and joy and if you haven’t read this book yet, please do.  We highly, highly recommend this book.

The Long:  Boy and Bot meet and become friends.  While playing Bot suffers a blow to the back that turns him off.  Boy isn’t sure what to do so he brings Bot home and tries to help him recover.  Bot is then accidentally turned back on by his parents while Boy is sleeping.  Bot isn’t sure what’s happened so he brings Boy back to his house and tries to help him recover.  Bot is just about to attempt to install a new battery when Bot’s inventor intervenes and explains to Bot that Boy doesn’t need a new battery.  Boy wakes up, and while he isn’t sure where he is, he is relieved to see that Bot is okay.  Inventor brings Boy back home to his parents, and Bot and Boy live happily ever after playing together.

Fantastic story!  The illustrations are fun and the characters are creatively and skillfully done.  The text is simple and the illustrations work well to add details to the text.  I loved reading this to my son and doing a robot voice.  My son has been practicing his robot voice after reading this book and it is coming along nicely.  My son now knows that affirmative means yes and I got a kick out of him saying, “Affirmative,” yesterday when I asked him a question.  He also learned the word: malfunction and knows that it means to be broken or not work properly.

My son is also enjoying acting this book out and he’s been a broken robot that I have to wake up.  That usually results in tickles — which my son has pointed out — is not in the book.

I’m digressing now, but really you need to know that this is a sweet and wonderful book about friendship.  I love it and my son adores it!  We’ll be reading this one over and over again.  Also, there is nothing I feel compelled to edit or change when reading this book to him.  It’s a wonderful book!

Where Obtained:  Public Library.  Placed on hold after reading some reviews of this book.

FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Websites:  

Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book: (This one has a lot of great reviews.  Easy to understand why.)

Read-AloudI’m linking this post up with Read-Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope is the Word.  This happens every Thursday and I hope you’ll link up a book you like.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

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Rhyming Dust BunniesRhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas  Ages 2+.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Jan. 2009. 40 pages.  ISBN: 978-1416979760 $12.99

Why Am I Reviewing this Book?  I discovered it from the library.  My son and I enjoy reading it.  It has proven to teach my son something.  I think other parents and children will like it, too.  

The Short:  This is a simple, colorful, and fun book full of rhymes that I have read to my son a countless number of times.  Neither of us have tired of this book, though.  Because of the simple text with lots of rhyming this is a great book for a reader (parent, sibling, etc.) to read with a beginning reader.  It’s a quick book to memorize for those kids who enjoy memorizing books.  My son will sit down with this book by himself and, “read” it.  It is a quick read, but we always read it several times in a row.  We recommend it.

The Long:  This is about four dust bunnies that like to rhyme.  They pick a word and try to think of all of the other words that rhyme with it.  One dust bunny, Bob, consistently picks a word that doesn’t rhyme and the other dust bunnies correct him.  What they don’t realize is that first a broom and then a vacuum cleaner are heading straight towards them and Bob is trying to warn them.  It is pretty funny.

I like the flexibility in the pace of this book.  You can read it fast or slow, either way has its advantages.  This book also is written in a casual, conversational style that makes reading it a relaxed and happy experience.  It’s a pressure free and humorous introduction to reading.  We’ll be reading this book again when my son starts to show more of an interest in reading.

There is nothing I feel compelled to edit when reading this to my son.  After reading this book to him several times he seems to grasp the idea of rhyming words.  I was surprised and happy with that result.

One word of warning:  After reading this through the first time, my son was scared of this book.  The dust bunnies do get sucked into the vacuum cleaner.  This didn’t traumatize him, but for the longest time he would need to go to the other end of the couch when we got to the page where the bunnies got sucked into the vacuum cleaner.  He’d come right back after it was over.  I asked him why he did this and he told me it was scary when the dust bunnies got sucked into the vacuum. (Fair enough.) When I told him we didn’t have to read it anymore, he protested.  This behavior didn’t last long and now he’ll sit down by himself and read it.  He loves this book.

I’ll be checking out more books by Jan Thomas ASAP.

Where Obtained:  Public Library.  Random grab off the shelf.

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Websites:  Jan Thomas: 
http://www.janthomasbooks.com/Home.html

Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book:

Read-AloudI’m linking this post up with Read Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope Is the Word Blog.  This happens every Thursday and I hope you’ll link up a book you like to read aloud to your loved ones.