Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas. Ages 3+. Beach Lane Books. Sept 2012. 4 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1442442764. Fiction. $12.99
Tag Archives: Jan Thomas
Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and Illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
Boy + 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.)
- http://taralazar.com/2012/04/10/boy-bot-you-laughing-you-loving-you-winning/
- https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ame-dyckman/boy-bot/
- http://presentinglenore.blogspot.com/2012/05/apocalypsies-love-book-review-boy-bot.html (Author interview)
- http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2012/04/boy-bot-by-ame-dyckman-and-dan.html (Trailer for book + Author interview)
- http://100scopenotes.com/2012/04/10/review-boy-bot-by-ame-dyckman/
- http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/2012/04/book-review-boy-bot.html
I’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
Rhyming 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:
I’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.
