Category Archives: Children’s Books

Monkey Gains His Powers: A Chinese/English Bilingual Picture Book by Will Strong and Translated by Robert Noorda

March 1, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was received.] Monkey Gains His Powers is the story of Sun WuKong, the Monkey King. This stylish and energetic bilingual picture book is an eye-catching, upbeat, and dazzling way to introduce Sun Wukong — the main character from one of the four great classical Chinese novels, Journey of the West — and reinforce Chinese and English! (You can read more about Sun Wukong on Wikipedia.) Everything about this book […]

Categories: Bilingual Picture Books: Mandarin/English, Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Ancient China, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Bilingual Picture Books, Book Review, Children's Books, Highly Recommended Picture Books, kidlit, Mandarin, Monkey Gains His Powers, Picture Books, Robert Noorda, ThunderStone Books, Will Strong

Neo the Cool Cat by Josh Prigge & Minha Park

February 24, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was received.] Neo the Cool Cat is a gorgeous and captivatingly enigmatic picture book that has me floored. Neo is one cool cat! He loves getting massages, listening to jazz, and especially the sounds that different objects make when they hit the ground. He’s always busy exploring and playing with his younger sister, Mini. He’s not always well-behaved, but he is, fundamentally, a sweet cat and his human, […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Cats, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Cats, Children's Books, Highly Recommended Picture Books, Josh Prigge, kidlit, Minha Park, Neo the Cool Cat, Picture Books

Hank and Snoliver in What Can I Be? by Nate Williams

February 21, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the author. No other compensation was received.] Does everyone know what they want to be when they grow up except for you? Here’s a playful and exuberant picture book exploring some fabulous potential careers with Hank & Snoliver — a fun and zany duo! Hank worries that everyone knows what they want to be except for him! Fortunately, he has an awesome best friend, Snoliver, that helps him test out a […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Careers, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Children's Books, Gibbs Smith, Hank & Snoliver in What Can I Be?, Highly Recommended Picture Books, kidlit, Nate Williams, Picture Books

The Dinner That Cooked Itself by J.C. Hysu and Kenard Pak

February 10, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was received.] Everything about The Dinner That Cooked Itself is delicious! The story, the spellbinding illustrations, and its sweetly surprising ending are elegant and magical. The Dinner That Cooked Itself whisks you off to Ancient China and introduces you to concepts such as the five elements, Chinese animal archetypes, and identifying written Chinese characters. Illustrated in predominantly browns, greens, and black tones with blue hues reserved for a magnificently magical […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Ancient China, Picture Books about Cooking, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Children's Books, Chinese, flying eye books, Highly Recommended Picture Books, J. C. Hsyu, Kenard Pak, kidlit, Mandarin Vocabulary, Picture Books, The Dinner That Cooked Itself

Arthur and the Elephant by Fiona Campbell and Illustrated by Laura Vann

January 24, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was received.] Arthur’s room has been taken over by a new lodger named Mr. Grey. Yet, this is no ordinary lodger, this is an elephant in disguise! Arthur, a young boy, is the only one calling it like it is. He spends several months plotting and planning ways to prove the obvious to the oblivious. Will his mother ever believe that Mr. Grey is an elephant? This […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Fictional Elephants, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Arthur and the Elephant, Book Review, Children's Books, Fiona Campbell, kidlit, Laura Vann, Picture Books

Thank You, Octopus by Darren Farrell

January 15, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the author. No other compensation was received.] Awww, pickles! What is it about bedtime? It does not seem to matter that bedtime happens every single night — it is always a disappointment when you are little. However, when you live on a tugboat with a most fashionably adorned Jacques-Cousteau-cap-wearing Octopus, there’s hope! Happily, Octopus will help you get ready! Ready for fun! Oh, Octopus! He means well, but let’s just say […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Bedtime, Picture Books about Friendship, Picture Books about Octopuses, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Children's Books, Darren Farrell, Highly Recommended Picture Books, kidlit, Octopus, Picture Books, Recommended Picture Books, Thank You Octopus

Ninja Mouse: Haiku by J.C. Thomas

January 5, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy of this book from the author. No other compensation was received.] Ninja Mouse: Haiku, told in 17 haiku, is about a mouse that lives the warrior’s way. This book simultaneously entertains, teaches, and leaves you feeling contemplative. Ninja Mouse: Haiku has a serious, but friendly, tone to it. The graphic novel/heavy-lined illustrations make Ninja Mouse interesting and to juxtapose these images with an ancient form of Japanese poetry creates something new entirely. This is a fun […]

Categories: Children's Books, Haiku Picture Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Mice, Picture Books about Ninjas, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: bilingual book, Book Review, Children's Books, Haiku, Highly Recommended Picture Books, J.C. Thomas, Japanese, kidlit, Ninja Mouse: Haiku, Picture Books

Our Week in Picture Books: Leaf Men, Cherry Blossoms, Caldecott, An Acrophobic Astronaut, Mysteriously-Appearing Carrots, Runaway Sausages, Too Many Toys, Sloth on a Shopping Spree, Iridescent Birds, and More!

January 5, 2015 by The Picture Book Review

[Those in bold are books received for review from either the publisher, author, or illustrator. All others not in bold are either ones I purchased or checked out from the library. All links and images are Amazon affiliate links. Worldcat.org can find the book for you at your nearest library and Indiebound.org can locate the book for you at your nearest local independent bookstore.] The Leaf Men by William Joyce (2001) — I’m always amazed at how beautiful this book is, both in […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Our Week in Picture Books, Picture Books, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Allan Ahlberg, Alphabet Picture Books, Amanda Shepherd, Bear in Love, Boot & Shoe, Bruce Ingman, David Shannon, Favorite Picture Books, Hadley Hooper, J. Otto Seibold, James Herriot, Kevin Hawkes, Library Lion, Lost Sloth, Marla Frazee, Michelle Knudsen, Mouse House Tales, Once Upon an Alphabet, Patricia MacLachlan, Picture Books, Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books, Ruth Brown, Susan Pearson, The Market Square Dog, The Runaway Dinner, Too Many Toys

Our Week in Picture Books: A Ninja Mouse, Self-Cooking Dinners, A Bath-Making Octopus, Gobblings, Baby-Eating Parents, Secret Passageways, Numbers, Letters, Troll Babies, and More!

December 28, 2014 by The Picture Book Review

[Those in bold are books received for review from either the publisher, author, or illustrator. All others not in bold are either ones I purchased or checked out from the library. All links and images are Amazon affiliate links. Worldcat.org can find the book for you at your nearest library and Indiebound.org can locate the book for you at your nearest local independent bookstore.] Ninja Mouse by J.C. Thomas — We read it daily. It is a beautifully illustrated book told in […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Our Week in Picture Books, Picture Books • Tags: 123 versus ABC, A Brand New Day: A Banana Split Story, Don't Eat the Baby!, Elle & Buddy, Hansel & Gretel: A Fairy Tale with a Down Syndrome Twist, Neo the Cool Cat, Ninja Mouse: Haiku, Octopus, Peter and the Troll Baby, Picture Books, Rainstorm, Thank You, That Day in September and other Rhymes for the Times, The Dinner That Cooked Itself, The Gobblings, The Littlest Lighthouse Keeper

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