Tag: Recommended Books

The Nutcracker Illustrated by Valeria Docampo and Based on the New York City Ballet production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker

December 18, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[Reviewed from copy received courtesy of Simon & Schuster] For those of us who wish we could go to the ballet and see The Nutcracker every night, here is the book we’ve been waiting for. From celebrated and prolific illustrator, Valeria Docampo, comes a picture book of The Nutcracker that is based on the ballet that is based on the original story by E. T. A. Hoffman. (If you’re curious about the original story, you can read it online.) There appears […]

Categories: Ballet picture books, Children's Books, Christmas Picture Books, Fine Art Picture Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture books about Christmas, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Ballet, Ballet picture books, Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, George Balanchine, kidlit, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books, The New York City Ballet, The Nutcracker, Valeria Docampo

Max the Flying Sausage Dog: Book Three A Scary Tail by John O’Driscoll and Richard Kelley and Illustrated by Arthur Robins

December 6, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[Reviewed from copy received courtesy of Words in the Works] Max the Flying Sausage Dog is one of our absolute favorite book series. The subject, the humor, the prose, and illustrations are so perfectly and expertly done and so completely inline with our family’s sense of humor that we’re all enamored with books one, two, and now three. The hardest my eldest son has ever laughed was when we read the first book of Max the Flying Sausage Dog. He […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Animals, Picture books about Bullies, Picture Books about Dogs, Picture Books about Flying Dogs, Picture Books about Friendship, Picture Books about Overcoming Obstacles, Picture Books about Pets, Picture Books about Resolving Conflict, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Arthur Robins, Book Review, Bullies, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, Dogs, Flying Dogs, Funny picture books, Humor, John O'Driscoll, kidlit, Max the Flying Sausage Dog, Nanobots, Picture Book, Picture Books, Picture books about Dogs, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books, Richard Kelley

Who Wins? Created by Clay Swartz and Illustrated by Tom Booth

December 2, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[Reviewed from copy sent courtesy of Workman Publishing] Who Wins? 100 Historical Figures Go Head-to-Head and You Decide the Winner is possibly one of the funniest, actively engaging, passionately debatable, and entertainingly informative biographies you may ever read. We have been reading and playing Who Wins? since July and it is absolutely fantastic. Here’s how this book works. The book is spiral bound with three separate sections. On the left and right sections there are 50 different historical figures with a long list […]

Categories: Biography, Children's Books, Kidlit, Nonfiction Picture Books, Picture Books, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, Clay Swartz, Hilarious Picture Books, Historical Figures, History, Humor, kidlit, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books, Tom Booth, Who Wins?

The Mouse that Cancelled Christmas by Madeleine Cook and Illustrated by Samara Hardy

November 30, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[Reviewed from copy received courtesy of Oxford University Press] The Mouse that Cancelled Christmas is a happy, hilarious, and light-hearted Christmas tale about Mouse, a self-designated safety inspector, who runs around the forest pointing out every potential hazard to his forest mates. He gets so worked up about every single possible danger that he becomes overwhelmed and decides that Christmas is just too dangerous and simply must be cancelled! Well, that is until he finds out that his friends have […]

Mr. Dog’s Christmas at The Hollow Tree Inn by Albert Bigelow Paine and Illustrated by Adam McCauley

November 28, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[Reviewed from copy received courtesy of That’s So Enterprises] Originally written in 1898 by Albert Bigelow Paine (before he became famous for being Mark Twain’s biographer) comes a sophisticated, picturesque, and boisterously merry (read: hilarious) Christmas story. Mr. Dog’s Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn is a holiday treasure and a true delight — told in a rich, conversational tone with captivating illustrations, it effortlessly whisks its readers away to an enchanting world and a bygone era. Mr. Dog’s friends: ‘Coon, ‘Possum, […]

Categories: Children's Books, Christmas Picture Books, Kidlit, Magical Picture Books, Picture Books, Picture Books about Dogs, Picture Books about Friendship, Picture Books with Great Characters, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Adam McCauley, Albert Bigelow Paine, Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, Christmas Picture Books, kidlit, Magical Picture Books, Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books

Giveaway! Hotel Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

October 28, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

Thank you to Disney for providing the book for review and a prize pack for the giveaway. Bruce. Man, what a mom. He’s supposed to be hibernating, but instead we find that he’s in Miami with his four adopted geese kids. He might not be happy about it, but he’s doing it like a champ. So when they all come home, back to their super-cozy, super-awesome cave and find that it has been commandeered and turned into a hotel by three […]

Categories: Children's Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Adoption, Picture Books about Animals, Picture Books about Bears, Picture Books about Behavior, Picture Books about Resolving Conflict, Picture Books with Great Characters, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Bears, Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, giveaway, Hotel Bruce, Humor, Humorous Children's Books, kidlit, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books, Ryan T. Higgins

The Kraken’s Rules for Making Friends by Brittany R. Jacobs

October 18, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

[I received a review copy from the author. No other compensation was received.] The Kraken’s Rules for Making Friends is a playfully illustrated, gratifying, and thoughtful look at what it takes to make friends. Everyone needs friends — even legendary sea monsters. The Kraken may be terrifying, but really, he is just like the rest of us and wants friendship. It isn’t his fault that he’s a monster. He is who he is. But one day, Kraken starts to really […]

Music Is… by Brandon Stosuy and Illustrated by Amy Martin

October 17, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received. Music Is… is a gorgeous board book told in opposites that celebrates a wide variety of musical concepts, instruments, and the people that enjoy them. Beautifully contrasted bright images of people with headphones, bass drums, pots and pans, harps, tambourines, french horns, cassette tapes, records, tubas, banjos, guitars, electric and upright pianos, harpsichords, and cymbals all introduce and reinforce musical concepts while adroitly teaching basic opposites of […]

Categories: Board books, Children's Books, Kidlit, Nonfiction Picture Books, Picture Books, Picture Books about Music, Picture Books about Opposites, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Board books, Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, kidlit, music, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books

One North Star by Phyllis Root and Illustrated by Beckie Prange and Betsy Bowen

October 14, 2016 by The Picture Book Review

I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received. One North Star is a striking and awe-inspiring picture book that poetically counts the wonders of Minnesota’s natural beauty and wildlife. It really is an incredible picture book. On first glance, you’ll notice that the illustrations are gorgeous. Then you’ll see that it appears to be a fairly standard counting book and you begin with one moose and take it from there. It isn’t until you sit […]

Categories: Children's Books, Counting Picture Books, Fine Art Picture Books, Kidlit, Picture Books, Picture Books about Animals, Picture Books about Nature, Recommended Picture Books • Tags: Book Review, Children's Books, Children's Picture Books, Counting, Counting Picture Books, kidlit, Minnesota, Nature, One North Star, Picture Book, Picture Books, Read Aloud, Recommended Books, Recommended Picture Books