Angelina’s Halloween – Katharine Holabird

Our daughter finds Angelina Ballerina a delightful character, and I have to agree.  In this adventure Angelina and her best friend Alice are excitedly preparing for Halloween.  Polly, Angelina’s little sister wants to be part of the fun as well, but Angelia grows frustrated with her little sister.  Ultimately Angelina is in for quite a holiday scare as well as learning a lesson.

 

One Call Away: Answering Life’s Challenges with Unshakable Faith – Brenda Warner

After seeing Brenda Warner speak at The Women of Faith Event in Dallas, I was interested in reading her book.  One Call Away: Answering Life’s Challenges with Unshakable Faith shares Brenda’s story from the humble beginnings of early childhood to present day and the unexpected stops along the way ~ becoming a parent of a special needs child, divorce, living in poverty, losing both her parents in a tornado, meeting and marrying Kurt Warner, and her role of wife and mother as her husband’s career transitioned from Arena Football Player to National Football League M.V.P.   Ultimately, her story is one of encouragement; she repeatedly reminds the reader that one is not defined by his/her circumstances.

Warner’s story is told using a conversational tone that is easy to read.  Although an interesting read, I was expecting a bit more than I heard from her at The Women of Faith Event.  Unfortunately, her book and her talk are one in the same.  There is no further reflection or insights provided in her writing.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

Pete the Cat~Rocking in My School Shoes – Eric Litwin

Last year I had the pleasure of discovering Pete the Cat which I have previously reviewed.  This year he is back and headed to school.  Pete takes readers on a school tour all the while “rocking in his school shoes”.  As he visits the  library, the lunchroom, and the playground he always has a positive attitude and he dances and sings his way through the day.  The song Pete sings on his school tour is included via a CD at the back of the book.  This book and song combo would make for a perfect first week of school activity for school age children.  What a treat!

Little by Little – Amber Stewart

Little by Little is one of the best books I have found about learning to swim.  Otto the Otter is able to do many things well including being kind to frogs.  There seems to be only one thing he is not able to do – swim.  The story follows his attempts to learn to swim which are not going very well until his sister tells him that “…he needs to start small to finish big”.  From that point forward, Otto proceeds in taking little steps every day and before long he is swimming.    The pride Otto the Otter feels in his accomplishment is captured beautifully in the delightful illustrations.

Bridget’s Beret – Tom Lichtenheld

We love Tom Lichtenheld books at our home!  They are always beautifully illustrated, have engaging stories, and share great lessons.  Bridget’s Beret is no exception.  It is terrific.  Bridget loves to draw and is always creating masterpieces.  She has lots of art supplies, but the most important one is her beret.  She always wears it when she is creating.  One day the wind lifts it off her head and carries it away from her.

In response,  she tries on every hat in her home but none of them have the same magic.  Subsequently she cries, pouts, and sulks for she is sure that she is no longer an artist if she does not have her beret.  Then a simple request from her sister for help with a sign for her lemonade stand makes all the difference, and Bridget rediscovers her inner-artist again.

Baby Badger’s Wonderful Night – Karen Saunders

Baby Badger’s Wonderful Night is a very sweet story.   Little Baby Badger is afraid of the dark.  Papa Badger helps Baby Badger see the beauty of the night by taking him on a nighttime walk.  So often children’s book focus on the mother and child relationship.  I love that this book features the relationship between father and child.  The illustrations are beautifully done and truly enhance the story.

Calvin Can’t Fly ~ The Story of a Bookworm Birdie – Jennifer Berne

Our daughter saw a poster at the library that featured the cover art from Calvin Can’t Fly ~ The Story of a Bookworm Birdie and shared that she wanted to find that book.  Unfortunately it was checked out at the time  so we put in a requested and waited…When it finally arrived it was well worth the wait.  This darling story tells the tale of Calvin who enjoys reading and loves to learn.  He loves to read so much that he goes to the library rather than participating  in “flying lessons” with his sibling and cousins which presents a problem when it is time for all the starlings to fly south for the winter.  With the help of his family pulling him along, Calvin joins them southward.  Unfortunately they head directly into a hurricane.  Calvin recognizes what the hurricane is thanks to reading meteorology books and leads them  to safety.

I love this book.  The artwork is eye-appealing,  the lessons taught are outstanding, and a wide variety of non-standard vocabulary words are used.

Mommy in My Pocket – Carol Hunt Senderak

Mommy in My Pocket is a wonderfully sweet back to school tale which is tremendously reassuring.  A little girl who is feeling a bit concerned about leaving Mommy and going to school imagines what it might be like if she could wish on a falling star and have her Mommy become pocket-sized in order to be able to take her to school with her.   Ultimately the little girl realizes that even if Mommy isn’t really in her pocket, she always has her Mommy’s love with her.

Tickly Octopus – Ruth Galloway

Tickly Octopus is just plain fun.  Our daughter loved the idea that an octopus would be ticking his friends under the sea.  As a mom what I love about this book, is that through going on an undersea adventure, the octopus learns that he has lots of talents beyond simply being able to tickle.  It makes for a great discussion starter about individual skills and abilities and exploring new opportunities.  Bright, colorful pictures bring the silly story to life.