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A Net in Time

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picturebook

Bear Meets Bear

January 20, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, or perhaps a story of friendship. It’s best I suppose to describe Bear meets Bear as a Valentine’s story that succeeds because of a good friend.  A fun holiday book for children.   Please note that during this review I’ll be using amazon affiliate links. 

Bear meets bear

What do you get with Bear Meets Bear?

Author Jacob Grant presents us with a delightful picture book entitled Bear Meets Bear.  Raincoast Books sent me an ARC in exchange for this Bloomsbury Children’s books picture book.  Running at 40 pages, 3-6 year olds will delight in a shy Bear, his encouraging friend, and the discovery of new friendship. You’ll find it comes as a board book, hardcover, or kindle.

Colourful images flood the pages, with plenty of white space for ease of reading.   The bold font with clear lines makes it a breeze to read.  From the earliest introduction to a Bear with a need… all the way through the Bear having another need fulfilled. 

Friendship and good-natured humour filled the pages.  Poor Bear… finding himself in a situation he didn’t plan, and unsure what to do about it.  His friend Spider comes to his rescue.  

Aren’t the illustrations cute?  One bear, meets another bear, and…… you’ll have to read the story to see what happens in the end. 

Should you Get it?

YES, well okay, This is a lovely book to borrow from the library or to gift to younger friend or member of your family.  It would be a great “baby shower” gift for a momma to share with their baby or older sibling-to-be.   Humour, friendship, and love combined in a sweet picture book. 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Books for Children, picturebook, Raincoast

You are a Beautiful Beginning

January 16, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

You are a Beautiful Beginning is a lovely book that talk about how something is not one thing, but instead it is another thing. I absolutely adored the flow of thought in this sweet picture book.  I can’t wait to tell you all about it.  Please note affiliate links will be used in this review. 

You are a beautiful beginning

The details

Roaring Brook Press has put together a wonderful picture book entitled You are a Beautiful Beginning.  Children 3-6 years old will delight in 40 pages of whimsical illustrations that fill the pages with imagination and wonder.  Author Nina Laden helps us to see the possibilities in the statements that we make.  Kelsey Garrity-Riley brings those possibilities to life with simple drawings that contain a story all their own. 

What You Get

The poetry grabbed me immediately with the It is not…. combined with this It is …….  Rhyming is in couplets making You are a beautiful beginning roll easily off the tongue.  

This book didn’t feel sappy to me even with lines like the one below.  You hear it all the time… it’s not the game win, it’s the having fun.  But the repeated it’s not … it’s the… that turns this tome into a looking for the positive and a different perspective.  Written for littles so the words are simple and just deep enough to encourage conversation. 

I absolutely adored how the book starts with a child drawing and then a story unfolds.  Even if you never read a word you would still get a story.  Friends on a journey, exploring as they go.  It’s a wonderful world they are entering. 

You’ll find simple, colourful illustrations on each page with lots of white space.  Each image has lots of detail, making for lots of possibilities in conversation.  What can you see now?  Where do you think that child is going, and what do you think they’ll be doing?   I love books with excellent illustrations as they help the child listening to be involved in the reading.

Should you Get it?

If you are looking for a poetic picture book to share with your children, You are a Beautiful Beginning, will suit your needs.  With the whimsical drawing, in earthly tones, and lots of white space, children will be introduced to looking for the positives. 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Books for Children, Elementary, Kindergarten, picturebook, Raincoast

Little Fox and the Wild Imagination

January 9, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

You know how when your child is having a bad day you just want to cheer them up?   Papa Fox has the same desire, and in Little Fox and the Wild Imagination, we see just how far a cheering up can go. 

Little fox and the wild imagination

The basics of Little Fox

Raincoast Books has sent me a fun read that extols the virtues of having an excellent imagination while showing the love of a dad for his boy. Little Fox and the Wild Imagination is a rollicking ride through after-school events between Dad and son.  40 pages of explosive action, with the wild imagination of dad and son fueling events. Roaring Brook Press sent me an Advanced Readers Copy, the released copy will be a jacketed hardcover. 

Learning more about Little Fox and the Wild Imagination

You will love the crazy imaginations of dad and son.  Jorma Taccone does an excellent job of showing the love between parent and child.  Dan Santat does an excellent job of bringing that story to life.   Just look at this illustrations!   I love the excellent use of colour and those facial expressions aren’t they just the best?

The font size is great, lending itself well to reading easily while a child in sitting with you, or for engaging a group of children. The text itself varies in size, shape, and colour depending on what’s going on. 

While this picture book is geared to 3-6 year olds, I think that children up to 8 will thoroughly enjoy the antics of Poppa and Little Fox.

I should have taken a picture of the roaring dinasaurs tumbling out of the fun, but alas I just have this precursor to the dinosaur excitement. 

Should you get it?

I love how everyday events are filled with excitement when imagination takes central stage. A walk home, a bus ride, and even bedtime.  Fun, lovable, thoroughly enjoyable.   Little Fox and the Wild Imagination is a sure fire winner.  The bond seen in families is a wonderful thing indeed. 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Children, picturebook, Raincoast

Turning the Page

December 28, 2020 By Annette1 10 Comments

Today’s challenge with the crew is Turning the page.  Oh… that can mean so many things can’t it?  When I think of turning the page it makes me think of books to read and just how much I love reading an actual physical book.  Though in the past couple of years I really discovered the joy of listening to audio books as I work.  So many more books I can read that way!  🙂 

As I consider the books I’ve read this year I thought it incumbent upon me to share with you my favourite picture books I have reviewed over this past year.  Some of them have been wonderfully good.   Let’s talk shall we?  

I’ll link to my reviews as well as give you hot links to amazon (affiliate) should you be interested in turning the pages of these books with the children in your life.

Turning the page the best picture books

Picture Books for Fun

The Keeper of wild Words: Taking a journey using words removed from the children’s dictionary. 

The Fish Who found the Sea.  Discovering how to be comfortable with where you are. 

Build Your Own History Museum.  A fun build it yourself museum book. 

Cannonball.  Oh the fun of summer fun. Just a fun read. 

Florence and her fantastic Family Tree: the challenge of creating a family tree when you have a diverse family. 

Little Red Sleigh.  Can a little sleigh achieve her dreams? 

Pirate Nell's Tale to tell

Solve a mystery and find a library. Where is our library?

A Place inside of me.  Coping with pain inside of your community. 

A tender story of foster care, from both sides.  No Matter what.

A Word For Friend.  New places can be hard, making friends even harder.

Pirate Nell’s Tale to tell.  A fun read with a pirate who likes to read!

Santa Baby: just a fun Christmas read really.  🙂 

A seek and find book, a fun read with cats and mice.  Let’s Get Sleepy. 

Tiny Bird

Picture Books for Learning

Emily Writes.  Learn about the life of Emily Dickinson as a child.

Tiny Bird. The life of a hummingbird and the big trip it takes. 

Iceland: the puffin series.   Learn about Iceland AND puffins in a series of three books.  Solidly good books.  

My Friend Earth. Helping children see the wonder of the earth and ways they can help her for Earth Day. 

no reading allowed review

Laugh and Learn Bible for Littles.  A bible story book to help your children learn the bible stories. 

Run Salmon Run: The life cycle of the salmon. 

Let’s Fly a Plane. science exploring…this time with flight!

No Reading Allowed: Having fun with letters and sounds in words. 

Roadblocks in writing can be hard.  Get past them with My Pencil and Me.

Turning the Page continues

Books I have coming down the pike that I am looking forward to reviewing.

  • From Here to There.
  • Dino Dana
  • Snow Friends
  • The Song for everyone
  • Marie’s Ocean
  • The Wanderer
  • Me and the world
  • Natalie Portman’s Fables
  • Bear meets Bear
  • You are a beautiful beginning
  • Art is life

How about you?   What books will you be turning the page on?  Any favourites to share with me?  I’d love to hear. 

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: Books for Children, Elementary, picturebook

Bigger than a Dream

December 19, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

Have you ever wondered about death?  Children ask questions about death frequently, particularly if their families have been touched by it.  Bigger than a Dream seeks to answer those questions. Affiliate links will be used in this review.

Bigger than a Dream

Bigger Than a Dream, details

Raincoast Books sent me Bigger Than a Dream to review. 

Author Jef Aerts along with Illustrator Marit Tornqvist have produced a picture book where image and story follow each other closely.  Talking about death is often very difficult for people to do, especially with children.  Mr Aerts tackles this issue with his most recent book. 

He tells the story of a young lad who misses his sister who died. And so they talk about death and what it means.

Levine Querido c/o Chronicle Books are the publishers of this 48 page picture book geared to children 4-8 years old. 

Looking Within

The font is a great size for reading easily, but sometimes that background makes the words harder to read.  This especially if you are trying to read with a group of children. 

Don’t you just love when illustrations fit well with the storyline?   When you almost know what the words will say just by seeing the images?  This is what Marit Tornqvist does with the story, bringing it so easily to life. 

Many of the illustrations are done with blues, greens and darker colours.  Colours that relate well to depth of the conversation contained within these pages.

Should you Get it?

I don’t know.  To be honest I was a bit weirded out by a little boy talking with his long-dead sister.  I know it was all kind of a dream, but it doesn’t start off that way.  It was difficult to distinguish the lines.    I expect a younger elementary student might have that same problem. 

From a homeschooling perspective, this picture book would be very helpful if exploring how death is handled in different cultures. 

Bigger than a Dream does help us see the questions that young children ask about death, and gives some potential answers.  For that I am happy. 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Books for Children, picturebook, Raincoast

Because You’re Mine

December 12, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

raincoast FTC

The love of a parent for a child is profoundly evident in Nancy Tillman’s “Because you’re mine”.   Every page extols the love of a parent for the child placed in their life.  Come, let me tell you all about it. 🙂 

Because you're mine

The Basics of Because You’re Mine

A picture book published by Feiwel and Friends (which is a division of Macmillan Children’s publishing group).   32 pages written for children 4-8 years old.  Nancy Tillman is both author and illustrator fitting words to images as she celebrates the bond between parent and child.  I received an ARC copy, it ships as a hardcover.   This review is done on behalf of Raincoast Books. 

The Beauty Contained Within

Ms. Tillman’s goal as an author is to help parents express what they feel for their children.   She does so through word and illustration.   Most of the illustrations contain some type of wildlife in them, those that don’t host a landscape theme. 

The font is very simple text font, black on white, a nice size to read with a child sitting next to you, or with practice with a group of children    The words are lyrical and flow, for the most part, easily from the lips.  When I read it out loud I only stumbled three times, with practice that wouldn’t happen at all. 

Most of the pages follow a similar style.  Dark font on a white background with an illustration on the page next.   Occasional pages were full colour with text. 

Should You Get it?

Honestly, I have mixed emotions about this storybook.   I love the sentiment behind it, of a parent expressing their love for their child.  THIS I love.  It a wonderful thing.

I am somewhat more hesitant about the repeated “because you are mine” refrain.  The thing is… I’m not sure why. 

Since for children to know they are loved irregardless of what they do or where they go.. it’s priceless to know that depth of love.  It’s much like the love God holds for us.  

As I think about it, I think it’s the possessiveness implied.  Like the child is a possession more than a dearly loved child. Yet the love continually expressed belies that.  This book can be read with either viewpoint I suppose, and maybe still show that great sentiment… the coveted love of a parent for their child.  

I further love that the children depicted are of all different ages.  Doesn’t state if children are fostered, adopted, or naturally born to the parent.  Just the ever-abounding love of a parent for their child. It would be so easy to use Because You’re Mine for any child in your care. 

 

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Books for Children, Elementary, picturebook, Raincoast

Little Red Sleigh

November 25, 2020 By Annette1 2 Comments

Can a little red sleigh attain her dreams?  This is an adorable book that will make you smile at the end, and hopefully have a child say “Again, read it again!”.   Friendship, dreams, and help along the way, Little Red Sleigh a delightful holiday tale.  I am so happy to tell you all about it!

Little Red Sleigh

The Details of Little Red Sleigh

Together with Sourcebooks, Erin Guendelsberger has produced a lovely, sweet book filled with the holiday spirit.  Little Red Sleigh is wonderfully illustrated by Elizaveta Tretyakova.  This is a very sweet book which I adored.  A young sled with big dreams who went out after them, not letting naysayers stop her.  I loved watching the grit she showed.  

Amazon links will be used in this review.   I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Little Red Sleigh for Raincoast Books.

Little Red Sleigh, cover information

Believe in the magic of Christmas with this heartwarming Christmas picture book about the little red sleigh that could, perfect for fans of The Polar Express!

The Little Red Sleigh has one big dream-to one day become Santa’s big red sleigh! But all her life, she’s been told she’s too small, she’s too young, she can’t fly, and she certainly can’t meet Santa. Well, this Christmas, with the help of some friends, she’s determined to do the impossible.

Artist Elizaveta Tretyakova

Tretyakova has done a tremendous job of illustrating this heart-warming story.  You’ll see brilliant red, bright snow, dark trains, and a lovely yellow truck.  Seeing the fierceness of a winter storm and rejoicing in the fun of children playing. 

Don’t you love the brightness of the colours?  

The story moves along well, not only through text, but also through the well-done images.  Her story simply flows through image and text from one page to the next.  Well-written with great characters.

I found the text a bit small for reading with a group of children (unless you prep well ahead of time).  The words flow easily as you read, whether aloud or silently. It would be so much fun to read this with a child in your lap.

The story lends itself well to reading comprehension questions.  What do you think might happen next?  What did Little Red Sleigh see on her journey?  Did black train tell her anything important?  Did yellow truck tell her to give up?  I love books that help me to ask good questions of children. 

This particular book I received a ARC copy of, it will come as a hardcover and is geared to children 4-8 years of age.   Erin Guendelsberger engages her readers well throughout the story. 

Should you Get it?

Little Red Sleigh is an adorable book.  You and your children will love the determination of this young sleigh.  She knows what she wants and won’t let anyone tell her no… including the weather!  You’ll have to read through to see if she meets her goal, or if it changes along the way. I would love to tell you, but I don’t do spoilers, you’ll want to sit back and just enjoy this heart-warming story.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Elementary, holidays, Kindergarten, picturebook, Raincoast

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