Flowers don’t worry about how the’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful. ~Jim Carrey Let me start by saying how much I love flowers. I love flowers, like, really love them. Sometimes pretty flowers can bring me to tears. No joke. And I believe … Continue reading A Packet of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson – Illustrated by Bethanne Andersen
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble reads like the kind of story one would tell aloud before bedtime or on a long drive in the car. The story is sweet, silly and a little absurd. But, like the kind of story you would tell on a car ride, it almost seems as if the story would … Continue reading Sylvester and the Magic Pebble – William Steig
The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster is a legend of the rise of the great mysterious sea creature of Scotland. It also ties in the all too familiar experience of being forced to eat your oatmeal. Flaherty does a beautiful job of keeping the writing of the story concise, simple, and to the point. … Continue reading The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster – A Tale of Picky Eating – By A.W. Flaherty, Ill. by Scott Magoon
Growing up in Oregon, Summertime always brought a rich bounty of fruits and vegetables. My mom and I would travel out to u-pick fields of blueberries and blackberries. We’d pick till our hands were purple. Then we’d take the berries home to make jam, cobblers, and freeze up the rest for winter. Nothing says summertime … Continue reading Blueberries For Sal – Robert McCloskey
What an endearing book this is. The words and images capture the magic of going somewhere for the first time. The words are busy with emotion and snappy movement but seem to flow, moving hurriedly along, much like the attention span of a little one. The story and illustrations really play off each other … Continue reading The Summer Noisy Book – By Margaret Wise Brown – Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
I absolutely loved this book and for so many reasons. ‘The Story of May’ by Mordicai Gerstein is a very imaginative story about a girl who seeks out to find her father, (who happens to be the month of December). Along the way a legend is told about the months of the year, the weather … Continue reading The Story of May – by Mordicai Gerstein
Written and illustrated by Henry Cole 32 pages, published by Greenwillow Books ‘Jack’s Garden’ is a book that builds on each page much like, ‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’. The story is simple, it’s the progression of a garden that Jack has planted. The pictures are thick with composition and rich with … Continue reading Book Review – Jack’s Garden
Written and Illustrated by Elisha Cooper Published by Orchard Books – 2006 Okay, I just have to say, I love Elisha Cooper’s books. When I first saw Farm, I read it over and over. I feel like a kid when I look at his illustrations, my curiosity and imagination take off and I easily get … Continue reading Book Review – Beach
Written and illustrated by Paul Galdone Clarion Books 1985 – 40 pages I was drawn to this book because of the rich hues and heavy line drawing. When I finished the book, I thought, what a crappy story! Seriously! But the illustrations are interesting. They are composed with loose, line drawings that fill the pages with people, … Continue reading Book Review – Rumpelstiltskin
written by Carol Nevius Illustrated by Bill Thomson Published by Marshall Cavendish This is a great book for young boys with the innate affinity for trucks and machines. The story is simple with just a couple text lines per spread. The illustrations are highly detailed in a pixar-like realism. The scenes are shot from dramatic … Continue reading Book Review – Building with Dad
Kendra Lindell - Raising Twins on Five Acres in Wine Country 