*Picture book/Story book for kindergartners to third graders, contemporary fantasy *Young girl as main character *Rating: Magical Mea is a very cute story with a powerful message. When you have a gift, you need to use it for good! As a parent, the only part of this book that had some concern for me (although [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders *Young puffin as the main character *Rating: This is a cute, fun picture book that many children will relate to because they (and us too!) have all had that little brother and sister or friend or cousin, etc that copies them! Short, short summary: Little Puffin is tired [...]

*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers to second graders *A “big, scary monster” as the main character *Rating: Big Scary Monster is a cute picture book that you can use with children to talk about a lot of different themes/lessons. See below! Short, short summary: Big scary monster lives on top of a mountain and loves [...]

*Picture book, contemporary, for preschoolers through second graders *Young girl as main character *Rating: I loved this book, Someday by Eileen Spinelli. It’s clever and cute and full of imagination. Illustrations by Rosie Winstead are also super cute, as you can tell by the cover! Short, short summary: The pages in this picture book alternate [...]

*Concept book on counting and the beach/ocean life *Little boy as the main character *Rating: 1, 2, 3, By the Sea (Kane Miller books) is a cute picture book with a lot going on–there’s counting, there’s the ocean/beach habitat, and there’s a rhyme/text pattern too. This will be a favorite with children AND parents/teachers. Cute [...]

*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers through second graders *Young fairy girl as the main character *Rating: Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy is a cute book with REALLY cute illustrations. I think I might like the illustrations better than the story, but my daughter (2) loves both. It does have a good message about working together for [...]

*Humorous picture book for preschool to 2nd grade *Little boy as the main character *Rating: Sophie’s Fish is everything a picture book should be. It’s kid-centered and focuses on their imagination and comprehension of problems. It also has a great twist at the end! I love this book and would recommend it to anyone. Short, [...]

Roses are Red, Your Feet Really Stink is one of my favorite Valentine books–especially when I was teaching. I read it to my class every year! Diana deGroat illustrated and wrote the book–such a talent. Here’s a summary of the story: “When Gilbert writes two not-so-nice valentines to his classmates, his prank quickly turns into [...]

Hippo and Gorilla are two loveable characters, (remember The Odd Couple?) who face problems children will be all too familiar with–things like crashing model airplanes (Airplanes), eating too many donuts (Donuts), and a rainy day birthday (Bathroom Beach) . Illustrator and author Bryan Langdo has created cute, humorous picture books for children. But what makes [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders *Young boy as main character *Rating: Thanksgiving at Grandma’s is a cute story set on Thanksgiving about family, food, and fun! It’s a great introduction to the holiday, filled with lessons for children, but they won’t realize it . Michael F. Marino’s illustrations are perfect for the story. [...]