*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, funny, contemporary for preschoolers through second graders *Two dogs as main characters *Rating: I liked this book, but I thought the author/illustrator could have done even more with the ending or the costume. I hear it’s a sequel, and that the first one is actually better and the reason why this one is [...]

*Picture book, preschoolers through first graders *Young girls as main characters *Rating: Here’s what I said on Goodreads: “I like this book. I think the message is important. I picked it up because my two-year-old is in love with the Disney princesses, and her favorite color she informed me is pink. So, the only complaint [...]

**Humorous picture book about homophones for preschoolers through third graders (although adults will learn something here!) **Dear deer and Aunt Ant as main characters **Rating: I think a book like this is the type of material we should use to teach children, teenagers, and adults the English conventions. Gene Barretta’s book is funny and meaningful [...]

*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 [...]

* Concept book (ABCs) for preschoolers through first graders *Peas as the main characters *Rating: LMNO Peas is a cute book, going through the ABCs with the peas doing different jobs is clever. Some of the jobs were a little strange, and I wanted more of a play on the LMNO Peas idea, but my [...]

*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. [...]

Happy New Year! Here’s a winner in my book: *Picture book, contemporary, for preschoolers through 2nd graders *Little girl and BIG dinosaur as main characters *Rating: As I said on Pinterest and Goodreads, this is a book that takes everything parents are saying and says it (MIND YOUR MANNERS!) in a non-threatening and engaging way. [...]