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 [...]

*Picture book, fantasy, preschool to third graders *Young boy as main character *Rating: Magical Matthew is a sweet story for children about magic and friendship. Kevin Collier’s illustrations make this book fun for children to read on their own or for their parents/teachers to read to them, too. My two-year-old loves flipping through it. Short, [...]

Debbie Fox wrote the most amazing e-mail and sent me a link to a review copy of her new book, Quiet Kid. Debbie is extremely talented. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and the theme of this book is so important. Quiet kids are NORMAL–and it is hard to be a quiet kid in a world [...]

I Want Your Moo: A Story for Children About Self-Esteem By Marcella Bakur Weiner and Jill Neimark Illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi Magination Press, 2010 I Want Your Moo is a great book about a very important, and sometimes difficult, topic for kids. It talks about the importance of developing self-esteem from a very early age [...]

For today’s Monday post, where I like to highlight a book or organization that is spotlighting or helping girls and women around the world, I have chosen Extraordinary Girls (Charlesbridge Publishing). The photos alone are fantastic, showing girls of different ages and races, smiling and doing amazing things. It targets girls in the upper elementary/lower [...]

photo by foxypar4 www.flickr.com *Picture book for preschoolers through second graders *Bea the sheep as the main character *Rating: Be unique is the message in Bea Rocks the Flock, and this book’s illustration and cute sheep make it unique, too. Short, short summary: Bea is having a hard time in the flock. She just doesn’t [...]

photo by Vadim Lavrusik www.flickr.com *Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, contemporary *Young boy as main character *Rating: Looking Like Me is a rhythmic self-esteem-builder journey for young children by father/son duo Walter Dean and Christopher Myers. Short, short summary: Looking Like Me is basically a list of all the things that a boy/girl [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, contemporary fiction *Elementary-school-aged boy as main character *You will want to be-bop with Doo-Wop Pop over and over again! Short, short summary: Doo-Wop Pop by Roni Schotter tells the story of Elijah Earl, who is a shy kid who keeps to himself. He knows there are a few [...]