Get ready for quite the imaginative, clever twist on this predictable genre: even the youngest readers know what comes after A-B-C ...
Summer is finally, suddenly almost here (we had snow just two weeks ago where I happen to be stuck). With that steady warmth comes the sort of utter enchantment found between the pages of Suzy Lee's wordless Wave-y wonder. Really, who needs text when you have such whimsical, beckoning expanses? Arriving...
Absolutely no doubt that you could read either of these titles separately and find two engaging standalone stories. But read them together and you're guaranteed a much more satisfying experience that reveals Kathie's love of frogs, the significance of "[only] me in grade three" meeting someone...
Here's your oxymoron for the day: wordless books that convey so much. French illustrator/author Gaëtan Dorémus pays a kid-friendly homage to the American western ...
Alphabet and counting books are understandably so predictable as to often be interchangeable in their sameness. ABCs and 123s are really immutable ...
What is it about panda bears that makes them soooo utterly irresistible? Click here to see if you could possibly be immune to those "chubbly-wubbly." Curmudgeon that I usually am, even I succumbed to "beary love." Jon Muth personally knows their inevitably undeniable appeal: his giant panda, Stillwater,...
Who doesn't love the unlimited possibility of socks? Polka dotted, striped, green, yellow, even holey socks add just the right flash of whimsy to perfect any outfit. If you're thinking of changing your look, choose either baby socks and daddy socks. Add holiday cheer to your...
Get ready to ring in the new year ...
As gorgeous as the large snowflakes are where I am, just to be contrary, I'm wishing for sun and surf! I can't remember the last time I went splish-splashing, so clearly I'm overdue! For now, I'll just have to join Anna Hibiscus on her beckoning...
Since I temporarily seem to find myself in Utah – although I admit it's not quite as frightening here as I thought it might be, ahem! – I figured this spookfest would not be complete without a Utahn Halloween manga, right? Jess Smart Smiley, who "lives in the bewitching mountains of Utah,"...
The inimitable Grace Lin is at it again ...
Clearly, my kiddies grew up too quickly. Wasn't it just yesterday when I would hear their plaintive "Waaaaaiiiittttt!" on our regular hikes in random places all over the world? One of us old folks would answer with "ketchup," matched with an indignant "mustard" or – even...
Counting books seem to be a dime a dozen, and some you wouldn't even pay that much for! How satisfying, then, to discover this priceless One Gorilla. The concept is simple – it's a counting book, after all: each bold, sensational double-page spread features a numeral and...
Ready for some literal fun? This book is so ingenious, I can hardly stand it! Talk about different ways of seeing ...
The morning began with an early birthday in our house before going off to another swim meet. Always the swim meet! Egads, the time passes so quickly, I can't keep up. That the kids are getting older only means I'm getting more ancient. Someone, please...
Sleeping Sloth is jolted awake by a ringing phone he can't pick up in time. Thank goodness for answering machines (methinks parents might need to explain that anachronistic precursor to voice mail) because the lucky message announces Sloth has won a prize! But oh, no!...
DC-area local Chiêu Anh Urban's second chunky children's book is perhaps even more clever than her first. While Raindrops: A Shower of Colors offered a thoroughly kiddie-friendly lesson in color-making, Away We Go! is an entertaining game in learning shapes. Invitingly packaged in vivid hues,...
As part of appreciating the versatile art of LeUyen Pham – who with her hubby Alex Puvilland imbued Friday's post, Templar, with such swashbuckling energy – I thought I should keep a good thing going by adding a few more Pham-tabulously illustrated titles this bright new Monday. [Truth be told, I...
This week has been especially stormy and wet, so I thought I needed to throw in a rainbow in the midst of bursting clouds. The waking glee of three young children staying with their grandfather quickly turns to "[w]himper, sigh, cloudy sky," when their plans for...
Meet irresistible, rambunctious, adorable Bella ...
