Sometimes it takes me years to read certain books. Oftentimes, fear is involved. Sometimes when I like a book so very much, I'm afraid the next book by that author just might disappoint. So I do the denial thing and move said title deeper down...
Happy Cinco de Mayo from Perico and his human family! While everyone busily prepares for the big picnic and festivities on the rented barge that will float down the San Antonio River, Perico the parrot looks for ways he can help, too. But Grandmother and Aunt...
It's no wonder that this kiddie classic by longtime DC-area local Audrey Penn has sold some 4.5 million copies! I can proudly say I've added more than a few copies to that total, as it's one of those incredibly appropriate stories for an experience that every...
The latest in what has become practically a franchise – Audrey Penn's Kissing Hand series – deals with an extremely difficult subject ...
Here's a whimsical counting book that celebrates "[o]ne magical, moonlit night in the zoo ...
When her parents take their annual summer trip to India, 11-year-old Poppy decides it's the perfect chance to spend a month with her veterinarian Uncle Sanjay who runs an animal clinic on Nisqually Island off Washington’s coast. How else can she learn to be a...
You know how sometimes when you're not quite asleep, you think you're maybe dreaming, but then you're convinced you're really awake even when you're not? You know ...
Cynthia Kadohata – who won the top American children's book honor, the Newbery Medal, in 2005 for her debut middle-grade title, Kira-Kira –returns with a heartbreaking story about a young Vietnamese boy and his special relationship with the elephant in his charge. High in the central highlands of war-torn...
From Kazu Kibuishi, the creator of our son's favorite Amuletseries [Amulet 3 is apparently in the final stretch of production, whoo hooo!], comes the "definitive collection" of his webcomic about a boy named Copper and his droll best friend, an adorably spotty dog named Fred. "The...
Confession: This is not my favorite Malcolm Gladwell title. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy parts of it more than probably 75% of the titles collected in this whole blog. Really. Gladwell is one phenomenal, erudite entertainer ...
A Quartet of Unsalable Gems: Madras Press Debuts Series One A modern eco-fable about an almost-royal swan and just-a-common-bluebird couple whose lives intersect with a miner and a logger who turn away from their destructive careers… a contemporary fairy tale about a witch with one heck...
Is is already time to start thinking about the new year? Come 2010, we'll all be celebrating the year of my son ...
First a little note about the creators: Meomi is a dynamic design duo made up of Vicki Wong, based in Vancouver, and Michael Murphy, who calls Los Angeles home. Together, they also happen to write adorable, colorful kiddie books ...
Two young mice, out "on a cold, lonely night," meet a mysterious older mouse who leads them to a magical place where "departed loves ones" appear to remind the two adventurers that they will never be alone. "They're not truly gone, but watch over you...
Out on the Kenyan grasslands, millions of animals will take turns grazing on the lush greenery after the rainy season during their great migration from neighboring Tanzania. First the zebra will eat only the very top of the grass, followed by the wildebeest who will...
Husband-and-wife author/illustrators, Ted Lewin and Betsy Lewin, who also happen to both be individual Caldecott Honor winners, travel the world in search of adventure. Their latest book together combines the experiences of two trips to Mysore, India in 1997 and 1998 during which they came up close...
Spunky and independent Minli can't bear to see her parents leading such harsh lives, especially her mother who is so discontented with the family's poverty that she can't even enjoy the glorious stories Minli's father regularly tells her. Minli is determined to change her family's...
Told with evocative, gentle pictures, The Snow Day opens with a young bunny who wakes up to a snow day – which means no kindergarten! Afraid that her little one might catch cold, the Mommy bunny asks him to wait until the snow stops. But...
Little Wabi Sabi, a lovely kitty living in Kyoto, Japan, has a very special name ...
Based on the real-life experiences of author Guo, this beautifully illustrated thin volume captures the seven-year-old life of Little Leap Forward in 1966 Beijing. Playing by the riverbank one day, Little Leap Forward's best friend Little...
