Personal rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4 stars A heartfelt tale of friendship, community, and a bit of wonder. Red the wishtree has a lot to offer: shade, homes for animals, and a place for wishes. But perhaps their most important contribution is one not directly evident. Through their story, they promote acceptance, understanding, and sympathy. A sweet tale about different…
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4 stars This book is absolutely hilarious. A perfect in-between read to My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish and The Last Kids on Earth. Fantastic humor, quick pace, engaging story that’s easy to dive into. Set in a fairy-tale world and featuring a cast of magical creatures, the story has plenty of action and humor, with some nice morals…
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4 stars A gorgeous book to immerse yourself in. Beautiful artwork, a captivating story, and wonderful lessons and messages. Reminiscent of Kay O’Neill‘s The Tea Dragon Society. Gentle fantasy with fantastic artwork. This book is so much more than pretty pictures and Xu accomplishes a lot with a relatively simple story. Sophie’s insecurity is easy to relate…
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3 stars Overall, a good collection of short poetry. Various topics are covered and themes quickly emerge including recognizing one’s worth and letting go of what hurts you. One issue I generally have with poetry of this nature is that the short format often fizzles out. Too often short poetry feels like the beginning of…
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4 stars A fascinating non-fiction picture book about the life and work of Margaret Lowman, aka “Canopy Meg”. The book gives an overview of her childhood, education, scientific discoveries, and conservation work all while providing interesting facts about the rainforest and animals/plants that live there and quotes from Canopy Meg herself. The illustrations are beautiful,…
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4 stars An allegorical tale of Greta Thunberg’s activism and how she’s inspired others to stand up to demand change. The use of talking animals and literal giants helps make this engaging for young children while sticking to its message of environmentalism. Though the characters are small compared to the giants, when they come together…
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4 stars An adorably sweet, heartwarming book based on a true story. Told from Peter Mercurio’s point of view talking directly to Kevin, the book tells the story of how Kevin became Peter and Danny’s son. The book focuses on the positive aspects of finding and creating family, including the support system of those around…
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4 stars A fantastic introduction to some of the basics of Indigenous history in America. Told in a creative format, Sorell uses the frame story of students putting together presentations for Indigenous Peoples’ Day Projects in order to touch on Native peoples’ encounters with the US government and white/European culture. Each topic is given a…
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4 stars A heartwarming and magical tale that explores family structures, fantasy versus reality, and self-discovery. Mystery, secrets, and magic combine to explore some of the complexities of growing up and coming into one’s self. The majority of the book is in black and white, which makes the full-color fantasy scenes even more magical. The…
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4 stars A lovely picture book packed with historical trailblazers that changed the world. I love how this book reclaimed the phrase, “like a girl”, and gave it a positive spin. It does an excellent job of showing some of the women who have made their mark on history as well as inspiring a new…
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