Illustrated by Ashley Belote 4 stars Another adorable story featuring Victoria Franken, her dog Igor, and her best slime friend Goop. It’s Valentine’s Day and Victoria realizes she has a lot of friends but Goop only has her. She does what she does best, experiments(!), to make a new friend for Goop. A great book…
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Illustrated by Jensine Eckwall 5 stars Lyrical, magical, and a powerful homage to sisterhood. A captivating read inspired by Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Goblin Market”. Rather than adapting or retelling Rossetti’s lengthy original, VanSickle’s version introduces a new set of sisters, Millie and Mina, and a fantastical market filled with tempting treats, eerie songs, and enticing…
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Illustrated by Minnie Phan 5 stars A remarkable story of bravery, hope, and working toward a better future. Set during the 2020 California wildfires, the story follows Simone as she and her mother evacuate. Though Simone is scared, her mother helps calm her by recounting her own evacuation during a flood in Viet Nam. Using…
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Illustrated by Sarah Rebar 3 stars Waffles and Mochi don’t see why wasting water is such a big deal so Steve the Mop assigns them to learn everything they can about water. With the help of Magicart, they learn about the important roles water plays in cooking, cleaning, drinking, and gardening. Adorable illustrations. A nice…
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Illustrated by Lena Podesta 4 stars Join the loveable worry monster as he works through his worries about the upcoming class field trip. With the help of his teacher, the worry monster learns seven Mindful Monster Moves. These include simple strategies such as stretching, taking deep breaths, and focusing on your senses. A cute story…
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3 stars A cute comic-style picture book about a unicorn that longs to be a special agent. The artwork was really cute. I loved the color palette. The story itself was fine. Unicorn is a real jerk for most of the book, but kind of learns a lesson at the end. There is some nice…
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5 stars An utterly stunning story of art, beauty, and permanence. The narrator is not happy about facing the cold weather, uncomfortable winter clothes, crowds, and an unfamiliar setting to attend the winter festival. She doesn’t see the point of making ice sculptures that are just going to melt. To make matters worse, on her…
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Illustrated by Bob Ostrom 4 stars Join Ms. Frizzle’s class as they try to uncover what happened to Keesha’s prized cucumber over vacation. To go on a big adventure, the class will have to get small and come face-to-face with the Mike Robe Gang. An engaging way to learn about microbes and the effects they…
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Illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro 4 stars A humorous picture book that explores the unique names we give certain dishes. Magaly loves her abuela’s cooking, but when she learns they’ll be eatin ropa vieja for dinner, she starts hiding her “old clothes” so they don’t end up in the pot. Delightful humor. Bright, warm illustrations….
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Illustrated by Jialei Sun 3 stars A fun exploration of pickles and poetry. Dive in to the world of pickled foods from pickled cucumbers and kimchi to chowchow and piccalilli. Follow along in this rhyming journey as four families prepare to host a pickle party, showcasing their favorite pickled foods and coming up with fun…
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