Genre: Picture Book

Cybils Poetry Finalists! And Bite-Sized Reviews of Everywhere Blue, Snow Birds, You Don’t Have to Be Everything, and Call Me Athena

As my regular readers know, I was a round-one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Poetry category. Well, the finalists have been announced, so I thought I’d share them! You can check out the lists of finalists for the other categories on the Cybils website. Since I hadn’t yet reviewed four of the finalists on the blog, I thought I’d feature those reviews for you now. (I’ve already posted reviews of Me(Moth), Starfish, and […]

Posted January 7, 2022 in Cybils, Reviews / 8 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: I Wish I Had a Wookie; Reckless, Glorious, Girl; My Thoughts Are Clouds; and For Every Little Thing

As my regular readers know, I’m a round-one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Poetry category. Because of that, I’ve been reading tons of verse lately! I’m not allowed to share any details about our process for choosing the finalists, but I am allowed (and encouraged) to review the books as I read, so I figured I’d share four of them with you today. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed […]

Posted December 13, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 11 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: When We Make It, The One Thing You’d Save, Starfish, and The Dirt Book

Posted December 9, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 12 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: Unsettled, Amber & Clay, Legacy, and Hello, Earth!

Posted November 17, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 10 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: The Seventh Raven, Chlorine Sky, Me (Moth), and Ice! Poems About Polar Life

Posted November 11, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 13 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch; Four Days of You and Me; Maya and the Rising Dark; and Hello, Arnie!: An Arnie the Doughnut Story

I’ve got four reviews for you today: two MG fantasies, a YA contemporary, and a picture book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! An utterly adorable fantasy adventure about finding and playing to your strengths. This reminded me a lot of The Worst Witch (a series that my daughter really enjoys) because Eva’s magic often goes a bit awry. Except this book is set in a fantasy world […]

Posted October 8, 2020 in Reviews / 8 Comments

Multicultural Children’s Book Day! The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! by Sharon Chappell

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 is tomorrow (1/31/2020) and it’s in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of […]

Posted January 30, 2020 in Picture Books, Reviews / 14 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Sick Kids in Love, Slay, Look Both Ways, Parker Looks Up, & Missions to Mars

I’ve got five reviews for you today: two YA contemporaries, a MG book of contemporary short stories, a picture book and a non-fiction kids’ book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book shines a (glaring) spotlight on ableism. The main characters, Isabel and Sasha both have chronic illnesses that aren’t life-threatening (at least not directly) but are serious. Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis and lives in near-constant […]

Posted November 29, 2019 in Reviews / 12 Comments

Grace Goes to Washington: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD This book provides a fun way for kids to learn about the three branches of government. Woodrow Wilson Elementary’s student council has to decide how to use the money from a bake sale, but they can’t seem to agree. Grace realized that the way the student council works is sort of like the three branches of government (with the student council itself like Congress). Grace doubts that the student council […]

Posted October 8, 2019 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 12 Comments

Picture Book Spotlight: Sulwe and Smarter Than a Monster

Today I’ve got two soon-to-be-released picture books under the spotlight. Check out these two adorable reads! This book is stunning in just about every way imaginable. The story follows little Sulwe, who struggles to see her own beauty because of the darkness of her skin. Sulwe wishes she could look more like her parents, more like her sister, more like the other boys and girls at her school. Like most children, she doesn’t want to feel […]

Posted September 20, 2019 in Reviews / 14 Comments