Kids Book Reviews ~ Library Haul #5
#1. Space Song Rocket Ride by Sunny Scribens
Sung to the tune of the “Green grass grew all around” children’s song, this is a cute, educational ditty about the solar system. Since Sophia has been really interested in the idea of space, stars, and the moon, this was really fun. The fact that we got to sing it was a huge bonus as well. Sophia loves songs lately.
We really liked it–4 out of 5 stars.
#2. The Princess and the Peas by Caryl Hart
This twist on the traditional princess and the pea takes the tale and turns it towards the pickier eaters. Now, I wouldn’t say Sophia is a picky eater exactly–she likes most foods, she just has very strict opinions about WHEN exactly she eats. Lily-Rose May on the other hand does NOT like peas. She won’t try them, no matter what her daddy does to make them more palatable. The only possibility that leaves, of course, is that Lily Rose May is a princess, because princesses cannot stand peas. So, she goes off to the palace to live with the king and queen and never eat peas again. Palace life isn’t quite all it’s cracked up to be, and by the end of the first day, she decides she does, in fact like peas, and she wants to go home and eat them with her daddy. All in all, this was pretty cute. It rhymed (which I liked) and it had princesses (which Sophia liked), plus (bonus points) how much fun is it to say Lily-Rose May?!
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars
#3. Are You A Cow? By Sandra Boynton
Sandra Boynton is one of my favorite authors of children’s board books. All of her books are rhyming and hilarious, but short enough to keep the very youngest of babies entertained. This one went through a bunch of animals and the sounds they make, while asking if you are a cow/frog/horse/etc. My kids at least, love animal sounds. Plus, this is a board book. It gets big Mommy-points for that.
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars
#4. The Night Pirates by Peter Harris
This was definitely the most unique out of the haul this week. It’s very lyrical and imaginative, even though it doesn’t always rhyme. One night, a ship full of sneaky little girl pirates come sneaking along and take a brave little man named Tom away for an adventure. They go out, sailing up and down the high seas, find the gold coins, and spirit him away back home, but they don’t quite leave everything the way they found it.
We loved it: 5 out of 5 stars
#5. Frozen Sing-Along Storybook by Disney
Okay, so we all know about Frozen by now. Sophia saw this book on the display in the library and squealed, so we brought it home. Now, I ask you–when you see “sing-along story book” what do you think of? A story with all the songs from the movie, right? Oh no. This book doesn’t even have the lyrics in it. It IS however, a word-for-word adaptation of the movie, guaranteed to take about as long to read as it would take to watch the movie. I almost fainted when we started reading it. It comes with a CD that has three of the most popular songs from the movie. It was exceedingly disappointing.
We (mostly me, because Sophia still ogled all the pictures and sang ‘Let it Go’ endlessly) hated it: 1 out of 5 stars
#6. Sing to Your Baby by Cathy Fink
Our library is promoting March as Sing To Your Baby month, so we picked this up from the display there. This book is a collection of cute little songs to sing with your kids. Some are action songs that you can really get the kids involved in and wiggling around to. Others are sweet little lullabye types. I hadn’t heard any of them before, but I thought they were really pretty. The book comes with a CD too, so you can hear the melody while you learn the song. It was adorable and Sophia loved it. Have I mentioned that she is really loving songs lately? Especially any sort of song that you can put actions into.
We loved it: 5 out of 5 stars