Kids Book Reviews ~ Library Haul #15
Hi everybody! Welcome to our Kids Book Review Library Haul post! This is where I give you quick and snappy reviews of our favorites from our weekly library haul. We read a LOT of children’s books from the library, so I don’t bother reviewing all the ones that were just mediocre. I like to keep things positive too, so books that I thought were terrible don’t usually make it into the list either… unless I just really want to rant about it for a while. Let us know in the comments which books were winners in YOUR library haul!
#1. Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
This was hands down Sophia’s favorite book this week. We just HAD to read it every day. In this story, none of the princesses wear pink. Some wear soccer cleats, or baggy shirts to garden in… and a sparkly crown. They don’t just dance the day away either–they plant gardens, use power tools, and wrestle in the mud with their pets… and a sparkly crown. Always the sparkly crown. I’m fairly certain the sparkly crowns were actually Sophia’s favorite part of the book. Yes, I see the irony of that 😛
We loved it: 5 out of 5 stars
#2. Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
What happens when you plant a kiss? Well, it grows into a beautiful golden flower tree. And what happens when you give all those flowers away? More grow!
This book doesn’t have a lot to it, but the substance of the plot is easily grasped by the younger set and the illustrations are beautiful. This is a great book for early readers. There aren’t too many words, but those that are there tend to share common phonics tendencies. “Ou” makes the “Ow” sound in “doubt, pout, about” etc.
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars
#3. The Magic Nesting Dolly by Jacqueline K. Ogburn
This was one of our first attempts at reading a longer, more traditional fairy-tale–you know, beyond the disney Rapunzel books. It went really well. When Katya’s Grandmother dies, she leaves Katya a special magic nesting doll, with the message that when all hope is lost and she can’t see any escape, she only has to open the magic doll and help will come, but it will only work three times. When a mysterious freeze settles over the kingdom, and the prince is lost in a deep, frozen sleep, Katya sets out to save the prince and the land. Along the way she encounters an evil viscount and lots of danger, but her grandmother was right. The nesting doll has enough magic to save Katya three times, and it rids the land of the frozen magic, but Katya must save the prince on her own.
Besides the fact that this story is at least passingly reminiscent of the movie Frozen, (or maybe it’s the other way around–Pretty sure this book came before Frozen.) this is a pretty great fairytale for kids. It’s very traditional in style, and not too Disney-style ‘Happily Ever After’ in the ending, but it isn’t quite as dark as some of the original Grimms either. I consider it a good introduction for the younger set to more traditional fairy tales.
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars
#4. CockaDoodle Dance by Christine Tricarico
What happens when the barnyard animals get into the doldrums from working all the time? They get themselves out of their funk by dancing. They dance all day long, and all night long, until they’ve not only danced their blues away, but all of their energy as well. The hens can’t lay eggs, the cows can’t make milk, and the rooster sleeps so long that he forgets to wake everybody up. It takes a while, but they learn that even though working all the time isn’t fun, dancing all the time doesn’t solve any problems either. No sooner have they learned how to balance their work and their dance, when the farmer and his wife take off, dancing all the time.
This is pretty humorous, and teaches a valuable lesson at the same time. It’s particularly funny how after the animals finally get their act together and figure out the balancing act, the farmer and his wife just go off on the same thing–basically proving the point that all of humanity is destined to have to try to figure out this balancing act over and over again on an individual level.
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars.
#5. Baby Love by Angela DiTerlizzi
This fast little rhyming book is perfect for bridging the gap between board book babies/toddlers, and picture book preschoolers. Rosy cheeks, chunky thighs, warm kisses, snuggly teddy’s–all mean it must be Baby Love. It doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of words for a younger child, and preschoolers–mine at least–love the gentle cadence of the words, and of course, talking about the pictures. I feel like at this stage, we read the book and then Sophia wants to talk about the pictures for at LEAST as long as it took to read the book. It’s crazy, y’all. And also pretty normal.
We really liked this book: 4 out of 5 stars.
So there you have it. The 5 best books out of our library haul this week. What were your library favorites this week? Let us know in the comments!