Kids Book Reviews ~ Library Haul #21
Hi everybody! We’re officially moved from Washington to Kentucky (!!!), have a house, AND found the library, which means, of course, the return of our Kids Books Library Haul! So welcome to our Kids Book Review Library Haul post! This is my mostly-weekly series 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 and I like to keep things positive too, so books that I thought were terrible don’t usually make it into the list… unless I just really want to rant about it for a while. That has happened too! Let us know in the comments which books were winners in YOUR library haul!
#1. Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Words: From Accessories to Zany by Jane O’Connor
Ah yes, the return of library day, which practically means the return of Fancy Nancy. Sophia loves these books. This one was a bit of a twist on an alphabet book. Each word began with a different letter of the alphabet, and there were definitely some fancier words in there, plus easy-to-understand definitions. It was not my favorite to read aloud. In fact, it was a little bit annoying to read aloud since it was basically a vocabulary drill, but there were definitely some great educational benefits there and Sophia did love it so…
We liked it: 3 out of 5 stars
#2. Let’s Sing A Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas
This fun little rhyming bedtime caper tells the story of a cowboy who is trying to sing his cows to sleep, but keeps getting distracted by big scary shapes in the night.
I personally loved this book–partly because it was entertaining with it’s cute little bedtime song and shadowy interruptions, but mostly because this is the first book Klaus has loved. He’s 18 months old, and thus far in his life, he has had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards reading. He’ll sit with me on the couch for about 2 minutes when we’re reading, and then he’s done and ready to move on. You guys, he brought this book to ME! He fished it out of the library bag, trotted over to my lap, and actually sat there for the entire.book. Yes. I was amazed too. And then he did it again a couple hours later. It made my day.
We loved it: 5 out of 5 stars
Too Purpley is all about one girl’s struggle to find the right outfit. Nothing is just right. Things are too purpley, too taggy, too stripey, and too polkadotty. Naturally, she has to try on a hundred different things before she finds the perfect outfit, but when she does it is comfy and just right.
If the cowboy book was Klaus’ favorite from the week, this was Sophia’s favorite. We had to read it every. single. day. And sometimes more than once. It’s a cute little book, don’t get me wrong, but even some cute books lose their charm on the three-thousandth reading. Luckily, it’s a pretty speedy read.
We really liked it: 4 out of 5 stars
#4. All of Baby: Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler
This was a sweet little twist on the traditional baby anatomy books. It had a bit of a rhyme to it, and the little verses that went along with the body parts were super cute. Bonus points for being a board book, but not a bored book. (:DI crack myself up…). There are enough words/enough of a cadence to this story that even Sophia got a kick out of it, and I didn’t have to have a panic attack every time one of the kids grabbed at the pages. I call that winning. This is definitely a board book that I’m going to be looking to add to our home collection.
We loved it: 5 out of 5 stars.