A Million Doughnuts

TITLE: A Million Doughnuts
AUTHOR:  Dawn Colclasure
ILLUSTRATOR:
PUBLISHER: Polliwog Press
COPYRIGHT:  2012

In A Million Doughnuts a boy named Rusty asks to eat a doughnut. His parents do not let him and he wishes that he had a million doughnuts. He even writes his wish in a book about doughnuts. The next day he awakes to find his room filled with doughnuts. Rusty eats many doughnuts and quickly notices some changes, like not fitting into his pants anymore or having any energy. Rusty learns his lesson about not eating too many doughnuts and ends up sharing the doughnuts with others as they continue to come day after day. He eventually marks out his wish that he wrote in his book to make the doughnuts stop appearing.

I liked the lesson that Rusty learned as well as what his parents learned. They refused to let him have one doughnut and learned that one every once in a while is actually okay.

I would have liked to see the illustrations in color instead of black and white.

Thank you to Great Minds Think Aloud Publishing for providing this ebook for my review.

Queen Emily's Enchanted Kingdom: Litterbug

TITLE:  Queen Emily's Enchanted Kingdom:  Litterbug
AUTHOR:  Lee-Ann Graff-Vinson
ILLUSTRATOR: Emily Vinson, Joely Hannah Casavant
PUBLISHER: Polliwog Press
COPYRIGHT:  2012

Big Ted tells Queen Emily that garbage is covering the Enchanted Kingdom. The people of the kingdom have not thrown away their trash and it is a huge mess. Queen Emily investigates and talks to Litterbug about the problem with throwing things out instead of putting them in the trash.

This is a nicely written and illustrated book. I did not like the mention of "casting a spell" on the people of the kingdom that caused them to not clean up.

Thank you to Great Minds Think Aloud Publishing for providing this ebook for my review.

Queen Emily's Enchanted Kingdom Sugarland

TITLE: Queen Emily's Enchanted Kingdom
AUTHOR:  Lee-Ann Graff Vinson
ILLUSTRATOR:  Emily-Ann Vinson
PUBLISHER: Polliwog Press
COPYRIGHT: 2012

Queen Emily loves sweet treats and is excited to wake up (in a dream) to find the kingdom covered with all sorts of sweets. She goes out and begins enjoying treat after treat until she is stuffed, sick, and increased in size. She finds out that the baker had made a wish to fill the kingdom with the goodies she bakes. Queen Emily and the baker learn a lesson about eating too many sweets.

I thought this was a good book with a good lesson. The illustrations are bright and colorful.  They are done by the author's daughter.  The full-color images go nicely with the book text.

Thank you to Great Minds Think Aloud Publishing for providing this ebook for my review.

Play, Louis, Play!

TITLE: Play, Louis, Play!:  The True Story of a Boy and His Horn
AUTHOR: Muriel Harris Weinstein
ILLUSTRATOR:  Frank Morrison
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury USA
COPYRIGHT:

Learn about the childhood of famous musician Louis Armstrong in this book.  It is creatively written from the perspective of his horn!  It tells how young Louis worked to make money for his family and the role music played in his life.

This chapter book would be enjoyable for elementary aged children. It is easy to follow the story and enjoyable as well because it is written from the horn's perspective.

My son and I read this book together because it was on the Texas Bluebonnet list.  We both enjoyed the story and thought it was well-written.

Oink, Moo, Meow

TITLE: Oink, Moo, Meow
AUTHOR: 
ILLUSTRATOR:
PUBLISHER:  Sterling Children's Books
COPYRIGHT: 2012

In this board book you will find a variety of animal pictures along with the sounds they make.  What I liked about this particular book is that there was such a good variety of animals, many of them unique to these type of books in my opinion.  It isn't often I see a dove or a grasshopper in a book about animal noises. 

This is a great board book for infants-toddlers. 

Homer

TITLE: Homer
AUTHOR:  Elisha Cooper
ILLUSTRATOR: Elisha Cooper
PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books
COPYRIGHT: 2012

Family members ask Homer to do things with them, but he doesn't want to do any of it. He prefers sitting on the porch.  He doesn't need a thing, he has all he needs. 

This is a nice book for dog lovers. I was initially drawn to the book because of the cover.  The watercolor illustrations are simply beautiful.  There is minimal text per page and would be good for an early reader beginning to read aloud on his own.

Because of the small amount of text and nice dog pictures, this book would be enjoyed in my opinion by young children in preschool through early elementary.

God Found Us You

TITLE: God Found Us You
AUTHOR:  Lisa Tawn Bergren
ILLUSTRATOR: Laura J. Bryant
PUBLISHER: Harper Blessings
COPYRIGHT: 2009

This is a touching book of a Momma fox and her baby fox.  The little fox is asking questions and she is telling him about all the waiting and praying they did as they waited for him. 

This is a sweet story for families who have adopted a child.  There are several picture books by this author, and I have enjoyed the ones I've read. 

Fifty Cents and a Dream

TITLE: Fifty Cents and a Dream Young Booker T. Washington
AUTHOR:  Jabari Asim
ILLUSTRATOR:  Bryan Collier
PUBLISHER: Little, Brown and Company
COPYRIGHT:  2012

Booker T. Washington had a desire and dream to learn to read and write.  This book shows the determination he had to make his dream come true as he traveled 500 miles to Hampton Institute.  It was his dream but he also thought of  others along the way who had the same dream.

The illustrations are done with watercolor and collage.  Also, the endpages have been copied from sample pages of a book Booker received from his mother called The American Spelling Book by Noah Webster. 

This inspirational story would be appropriate for elementary aged children.

Abe's Fish

TITLE: Abe's Fish  A Boyhood Tale of Abraham Lincoln
AUTHOR:  Jen Bryant
ILLUSTRATOR: Amy June Bates
PUBLISHER: Sterling
COPYRIGHT: 2009

Young Abraham Lincoln and his family learn an important lesson one day when he goes fishing.  His family expects him to bring home fish for their supper.  They are disappointed when he returns home without a catch until he tells them what happened to the fish he did catch.   

The illustrations are wonderful and give you the feel of being with Abe as he goes fishing. 

This book is appropriate for elementary aged children.  Author's Notes are included with more detailed information at the back of the book as well as where she got the idea of this book. 

I really enjoyed this book and thought it had a great lesson.  This is a great one to read in my opinion!

Looking at Lincoln

TITLE:  Looking at Lincoln
AUTHOR:  Maria Kalman
ILLUSTRATOR:  Maria Kalman
PUBLISHER: Nancy Paulsen Books
COPYRIGHT: 2012

A young girl sees a man on the street who reminds her of Abraham Lincoln.  The book goes on to tell a brief history of this amazing man's life from his birth to his death including interesting facts about his life, family, and presidency.

The artwork in this book is very bold and bright. 

This book would be appropriate to read to an early elementary class to learn more about President Lincoln or to celebrate President's Day. 

Snowy Valentine

TITLE:  Snowy Valentine
AUTHOR:  David Petersen
ILLUSTRATOR: David Petersen
PUBLISHER: Harper
COPYRIGHT: 2011

It is Valentine's Day and Jasper is searching for the perfect gift for his Valentine. It seems all his animal friends have found just the right thing to give their loved ones.  Will Jasper be able to find something in time?

I thought this was a cute Valentine book.  The character and snowy illustrations will appeal to young children. 

The Ballad of Valentine

TITLE:  The Ballad of Valentine
AUTHOR:  Alison Jackson
ILLUSTRATOR: Tricia Tusa
PUBLISHER: Dutton Children's Books
COPYRIGHT: 2002

Valentine's beau tries various methods, including a homing pigeon, smoke signals, and Morse code, to ask her an important message.  Things keep happening to prevent the message from getting to Valentine. 

This is a cute story to read for Valentine's Day in your classroom or with your child.  The words fit tht tune of "Clementine" if you want to sing it as you read!

Bible Stories That End With a Hug! (+ Giveaway)

TITLE:  Bible Stories That End With a Hug!
AUTHOR:  Stephen Elkins
ILLUSTRATOR: Simon Taylor-Kielty
PUBLISHER: Tyndale Kids
COPYRIGHT:  2012

 About the book:Little children love getting—and giving—hugs! Hugs generate warmth, affection, and a feeling of acceptance. Show your little ones just how much you treasure them while teaching them about the Bible and God’s unconditional love for his creation. Bible Stories that End with a Hug! features 75 easy-to-understand Bible stories with charming illustrations, lessons on how to apply the stories to your child’s daily life, memory verses from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, and a special “Hug Time” during which you can share a great big hug with your child.

My thoughts:
I enjoyed reading this book. It would be nice for a family to read together at bedtime with a very young child (toddler--preschool). There are stories from the Old and New Testament. What I liked was that this story book had some stories that I don't normally see in children's Bible story books. I like also that each one ends with a reason to give a hug to your child! The illustrations are sweet too, and I liked the layout with the text, pictures, and questions. It would make a sweet little Valentine for your little one! 

Giveaway:I am giving away a copy of this book.  Please leave a comment on this post to enter!  Make sure you include a way for me contact you if you win.  Open to US addresses.  Giveaway ends on Friday, February 8, 2013.  I will contact the winner Saturday.  Thank you! 

Thank you to Tyndale for this book for my honest review.

A String of Hearts

TITLE:  A String of Hearts
AUTHOR:  Laura Malone Elliott
ILLUSTRATOR: Lynn Munsinger
PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books

COPYRIGHT:  2010

 

Sam's class is making Valentine's.  He wants to make one that is just right for Tiffany, the popular girl of the class.  Mary Ann helps Sam make a variety of Valentine's.  Will Tiffany like her Valentine from Sam?

 

This is a cute Valentine story to read with your children or class during February.