Simpson's Sheep Just Want to Sleep!

TITLE: Simpson's Sheep Just Want to Sleep!
AUTHOR: Bruce Arant
ILLUSTRATOR: Bruce Arant
PUBLISHER: Peter Pauper Press, Inc.
COPYRIGHT: 2017

''These stubborn sheep,'' the farmer sighs,
''won't open up their sleepy eyes.
But I know how to wake this crowd.
I'll make some noise and make it loud.''

This is a very cute book.  I love books with rhyming text.  This one has cute illustrations as well and I just love the way the book ends.  (I won't tell you what that is.)  The farmer tries many different noisy methods to wake his sleepy sheep.

I found this book at the library, and my little guy and I enjoyed reading it.  We read it several times.  This is appropriate for 1st/2nd graders.  

I'm Not a Scaredy Cat

TITLE: I'm Not a Scaredy Cat
AUTHOR:  Max Lucado
ILLUSTRATOR: Shirley Ng-Benitez
PUBLISHER:  Tommy Nelson
COPYRIGHT: 2017

Best selling author Max Lucado has a new children's book called I'm Not a Scaredy Cat A Prayer for When You Wish You Were Brave.

"I'm a big cat.  I'm a strong cat.  I'm not a scaredy cat....except when...."

This little cat has times when he is afraid like when "noises are loud" or when the slide made his "tummy flippy-flop."  When he is afraid he knows to pray.

The illustrations are wonderful.  I like the cute cat going through his various fears.

This book is appropriate for ages 6-10.  I feel it would be good for parents to read this book to have conversations with their children regarding their fears and how to handle them.  I think it is important for children to know what to do when they are afraid and this little cat is a good example to pray during those times.

I enjoyed this book and hope you will check it out for yourself.  Here is a link where it can be purchased.

There is a giveaway too!  I bet you know a little one who would enjoy having this in his/her home library!  Click here to enter the giveaway!

I received a copy of this book from the FrontGate Reviewers Program.  This review is my honest opinion.  Thank you.

The Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Blessings

TITLE:  The Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Blessings
AUTHOR:  Mike Berenstain
ILLUSTRATOR:
PUBLISHER:  Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT:  2013

The Bear family learn a short history of Thanksgiving, and on the way to their grandparents' house they talk about the many things they should be thankful for besides food, like family & friends, peace & plenty, and work & play.

This is a wonderful Bear book to add to your collection.  It has questions at the end to use to talk about Thanksgiving as a family. There is also a sheet of fall stickers featuring scenes from the book.  Be sure to look for this one to give to a child you love this Thanksgiving!

This book was sent to me by the publisher for my review.

David Battles Goliath

TITLE:  David Battles Goliath
AUTHOR:
ILLUSTRATOR:
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT:  2013

About the book:
David Battles Goliath is a retelling of the favorite Old Testament Bible story about a young shepherd boy named David with a great amount of faith. Using art from the bestselling The Beginner's Bible, this story is available in the popular and affordable 8x8 softcover format. David hears about the challenge made by the Philistine giant Goliath and believes he must do something to help. Knowing that God will always be at his side, the shepherd boy tells the king he wants to fight Goliath. Will David's slingshot, stones, and faith in God's love for him be enough to save the Israelite army?

My thoughts:
David and Goliath is one of the more popular Bible stories for children.  This is a well-done book with colorful illustrations of this loved story of God helping David defeat Goliath.  The text is an appropriate length to keep the interest of young listeners.  It is also good for those learning to read on their own because it isn't too complicated. 

Check out this new book as well as the one I reviewed here yesterday called A Queen Named Esther.  There are several in this series and they'd make a nice addition to your home or church library.

I received this book from the publisher for my honest review.

Pirates on the Farm

TITLE:  Pirates on the Farm
AUTHOR:  Denette Fretz
ILLUSTRATOR:  Gene Barretta
PUBLISHER:  Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT:  2013

What should the family do when a group of pirates decides to move in next door?  Each family member has a different reaction to these new neighbors who know nothing about farming and don't act socially appropriate.  Many in the community reject them.  Will the new neighbors ever be accepted?

This is a great book to explore the differences between people and what we can do to be friendly to others, even those who act a little differently than we do.  I think there is a good lesson here and young children will enjoy the pirate characters.  I liked that various pirate vocabulary words were listed and defined in the back of the book.

I received this book from the publisher for my honest review.

Out of My Mind

TITLE: Out of My Mind
AUTHOR:  Sharon M. Draper
ILLUSTRATOR: N/A
PUBLISHER: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
COPYRIGHT: 2010

I have finished the most amazing book!  I checked it out from our local library after seeing it on the shelf at the school library while volunteering.  They cover caught my eye.  The librarian there told me what a great book it is, and I've looked forward to reading it.  She was right, it is wonderful.  I think all teachers should have to read this book.  It is such a touching story and very eye opening to me.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper is the story of Melody, an 11 year old girl who is extremely smart. She has never spoken a word though.  She has cerebral palsy and is in a wheel chair.  Everyone...teachers, doctors, and classmates.... assumes she is not capable of doing anything.  She has a few people who believe in her though and a couple of good teachers who see her potential. All Melody wants is to be normal and do things like the other kids she sees at school instead of being stuck in the "special" classroom all day.   

This is such a touching story, and one I will always remember.   (I was nearly crying at the end and I don't cry over books!)  There are so many lessons that can be learned from Melody's story, both by young people and adults.  I highly recommend this book to you.

The AR level for the book is 4.3. 

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.

So Few of Me

TITLE:  So Few of Me
AUTHOR:  Peter H. Reynolds
ILLUSTRATOR:  Peter H. Reynolds
PUBLISHER:  Candlewick Press
COPYRIGHT:  2006

Leo has a long list of things to do.  As he works on his list, he wonders if he could get the list done faster if there were two of him instead of just one.  All of a sudden there is another Leo, then another, and another.  Leo realizes that as there are more Leo's there is also more work.  Maybe he does not need more Leo's after all!

The cover of this book sitting on the library shelf caught my eye.  I found that the author/illustrator hand lettered the text.  I like books that have a lesson that can be easily applied to the reader's life/situation.  This is one of those books.  We don't need more and more; sometimes we just need to stop and be the best we can be.

I recommend this book for your classroom or personal library.

The Perfect Gift

TITLE: The Perfect Gift
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Mary Newell Depalma
PUBLISHER: Arthur A. Levine Books
COPYRIGHT: 2010

Little Lori is proud to have found a big red strawberry that she can take to her grandmother. It is not an easy task though and she loses her special gift. She has some friends though that try to help her get it back but they do end up in some danger. I enjoyed the bright illustrations in this book. It would be appropriate for the primary aged library.

My son and I thought this was a cute story.

Mine, All Mine!

TITLE: Mine, All Mine!
AUTHOR: Claire Hawcock

ILLUSTRATOR: Chiara Pasqualotto

PUBLISHER: Boxer Books
COPYRIGHT: 2009

Little Squirrel finds a beautiful snowflake. He decides he doesn’t want to share his snowflake with anyone. He learns a lesson about sharing in this wonderful story. The illustrations are beautiful. Children will want to touch the sparkly, painted snowflake. I recommend this book for the primary school classroom library as well as your home library.

My son and I enjoyed this book together.

The Berenstain Bears Say Their Prayers

TITLE: The Berenstain Bears Say Their Prayers
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkids
COPYRIGHT: 2008

The story of this book is centered around Brother Bear's baseball game. He sees his cousin Fred praying in the game and Brother decides to try praying too. He learns a lesson though from Fred about answered prayers. This book is appropriate for primary and elementary aged children.

My son and I enjoyed this book. He particularly enjoyed the baseball game in the story.

The Berenstain Bears Go to Sunday School

TITLE: The Berenstain Bears Go to Sunday School
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stan & Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT: 2008

In this Berenstain Bear book, the Bear family participates in many activities on Sunday but do not attend church. Mama thinks they should all go to Sunday School as a family. Everyone is glad they went together because of what they learned and the fun time they had. This book is appropriate for primary and elementary aged children.

My son and I read this book together and enjoyed it.

The Berenstain Bears Love Their Neighbors

TITLE: The Berenstain Bears Love Their Neighbors
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Jan & Mike Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT: 2009

As the Bear family is on the way to a festival, they have car trouble. The family learns a valuable lesson about being a good neighbor when they are helped in their time of need. Primary and elementary aged children will enjoy this story similar to the Good Samaritan story of the Bible.

My son and I have enjoyed reading this book.

The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule

TITLE: The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stan & Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT: 2008

Sister Bear receives a new locket that has the Golden Rule engraved inside. Sister begins to understand the true meaning of the Golden Rule when a new bear arrives at school and is left out at recess and on the bus ride home. Primary and elementary aged children will enjoy this story and will be able to relate the story to make application in their own lives.

My son and I enjoyed the lesson taught in this book.

The Berenstain Bears God Loves You!

TITLE: The Berenstain Bears God Loves You!
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz
COPYRIGHT: 2008

Both Brother Bear and Sister Bear receive surprising news when they try out for the basketball team and a play at school. They learn a lesson about God's love through this experience of not being chosen. Primary and elementary aged children will enjoy this story and the lesson it teaches about God's love for each of us.

My son and I enjoyed reading this book.

God Is with Me through the Day

TITLE: God Is with Me through the Day

AUTHOR: Julie Cantrell

PUBLISHER: ZonderKidz

COPYRIGHT: 2009

This book is a reminder that God is with us where ever we go and He will never leave us alone. Through simple wording and minimal text per page along with stunning animal photographs, the author reminds the reader God is there all day. This book would be excellent for any home library with young children. The children will enjoy the photographs as they listen to a Bible truth.

My son and I loved this book, and the beautiful photographs made us smile as we looked at each one.

Pal the Pony

TITLE: Pal the Pony
AUTHOR: R.A. Herman

ILLUSTRATOR: Betina Ogden

PUBLISHER: Grosset & Dunlap
COPYRIGHT: 1996

A little pony at Star Ranch tries to do everything the big horses do. He feels he is too little for the rodeo until a little girl notices him. Preachool aged children will enjoy this book. It is appropriate for beginning readers to read on their own as well.

My son and I liked this story.

Hurty Feelings

TITLE: Hurty Feelings
AUTHOR: Helen Lester
ILLUSTRATOR: Lynn Munsinger
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Company
COPYRIGHT: 2004

Fragility is the main character. She gets her feelings hurt easily. What lesson can she learn from the rude elephant named Rudy? The illustrations are delightful with the various expressions shown on the faces of the characters. Primary aged children will enjoy this book as well as some preschoolers. It is a book that teaches a lesson about feelings and emotions.

My son and I both enjoyed this book.