Vivian French

Two children, Nikki (white, with reddish hair and freckles) and Enzo (Black with curly short hair) are playing "Accidents...LOTS of accidents!" Fortunately, Enzo's mom is a doctor, and can help the kids treat the dinosaur's head injury, the train driver's cut leg and nosebleed, and Enzo himself! The kids' fascination with accidents is realistic, as is the way they bring in their own experiences of nosebleeds, allergies, and various bumps and bruises. Each page also includes a sentence or two show more of secondary text explaining what to do in different situations. The kids' final "accident" is Enzo knocking over the cookies. Fortunately, the way to fix broken cookies is to eat them!

Back matter includes items to pack in a first aid kit: wet wipes, thermometer, antiseptic, band-aids, and more. There's a tiny index as well.

Cheerful, fun, and useful! show less

A king and queen, mindful of the fact that their beloved daughter, the Princess Lucia, will one day rule their kingdom, set out to find the perfect husband for her. After consulting Wise Old Angelo, who advises them to accept the suit of the man who presents them with "the most wonderful thing in the world," they find that they have a long list of prospective bridegrooms to vet. Lucia, in the meantime, makes Wise Old Angelo's nephew Salvatore her guide to the city, and the two slowly fall in show more love. When Salvatore discovers the identity of his lady love, he despairs of ever winning her hand, until he realizes that he might know what the most wonderful thing in the world is...

As a long-time admirer of Angela Barrett's gorgeous fairy-tale artwork - her version of Snow White is one of my absolute favorites, while the artwork she contributed to Max Eilenberg's Beauty and the Beast is simply breathtaking! - I was very excited when I happened upon The Most Wonderful Thing in the World, a lovely original fairy-tale from author Vivian French. The story reads like a traditional tale, with some wonderful contemporary details, like the fact that one of the suitors think that weapons (of mass destruction) are the most wonderful thing in the world. The ending, for all that I expected it, was quite satisfying. The artwork, done in watercolor, was just lovely, with all of the many enchanting details and magical vistas that I have come to expect from Angela Barrett. Highly recommended to all fairy-tale lovers, as well as to fellow Barrett fans! show less

I am not at all partial to worms but after reading thiis info-packed picture book, I am ALMOST intrigued enough to poke a shovel around in the wet dirt outside to take a closer look at some of the worm's features as described, and stomp the ground like Grandma does. Worms definitely have a purpose and it's described in a kid-friendly and entertainingly informative way.

Really delightful short story (loved the Audible version), with those kind of characters that tread the line nicely between entertaining and unhinged, and heroes that you can get behind because they're not cloyingly moralistic.