Abby Levine

Max and his family are celebrating Passover with a Seder dinner and invite us to come along. This picture book does an excellent job of explain Passover and Seder to a young audience. Max is fun loving and seems to be excited about Passover through the pictures. The rhyming style of writing helps the book to flow and keep the readers focus by having repeating parts. There is a summary of Passover before the book begins that would be good for older children, but the book itself describes the show more summary in an easier to understand language. Overall this would be a great book for a public library for beginning readers and parents that want to introduce their children to different cultures. show less

I liked this book for three reasons. First, I liked how the book opened up with a descriptive history of Groundhog Day and explicitly explained what Groundhog Day is. The second thing I liked was the character development of Gretchen (the main character). Her fear and struggle with going outside to face the whole town are real. “For as long as she could remember, it had been Great-Uncle Gus who searched for his shadow before the anxious crowd, but now it was Gretchen’s turn”. Finally, show more I liked the plot of the story. The story takes place in the town of Piccadilly. Gretchen the groundhog is too shy and worried to go outside and look for her shadow on February 2nd. This book teaches the meaning and significance of the Groundhog seeing their shadow. “If he saw it, there would be a roar of disappointment, for this meant winter would last six more dreary weeks. If there was no shadow, the band would play a lively tune, and everyone would hug and cheer. Spring was around the corner!” Overall, the main idea of this book is the tradition of Groundhog Day and overcoming your fears. show less

This book rhymes to tell a story about a family preparing for Thanksgiving day. At the end of each rhythmic stanza, the turkey is mentioned as the turkey is the most iconic item of a Thanksgiving dinner. Everything seems to be going well until they drop the turkey in the fish aquarium. The family is thankful for all the food and family they do have and enjoy the holiday. I think being appreciative and having a positive attitude is good for children to see through stories and real life. This show more is a cute story to read to young children during the holidays and even read as an adult to be reminded to appreciate what you have instead of focusing on what you do not. show less

A book that will help kids see that most people who seem brave, were really scared the first time they had to do something. A good book to use to talk about stage fright or fear of public speaking. I like the idea of writing down your thoughts the night before you have to do something that you are worried or excited about. Also, a great book to use for Groundhog Day.