Apryl StottReviews

A cute fox, handy tools, and first-day-of-school nerves come together in an encouraging read packed full of adorable characters.

Ruby is off to her first day at a brand new school, and she’s nervous. Finding friends isn’t easy, especially since she tends to get overly nervous about things. With her tools on her school bag (a tape measurer, pliers, and safety goggles), she walks into the new classroom and immediately feels overwhelmed. So many kids! Even with her tools, she’s not sure she’ll be able to handle things.

I’m going to start with the illustrations because they add a special touch to this read. The characters are well concepted and come across with personality, friendliness, and are inviting. The mix of animals and humans adds an interesting and creative twist and slides in with natural flow. Each scene carries lovely details and will come across familiar to many readers. It’s enjoyable to simply flip through each page and enjoy the story that way.

The text fits well to the middle of the intended age group with more text than some picture books but remaining at the intended level. It works very nicely for a read-aloud or story time and carries a complete tale with a rounded ending. The concept of the egg drop experiment heads more toward the older end of the intended reading group and might need some clarification for younger listeners. It’s an easy-to-follow story with sympathetic characters to enjoy.

The tale is message driven and does steer the plot, making this a book especially useful when exploring themes such as forming new friendships or dealing with anxiety. Each of Ruby’s tools carries an emotional purpose, and this is clearly explained. One of the other characters, also uses an object to help deal with tenser situations. There are a couple other message added as well, but these hit on a smaller scale.

It’s a cute read with lovely illustration, which brings across several messages in an enjoyable and adorable way.

85000

Poppy and Clementine are best, best friends. They have lots of fun together and even have a bookmark business. When Clementine plays with Georgia, Poppy is worried that Georgia threatens her friendship with Clementine, especially after Clementine sings her praises. In a fit of anger and jealousy, Poppy storms back home. Her father helps her rehearse a proper response about her feelings. All is well that ends well, and Georgia (a human girl) turns out to be a pretty cool new friend. I appreciate how the friend jealousy was handled but the sudden reveal of Georgia being a human threw the story off for me. Oh, well, little kids won't mind.½

A sweet story of a brown-skinned girl, Coco, and her friend, a bear. Other animals think he's mean because he's so large, so he and Coco set out to prove them wrong by doing acts of kindness.½

This is one of those books, which sneaks in and warms the heart.

Bear and Coco are the oddest pair of friends, and while they get along splendidly, bear isn't happy. None of the animals understand him and are afraid of him. Coco wants to help and thinks of a way to show the animals how kind bear really is. But despite their efforts, nothing seems to turn the prejudice around.

Firstly, I love the illustrations in this tale. They carry so much detail and make the characters along with the setting really come through with tons of atmosphere. The snowy landscape and cold seems to radiate from the pages thanks to the wonderful color choices. Plus, the atmosphere is just right to let the light shine. It's fun to flip through them and get lost in the wintery forest and animals, especially since there's a wonderful mix of realistic aspects and imaginative ones.

The tale has a more traditional direction and tells a story without rhyme...which I appreciate. Coco and Bear's dialogue fits well to a little girl and shows the comfort the two share between each other. There is a very important message in all of this, and it's a very universal one. It leaves off with a smile and a bit of food for thought, and definitely has the reader wishing they could visit this forest and stomp through the snow right along with Bear and Coco.

I received a complimentary copy and found this book to be packed full off goodness.