Tom is learning to ride his bicycle in this easy graphic novel for kids. The neighborhood children have lots of tips and encouragement for Tom. It becomes time for Tom to rest for the day, but he preservers from skill to skill. Tom rides away from the group and doesn't return quickly, leading his friends to imagine the worst: a car accident, a funeral, and Tom as a ghost. Luckily, Tom has only gone around the block successfully. While this may be a good teaching moment about telling others where you are going and evaluating the safety of next steps, some families may find the imagined death too much.

Sarabeth loves cars and helping her mechanic dad. From the sounds to the scents of engines, Sarabeth is engrossed with the garage. Her grandmother voices her opinion that Sarabeth should be doing more traditionally feminine activities until Sarabeth is able to fix her car when it breaks down.

If Sarbeths's love of the shop wasn't so well described, I would have gotten frustrated by the stereotypical description of the grandmother. The illustrator drew the grandmother as a very old person, not reflective of many youthful grandparents.

Two children share a neighborhood, but not their places of worship, until a fire destroys one. Parishioners of the Middle Collegiate Church are offered a space to pray and worship in the East End Temple while their church is rebuilt. Community and friendship are deepened through this experience.

"America as it Happened" is an encyclopedia of US history from prehistory to the present. Arranged chronologically, brief articles written as if from the time period being described, highlight the standout history of the United States. A timeline, "notes from the future", and QR codes to podcasts complement the articles. This book may be read front to back, but is most likely to be browsed.

The penguin toy, known as Danger Eagle, goes on many adventures through the imagination of the child playing with it. This book did not particularly resonate with me. I recommend the title "Traction Man Is Here!" for a similarly themed picture book.

Mei Mei is bored, so she scares the cat. At the same time Mei Mei causes Ama's cup to fall and break. It was Ama's favorite cup and Mei Mei is flooded with emotions that she doesn't know what to do with. She's able to avoid the bad feelings until the cat is blamed for breaking the cup.
A sweet story of big emotions and learning to address them.

This book is for preschoolers who love dinosaurs and vehicles and the adults who need to learn how to pronounce dinosaur names like Maiasaura / MY-uh-SOR-ruh. A triceratops and friend are the "peanut gallery" and comment on the poems, provide dinosaur facts, crack jokes.

Readers are encouraged to imagine and make the sounds that accompany common situations. Words and symbols accompany bright illustrations of both noisy and quiet places. While everyday noises often go without notices, this book invites readers to imagine and contemplate sounds of many types. This book could be read in a classroom, one-on-one, or alone.

What happens when a jam sandwich gets bitten by a vampire? It becomes a vampire and wants jam, of course! This humorous book about vampires for kids leaves the reader wondering who really is looking for jam.
This book is a gentle approach to vampires for young kids whose caretakers want a friendly and age-appropriate perspective.

Parents and older siblings will quickly identify the "witching hour" when the baby can't be soothed with almost anything, including magic. Swaying and bouncing on the broom don't work, nor do the bath, or snacks.The pink poodles that worked last night don't work tonight. Everyone must wait until the witching hour is done and baby falls asleep.
Bright colors and witchy themes are included in the colorful illustrations featuring a family of two mothers, an older sibling, and infant.

This picture book about drawing and art is the perfect fit for tween and teens starting to explore sketching. Concepts such as scale, contrast and ideas such as focus and feelings are shared with the reader in a format that may be browsed or read page by page. Artists are quoted and featured briefly, in an approachable manner. While the entire book is an invitation to sketch, the last pages include exercises to further explore drawing.

Warm and Fuzzy, possibly two yetis, are best friends. Warm suggests they go on an adventure, but Fuzzy has many, many worries and questions.Warm doesn't have specific answers, but knows that they are smart, strong, and imaginative. Warm isn't fully convinced, but they do go on adventures and both friends are happy that they did.

This book wasn't written for me. I was hoping that it would lead to an introduction to music that was new to me, but I found the lyrics unappealing.

This picture book is a celebration of the bread bannock. The number of ways bannock is eaten demonstrates its central role as a staple food. This book is a good pairing for others that highlight breads of the world.

Recommended by Jackie K.

Creepy crawly critters, including worms, flies, and spiders are featured in this book of facts for young readers. Humorous illustrations are paired with the information. For example "The housefly is gray with black stripes on his back, and his body is covered with hair." is paired with an comically drawn fly standing at the sink and mirror, saying "That means a lot of shaving!"
The facts and humor will appeal to many youngsters.

Little Crocodile celebrates their birthday from start to finish with friends and family. The joys and minor incidents (popping of a balloon) of a birthday party are celebrated with sounds, sights, and tastes.

First aid kit made from plastic food container would be a good project.

Halloween is coming and Little Pumpkin has lots their light. A series of Halloween themed friends offer what they have until bat is able to provide the wanted light. Traditional Halloween characters such as a black cat, witch, and ghost are introduced during the tale.

lenny duncan writes about Black liberation through prose and poetry that reflects hip-hop music in "Psalms of my People." End notes helpfully provide context for readers unfamiliar with hip-hop or Black history. The format may be very accessible or a struggle, depending on the reader's understanding of these topics.

Yo-Yo the bunny, is active and distracted. She struggles with the yoga poses and focus that she is taught. It's not until Yo-Yo impulsively chases a butterfly and gets lost that she is able to use the skills that she has been taught to find her way home. Illustrations and bulleted instructions at the end of the book provide the basics of the frog, bridge, mountain, tree, easy pose, and child's pose.

The book is labeled with a QR code that links to an read along audio version of the text.

Want to come back to and try a project.

Good overview and basic introduction.

I read 95% of this book and stopped because the character seemed primarily driven by the plot rather than internal desires.

The young hunter in this story is a much better shot than is likely for his age, but that is likely appealing to many young readers.

There were a few places in the text where the editor could have made changes. Generally a good hunting story. Pheasant farming briefly mentioned.

A child depicted as a girl of color talks with her mother about her dream to become a princess. Her mother suggests other careers and role models who are noteworthy women of color. As it turns out, Maya is determined to be a princess, one like the historic Princess Amina, ruler of the Zazzau Kingdom in West Africa.

Video and sound quality make this difficult viewing for me.

Little Pumpkin wants to be ready for Halloween, but has lost their light. A series of friends, all symbols of Halloween, are asked for help, but none can provide the right type of assistance. That is until bat takes on the task. This is a sweet introduction to the season featuring friends.

Mittens come in pairs and should stay in pairs, right? When one of a pair of mittens is lost, a single mitten has the chance to be useful until the pair is reunited. The single mitten is lonely again, until the wearer chooses to wear mittens that don't match.

Not only does this book feature a useful resolution to a common problem, it provides a real purpose for a single from a pair, extending the use of an item that may otherwise be thrown out.