A debut!

 This is a debut picture book. Wow! It is outstanding about the fear of a spider which gets turned around by the end of the book. The layout of the book is fun to read and I enjoyed the spread which outreached the book to show the city's horizon. The end paper holds a fantastic message: To relocate a surprise guest, you will need~A glass; some cardboard; a kind heart (and perhaps courage). First give it a little name. HARRY. (Take a DEEEEEP BREATH!) and so forth...very cool!

For the love of Hawaii (five)

 

This is a lift the flap book that teaches creatures who are native to Hawaii. The book ends sweetly with the reader going to bed under a Hawaiian quilt by looking in a mirror to see themselves. 

Wow, this book is so cool. Malia celebrates being Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino and Chinese. The rhymes aren't forced and the pictures are joyful!

This is a great book about the relationship between Punky and her grandmother. When Punky is feeling shy her grandmother encourages her to share her ALOHA in three steps: Be helpful, be giving, be brave. Punky follows those directions for a happy ending!

This is a great "piggyback" on the THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Hawaiian vocabulary and customs are woven into the book. The illustrations are great and the shark is laugh out loud hilarious!

This book was so beautiful and bright. And it celebrates a grandmother making a lei for her friend because it is her friend's birthday! 

A study in conflict resolution!

 

Bug and Pug are having a disagreement. Slug acts as mediator. Pug realizes that he is at fault and apologizes. Sweet rhyming story that readers of all ages will get! (This encapsulates the power of the picture book to teach lessons.)

How to say hello to a worm

 How to say hello to a worm: A First Guide to Outside Kari Percival c) 2022 Ezra Jack Keats Award winner!

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This book celebrates the joys of lettuce and mud and ladybugs and worms and bees and strawberries and carrots and the PATIENCE one needs to harvest peas! Lovely!

Toto's Apple

 Toto's Apple, Mathieu Lavoie, c) 2016

 

Toto is willing to experiment with lots of different ideas to get a hold of an apple.

So clever: He makes a fake worm and when bird swoops down for it, Toto takes a ride on the bird's wing. Next, he paints himself so he can camouflage in squirrel's fur. His third try (to get to the apple) is to make wings and fly like a butterfly. Unexpected luck happens when Didi's mom takes a ladder and gets the apple down from the tree for Didi. The ending is a huge surprise...will everything be okay?

Ear worm!

 Ear worm! (Shimmy shimmy, no-sashay...) Jo Knowles; illustrated by Galia Bernstein C) 2022

 

Owl explains to worm that he has an ear worm=a song stuck in his head! As he tries to find out from other animals if they put it there, they have ear worms of their own. Very funny! Ultimately, when worm is being sung to at bedtime by his dad, the mystery is resolved!

Charming, because goldfish need a vacation, too!

This book is an absolute delight. And it made me so happy to read that this is based on a true story of what happened in New York over the summers of 1992 to 2005. Can you imagine a beautiful fountain where kids could bring their goldfish to have a summer vacation? This was mostly to attract kids who weren't leaving the city themselves to have a fun place to visit! The fountain was first filled with lily pads and reeds and shining water. The kids come to collect their goldfish at the end of the summer. My adult mind asked, "How would they know their fish?" They didn't! They just took home whichever ones they caught. So cool!!! Creative!!! Magical!