Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

Rosie dreams of becoming an engineer. She is shy and doesn’t speak much at school, but she knows how to build things. She collects odds and ends from the trash to make her machines. She makes a hat for her uncle the zookeeper to keep the snakes off his head and he laughs at her. Rosie becomes embarrassed and from then on keeps her gadgets and gizmos to herself. Then one day her great-great-aunt Rose, who at one time worked building airplanes comes to visit. Aunt Rose has one dream and that is to fly. So, Rosie set out to build her an airplane. The best line in the book comes after Rosie’s failure of the flying machine. Her aunt tells her, “the only true failure can come if you quit”.

In my mind, this is one of the most important life messages to “Never Give Up”. When you set your mind to something follow it through. The book is written in rhyme and is easy to read to preschoolers. Early elementary school children will also enjoy it. Make sure to take the time to look at all the pictures, they are very funny. The book is part of a series called The Questionnaires and the author has written 2 companion series to go with it; chapter books for older children and Big Project Books. The book gets a 5-star review from both me and my granddaughter.

Fun Activity: Check out the companion book “Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers” and do one of them.

Published In: 2013
Publisher: Abrams Books
Age Level: 3-6 years
AR Level: 4.2
Pages: 32
Series: The Questioners
Stars: 5

 

Corduroy by Don Freeman 🟌🟌🟌🟌

The book “Corduroy” needs a makeover. As a child I really enjoyed this book, but it does show its age. Corduroy is a stuffed bear that lives in a department store, but nobody wants to take him home. When he finds out that he is missing a button on his overalls he decides to search for his missing button in the big store. After a few adventures Corduroy gets caught by the night watchman and is returned to the shelf. Eventually a young girl comes back to the store to buy him and take him home. Once he arrives at her apartment he says, “I know I’ve always wanted a home!”.

As, I read “Corduroy” to my granddaughter she did listen to the story but when I asked her questions about the book it was hard to get her engaged. The plot was simple and the characters where lovable, but humor was lacking. The language in the book is dated. I had to explain what a department store is, how mattresses use to have buttons on them and how everybody in the 60’s had floor lamps in their homes.

If you read this book as a child, it is worth the re-read to go down memory lane. The message of finding a friend and home, even if you are a bit damaged is a good one. All the Nana’s will enjoy reading this book more than the grandchildren will like listening to it.

Fun Activity: If your child is old enough try sewing a button onto a piece of cloth, if not take a bag of buttons and sort by color and/or size. 

Written By: Don Freeman
Published In: 1968
Publisher: Puffin Books
Age Level: 4-7 years old
AR Level: 3.5
Pages: 28
Stars: 4

The Perfect Present by Fiona Roberton 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

Henry, a boy of an unknown age has a pet; Spot the Duck. Not the most conventional of pets but it works for this book. Henry’s birthday is tomorrow, and he is thinking about all the presents he is going to get. Spot thinks that he has gotten Henry the perfect present, but Henry’s Grandparents give him a more perfect present, a dog. Spot and his present are pushed aside, and Spot feels miserable. Spot runs away from home and while leaving in the middle of the night it starts to rain. Spot then gets stranded in a tree in the middle of a river. Henry and the dog come to rescue Spot. Spot’s hurt feeling are repaired, and the dog becomes the perfect pet for both Henry and Spot.

The most important teaching moment in the book is for kids not to make hasty decisions, like running away from home, but rather talk about your feelings. If Spot had told Henry how he was feeling left out and was not listening to him maybe things would have turned out differently. The Perfect Present also makes the point that there is room in your life for more than one Pet/Person.

I thought the book gave valuable life lesson without being too preachy. The book conveyed more of leading by example versus this what you should say or how you should act.   There was lots of excitement between the birthday present, the storm and the rescue to hold my Grandchildren’s attention. I did like the illustrations and overall give the book five stars.

Fun Activity:  Ask the members of your family what they think would be the perfect present.  

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Published In: 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group
Age Level:  2-5 years old
AR Level: 3.1
Pages: 32
Stars: 5

Finders Keepers by Weill and Nicolas 🟌🟌🟌

Two dogs, Winkle and Nap find a bone together, one sees it first and the other touches it first. So, who does the bone belong to?  An argument between the two dogs breaks out and the dogs ask 4 different travelers coming down the road to help them decided who should get the bone. The farmer, goat and barber are of no help. Then a big dog came on the scene and is really interested in helping them and he wants them to show him the bone. Once Winkle and Nap dig up the bone, where they have put it for safekeeping, the big dog takes it from them. The two dogs fight the big dog to get the bone back. At the end of the book Winkle and Nap share the bone.

As with some books from the 1950’s” Finders Keepers” is not up to the 2020’s standards in both presentation and how to resolve conflicts. The biting and slashing that Winkle and Nap infect on the big dog might make this book a bit to aggressive for some preschoolers. But the story about cooperation and sharing between friends is compelling. My granddaughter tried to listen to this book but there was a lot of fidgeting while I read it to her. Even though it’s a Caldecott Medal Winner, I can only give it 3 stars.

Published In: 1951
Publisher: Voyager Books
Age Level: 4-7 years old
AR Level: 2.8
Pages: 32
Award: Caldecott Medal Winner -1952
Stars: 3

Lion Lessons by Jon Agee 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

Every kid wants to be a lion. So, what better way than to learn from a real lion. To get your lion diploma there are seven lessons; look fierce, roaring, choosing what to eat, prowling around, sprinting, pouncing, and looking out for your friends. The last lesson being the most important.

The illustrations are big and bold. Making the book easy to read to a group of children. “Lion Lessons” is a cute book that my granddaughter wanted to read again and again. A great bedtime story and it’s worth 5 stars.

Fun Activity: Do you have what it takes to be a lion? Have your child act out all the 7 lessons.                    

Published In: 2016 
Publisher: Dial Book
Age Level: 2-6 years
AR Level: 2.2
Pages: 32
Stars: 5

Ricky Ricotta'a Mighty Robot Series by Dav Pilkey 🟌🟌🟌

Dav Pilkey’s books are amazing and children around the world have enjoyed such series as Captain Underpants, Dog Man and Dumb Bunnies. However, the Ricky Ricotta series was a no go for my grandson and me. A mouse named Ricky has trouble making friends at school and the neighborhood kids are always bulling him. Through a series of events Ricky rescues a mighty robot who becomes his friend and protector. In the series Ricky and his Robot fight bad guys from various planets in our solar system. Currently there are 10 books in the series.

The series has a comic book feel to it with no more than two or three sentences per page which makes the books an easy read. New readers will feel a sense of accomplishment reading these books but should not look for any meaningful substance. My grandson age 7 at the time read 2 of these books and told me not to purchase any more. They did not hold his interest. The story line was not complex and honestly boring.  My version of these books was the black and white, so maybe the newer color publications would have made a difference. I know the illustrations would have been more dynamic. I would obtain these books from the library before making any purchases.

Fun Activity: Make a Robot from recycled materials. 

                                                                                    
The first in the series was Published in: 2014
Publisher: Scholastics Inc.
Age Level: 5-7 Years
AR Level: 2.9 – 4.1 (depending on the book)

Stars: 3

Have You Ever Seen A Flower? by Shawn Harris 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

"Have You Ever Seen A Flower?” takes the reader from city life into the country, and looking at flowers to becoming a flower, all in 48 pages. A girl with rainbow hair goes on a journey through a field of flowers and by the end of the book she and the flowers are one and the same. When I finished the book, I wanted to go outside and immerse myself into a flowerbed. This transformation is completed by using the readers senses, which is clever and inventive. The illustrations are cheery and colorful. Even with the introduction of blood into the story it stayed bright and lively.

I am an avid hiker and one of my best places to be is on a trail, in a field of flowers, so this book was right up my ally. I laid out 6 books for my 5-year-old granddaughter and told her to pick one this was the first one she chose. The colors in the illustrations were a big draw for her. This book totally deserves the Caldecott Honor Book award. It is a book all Nana’s should share with the grandkids.

Fun Activity: Plant a flowerbed with your child. Visit botanical garden or park in your city or town.

                                                                     

Book: Have You Ever Seen a Flower?
Written By: Shawn Harris
Published In:  2021
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Age Level:  3-5 years old
AR Level: N/A
Pages: 48
Stars: 5
Award: Caldecott Honor Book -2022