Take a Look. More Fun Together! by Liesbet Slegers

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

It’s okay to be alone. But it’s much more fun when others join along! Is the bear resting by himself? Who is hiding in the garden? Extend the pages to find out! A playful interactive slide and see book about friendship and more for toddlers ages 18 months and up, with a focus on the child’s natural world.

MY TAKE:
I think I found a new children's book publisher to add to my favorites. So far, all the books my son and I have read from Clavis Publishing have been excellent, and this one is no exception.

This book has simple but colorful and eye-catching illustrations. The content is also quite fun. With each new animal, the text starts off by saying hi to the animal, describing what it is doing and asking if it's doing that alone. When you pull the side, the page extends to show you that the animal actually wasn't alone that day.

I love interactive books like this because they make reading fun for me and my child. The book is the perfect length to read-aloud to kids because it's long enough that you don't feel like it's lacking somehow but it's short enough not to tire both you and your child out.

MY SON'S REACTION:
He loved the book. The first time he saw that the book expanded to show that there were other animals on the scene, he was surprised and thought it was funny. His favorite of the animals were the bunnies and he gamely counted all the baby bunnies.

The vocabulary used was easy enough for him to grasp. As usual, I would point to some of the words he knew and some he might know. He picked up "Take a look!" easily after seeing it a couple of times in the book. Whenever he said "Take a look!" he also put a hand to his forehead as though he was looking out to sea. That was entertaining for me and it was an easy way to keep him interested in the book.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Hello, beautiful fish.
You are swimming in the water.
Are you feeling lonely?

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Book Depository

Review: My Teacher's Not Here! by Lana Button

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

As soon as she arrives at school, Kitty knows there's trouble. “Smiling Miss Seabrooke should be here to meet me. But my teacher is missing and NOT here to greet me.” With no Miss Seabrooke, everyone should be sent home, right? But no! Kitty and her classmates line up as usual and walk into the school building. Kitty's worries build as she wonders how she will get through the day without her teacher. What will she do when her Thermos gets stuck or her jacket won't zip? Miss Seabrooke is the only one who can fix these things. Or is she? Author Lana Button perfectly captures the fears and uncertainties of a kindergartner dealing with her first substitute teacher. She also models a way to cope, as Kitty steps up to help the substitute --- a “ginormously tall” giraffe named Mr. Omar --- and discovers that sometimes change can be good. Button's playful and lively cadenced rhyming text, together with Christine Battuz's friendly illustrations of a full cast of animal characters at school, make this a terrific picture book for story time. It provides an excellent lead-in to prepare a class for their first substitute, or for a discussion about how it feels when life doesn't go as expected. A celebration of self-discovery and personal development, this book also makes a wonderful choice for character education lessons on kindness, empathy and perseverance. Educators will appreciate the heartfelt depiction of a young child's warm feelings for her teachers.

MY TAKE:
This was a fun book to read.

I didn't expect it to be a rhyming book, but it was a welcome surprise for me. Most of the children's books we have at home are not rhyming books and I've been looking for more books that have rhymes. I was impressed with the rhymes because they felt natural throughout the book. 

The book was a little longer than I expected. I read this aloud to my son, and I did feel a little fatigued during the second half of the book. I liked the story a lot, though. It was very cute.

I loved the illustrations as well. They were rendered using hand drawing and digital collage, and it just works for me. The drawings are very colorful and there's a lot going on that you can discuss with your child.

MY SON'S REACTION:
 My son hasn't had the opportunity to have a stranger become his substitute teacher since the teachers at his school sub for each other if someone isn't available. He did identify Miss Seabrooke by his teacher's name as the story progressed and he saw how Kitty interacted with her teacher.

My son was also familiar with the activities the children were doing in the book because they do the same things at his school. He identified the activities the kids were doing, and even pointed out to me two children who were having a tug-of-war over the car. He was angry at the character who seemed to be taking the car from the rightful owner.

The book may be a little long for his attention span, since his attention wandered every so often, but all I had to do was ask him a question about what the characters in the illustrations were doing and he would focus on the story again.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

He comes in handy
when stacking a tower,
and knows how to
fluff tissue into a flower. 

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Book Depository

Review: My Bed by Anita Bijsterbosch

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

There’s a star in the sky. Bear, Rabbit, Reindeer and the other animals are tired. Time for bed! Reindeer tries every bed he sees, but which bed is really his? A funny picture book about Reindeer and his own bed. For sleepy toddlers ages 24 months and up, with a focus on the child’s daily life.

MY TAKE:
There are many things I liked about this book. For one thing, the words are simple and there are only one to three short sentences per page so it's great for beginner readers. It was a perfect read for me and my child, and the length and topic is great for bedtime reading.

The illustration style and colors used worked well with the story, and there were little details here and there that provided additional things for my son and I to talk about. For example, Hare's racecar bed and yellow car, which my son liked a lot.

This is a lift-a-flap book, I think, and since I received an e-ARC, the effect became a little confusing for me because the front flap ended up being included in the next page, so I had to scroll forward and then backward to follow the story. I imagine with a physical copy, though, the book is quite perfect.

MY SON'S REACTION:
My son had fun reading along with me, although the scrolling back and forth did slow down our momentum a little bit.

He gamely said "Good night" to all the animals, and after awhile, started getting frustrated on the reindeer's behalf. I think that's why he was so pleased with the ending. I was pretty happy with the ending myself since it made mention of the fact that not all animals have a sleeping schedule similar to humans.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

"Hoot!" Owl hoots.
"I sleep during the day.
Now it is your turn." 

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Book Depository

Review: Open the Suitcase by Ruth Wielockx

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Horse, Cat, Piggy and the other animals all have important jobs to do. They carry their belongings in suitcases. Which bag belongs to whom? Open the suitcases and take a look inside. An interactive lift-the-flap book for curious readers ages 3 and up. 

MY TAKE:
I like the premise of this book. For each suitcase, you are asked to guess which of the three animals owns it. You have to lift the flap to see the contents of the suitcase and from there, you make your guess. It's easy enough for most of the animals because there are little clues in their costumes and ages.

I liked the illustration style and colors used. The background colors were just one solid color each page and it worked with the concept and the drawings because your attention is kept entirely on the characters and what they are doing.

I read this aloud with my son, and even though the paragraphs weren't too lengthy, I think the number of suitcases may have been why I felt like it was a little wordy. On the bright side, at least that means there's more suitcases for your child to explore and more for you and your child to talk about.

MY SON'S REACTION:
He enjoyed guessing which animals owned the suitcase. He wasn't interested in trying to find the items in the suitcase in the page where the owner is revealed, though. He was more interested in mimicking what the owners and other animals were doing.

Despite the number of suitcases, which made the book feel a little bit lengthy, he was able to remain attentive until the last page of the book. His favorite characters were the Dog (because he loves playing "doctor"), the Rabbit (because he likes cars), and the Piggy (because their ages are similar).

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Watch him pull Rabbit from his hat.
"Bravo!" Cat cheers. 

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?

Book Depository