As I mentioned last week, April and May were pretty unusual months for our family between home sale, vacation, and serious family illness. So I’m finally trying to inch my way back into a workable blogging routine. YAY, I made it to the second week! 😂 Outside of a planned vacation to Glacier National Park later this month, I’m looking forward to keeping up with this community again and adding more titles to my growing list!
Since today is Monday, I’m participate in a weekly #IMWAYR meme. Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers and Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give Kathryn’s (at Book Date) “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?” meme a kidlit focus, reviewing books in children’s literature (picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, or anything in the world of kidlit). If you enjoy this type of reading, join us every Monday to share what you’ve been reading!
This week I’m focusing on picture books I’ve read in recent weeks. Hopefully you’ll find something of interest to add to your reading list.
Hello Ninja. Hello, Georgie
N. D. Wilson
Forrest Dickison, illustrator
September 29, 2020
HarperCollins
Cute addition to the Hello Ninja series! This time, the rather shy Ninja decides to make a new Ninja friend. Because “danger is more fun with two” and “when two ninjas stick together there is no storm they cannot weather.” The artist used Photoshop to create the digital illustrations for this book.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
Dear Baby,:
A Love Letter to Little One
Paris Rosenthal
Holly Hatam, illustrator
September 29, 2020
HarperCollins
Awww, precious new book following the theme of Dear Girl and Dear Boy. This one focuses on the traits of babies, such as being curious, knocking down walls (blocks), and taking baby steps. The digital images showcase the innocence and curiosity in bright, bold colors and I love the diversity showcased in the many characters.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
Peppermint Post
Bruce Hale
Stephanie Laberis, illustrator
September 15, 2020
HarperCollins
Is it too early for a Christmas book? Nawww. In this cute picture book, the Postmaster, Buck Growlersson, discovers a letter at the Peppermint Post that was misplaced AFTER Santa left the North Pole. So he gathers his crew and hops on Santa’s backup sleigh in hopes of catching him before he lands in the little girl’s town. Will they make it there in time? I suppose you’d better read the book for the sweet ending.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
I Don’t Want to be Quiet!
Laura Ellen Anderson
March 5, 2020
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
What a wonderfully empathetic picture book about the needs of children to stay busy and making lots of noise. In a gentle way, this story shows the possibility of making tons of noises in our heads during reading (while remaining quiet on the outside). The artwork is bright and colorful on slick and shiny pages. I can see this one making the rounds in kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms, everywhere!
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
Escape Goat
Ann Patchett
Robin Preiss Glasser, illustrator
September 22, 2020
HarperCollins
Escape Goat is a cute little picture book where the Farmer family keeps locking up the goat so that he will stop making messes of their lives. In the end, they discover that not everything can be blamed on their goat. It’s important to take the blame when you’re the one at fault. In the end, everyone confesses to something they did. And that night, Mr. Farmer doesn’t even shut the gate to goat’s bed. Awww… The artist used ink and watercolor to create the illustrations for this book.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
Sun Flower Lion
Kevin Henkes
September 22, 2020
Greenwillow Books
In only yellow, white, and shades of gray, this precious early chapter book invites the reader to imagine a lion playing on a hill, warming in the sun, and snuggling with his family. It would be fun to take this book and apply it to a nature walk or by looking for things in the clouds.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
Llama Llama Loose Tooth Drama
Anna Dewdney
JT Morrow, illustrator
November 17, 2020
Viking Books for Young Readers
In nice BIG print, this adorable rhyming picture book is all about Llama Llama trying to get a loose tooth out. However, while tooth brushing before bedtime, they discover the tooth is missing. That kicks off a whole house search for the tooth, to no avail. The ending felt very open-ended as Llama Llama writes a note to the tooth fairy about what happened and then falls asleep. That’s it? There will be lots of questions from young readers, but I suppose this gives the readers a chance to write their own ending. The artwork for this book was created with oil paint, colored pencil, and oil pastel on primed canvas.
You can add it to your Goodreads list HERE.
If you do not have a local bookstore, you may purchase it through IndieBound HERE.
You may also choose to purchase it through Amazon HERE.
To Be Read:
I am just finishing up Thrive, the third book in the Overthrow series by Kenneth Oppel and I hope to get back to The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson.
The Miller Memo 
I did not know there is a Dear Baby. I recently read Dear Teacher which would make a great teacher gift. Have a great week!
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I just saw Dear Teacher in my library catalog today, so I’ll have to check that one out. Thanks, Lisa!
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Since I took last week off I didn’t know you were back, Shaye! It’s nice to see you’re back & sharing. I hope everything in your life is now going well! I liked Escape Goat, a fun story, but the rest of the picture books are new to me. I do love that Paris Rosenthal has kept Amy’s loving books going! Dear Baby sounds just right for a coming new one! Thanks!
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It’s great to get to check in with everyone again, Linda! I think I’ve finally accepted the fact that things are going to be hectic for a while around here. No more home sales for a long while (hopefully!), but much of the rest of our busy-ness will likely continue indefinitely. I mean, three teenagers and two younger children already keep this place hopping. So just drop in a couple unexpected events and it feels haywire. Additionally, I never finished moving in to our new home last August before the school year started and winter hit and then I just started stuffing extra boxes into our spare room. So I’m hoping to make a dent in that last bedroom this summer. lol I, too, am thrilled that Paris has continued the series(?). Lisa mentioned Dear Teacher, which I just found in our college catalog today. YAY! Thanks so much for stopping in. It’s great to “see” you again!!
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I’m glad you’re approaching a new blogging routine again—I always enjoy reading your posts! And your vacation later this month sounds really nice. These books all sound delightful! I’m particularly intrigued by I Don’t Want to Be Quiet—I can imagine many readers will enjoy that one! And I love the message of Escape Goat as well. Thanks so much for the wonderful post!
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Awww, thank you! I love reading your posts, as well. Truly! I believe both of those picture books will really speak to children (those who struggle to be quiet AND those who get blamed for things they didn’t do). But I hope they’ll also give adults a chance to pause and check themselves. We certainly don’t want to live in a society that still believe children’s should be seen, but not heard. Do we? Goodness, I hope not. I appreciate you swinging by today and hope you have a wonderful reading week!
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Gosh, I visited Glacier National Park back in 1977! A beautiful area, and it will make for a nice calm vacation. Thanks for the reviews of so many picture books; I’ve been reading a few more of them myself!
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I’ve never been there before, so this should be a lot of fun. Our children are meeting their cousins from Seattle for the very first time. They’re all about the same age, so WOW will that get crazy. My husband and his brother have planned on taking us all hiking, probably fishing, and seeing whatever sights we can see. I told him I’m hoping we’ll make time to just sit and relax, too. Ya know? Maybe have them over to the place we’ve rented out, barbecue on the patio, and watch a movie or two on the big screen. LOL Thanks for visiting, Karen!
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You have lots of good sounding books on your list today. I picked up Thrive at my library yesterday. I’m torn between jumping right in, or finishing up other books on my list.
I’m especially interested in Escape Goat because I love Ann Patchett’s adult work. Hope you have a fabulous vacation!
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I’ve now finished Thrive, so I need to make the time to sit down and review it. That was such a fun series to follow. Thanks for visiting, Cheriee!
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Welcome back! I always look forward to your posts. My library will be opening again soon, so I’ll be able to browse instead of just requesting books, and I will keep my eye out for your suggestions. I always feel like they are double recommended when I see them at the library and remember them from people’s lists.
I hope the next few months are more relaxing even if they stay busy, and that you make lots of great memories on your vacation
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Oh yes, I totally get that “double recommended” feeling. Even when I scroll through e-books I’m always like, “Wait, I’ve heard something good about this one.” The online reading community keeps me on my toes, for sure! Thanks for visiting, Beth!
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Really late on my weekly visits this week, Shaye!
You’re going to Glacier??? Awesome! We love National Parks and have visited many of them from coast to coast but have never been to Glacier – it’s on my bucket list 🙂 Someday when we can travel again (right now, we are staying close to home for my 96-year-old FIL).
What a lovely collection of picture books. I was just commenting over at Completely Full Bookshelf that I miss picture books from when my kids were young. These all look great, and I love the title of Escape Goat – very clever!
Kenneth Oppel is always good for some action and adventure.
Hope you enjoyed your books this week!
Sue
2021 Big Book Summer Challenge
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We’ve not done a lot of traveling to touristy locations over the last, oh, 15 years. With five children and our living mostly on one income, we do a lot of local vacations. So this trip to Glacier is a huge deal for us. It’ll be two full days of driving just to get there. And the best part will be getting to share the time with long-distance family. YAY! Thanks for dropping by, Sue!
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