50-53. Board Book Parade

50. Butts. Katrine Crow. [Board book] 2020. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Who has a fluffy butt like this? A bunny! Who has a feathery butt like this? A chicken!

This is an admittedly silly and playful book featuring photographs of animal butts. There are a series of questions and answers--the question shows the back side, the answer the front side. 

I really LOVED some of these photos. Some of the photos are so incredibly cute and adorable. I think this would be a fun book to read aloud to a little one. 

51. Bellies. Katrine Crow. [Board book] 2020. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Who has a furry belly like this? A lynx! Who has a wet belly like this? A sea turtle! 

I'm not sure if Bellies or Butts was published first. But these two are good companions, and, of course, they are by the same author. This one features photographs of animal bellies. Again, a series of questions and answers. 

I really enjoyed some of the photographs. I do think the answers are perhaps not quite as obvious in this one. Lynx bellies, Bengal bellies, they don't look all that different from any/every cat. Both books--both Butts and Bellies--feature a range of animals. 

52. Counting Our Blessings. Emma Dodd. [Board book] 2020. 24 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: We're counting our blessings one by one. How many will there be? Let's count together, just us two, and very soon we'll see.

Two dogs count their blessings in Emma Dodd's newest board book. The illustrated dogs--parent and pup--are SUPER, SUPER, SUPER, SUPER adorable. The text itself--written in rhyme--is serviceable. Nothing objectionable about it, perhaps a tiny bit bland, but it gets the job done. It celebrates an attitude of gratitude AND counts to ten. 

53. (Little Chunkies) Animals in the Forest. DK Publishing. 2023. [Board book] 10 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The bees swarm around the nest. The bear wakes up from its afternoon rest. The wolf howls at the glowing moon. The birds sing their pretty tune. 

I was disappointed. Despite it saying this is a "touch and discover" book, there are no touch and feel elements. There are cut-outs, but holes aren't a touch and feel element. There are raised elements, but cardboard in and of itself is not a touch and feel element. The holes might make for an amusing way to turn pages for little hands. Raised elements may or may not catch the eyes and keep attention. But this is hardly an interactive board book.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

49. Poetry Comics

Poetry Comics. Grant Snider. 2024. 96 pages. [Source: Library] [poetry]

First sentence:  I want to put down on paper the feeling of fresh possibilities. 

Poems told in comic book format. This is a combination I never knew I needed, but now I do know. I want MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE. Love this combination so much.

The book is arranged into the four seasons. It opens with spring. 

This one was love at first sight. I enjoyed many of the poems. I did. But I loved the recurring subject. Each of the four seasons contains a poem titled, "How To Write A Poem." (Each one is numbered.) 

How To Write a Poem #1
Find a quiet place.
A sharp pencil.
A blank page.
Sit still.
Keep quiet.
Wait.
A poem will rush in to fill the space.

What I can't really convey is how LOVELY the poems are when illustrated in the comic format.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

48. Sing High, Sing Crow (The Great Mathemachicken #3)

Sing High, Sing Crow (The Great Mathemachicken #3) Nancy Krulik. Illustrated by Charlie Alder. 2024. 112 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Feathers tickle
feathers fly
But I've got a feather in my eye!
Chirpy curled up in a tight little ball. She covered her ears with her wings. But nothing she did blocked out the noise of the crows singing their song up in the tree.

Premise/plot: Chirpy (and friends) return in their third adventure. In this one, the chicks are ALL disturbed by the oh-so-noisy crows and their "music." The band isn't made up exclusively of crows. Can the chicks work together to find away to make their super inconsiderate neighbors HUSH or SHOO? Perhaps it's time for Chirpy to go to school and learn a clever way (based on math and/or science) to solve the problem. What Chirpy learns is that music and math go hand in hand...but can that fact prove helpful????

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I do like the series. The first book is Hide and Go Beak and the second is Have a Slice Day.  

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

47. Cookie Queen

Cookie Queen: How One Girl Started Tate's Bake Shop. Kathleen King (Founder of Tate's Bake Shop) and Lowey Bundy Sichol. Illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki. 2023. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:  It was very early in the morning when Kathleen stepped into the kitchen. Kathleen was only eleven, but each morning she made her own breakfast and packed her own lunch for school--and when her parents worked late--she whipped up dinner for her brothers and sister. Kathleen enjoyed cooking, but more than anything, she loved to bake. 

Premise/plot: This is a picture book biography of Kathleen King the founder of Tate's Bake Shop. This picture book celebrates baking--specifically chocolate chip cookies--hard work and entrepreneurship. It is the story of how she kept working and working and working to improve her recipe until it was perfectly perfect and that consistently. She sold many, many, many cookies along the way. 

My thoughts: Who doesn't enjoy reading about cookies? This one could pair with many other books about cookies. I do see this one as being for younger elementary grades. It would be so tempting to pair this one with a snack.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

46. Bears are Best

Bears are Best: The Scoop About How We Sniff, Sneak, Snack, and Snooze. Joan Holub. Illustrated by Laurie Keller. 2023. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Grrrreetings! My name is Brown Bear. I am the only bear in this book. [You are not]. 

This is a nonfiction picture book about BEARS (plural). It isn't your typical nonfiction picture book, however. It is written in a conversational--playful--narrative. The [many] bears of the book are having quite the dialogue--all in speech bubbles. All the information about each bear--what makes them similar or dissimilar to the others--is revealed through conversation. The conversation isn't dry and info-dumpy. Not really. There's plenty to keep it light and flowing--a bit silly.

I liked this one. It does have more text than you might expect based on the cover. I do think this one could easily be mistaken for just another picture book starring bears. It doesn't scream out "I'm nonfiction!" Because it is so text-heavy, I do think it would be a good fit for most elementary grades--especially second and third grade.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers