The Country Bake-Off by Riya Aarini

March 2, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Country Bake-Off by Riya Aarini
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Mouse Country is about to hold its famous Country Bake-Off! Joyful Jazella is eager to enter the competition. But Proud Pazenna has an extravagant kitchen and fancy spices—and is sure she’ll take home the prize. Will Jazella’s cake impress the judges, or will Pazenna outbake her?

Homemade cake is one of the simple pleasures in life, especially when it’s shared with everyone.

Baking can be tricky business at times. I giggled as I read the scenes that described how both characters gathered up their ingredients and decided which ones to use. This was even more true for the ingredients that might not have been perfect at first glance. How someone responds to something like that can certainly share a lot of information about their personality!

The message felt too heavy-handed to me even after taking consideration for the age group for which it was written. Everything from the character’s names to the ways in which they were described left no room for interpretation or shades of gray. Characters were described as either completely good or bad. I definitely wouldn’t expect a picture book to be as nuanced as something written for adults, but it sure would have been nice to have characters who had a mixture of positive and negative traits.

I did enjoy the scene that showed how the judges reacted to the cakes that Joyful Jazella and Proud Pazenna submitted to the contest. It was entertaining to watch Proud Pazenna carry her large and impressive cake up to them, especially given how many layers the cake had and how carefully she had to move to get it to them in one piece. Joyful Jazella’s modest little cake also piqued my interest, and I couldn’t wait to see what the judges thought of it as well.

The Country Bake-Off was a lighthearted read.

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Read a Book With Me by Lawrence Schimel

February 17, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Read a Book With Me by Lawrence Schimel
Publisher: Beaming Books
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Will you read a book with me?

Antonio wants someone to read with him, but nobody seems to have any time–not his mom, not their neighbor, and not any of his friends on the street. It’s only when he looks in an unexpected place that he discovers the perfect reading partner, and a chance to make a new friend.

A celebration of the power of stories and communities, Read a Book with Me will remind audiences young and old that there’s nothing to bring people together like the power of a good book.

Why must grownups be so busy and distracted?

Antonio’s character development was wonderful. He was a lonely kid when I first met him, and I empathized with his struggle to find a grown-up who had the time and energy to read to him. What made me like him even more was how persistent he was in figuring out a solution to his problem. Yes, he was sad every time someone said no to him, but he never stopped trying to find someone who could help him. That was such a good message to send to young readers who might also wish the grownups in their lives could slow down and read to them sometimes!

I do wish this picture book had spent more time exploring Antonio’s relationship with his new friend. The storyline spent so much time building up to this moment that I was surprised by how soon it ended after they met. There was so much more the author could have done with these characters. If they had been given more time to develop, I would have happily gone with a much higher rating.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that quietly explored how disabled people are sometimes ignored and mistreated by society. They made their point to the audience without ever sermonizing on the topic, but they were also perfectly clear about how silly it is to discount someone because they are disabled. I was pleased with how this message was seamlessly folded into the storyline. It certainly left plenty of room for discussion for readers who want to talk about it in greater detail, and I appreciated that.

Read a Book with Me was a heartwarming tale.

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Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer

January 28, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer
Publisher: Clarion Books
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Snow is coming, and it’s time to get ready! The squirrel gathers nuts, the geese soar south, and the snowshoe hare puts on its new white coat. But what should the fox do? Each animal advises the fox that its own plan is best, but the fox thinks otherwise—yet it’s not until he meets a golden-eyed friend that he finds the perfect way to celebrate the snowfall.

Stunning illustrations by the new talent Richard Jones are the perfect complement to the Newbery Honor winner Marion Dane Bauer’s lyrical and playful homage to the natural world.

Surviving the winter should be easy if you have a good plan.

This was such a poetic picture book. The words rolled off my tongue smoothly as I read it aloud. I especially enjoyed the lines that talked about the fox’s reasons for not taking the same approach to winter that other animals did. He obviously couldn’t spin a cocoon, fly, or dig a place to hide in the mud all winter. The way these ideas were shared with the audience were simultaneously amusing, beautiful, and completely impractical. This combination of emotions often felt like pure poetry in and of itself, and it only made me more curious to see what the fox’s eventual solution to the winter dilemma might be.

I would have liked to see a little more time spent explaining what foxes do in the winter and why they do it. There was so much time spent building up to this moment that I felt slightly let down by the small amount of story space that was given to exploring this part of a fox’s life. This became even more true once I realized that this section was based on things that real foxes have been known to actually do in the wild on snowy days.

The fox was such a friendly, curious, and sociable character. I truly enjoyed getting to know him as he wandered around the forest talking to the other animals and trying to decide how he’d spend the winter. No matter what he thought of the suggestions he received, he was always polite to the animals who were trying to help him in the best ways they knew how to.

Winter Dance was a wholesome read.

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The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl

January 25, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

For as long as he can remember, Leo has lived in the blue house with his dad, but lately the neighborhood is changing. People are leaving, houses are being knocked down, and shiny new buildings are going up in their place. When Leo and his dad are forced to leave, they aren’t happy about it. They howl and rage and dance out their feelings. When the time comes, they leave the blue house behind–there was never any choice, not really–but little by little, they find a way to keep its memory alive in their new home.

Starting over again in a new place is never easy.

I adored the fact that Leo and his dad were part of a low-income household. There aren’t enough picture books out there about families who struggle to make ends meet and who live in homes that are leaky and creaky because the people who live in them simply can’t afford to fix everything. What endeared me to it even more was how matter-of-fact the narrator was about their social class and living situation. It was simply part of their tale, but by no means was it the focus or the most interesting portion of it. That was the perfect note to strike, especially for this age group and for readers who might be in similar circumstances.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that showed how Leo’s dad encouraged him to express difficult emotions like fear and grief. The father was so loving and supportive of his son no matter how much the boy struggled with leaving their beloved blue house and moving to a new home. Change can be difficult for adults, much less young children. Leo’s father couldn’t have done a better job of making that transition as easy as possible for his family.

It was delightful to see how the author mixed the sad moments in with happier ones that showed why this family loved the blue house so much and how they planned to keep the traditions they started there going after they moved away. There is definitely something to be said for remembering the past fondly and actively looking for the good in life no matter what happens next.

The Blue House made me blink away tears. I can’t recommend this poignant tale highly enough!

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Once ‘a Pun’ a Time – a Guide to Reading and Telling Jokes for Kids by Wolf Cub Chlo

January 18, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Once ‘a Pun’ a Time – a Guide to Reading and Telling Jokes for Kids by Wolf Cub Chlo
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What do you get when you mix a 6 year old with a global crisis? If you twirl around, click your heels three times while chanting “there’s no place like home,” you get a jokes for kids book! Tired of reading the same boring books?

Want to read something funny and learn a secret at the same time? Then you’ve come to the right place! Read silly jokes for kids in part I and learn the secret joke formula in part II.

Funny joke books for kids help:
* increase reading comprehension
* decrease depression and anxiety
* spark creativity
* create endless hours of fun and so much more

“Once ‘a pun’ a Time – a guide to reading and telling jokes for kids:
contains colorful illustrations on every page
short read to keep the attention span of young and reluctant readers
introduces readers to homophones and common puns
teaches readers how to tell their own silly jokes also known as dad jokes
is small in size and can be carried in: backpacks, gift bags, totes perfect for subway rides, airplane travels, long road trips and bored days at home.

If you need something lighthearted and cheerful, look no further!

I couldn’t stop chuckling at the puns the author shared in the beginning of this book. She had a playful sense of humor that I think would appeal to adults who like dad jokes just as much as it does for the kids that it was originally written for. Honestly, who doesn’t enjoy some silly wordplay every now and again?

My favorite section was the one that showed kids how to come up with their own jokes. It clearly explained how homophones could be used to make people laugh. I also appreciated the pictures it shared and the space it gave the audience to make up their own jokes about what was happening in those scenes. Everything was presented so logically and simply that it could be understood by younger kids just as much as it could the older ones.

Occasionally, the author clarified what she meant in parentheses after finishing a sentence or section. I liked the fact that she put so much effort in making sure her audience understood what she was truly trying to say. While I did interpret nearly all of them in the way she was hoping I would, it’s definitely a good idea to clarify. That’s a sign of a good writer, and I look forward to seeing what else she writes in the future as she grows older.

Once ‘a Pun’ a Time – a Guide to Reading and Telling Jokes for Kids was a delightful read.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Snow Queen by Claire Keay

January 14, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Snow Queen by Claire Keay
Publisher: Windmill Books
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The classic story of how Gerda saves Kay from the evil Snow Queen is depicted in this enchanting picture book. The entertaining narrative presents this beloved story in a way that allows for independent reading and for story time with an adult. Beautiful illustrations will inspire young readers to tap into their imaginations. This fresh take on a Christmas classic will get readers in the holiday spirit and excited for fun winter activities.

Friendship can make anything possible.

One of the things I liked the most about this picture book was that it didn’t require prior knowledge of the classic fairy tale that this was based upon. The narrator explained almost all of it quite clearly while still leaving room for readers who were already familiar with it to think of a few details from the original that were changed or left out. This also meant that all readers could use their imaginations in certain portions of the storyline which was delightful in many cases.

With that being said, I do wish the origins of the Snow Queen and her wicked specks of snow had been explained better. This was something I’d probably go ahead and talk about ahead of time with the little ones in my life so they’d better understand her backstory and motivation for doing the naughty things she did. While the plot did make sense without it, knowing about it would make certain scenes easier to explain to anyone who might wonder what was happening in them and why Kay was suddenly behaving so awfully.

The friendship between Gerda and Kay was wholesome and wonderful. They truly cared about each other. I enjoyed the scenes that described the sorts of things they did together before the Snow Queen came into their lives and changed everything. It helped to explain why Gerda was eager to go on her long journey to save Kay and try to get their lives back to normal.

The Snow Queen was a heartwarming fairy tale that works well for little ones.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Once Upon a Winter Day by Liza Woodruff

December 17, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Once Upon a Winter Day by Liza Woodruff
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson Books
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse’s tracks in a wintery wood.

Milo wants a story, but his mom is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, Milo is disappointed – he doesn’t want to play outside, he wants a story.

But when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around, prompting him to ask, “What happened here?” Before long, he’s using his imagination — depicted in lush wordless spreads that capture the vividness of Milo’s fantasies — to fill in the gaps. By the time Milo comes home, he’s the one with stories to tell.

There can’t possibly be anything interesting happening in the woods in the middle of winter, right?

I adored how this story handled Milo’s disinterest in going outside in the first scene. Not everyone immediately enjoys spending time in nature, especially on a cold and snowy day when it didn’t seem like there was much to do out there at all. Seeing him slowly come up with ways to amuse himself out there was delightful and felt realistic to me. There are countless ways to pass time on a snowy day, and his solution to his problem fit his personality and interests beautifully.

The subplots were just as exciting as the main one. They involved the various animals who had passed through the area shortly before Milo was sent outdoors, and it was a great deal of fun to follow all of them to their natural conclusions. While I can’t go into detail about most of them without giving away spoilers, I will say that the mysterious quest the mice were on appealed to me the most. It was nicely communicated to the audience and the ending for it made me smile.

One of my favorite portions of this tale was related to how much freedom Milo had to explore the land near his family’s home. It seemed to be an incredibly safe place for a child to wander around in, so he had plenty of opportunities to investigate anything outside that caught his attention. This isn’t something I see happen very often in modern books written for this age group, but I thought it was nicely shown here. There is definitely something to be said for giving kids the space to figure things out on their own when they’re bored or don’t know what to do next.

Once Upon a Winter Day was a perfect winter picture book.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Raccoon’s Perfect Snowman by Katia Wish

December 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Raccoon’s Perfect Snowman by Katia Wish
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Raccoon loves making snowmen. He practices all winter with his rolling, his stacking, and his decorating. He doesn’t overlook any detail and his snowmen are perfect. When his friends come by, Raccoon is certain that they will also want to build snowmen. And they will need his help. But following Raccoon’s directions aren’t that easy. Poor Rabbit can’t find the right snow (someone has used it all); Fox doesn’t have the right tools (someone isn’t sharing them); and Mouse can’t decorate her snowman (someone has taken the best items). And that someone is Raccoon. When his friends have decided they have had enough, Raccoon realizes too late the error of his ways. But is it too late? Will his friends give Raccoon one more chance to work together to build a totally different kind of perfect snowman? This ideal-for-every-time-of-the-year story celebrates the bonds of friendship and the power of forgiveness.

Who wouldn’t want to build a perfect snowman?

There are many different ways to be a good friend. Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that showed how all of the animals in the forest related to each other, especially when they were competing for limited resources and trying to get their snowmen built on time. Not everyone took the same approach, so it was interesting to compare Raccoon’s personality to his friends who were impatient, generous, or timid. I think every reader could find someone in this tale to relate to!

It would have been nice to have more development of the final scene. It was such an important part of the storyline that I expected it to receive a little more attention than it did. Adult readers would understand it without a problem, but I’d expect to do some explaining of what it meant for the youngest age group this might appeal to. This was a minor criticism of something I thought was otherwise well written.

I adored what this story had to say about perfectionism. It communicated it’s message clearly with the audience without ever sounding preachy. Instead, it allowed Raccoon’s adventures to unfold naturally and gave everyone a chance to come up with their own conclusions about what went wrong and how Raccoon could do better in the future. While I do wish the message of the final scene had been a bit clearer, I did enjoy how much room the author otherwise left for discussion. This was something that worked for a wide range of ages and that I wouldn’t mind reading over and over again.

Raccoon’s Perfect Snowman was a heartwarming winter read that I’d recommend to adults and kids alike.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Two Drops of Brown in a Cloud of White by Saumiya Balasubramaniam

December 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Two Drops of Brown in a Cloud of White by Saumiya Balasubramaniam
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A little girl and her mother walk home from school on a snowy winter day.

“So much snow,” says Ma. “So monochromatic.”

“Mono crow what?” her daughter replies.

Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything ― the clouds in the winter sky, the “firework” display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.

This gently layered, beautifully illustrated story that unfolds as a conversation between a mother and daughter will resonate with readers young and old.

Winter makes everything a little more exciting, especially during a storm.

There’s nothing like enjoying fresh snow. The most interesting scenes in my opinion were the ones that showed Ma embracing this weather with just as much enthusiasm as her child did. They even stuck their tongues out and tasted a few falling snowflakes which made me giggle. I appreciated the way the author captured what it’s like to walk outside and experience the magic of a snowstorm.

I would have liked to see more plot and character development in this picture book. There were hints of it here and there. For example, Ma mentioned missing the green palm trees of home at one point, but there was no follow-through for that statement even though it was a great opportunity to develop both the storyline and this character in particular. As much as I enjoyed seeing the two main characters enjoy the snow, the author could have done so much more with this tale.

The little girl and Ma had wildly different reactions to the same sights and sounds. For example, when they spotted some leftover maple leaves from the autumn, Ma immediately compared them to skeletons while her daughter took a much more Canadian approach to the topic. These brief snippets of conversation between them showed off their personalities nicely. They could have so easily been expanded much further than they would, and I would have loved to read more conversations between them.

Two Drops of Brown in a Cloud of White made me yearn for snow.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

A Thousand White Butterflies by Jessica Betancourt-Perez and Karen Lynn Williams

December 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment


A Thousand White Butterflies by Jessica Betancourt-Perez and Karen Lynn Williams
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

As if being new to the United States wasn’t hard enough, Isabella’s first day of school is canceled due to snow!

Isabella has recently arrived from Colombia with her mother and abuela. She misses Papa, who is still in South America. It’s her first day of school, her make-new-friends day, but when classes are canceled because of too much snow, Isabella misses warm, green, Colombia more than ever. Then Isabella meets Katie and finds out that making friends in the cold is easier than she thought!

A little kindness goes a long way.

I loved the way the main character described her first snow day. She gave plenty of practical details about how it works for any readers who might not live in parts of the world where school and other activities are sometimes cancelled due to snowstorms. What really made me smile, though, were all of the little things she added that will probably be most appealing to those of us who have personally experienced snow days. For example, the descriptions of crunching snow were particularly appealing to me because that is exactly what certain types of snow sound like when you walk on them or use them to make snowmen. It was wonderful to see the narrator appeal to readers from such a wide variety of backgrounds like that.

Some sentences were written in Spanish. There was a glossary in the back for anyone who needed English translations of those words which was fabulous, but I think that anyone who already knows a little Spanish could probably figure most of them out on their own. It was wonderful to see Isabella switch between her languages depending on how she was feeling and who she was talking to. Learning a new language is difficult but rewarding. I loved the fact that the narrator conveyed this message so clearly without stating it directly.

There was so much compassion woven into this story. Isabella’s homesickness for Columbia and her yearning to see her father again were shared with the audience in overt as well as subtle ways. I wanted to hug her almost as badly as I wished for a sequel where her family would be reunited and they could experience summer in the United States. Loneliness is even tougher to deal with when the weather is too cold and snowy to go anywhere, so I eagerly kept reading to find out how she’d occupy her time in a foreign country where she didn’t know anyone yet. I can’t go into more detail about the plot twists, but do know that the compassionate themes in the beginning were carried all the way through to the final scene.

A Thousand White Butterflies is the perfect read for immigrants or anyone who wishes to learn about one character’s experience as an immigrant.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,
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