Review: Like a Shooting Star

On one particular night, a little firefly, struggling to learn to fly, happens to land on his hand. She has tried and tried to fly but has been unable to accomplish this goal. Seeing the little firefly in his hand, the boy confuses her for a star, and we soon realize that the story is in fact about this special little firefly.

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Review: Will You Be My Friend?

Primarily a lesson in friendship and patience, Will You Be My Friend? highlights the beauty and essential nature of simple play. Too often children are scheduled within an inch of their existence and play is abandoned in search of “more meaningful” activities. McBratney highlights how much simple play can accomplish in simple, unencumbered moments.

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OFF THE SHELF REVIEW: When Pumpkins Fly

Seeing a pumpkin for the first time, the local kids eagerly carve and light their first jack-o-lantern. But when everyone adjourns to the community hall for the Halloween dance, the pumpkin is left alone outside.
He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up.

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Review: La Frontera (My Journey with Papa)

I want you to stop for a moment and imagine being a parent telling your eight-year-old that you’re about to send him on a journey that will take him to another country, mostly by foot, across hundreds of miles, across all sorts of terrains, in all sorts of weather, facing untold dangers, in search of a better life. Now imagine that you’re the eight-year-old.

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Review: What if a Fish

I want more of this kind of book for my kids. Without making it mushy or unbelievable, Fajardo masterfully intertwines the stories of this precocious not-child and his not-adult brother into one of the sweetest narratives I’ve read in a long time. She allows them to be vulnerable and share a very tender bond that flies in the face of the machismo we’ve been told to expect, and to celebrate.

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OFF THE SHELF REVIEW: A Tiger Called Tomás

When Tomás and his family moved to a new house on a new street, he took it into his head that the new people might not like him.

He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up.

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