The word "parent" is not just a noun. It's also a verb.
Transitioning from school routines and days that follow schedules, to days with more freedom and less structure, can sometimes cause anxiety in children; even if that anxiety isn’t immediately visible. Brenner follows three friends as they prepare to end their school year and enjoy their summer vacation together.
“Baking with Daddy,” Cacciapuoti’s light-hearted look at baking a cake with Dad, is a frothy meringue of a book filled with cute doodles and vibrant illustrations.
It is doubtful that most people remember their very first haircut. However, in the moment, it is a daunting event, and not just for the recipient of the haircut. Anything that causes anxiety or stress in our children does the same for us as parents. A haircut is one of those events that usually happens early in our children’s lives.
Books like Lyons’ Going Down Home With Daddy, are a mystery to me. A dad piles his family into a car and they drive down home to see great-grandma Granny and share in an amazing anniversary celebration where everybody shares something personal. Sounds amazing. And it is!
The other day at school, a classmate got angry at me and said ‘Clown!’ So begins our story and our entry into this black, white, grey and red world created by Andrés and Hernández, where a boy walks us through a few moments in his life and the impact his two dads have had on it.
Whenever I have spoken to parents about their children, and there have been quite a few of those conversations over the course of thirty years in the classroom, I am always especially touched by the look in their eyes. This is the story of that look.
So, this is not a book that I would normally gravitate towards if I saw it on the shelf of a bookstore, or was shopping online. For one, the artwork on the cover does not catch my eye; for another, the title Because I’m Your Dad reminds me too much of “because I said so,” which to me is a non-ender for any argument with anyone. This book was a gift to me and my child, And, I am very happy we received it, because otherwise, we would have missed out on a solid read.
In this precious story of a little girl and her two bears, Del Mazo takes readers on a simple, albeit wonderful, adventure that showcases a special relationship. The day is filled with experiences that each of her bears is instrumental in providing. Each activity is accompanied by Bonilla’s beautiful illustrations, offering us a striking visual representation of the child’s view of her bears.
Imagination is an integral part of childhood; and yet, so often it is a lost art. Kids have become so dependent on electronic devices and technology, that the thought of using their imagination rarely even comes to mind as a possibility during play. Fortunately and perhaps as a response, McCartney gives us Ivy Bird, a beautiful portrayal of where your imagination can take you, if you allow it to take flight.