The word "parent" is not just a noun. It's also a verb.
This book plays on many levels and handles the difficult themes of inclusion/exclusion, friendship, otherness and differences with subtle clarity and dexterity. It is great for children as young as those in PK and could easily teach a lesson to Middle Schoolers.
This Pura Belpre Illustration Winner is a wonder to behold. López’ illustrations are nothing less than glorious and balance the line between elegance and grace as daintally as Teresa Carreño could play a glissando on the piano.
Written by early childhood educator Wal Mei Wong, Hello Dark, hits the sweet spot in terms of helping kids overcome an aversion to “the dark.”
In a picturebook market that is usually devoid of books that highlight a father’s contribution to a child’s development, It’s Great Being a Dad is one of those rare jewels that, without any great hurrah, features that fathers can be nurturing figures.
From the end pages, done in whimsical egg motifs, through the meticulously delineated chickens in every spread, this book is a joy to look at, and read.
On a walk with her Grandfather, our young protagonist declares that she is not hungry. Undeterred (as most adults would be at such a declaration), her Grandfather assures her that by the time they reach home, she will have a ravenous appetite.
As a Kindergartner, she more often experienced the word STOP than she did the word GO in everyday life–experiences simply but effectively illustrated in the picturebook.
My brain wants to put this in the category of magical realism. But my heart and spirit keep asking, “is it?”
Van Dongen’s gorgeous illustrations immediately draw you in to this multicultural neighborhood wherein a much loved neighbor is “moving out.”