Mama & Little One’s Book Review: “I Need A Hug” by Susie Linn

We joined Gma (Mimi) again for this reading session and enjoyed another cute story about the love and comfort between a mother and child.

I Need A Hug
by Susie Linn
2018
Board Book
Little Hippo

Read together (with Mimi) January 16, 2019
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Book #16 of our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Mama’s Book Review: We joined Gma (Mimi) again for this reading session and enjoyed another cute story about the love and comfort between a mother and child. We always love reading books with Mimi and ask her to read one or two every few weeks. She’s happy to oblige and seems to get as much as fun out of it as we do. The story and illustrations matched up perfectly for a great introduction to the author/illustrator Susie Linn.

Little One’s Book Review: Boo, the nocturnal bushbaby, wakes up one morning to find Mama Bushbaby missing from the zoo where they live. The day can’t proceed in the normal fashion until Boo finds Mama, because Boo needs her good night hug; she simply can’t go to sleep without it. There’s no one around to satisfy Boo with her much-needed embrace — which isn’t surprising, because Boo’s good night hug can only come from Mama.

Boo spends most of the day trying to locate an appropriate good night hug, wandering from various zoo animals, trying out different hugs from each. One hug is too tight, another too scratchy, another too wet, too this, too that, until she comes across the just-right hug from Mama Bushbaby herself. Finally, Boo the bushbaby can relax in her mother’s arms and fall asleep.

I personally understand how Boo is feeling, as I need my Mama often and won’t accept comfort from anyone else. Boo better not lose sight of her Mama again!!

Marching toward February!!

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

Mama’s Book Review: “Remarkably You” by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrations by Patrice Barton

Logan and I are off to a great start in the New Year with our recent children’s book selections. Our first book was another great reflection on the power of being oneself.

Remarkably You
by Pat Zietlow Miller
Illustrations by Patrice Barton
2019
Hardcover, 32 pages
HarperCollins

Read together January 12, 2019
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Book #15 of our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Logan and I are off to a great start in the New Year with our recent children’s book selections. (We are so blessed to have so many wonderful books to choose from at our local public library.) Our first book was called “Remarkably You,” and it was another great reflection on the power of being oneself.

This rhyming book teaches children the importance of accepting and embracing their unique personalities and strengths. Every child is entitled to their individual expression of life. The book focuses on childrens’ wide array of personalities, emotional dispositions, talents and strengths.

Some children are creative and want to paint pictures all day, while just as many others want to build or play instruments. The end point being that there is absolutely no “right way” to be oneself. In other words, if we were all the same, it would be such a boring world.

The book spends the perfect amount of pages to get its important message across, and the illustrations are beautifully rendered. We enjoyed it and rated it 5 stars for the feel-good message and delivery. We never get tired of reading uplifting children’s books!!

See you next time. Yikes, it’s mid-January already!!

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

Mama’s Book Review: “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore, illustrations by Dana Regan

It was the first time sharing the classic holiday book-poem “The Night Before Christmas” with Little One on December 24th, 2019.

The Night Before Christmas
by Clement C. Moore
Illustrations by Dana Regan
Board Book, Hardcover, 26 pages
HarperFestival

Read together December 24th, 2019
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Book #13 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

We read the classic holiday book-poem “The Night Before Christmas” on December 24th, 2019. Although I had read this book before, it was the first time sharing this little board book with Little One during the holidays. We enjoyed the tradition of reading this one on Christmas Eve and certainly appreciated the rhyming of the poem (we have a preference for rhyming books). Our copy is a little green board book I found on the cheap a few years ago. We will try to make this an annual holiday read.

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

Little One & Mama’s Book Review: “Memories of the Manger” by Michelle Medlock Adams, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger

Mama and I read a really good rhyming holiday book about the birth of Baby Jesus. It was good enough to make it an annual seasonal read. (Plus, it rhymes!)

Memories of the Manger
by Michelle Medlock Adams
Illustrations by Doris Ettlinger
2000
Hardcover, 32 pages
WorthyKids

Read together December 12th, 2019
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Book #12 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Little One’s Book Review: Mama and I read a really good rhyming holiday book about the birth of Baby Jesus. The birth story is told by one of the older barn animals named Mrs. Dove, who begins the tale as soon as the younger animals gather round. We liked it a lot and gave it 5 stars for the rhyming and sweet illustrations throughout.

Mama’s Book Review: Logan and I liked this one a lot. It’s a simple concept and one of the sweetest stories we’ve read lately. We highly recommend it for the illustrations as well. We might read this book annually.

Wrapping up the holiday reads but never the holiday spirit!!

xoxo in the New Year 🎉,

Mama & Logan

Mama’s Book Review: “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf, illustrations by Robert Lawson

Logan received a classic children’s book in paperback for Christmas, one his Mama had never read before. “The Story of Ferdinand” was an enjoyable read, and we are excited to add it to our library.

The Story of Ferdinand
by Munro Leaf
Illustrations by Robert Lawson
Originally published in 1936
Paperback, 32 pages

Read together December 31st, 2019
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Book #14 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Logan received a classic children’s book in paperback for Christmas, one his Mama had never read before. “The Story of Ferdinand” was an enjoyable read, with crisp white pages and a bright red cover. We are both thankful that my aunt thought of our love for books when selecting this gift for us, and are excited to add it to our library.

The story of Ferdinand the Bull was accompanied by distinctive black and white illustrations, which were representative of the time period in which the book was written and published.

As many readers know, this is a classic children’s book from 1936, but somehow I had never read it. It was nice reading it for the first time with my little one.

Sweet and quiet, Ferdinand the Bull is a contemplative character who doesn’t enjoy vicious fighting like the rest of the bulls. Instead, he’d rather frolic in the fields, smell the flowers around him, and sit beneath a favorite cork tree on a sunny day.

Life in Madrid, Spain is very lonely for Ferdinand because he is so different from his bull brethren; his reflective nature sets him apart from the rest and has the unfortunate effect of keeping him isolated from the group. It’s not his choice — it’s just the way it’s always been.

However, Ferdinand isn’t concerned about his situation; in fact, he couldn’t be happier with himself and his uniquely-designed personality. He likes himself and doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with a bull being alone, quiet and calm. He knows he’d miss his beloved shady cork tree if he was out in the bull pen fighting the matadors in the ring.

One day, Ferdinand accidentally sits on a buzzing bumblebee while sniffing the flowers; the resulting sting sends him into a tizzy the likes of which the Madrid bullfighters have never seen.

Ferdinand catches the eye of the bullfighters with his impressive antics and is given the chance to fight in the bull pen with his fellow bulls. But he flat-out refuses because he knows without a doubt it will not please him. And he remains steadfast in his desire to just sit and smell the flowers.

A great book about staying true to who you are, the story of Ferdinand informs even the youngest readers that to explain and apologize for our uniqueness negates the power behind our mysterious qualities.

We don’t owe anyone an explanation for why we are the way we are, and we shouldn’t change ourselves even amidst the powerful pressures of our peers. Ferdinand didn’t bow to the pressures of fitting in, and neither should we. It’s a book with a timeless message and I’m sure even the adult readers of the world would benefit from spending a little time with Ferdinand.

xoxo and Happy New Year 🎉,

Mama & Logan

Mama’s Book Review: “How to Read a Book” by Kwame Alexander, art by Melissa Sweet

Aesthetically, this is probably the wildest and most creative book Logan and I have encountered.

How to Read a Book
by Kwame Alexander
Art by Melissa Sweet
2019
Hardcover
HarperCollins

Read together December 9th, 2019
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Book #11 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Aesthetically, this is probably the wildest and most creative book Logan and I have encountered. It is an incredibly artistic and beautiful display of art, design and craft. It shows us the range of creativity employed to produce an intensely visual experience. It’s wonderful in this regard and is a feast for the eyes.

While the poetry is also a nice element, the four stars are almost exclusively for the craftwork of the book’s artist; Sweet has done an amazing job with these bright, shiny pages of collage work. The contrasting neon-bright colors alone are worth the experience. Combined with Alexander’s interesting choice of poem snippets, the book literally shines as a love letter to books and the written word. It’s the most simple concept and it’s beautifully rendered. Alexander and Sweet have crafted a children’s book about books that’s appealing exclusively on a visual level.

More holiday book reviews coming up!!

xoxo from the stacks,

Mama & Logan