Mama’s Book Review: “Why Are You So Quiet?” by Jaclyn Desforges, art by Risa Hugo

Logan and I recently read “Why Are You So Quiet?” by Jaclyn Desforges, art by Risa Hugo. Our copy was generously provided by NetGalley.

BOOK DETAILS // WHY ARE YOU SO QUIET? by Jaclyn Desforges, art by Risa Hugo // Expected Publication Date: September 8, 2020 // Hardcover, 32 pages // Annick Press //

AN EBOOK COPY OF THIS BOOK WAS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

OUR CHALLENGE // Read together June 27, 2020 // Book #31 in our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge

Rating: 3 / 5 coffee beans

Logan and I recently enjoyed an ebook copy of “Why Are You So Quiet?” by Jaclyn Desforges, with art by Risa Hugo. This book is slated for publication by Annick Press in September 2020, so we were fortunate to have early access to the book via NetGalley.

The story of Myra Louise reminded me very much of my own childhood, as I was known as “the quiet one” (and still am to a large degree). Although I was never teased or bullied because of my bookish introversion, I know people were thinking “Does she even know how to talk?” My physical presence was “forgotten” many times because I was too busy observing and listening to the people around me instead of talking and interacting with them. In other words, this is probably one of the most relatable children’s books I’ve ever read.

Myra Louise and I know the pain of having to explain to others why we prefer books to people, and silence to talking. Introverts like us can provide a very simple answer to the annoying question “Why are you so quiet?” It’s nothing earth-shattering, yet the extroverts among us are often confounded by the simple truth: the world is much too loud — and life seems to make more sense when we are listening, not talking. Not to mention how much more we can learn about the world around us when we get quiet for a while.

Overall, Logan and I enjoyed the book, the message, and the beautiful illustrations; however, we couldn’t rate the book higher than 3 stars for at least two reasons. One, we felt the limitations of the ebook format hampered our experience of the book. The artwork is one of the better elements of this title, and it just wasn’t as easy to view and inspect it in ebook format. If we had a physical copy, we are sure we would rate the book one star higher. (Of course, this is no fault of the title itself, it’s just the only option we had at the moment and it does impact our review).

Two, we felt there could have been more time devoted to Myra Louise’s listening machine adventures. The concept of a young child being an inventor is pretty unique and the story just fell a little flat in places. This is not a major complaint, but sometimes children’s books seem a little too short, and I think this one could have been expanded by at least a few pages. Again, a good experience, and we are grateful for the chance to read the book months before publication. We hope to read it someday in print because ebook format wasn’t satisfactory for this title.

It’s a great book for children who might be self-conscious about their quiet personalities, or for children who are trying to understand their more introverted peers. It also serves as a talking point to encourage being comfortable in our own skin — no matter what the world expects of us.

We’ll see you again soon. Happy July!

Forever Between Pages,

Mama & Logan xoxo

Mama’s Book Review: “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw

Logan and I finally made it to this 1986 classic a few weeks ago. The story was beautiful, the illustrations “classic” in every sense of the word, and of course, we’ll always remember that cover with the toddler making a complete mess in the bathroom. For the heartbreaking story behind the book, click here.

“Love You Forever” is Logan-Approved!

BOOK DETAILS // LOVE YOU FOREVER by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw // 1986 // Paperback, 32 pages // Firefly Books

OUR CHALLENGE // Read together (with Mimi) June 7, 2020 // Book #30 in our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge

Rating: 5 / 5 coffee beans

Logan and I finally made it to this 1986 classic a few weeks ago. I doubt there are many people who haven’t at least heard of this children’s book. A paperback copy was gifted to Logan recently and we couldn’t wait to read this special story of a mother’s undying love for her child. This was guaranteed to be an extremely emotional read (we knew this before reading it); when I did some research and discovered the heartbreaking personal story behind the book and song (“I’ll love you forever / I’ll like you for always / As long as I’m living / My baby you’ll be”), it tugged at the heart strings even more.

We read this book with Mimi, who shared memories of having experienced it decades ago. She remembered the book from when I, Mama, was a little girl in grade school and my teacher read it during a parent-child Mother’s Day event. Mimi said my teacher warned everyone beforehand that she would try very hard not to break down and cry while reading it.

Yes, it’s one of those books.

One of those books where you’re looking around the room, asking “Who’s chopping onions?”

But that’s no surprise, because we expect any story about a mother’s love for her child (a son) to be heartfelt and sentimental. We were a little concerned about the part where the little old lady climbs up a ladder into the upstairs bedroom of her grown son! We understand that the book is simply making a point of how much this woman loves her dear child, but we thought that was a mite eccentric. I don’t know too many grannies climbing ladders, do you?

The story was beautiful, the illustrations “classic” in every sense of the word, and of course, we’ll always remember that cover with the toddler making a complete mess in the bathroom.

If you don’t know about this book, I have to ask: which rock have you been hiding under? And if you just remembered this book, why don’t you grab a copy and experience it again? It’s probably still one of the sweetest stories you’ve ever read. The book has been deemed a little “over-the-top” or strange to some people, and I can see where they’re coming from. And it’s heartbreaking when you learn the story’s origins. But we think it’s still one of the sweetest and most unforgettable stories of the last half-century.

Hope you’re having a great summer so far!

Forever Flipping Pages,

Mama & Logan xoxo

Mama’s Book Review: “Hair Love” by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Logan and I read another great book about strong family relationships with “Hair Love” by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrator Vashti Harrison. The story was simple and powerful, as the best stories tend to be.

Hair Love
by Matthew A. Cherry
Illustrated by Vashti Harrison
2019
Hardcover, 32 pages
Kokila

Read together April 29, 2020
Rating: 4 / 5 ⭐️
Book #26 in our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge

Logan and I read another great book about strong family relationships with “Hair Love” by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrator Vashti Harrison. The story was simple and powerful, as the best stories tend to be.

Adorable main character Zuri is a bright and shining little girl excited to spend quality time with her daddy while her mommy is out for the day. But it’s not just an ordinary day; it’s the perfect day to design the prettiest hairstyle!

That would be an ordinary undertaking for another little girl, but Zuri has wild and untamed hair. It kinks and coils and generally misbehaves, impervious to the comb and brush and always needing special care and attention. For this important mission, Zuri needs her Daddy’s help.

Lucky for Zuri, her daddy is hard-working and determined to give his daughter the best style. But managing Zuri’s hair is not for the faint of heart and even Daddy struggles to get it just right. Much time is spent in front of the bathroom mirror to give her a hairstyle that brings out her unique beauty.

Images courtesy of the publisher (Kokila) and cloudLibrary; my photo arrangement in Pic Collage

Eventually, the desired hairstyle is achieved and it’s all thanks to Daddy’s enthusiasm and hard work. He loves his little girl and it’s obvious how much he wants to make her happy. The beautifully-detailed illustrations by Harrison show the love between the two in cheerful spreads of color.

When mommy comes home at the end of the day, she hugs her little girl and compliments daddy’s handiwork. A memorable line at the end of the book: “My hair is Mommy, Daddy and me. It’s hair love.”

This is one of the sweetest family stories we’ve read so far. We enjoyed every page, and we think you will too! Highly recommend 🌺

BONUS: Watch the heartwarming Oscar- winning short film “Hair Love” from Sony Pictures Animation. Is someone chopping onions in this room, or what?

Until Next Time,

Mama & Logan

Mama’s Book Review: “Dinosaur vs. Bedtime” by Bob Shea

A scenario any child can relate to, this super-short and simple book is appropriate for the youngest of children and shows how hard a little dinosaur will fight bedtime. Spoiler alert: bedtime eventually wins.

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime
by Bob Shea
2008
Hardcover Board Book, 40 pages
Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Read together February 20, 2020
Rating: 2 / 5 ⭐️
Book #21 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

A quick little board book about a red dinosaur who doesn’t want to go to bed. A scenario any child can relate to, this super-short and simple book is appropriate for the youngest of children and shows how hard a little dinosaur will fight bedtime — although it will conquer him in the end. We gave it 2 stars because it’s such a simple, elementary reading experience and we’re striving for more. This book, part of the Dinosaur Vs. series, is cute but not great.

Spring has almost sprung! More titles coming soon!!

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

Little One and Mama’s Book Review: “The Finger and the Nose” by Paula Merlan and Gomez (illustrator)

Originally published in Portugal, “The Finger and the Nose” tells an amusing tale of extreme nose-picking and a child’s (forced) mission to evict her troublesome friend from his nose-home. You’ve never read anything like it!!

The Finger and the Nose
by Paula Merlan
Gomez (illustrator)
2019
Hardcover, 44 pages
NubeOcho

Read together February 2, 2020
Rating: 3 / 5 ⭐️
Book #19 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Little One’s Book Review: Sophie has a little problem…that’s quickly turning into a big problem. She loves picking her nose; a common enough habit for most children, Sophie has taken her picking to the next level. She loves picking her nose so much that she has named her nose-picking finger Tom, and he’s become a rather close friend.

One day, she looks in the mirror and notices that her nose is getting bigger; she compares it to a large radish. It has beyond doubled in size and the growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Her parents told her this would happen if she didn’t stop letting Tom the Finger in her nose to root around all the time. Of course, Sophie didn’t believe them but now she thinks there might be something to it.

Sophie has made a nice home in her nose for Tom the Finger and he’s starting to explore and expand every day. That’s why her poor nose is getting bigger; Tom is upgrading his habitat!! Upon closer inspection, he’s got quite a nice place to live in Sophie’s nostril: he enjoys a large living room where he reads books, among other nice amenities.

If Sophie wishes her nose to return to normal non-radish size, she’ll have to stop her constant nose-picking and Tom will have to help out. Eventually, she figures out a way to occupy Tom in other pursuits. Things go back to normal when he behaves as properly as Sophie’s other fingers.

Mama’s Book Review: This is a cute book about a rather unsavory habit that many children will relate to and chuckle at while reading the story. I’m willing to bet that both children and adults have not encountered any subject matter quite like it in a children’s book, although the idea (plot) is pretty unique.

Originally published in Portugal, “The Finger and the Nose” tells an amusing tale of extreme nose-picking and a child’s (forced) mission to evict her troublesome friend from his nose-home. You’ve never read anything like it!! The artwork isn’t really a draw for us but it actually matches the story perfectly.

The artwork and the ick factor (which is a bit over the top) are why we rated it 3 / 5 ⭐️ However, we think the “grossness” won’t bother young children too much, as they pride themselves on this kind of behavior sometimes. And the book is perfect for a nice laugh.

Can you believe it’s almost the end of February?! We’ll be back soon with more reviews; marching toward March (and Spring).

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

Little One’s Book Review: “A Big Bed for Little Snow” by Grace Lin

Mama and I read this book a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty good. The story taught a lesson about listening to your mother and not jumping on the bed. It’s a hard rule to follow for many children, as we learn from the main character.

A Big Bed for Little Snow
by Grace Lin
2019
Hardcover, 40 pages
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Read together February 2, 2020
Rating: 3 / 5 ⭐️
Book #18 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Mama and I read this book a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty good. The story was a little bland but the illustrations were incredibly beautiful; the artwork was the biggest draw for us, and although we’re not sure, the medium might have been watercolor. The story taught a lesson about listening to your mother and not jumping on the bed. It’s a hard rule to follow for many children, as we learn from the main character.

A little boy named Little Snow has a very special new bed to sleep in during the winter: a big blue bed made out of soft feathers. His mother gave him the bed and warned him to take care of it and sleep carefully in it. Beds ARE just for sleeping, right? Ordinarily that’s true, but Little Snow has discovered how bouncy his new bed is and he can’t resist jumping up and down on it!

Each night during the winter, Little Snow gets ready for bed, and his mother thinks he’s going to just SLEEP in his bed. The sneaky boy waits for his mother to leave before he does his naughty little deed of jumping on his big blue feather bed. He has such a great time jumping up and down and seeing how high he can soar; the fun seems endless.

Unfortunately, to his mother’s chagrin and quiet amusement, she knows exactly what Little Snow is up to each night and she tells him he’s being a naughty boy and he’s going to ruin his wonderful new bed. But Little Snow just can’t help himself; when he should be sleeping, he’s bouncing up and down on his bed like it’s a trampoline!

Soon enough, Little Snow’s bed starts to lose its feathers and go flat. However, his mother isn’t upset with him; it’s the end of the winter season and it’s time to store the bed away. Now that the feathers have all escaped the bed, it’s much easier to do so. Little Snow knows he’ll jump to his heart’s content on the big blue feather bed again next season, and he’s already looking forward to it. (We’re pretty sure his mother knows his plans as well.)

More book reviews on the way!!

xoxo,

Mama & Logan

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: “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: “Not Just a Book” by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

Read together (with Mimi) November 19, 2019

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Book #8 in our “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” challenge

Logan and I had another book-date with Mimi for this one, and it was another rousing success. The whole gang loved this sweet book with a very simple concept. (It seems the more straightforward the plot/storyline, the more we enjoy the reading experience. There doesn’t seem much need for convolution in a children’s book.)

Logan and I had another book-date with Mimi for this one, and it was another rousing success. The whole gang loved this sweet book with a very simple concept.

Not Just a Book
by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross
2018
Hardcover, 32 pages
Andersen

A little girl, pictured on the cover, tells of (and physically demonstrates) the many ways in which a book can be experienced and enjoyed by the reader. Many of these suggestions are silly and unconventional, not too mention extremely hazardous to the “health” of a book! Silliness aside, however, they provide unexpected commentary on the many physical pleasures of reading tangible paper books. (There’s something about the immediacy of a good physical book, eh?) No offense to the ebook and other technological inventions, but sometimes a hardcover book is just what a little girl needs!

How else would she be able to turn an ordinary book (although no book is truly “ordinary”) into the following objects: a fancy hat, building blocks, a flower-press and even a fly-swatter! While a book is never just a book and can be used for many things, the most important function of a book is its ability to transform and transport our imaginations to distant places and teach us all about the world around us. Let’s just hope the book featured in the story isn’t a library book!!

What books have transformed your view of the world and transported you to other places?

Marching Toward Christmas,

Mama & Logan