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Won’t You Be My Hugaroo?
“Won’t you be my hugaroo? I’ve lots of hugs to share with you.” I fell in love with Won’t You Be My Hugaroo? written by Joanne Ryder and illustrated by Melissa Sweet when I first read it a few years ago. The story (for the most part) has a great…
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Endangered
Endangered by Eliot Schrefer is the story of Sophie a half Congolese, half American girl who is visiting her mother on a bonobo (a type of ape) sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo when she becomes the surrogate mother for an infant bonobo, named Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out across…
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The Bully Book
Funny how themes often pop up and carry through multiple books. This is (obviously) another book about bullying, with a vastly different take from yesterday’s post of The Second Life of Abigail Walker. The Bully Book written by Eric Kahn Gale is about a young boy, Eric, who enters the…
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The Second Life of Abigail Walker
Bullying has become a huge issues in schools across America and it has clearly bled into children’s literature as well. The Second Life of Abigail Walker by Frances O’Roark Dowell is a book about rising above the bullies and believing in yourself, even when you’re not quite sure what that means. …
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Navigating Early
Clare Vanderpool has an amazing quotation on the header of her website from Madeleine L’Engle, “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” I think this is just what Vanderpool did in…
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Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
I’m trying to get some planning done in advance for a recycling art program in April and I came across an amazing book about Diego Rivera by Duncan Tonatiuh entitled Diego River: His World and Ours. This book would be a great introduction into the art of Diego Rivera for…
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Chu’s Day
“When Chu sneezed, bad things happened.” This would have been the perfect book for my story time on sneezes and sniffles…. but I didn’t have this book at the time. I absolutely love the illustrations, by Adam Rex, of the cute little panda bear with a HUGE sneeze. The full-page…
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Green
This little book is absolutely delightful! It’s s a true celebration of the color green in all of its forms and could be used as easily in story time or on-on-one. It would also be a great book to use to discuss color in an art class as well. Laura…
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Sophia’s War
The year is 1776 and as Sophia Calderwood and her mother return to their homes in New York City, they witness the hanging of Nathan Hale and Sophia vows to do all she can for the American cause. Little does she know, that she will become a maid and spy in…
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Hokey Pokey
All I can say is, wow. I finished Hokey Pokey in about 24 hours because it was absolutely amazing! Jerry Spinelli has out done himself again and I loved this book. Spinelli uses metaphors, allegory, and beautiful language to create the world of Hokey Pokey where children rule and the…