It is January and that means #ReadYourWorld Day is coming!! This year I am one of the book reviewers once again. I believe I may have missed one year but have been reviewing books for almost every one of the fourteen years! Today we are sharing our first book for the 2026 day. It is Lorena and the Magic Mocha Mirror by Valerie Williams-Sanchez. It is recommended for ages 6 to 8 and the second edition is Dyslexia-friendly! Before we get to our review, we will share a bit about Read Your World.
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Sarah Scheerger to bring you this post.
Have you ever had a moment where you are trying to help but your "help" is making things worse? Perhaps you are just trying to make things better but the "help" is not wanted? Today we are sharing a book about this situation. It is called Dude. Be Nice by Sarah Scheerger with Brent and Jamie Camalich and illustrated by Alex MacNaughton. There is a giveaway at the end of the post.
It is hard to believe that school is almost out, and summer is almost upon us. We had the high school graduation on Friday. I have some classroom cleanup to do and then conferences next week, but otherwise I am done! Summer means so many things. Of course, there is often a summer reading assignment as well as summer reading programs at libraries and Barnes and Noble. Grades 1 through 6 can read eight books this summer and get a free book at Barnes and Noble. When Hazel was younger, I liked to come up with different themes for us to explore in the summer. This summer I plan to share some themes and resources with you. We will start today with a roundup of new picture books that are perfect for 4 to 8-year-olds. With each book there are ideas of activities or more books to check out with it. Happy reading!
Where do tacos come from? What about pizza? We have all heard stories of food coming from one place or another and even some stories about different places claiming the first of a food. Today I get to share a fun new book with you that explores the origins of some of our favorite foods and how they became what they are today. The book is The Traveling Taco: The Amazing & Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong. Mia blogs over at Pragmatic Mom and is cofounder of Read Your World (formerly Multicultural Children's Book Day). The book is recommended for ages 5 to 8.
April brings thoughts of a certain bunny visiting, but today I am going to share a book about a different type of bunnies. They are the bunnies on Nantucket. I've only been to Nantucket a couple of times and once was for a job interview, but I know Cape Cod is full of bunnies. In fact, when I was young the estate next to my grandparents' street was called Bunny Haven. I always wanted to live there. Sadly, it was sold and turned into a street full of multiple houses. However, the bunnies still fill the yards of all the houses. In the summer the bunnies are everywhere. Needless to say, today's book hit an extra special chord with my heart. The book is Bunnies to the Rescue! by Jeff Verney and illustrated by Melissa Bailey. At the end of this post there is a giveaway and a bunny craft roundup!
I have a confession to make. I still play with dollhouses. Well, I build them and love decorating them. I recently got into book nooks thanks to a friend. We actually ran a mini course for our students in February where the kids (and we) created our own book nooks. We had a kit for the box of the book nook but then we mostly made everything that went into it. We did take the kids to Michael's for supplies so some bought furniture or decor. However, many made them completely out of things like clay, cardboard, popsicle sticks, and fabric. Some of them were amazing!! I actually made two. I did a backyard one with bird feeders and a tea shop one. They were so fun! In fact, I think I like creating my own things better than the kit ones. Today I get to share an activity book for kids who love to create and build. Instead of a dollhouse they get to build an entire town with this book! It is My First Town: A Building Block Book created by Merrill Rainey. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
Holiday season is fast approaching. It means we will be gathering with family and friends. We will possibly be seeing family we don't see all the time. We may even be asking our young ones to help others and help out with the holiday preparations. Today I am sharing a round-up of new picture books that are about all of these things--gathering, working together, helping others and family. The first book we will share is Together by Laura Manaresi and illustrated by Giovanni Manna. It is recommended for ages 7 to 9.
What is better than sprinkles and unicorns? A good friend of course!! Today I get to share a new picture book (released today) about best friends. It takes us through the good times and a bad time in a friendship. The book is Even Better Than Sprinkles: A Story About Best Friends by Linda Skeers and illustrated by Heather Fox. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
Do you have an emerging reader who is ready for easy chapter books? Does he or she love mysteries? I have a fun, new multicultural book (and eventually a series) for you to check out. It is The Book Bandit by Caron Pescatore and illustrated by Amanda Neves. It is part of the A Phoebe Chen Mystery series.
Spring is in the air! I see the tips of our daffodils, tulips and irises poking out of the soil between the mounds of snow. Spring is my favorite season. I love watching the world come back to life. I saw my first robin last week, so I know the warmer weather will be here soon. That means it is time to think about my garden. Today I am sharing a beautiful book comparing love to a garden. I made a match game with the beautiful illustrations and have a round-up of flower and garden crafts as well as a giveaway!! It is fun post! The book is called My Love for You Is Like a Garden by Laura Smetana.
We all have those embarrassing moments. We also have those family members who can be rather embarrassing. Do you remember having to go to school functions with your embarrassing family? Did you worry about them embarrassing you in front of your friends and teachers? Today's book is about just that. The book is Embarrassing George by Kimber Morgan and illustrated by Jessica Kwan.
When Hazel was younger, we loved exploring the world and participated in a blog group celebrating food from around the world. We did the series Around the World in 12 Dishes. I miss it sometimes because it got us exploring different dishes. Some we loved and others not so much. Today I get to share a book that lets you explore the world through food so basically our series in one book sort of. The book is Ultimate Food Atlas: Maps, Games, and Recipes for Hours of Delicious Fun by Nancy Castaldo and Christy Mihaly. It is from National Geographic Kids and is recommended for ages 8 to 12 but could work with younger kids with adult help.
Have you been watching the Olympics? This year is the first time I have really watched in a long time. I love watching the women's gymnastics but always hated how it was shown so late. I love the live streaming videos that I can watch any time. With the Summer Games in Tokyo and where spectators are not allowed, I thought it was the perfect time to explore Tokyo and Japan. Today I'm going to share some cookbooks to bring home a bit of the Japanese culture with food and it is food your kids may enjoy! These books are also perfect for getting ready for school lunches, parties and more! We will start with Ultimate Bento by Marc Matsumoto and Maki Ogawa.
What is your favorite color? It is a question we often ask children and occasionally adults. My favorite color is pink, in case you couldn't guess. It always has been pink. Growing up my favorite flavors of ice cream were strawberry and bubble gum. I still love strawberry ice cream and strawberry cake. I believe Hazel's obsession with flamingos when she was little was because they are pink. It is her favorite color as well. Today I get to share one of the books in the My Favorite Color Activity Book Series. And, yes, I get to share My Favorite Color Is Pink illustrated by Mei Støyva.
It is hard to believe summer is fast approaching. What a year we have had. We have made huge strides fighting the world pandemic. Our state is going to open up fully on the 29th. The vaccines seem to be working. We have been lucky. Hazel's age is approved for the vaccine so she will be fully vaccinated a couple of weeks into her summer vacation. She has also been in school in person all year. However I know many schools were not in person. Many kids are a bit behind so this summer it will be even more important to have them reading and learning. Today I am going to share three fun, useful and interesting books that kids will love learning from this summer. All three are from National Geographic Kids which means they are pretty easy reads without long stories or chapters and more fun facts and photos. We will start with the National Geographic Kids Almanac 2022.
May is Asian/Pacific Islander-American Heritage Month. Last May I focused on Japan and I thought this year I might try to do that with Vietnam, but as I looked at my resources this year I decided I would do one post on Vietnam and posts about other Asian and Pacific Island countries. Today we will focus on Vietnam and I will share two books--a cookbook and a picture dictionary. At the end I will share a round-up of some activities and books on the topic of Vietnam and the culture.
