Love

A very belated Happy New Year! I’ve been away too long from the blog and all of you. Lots going on. My debut picture book was announced last fall. You can find out about it here. I am doubly-excited to share today’s book. First, I absolutely adored their first collaboration, BEAUTIFUL. The colors, the energy and most importantly how they re-defined beauty. You can check out my review of it here. The second reason is Ms. Lew-Vriethoff is the illustrator for my book! I can’t wait to see what she creates for it. 🙂 Now onto the review!

Title: Love

Author: Stacy McAnulty
Illustrator: Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Publisher: Running Press Kids, 2019
Book Type: Holidays, Empathy, Love
Ages: 3-6

Opening Line:

Love is … a fancy dinner.

Synopsis (from Amazon’s website):

What is love? Can you only express it in fancy meals, greeting cards, and heart-shaped chocolates? Kids will find love everywhere in this delightful book. It can be found in everyday moments such as baking cookies with grandma, notes from Mom in your lunchbox, or a family singing together on a car trip, and it isn’t always what you expect!

Activities:

• If you like the themes of this book, then go check-out THIS IS NOT A VALENTINE by Carter Higgins.
• Make your own valentine and worksheet to go with the book.
• Do a Random Act of Kindness. Here is my blog post which has loads of ideas from when I did 40 Random Acts of Kindness in 40 Days.

Why I Like This Book:

The wonderful duo has done it again. LOVE is the third book in a series that take smarter and thoughtful interpretations of age-old sayings. The first two books were BEAUTIFUL and BRAVE, do check them out.

LOVE re-interprets the traditional ways of showing love to someone you care such as giving a fancy dinner or a designer card. A fancy dinner is preparing a doggie bowl with a flower in it for your injured dog. A designer greeting card is a child drawing a hand-drawn card with a crayon. It also reinterprets ideas such as ‘love at first sight’. You’ll have to read to find out. It’s charming.

This book can be used as a springboard for discussions about how one can show empathy and love in simple ways. It’s perfect for kids. The book shows how kids can do an act of kindness for someone without having to buy something, which is important in our consumer-driven world.

The art is vibrant and engaging and full of details. The large type and big illustrations make it perfect for a group read-aloud.

Find Love at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 0762462124
ISBN-13: 978-0762462124

This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

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Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years

Title: Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years

Author: Stacy McAnulty
Illustrator: David Litchfield
Publisher: Henry Holt, 2018
Editor: Sally Doherty
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 4-8
Theme: Earth, Space

Opening Lines:

Hi! My name is Earth.
Some people call me Gaia, the World, the blue marble, or the third planet from the sun.
You can call me Planet Awesome.

Synopsis (from Amazon website):

Prepare to learn all about Earth from the point-of-view of Earth herself! In this funny yet informative book, filled to the brim with kid-friendly facts, readers will discover key moments in Earth’s life, from her childhood more than four billion years ago all the way up to present day. Beloved children’s book author Stacy McAnulty helps Earth tell her story, and award-winning illustrator David Litchfield brings the words to life. The book includes back matter with even more interesting tidbits.

Activites:

• Printable activity sheets – maze, connect the dots, coloring sheets, and more

Why I Like This Book:

A brilliant approach to a topic that has been written about many, many times. The author cleverly portrays Earth with a child-like persona which is warm and inviting and most importantly relatable for young readers. The reader learns about Earth’s siblings (other planets in the solar system), friends (Moon), favorite activities (spinning and circling the Sun).

Not to worry there is also something for the adult reader too. Check out this funny pun which is a nod to parenting.

“I don’t remember what it was like to be a baby. Who does? But I’ve been told I was a hot mess.
Explosive. Gassy! Very cranky.”

There is a wonderful timeline with major events (presence of air, insects, dinosaurs, flowers, homo sapiens) shown against a ruler to help the reader get a grasp of the massive time scale.

The book does touch on the rough times Earth has had with asteroids, volcanoes, and ice ages. While it can seem scary, the author does a good job of reassuring the young reader that Earth is still the same on the inside and continues on. The book ends on a note of environmentalism.

The art is cute and inviting with bold colors. It is rendered through a combination of pencils, ink, watercolor paints, and digital art tools.

There is additional backmatter regarding the continents, the location of Earth in space, and the five major extinctions and a bibliography.

A great book for a preschool, lower elementary, or home library.

Find Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 125010808X
ISBN-13: 978-1250108081

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.

Beautiful

Title: Beautiful

Author: Stacy McAnulty
Illustrator: Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Publisher: Running Press Kids (September 13, 2016)
Editor: Lisa Cheng
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 3-6
Themes: Identity, Girl Power, Self-Esteem

Opening Line:

“Beautiful girls … have the perfect look.”

Synopsis (from Amazon’s website):

Every girl is unique, talented, and lovable. . . .Every girl is BEAUTIFUL.

Much more than how one looks on the outside, true beauty is found in conquering challenges, showing kindness, and spreading contagious laughter. Beautiful girls are empowered and smart and strong!

BEAUTIFUL breaks barriers by showing girls free to be themselves: splashing in mud, conducting science experiments, and reading books under a flashlight with friends. This book will encourage all girls to embrace who they are and realize their endless potential.

Why I Like Love This Book:

This book takes the sugary, sweet, stereotypical praises and compliments for little girls and turns it on its head in a superb way! This is a must have book for any young child. I think it’s important not only for girls to see who they can be, but also for boys to realize it too.

I love the interplay between text and art. The text contains the typical saying while the art shows a new and smarter interpretation of the words. Take a look at the examples below.

I love the energy, enthusiasm, and contentment of the girls enjoying the activities they are partaking in. This is where their beauty shines.

The large type and big illustrations make it perfect for a group read-aloud. Use the book as a conversation starter on breaking gender roles and asking what is beautiful.

Find Beautiful at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 0762457813
ISBN-13: 978-0762457816

The review is part of the BEAUTIFUL BLOG TOUR. Do check out these other stops over the next two weeks.

8/29 Flowering Minds
8/30 Kids’ Book Review
8/31 My Word Playground
9/1 Stacking Books
9/2 Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books
9/3 MomReadIt
9/5 Enjoy Embrace Learning
9/6 Geo Librarian
9/7 A Foodie Bibliophile
9/8 MamaBelly
9/10 Diapers and Daydreams
9/11 The Late Bloomer’s Book Blog
9/12 Unconventional Librarian

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.