Hey, Bruce! An Interactive Book

Hey, Bruce!: An Interactive Book by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ryan T. Higgins' books are an auto-buy for our family, and this one did not disappoint. My kids giggle and take turns poking, swirling, lifting, turning, and shaking the book, etc. as the mice try and "help" Bruce take his nap. We've read it many times since the Easter Bunny first delivered it in April.

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Julián Is a Mermaid

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this beautiful picture book about a boy who goes swimming with his grandma and on the way home sees people dressed as mermaids on the train, then creates his own mermaid costume while his grandma is in the shower. He isn't sure how he is going to respond when she sees the mess he's made, but she doesn't get mad, she helps him accessorize and takes him to see a show with other mermaids.

I love how this book celebrates imagination and depicts the loving, supportive relationship between a boy and his grandmother. I love the inter-generational and diverse characters and body types depicted in the lovely illustrations. My son also loves to dress up in costumes and play pretend, and though I'm pretty sure I would not react well if he took down our curtains to make a costume, I try very hard to create an environment where he has no worries about being accepted for expressing himself. I love that this book features a scene where such support is not only possible but just the way things are. Our world would be an infinitely better place if that were true everywhere.

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A Small Kindness

A Small Kindness by Stacy McAnulty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kindness is like "a game of tag," and every one of us can pass it on to someone else.

A delightful story, with illustrations reminiscent of Trudy Ludwig's The Invisible Boy, where kindness spreads color as the tale progresses. It's set at an elementary school with a very diverse class of students (and teacher) with varying hair and skin colors, as well as a child who uses a walker and another with a hearing aid.

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Norman Didn't Do It! (Yes, he did.)

Norman Didn't Do It!: by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Norman and Mildred are best friends. The fact that one is a porcupine and the other a tree makes no difference at all. That is, until the day that a seedling begins to grow nearby. Then Norman's worries sprout and take root as well, until he feels the new tree is such a threat to his relationship with Mildred that he digs it up in the dark of night and takes it far, far away. Fixed! Except...it didn't fix anything, and now Norman feels horribly guilty and ashamed of himself. What's a porcupine to do?

As always, Ryan T. Higgins' artwork is worth many thousands of words. So much nuance and emotion conveyed with his illustrations. Brilliant, as always.

I love that this is a book depicting someone making a horrible choice, realizing the harm his actions have caused, coming up with a plan to make amends, and following through--a really critical life skill! And this book does it in such a way that it doesn't come across as preachy or afterschool-special-y. A great read-aloud for preschool through early elementary school. Or let's be honest, it's a great read for *adults* too!

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Why?

Why? by Adam Rex
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When a would-be supervillain crashes through the roof of a shopping mall, everyone flees except a little girl who keeps asking, “Why?” in response to every proclamation he makes. Soon it’s just the two of them wandering the stores, her repeated question inducing him to ponder how he came to this place and time, wondering if maybe his dreams lie elsewhere. A delightful depiction of curiosity cutting through the bluster of a bully to see the wounded child inside.

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The Magical Yet

The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We borrowed this book from the library a few weeks ago because my daughter has been struggling with learning math, reading, and P.E., and getting very frustrated and upset because she unfortunately inherited my perfectionism without my facility for numbers and letters. We've been trying to communicate our faith in her ability to learn if she persists and doesn't give up, but nothing was really getting through until we read this book together. She LOVES it. So today I bought her her very own copy, and she squealed with wide-eyed delight.

The embodiment of the Yet as a magical creature who remains with you even into adulthood, helping you persevere, learn, and grow seems to have flipped a switch in my daughter's mind. This is not to say that she doesn't still get frustrated and try to procrastinate or stall...a LOT...but she now better comprehends that the struggle is part of the process of learning, and she's more willing to keep trying. When she gets upset because she can't do something the way she would like and howls, "I can't do it!" we can say, "You can't do it YET," and that usually helps her calm down a bit. Her reading level is improving daily, and I have hope that the math will eventually click into place in her brain. The P.E., well, we make sure she gets exercise. An Olympic athlete she is highly unlikely to be.

I really appreciate that the main character is a brown-skinned child, and other diverse characters are depicted throughout, too. I love the easy-to-read rhyme scheme that helps the story flow right along, and I love that learning is depicted as iterative, with plenty of mistakes and stumbles along the way.

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Bruce's Big Storm

Bruce's Big Storm by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like all the other Bruce books, this one is absolutely delightful--funny for kids and for their grown-ups. This time around, Bruce is the reluctant host of all the neighborhood animals during a big storm. When a tree crashes through the roof and slices the house in two, the neighbors rally to fix up the house even better than before--adding a "rumpus room" (It's for rumpusing!) where everyone can hang out and play cards. My kids ask for this as a bedtime story over and over and can now recite pretty much the entire book. Or at least sections of it before dissolving in giggles. We love Bruce books so much!

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The Girl and the Bicycle

The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely LOVE this sweet, wordless book about a girl who spies a bicycle in a store window and does chores all year to earn money to buy it, only to discover it's no longer available. She chooses kindness and generosity to her little brother instead, despite her overwhelming disappointment. And there is a surprise waiting for her at the neighbor's house when the children return home.

I checked this out from the library last week, and my son has been fetching it, asking to read it to me--yes, I have my kids tell ME what's happening on each page--every single night since then. That makes my librarian-mama's heart so happy!!

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We Don't Eat Our Classmates

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Penelope Rex is nervous about her first day of school--will her classmates like her? Poor Penelope has a hard time making friends, especially when she keeps eating her classmates (because children are delicious!). It's not until the class goldfish gives her a taste of her own medicine that Penelope learns how to treat others as she'd like to be treated.

This book is HILARIOUS, as per usual for Ryan T. Higgins' books. I bought it just before my daughter started kindergarten, when she was getting nervous about what school would be like. It is a great way to teach empathy and kindness through humor, and there is so much to look at on every page that it bears endless re-readings.

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I'm a Frog!

I'm a Frog! by Mo Willems
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gerald panics when Piggie starts ribbitting and announces she's a frog. Will HE be turned into a frog, too? He doesn't want to be a frog! Piggie has to explain that she's just PRETENDING to be a frog, and he can pretend, too. But Gerald doesn't want to be a frog.... Moooooooo!

This book is funny and makes my kids laugh, especially when I act out the voices and facial expressions. The pictures really tell the story even more than the words do!

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Pattern Bugs

Pattern Bugs by Trudy Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This awesome book about patterns features a different type of bug on each set of pages. While the style of art wasn't my cup of tea at first, once I looked closer, I absolutely loved the myriad ways the illustrator, Anne Canevari Green, included the patterns, from the page borders to the size/shape/colors of the markings on the bugs, to the lines radiating out from the center of a flower, to the length/shape/color of leaves, and so very many more! The book is fun to read out loud, but the true joy and value in it is in snuggling with a preschooler and seeing who can spot all the patterns on a page. GREAT for early literacy--patterns, rhymes, and good times.

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Pigs to the Rescue

Pigs to the Rescue: A Picture Book by John Himmelman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Farmer Greenstalk's pigs are eager to follow in the chickens' footsteps and save the day...but they aren't quite as successful in their efforts, which makes for some hilarious illustrations. The spirited swine romp through the week with more enthusiasm than sense: plowing furrows deep enough to stand up in, drenching the flower garden down to bare stalks, ripping a kite out of a tree, waking the neighborhood with a cacophony of squeals and oinks, tying on a shoe with a cocoon of rope and ribbon, and sending the duck on a birthday balloon ride. When the cat spills her milk, the family warns, "Don't let the pigs know!"

...Cows to the rescue!

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Chickens to the Rescue

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Farmer Greenstalk & his family are incredibly lucky to have such amazing chickens! The plucky poultry retrieve a watch from a well, cook dinner, rewrite a chewed up book report, bring back a stolen truck, rescue a cow from a tree, and bring home lost sheep. Chickens to the rescue! But by Sunday, they are tired and deserve a rest. ...Pigs to the rescue!

This hilarious tale of resourceful hens had the preschoolers in my storytime cackling with glee. We practiced saying the repeated phrase, "Chickens to the rescue!" before we began, and they belted it out with enthusiasm on every other page (spread).

I do wish the human characters weren't all so pale-skinned, but otherwise this is a fantastic, funny, farce.

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Be Quiet!

Be Quiet! by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I gave this to my daughter for her 5th birthday because it makes me laugh out loud every single time I read it. Poor Rupert the Mouse just wants to create a wordless book, but his friends keep talking and ruining it! There are cameos by Higgins' character Bruce and one of the goslings (from his Mother Bruce series), which add to the fun. Plus, my daughter now knows the word "onomatopoeia"!

The illustrations really add to the story. I love Higgins' style of artwork--so much is conveyed by the expressions on the animals' faces and their body language.

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I'm Sad

I'm Sad by Michael Ian Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a FANTASTIC book about sadness/grief. It's OK to feel sad, it won't last forever, and different things make different people/animals/potatoes feel better. There is some humor, too, although I don't quite want to "shelve" it as humor. But it did make my coworker laugh out loud, which is what brought the book to my attention in the first place!

The illustrations are outstanding--similar to Mo Willems in the way that a few lines and relatively simple drawings perfectly capture the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of these three friends.

My only quibble is that the wrong verb tense is used on one page, which is a pet peeve of mine. It should say, "If I WERE an astronaut, I would never be sad." Not "was." Copy editors should have caught this mistake. It's an "unreal conditional." Yes, I know I'm a big grammar nerd, but clarity and accuracy matters in language/communication!

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