Quick Kids Reviews #16

Title: The Golden Acorn
Author:
Katy Hudson
Illustrator:
Katy Hudson
Source:
Free ARC from Capstone

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Capstone via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

The illustrations are fabulous! Warm and inviting, and oh so charming! I adored all the little details. And woodland creatures are a favorite of mine, squirrels coming rather high up the list, so…this book was kind of a no brainer for me from the beginning.

As for the story itself, Squirrel is used to winning The Golden Acorn competition, having done so for the past eight years. But this year, the contest rules have changed, and he has to participate as part of a team, instead of as an individual. This has him in quite a huff, and despite having his friends as willing and motivated teammates, he can’t let his frustration go. In the end, Squirrel learns a lesson about what really matters in life.

Though I love the message, it pains me to say that I struggled a little with the delivery. While the illustrations did communicate a lot, I felt a little more text could have improved the book overall. That said, I think most young children would the illustrations enchanting and the story enjoyable enough.

Title: Bears Make the Best Math Buddies
Author: Carmen Oliver
Illustrator: Jean Claude
Source: Free ARC from Capstone

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Capstone via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

My brain is visual, so when it comes to picture books, I’m all about the illustrations first. And this book? This book has wonderful pictures, bouncing between Adelaide’s classroom, the “real world”, and all the places outdoors you’d expect to see a bear (and hope to see a girl!). The colorwork is stupendous all around, but the nature scenes were by far my favorite.

The premise of the book, that Adelaide can have a bear for a math partner when there aren’t enough students in the class to pair up, is quite fun. Throughout this charming book, the author touches on some basics of math – measuring, reading a compass, shapes, adding and subtracting, counting, and sorting. But there is also recognition that math can sometimes be hard to understand, but with effort, anyone can learn it, and it’s important to do so because you’ll use it your whole life!

This book was not only a fun read but is also a great tool for introducing young kids to the basics of math and encouraging them to not give up. Math can be fun!

Title: A Colorful Tail: Finding Monet at Giverny
Author:
Joan Waites
Source:
Free ARC from Schiffer Publishing

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Schiffer Publishing via Edelweiss. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

Wow. What a lovely little book! A beautiful red fox loves the colors of spring, summer and fall, and wish he could find away to make them stay through winter. Every season, he tries to gather the seasons natural color, to preserve it, but nature come along and makes his efforts disappear. Lucky for this little fox, he lives in the garden of Claude Monet! And after witnessing the man’s technique for capturing the seasons, the fox tries to replicate the process.

Such a cute story and a wonderful way to introduce small children to the goals and importance of creating art. The illustrations were spot on – absolutely beautiful! The prose was pretty and lyrical and perfectly attuned to both the pictures and the story.

Positively loved this book!

Title: We Are the Gardeners
Author:
Joanna Gaines
Illustrator:
Julianna Swainey
Source:
Free ARC from Thomas Nelson

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

A children’s book about gardens, written by Joanna Gaines, with gorgeous artwork? Yes, please! I don’t know why it took so long for me to get to this one when I was so excited to get it, but I am ecstatic that I finally carved out time for it. So. Worth. It.

Did I mention the artwork is gorgeous? Yeah. Seriously, so lovely. Fresh and sweet and pretty. 100% perfectly suited to the subject AND author of this book. Speaking of which, the subject matter is fabulous. I love when I have time to manage a garden, and Joanna Gaines does a stunning job of explaining the wonder and magic of growing things, and actively participating and understanding nature. She also uses the difficulties of maintaining a garden (pests, critters, not understanding what a plant needs) to show that learning from challenges helps us grow, so we should embrace them and try again, using what we’ve learned.

An absolute must read. I have every intention of buying a copy for myself (oh, and my kids). You should, too!

2 Replies to “Quick Kids Reviews #16”

  1. So fun to read your reviews on these picture books! I’m sure they’re all quite nice, but I love the illustration on the cover of We Are the Gardeners. It sounds like the text is great too!

  2. The only one I read from this list is The Golden Acorn. The others sound perfectly delightful. I agree the illustrations add so much to a book, my grandchildren sometimes spend more time talking about the illustrations than it takes to write the book. Wonderful reviews Myndi.

Leave a Reply to carhicksCancel reply