What We’ve Been Reading: February 2016 Part 2

Hug a Bug by Eileen Spinelli — 4 stars

A short, cute book about the power of hugging and how happy it can make us to give and receive them.

Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson — 5 stars

We read this back in October actually, so this review is a bit late. I highly recommend this book for young kids. I wasn’t sure what Halloween books I could show my daughter to celebrate the holiday but not scare her. This book used poetry and mouse’s fears to show that elements of the holiday aren’t actually things to be afraid of, which I really appreciated.

The Night Eater by Ana Juan — 3 stars

I really liked this book. My daughter did not. The images are detailed and fantastical, so I liked looking at them. I don’t think my daughter was able to understand the story, though. It was just too high level for her to be able to comprehend and appreciate right now (she’s two). In a year or two I might revisit this one and see if she engages more.

The Seasons’ Colors: How they change by Joyce Markovics- 2 stars

I liked the educational value, but my daughter was bored with it rather quickly. I think she would have been better off with a book that focused the current season, sticking to one season at a time right now rather than trying to make her understand the full range of seasonal changes, why they happen, and the details like colors associated with them.

Fox’s Garden by Princess Camcam — 5 stars

There are no words in this book, just beautiful images. I was worried that my daughter wasn’t going to like it because I wasn’t necessarily reading the same thing to her each time. We talked about the book and what was going on in each page, but I wasn’t reading the authors’ sentences each time like book with a story, though. My daughter loved this book. She likes animals and seems to gravitate towards books with heart, so perhaps it was the kindness of the child to the fox that appealed to her. Or maybe it was just the fox, not too dissimilar from the dogs that she loves to see. Either way, it’s been to read this with her and let her experience different kinds of books and ways of enjoying them.