Category: Picture Books

All Birds Have Anxiety – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4 out of 5 stars.

All Birds Have Anxiety is the third in a series of books that Kathy Hoopmann wrote about different types of mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. It was a good book about an important subject matter, but not my favorite in the series.

BirdsAnxiety

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Synopsis

Life as a bird can be stressful! From worrying about airplanes, windows, and getting enough worms to eat, it is clear that birds can be anxious beings. Through a light-touch, quizzical depiction of bird behaviour, All Birds Have Anxiety uses colourful images and astute explanations to explore with gentle humour what it means to live with anxiety day-to-day, and how to begin to deal with it.

Following the style of the best-selling All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome and All Dogs Have ADHD, wonderful colour photographs express the complex and difficult ideas related to anxiety disorder in an easy-to-understand way. This simple yet profound book validates the deeper everyday experiences of anxiety, provides an empathic understanding of the many symptoms associated with anxiety, and offers compassionate suggestions for change.

The combination of understanding and gentle humour make this the ideal introduction to anxiety disorder for those diagnosed with this condition, their family and friends and those generally interested in understanding anxiety.

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© Graphic Garden

Review

While the information in this book is great, there was just something about it that seemed “off”. I can’t even really put my finger on it, but I definitely didn’t like it as well as I liked the previous books, All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome and All Dogs have ADHD.

However, the information given was very well done. Simple language is used to help kids understand what anxiety is and what it might feel like in their bodies. The book discusses how to overcome anxiety as well in simple steps that are easy for any age to follow. Things like facing your fears so they don’t become even more overwhelming in your mind, controlling your breathing, etc.

The photos of the birds are beautiful and many of them seem to be experiencing anxiety when we look at them. I believe they can help children realize that they’re not the only ones feeling the way they do.  It can also help parents and other family and friends realize that this is a real issue and not something the child is doing to garner attention or get out of doing something.

All in all it’s a decent book and I do recommend it.

Do Fairies Bring the Spring? – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings5 Comments

5 out of 5 stars.

Do Fairies Bring the Spring? by Liza Gardner Walsh, illustrated by Hazel Mitchell is an absolutely delightful and charming picture book about fairies and spring.

dofairiesbringspring

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Synopsis

Everyone knows fairies love spring flowers and summer sun, but is it the fairies who wake up the earth as the snow melts? Do they entice the trees to turn green and the flowers to grow? In this charming follow-up to Where Do Fairies Go When It Snows, Liza Gardner Walsh, acclaimed author of the Fairy House Handbook and Fairy Garden Handbook, explores the matter in a children’s picture book of rhyming questions. Combined with delightful illustrations by Hazel Mitchell this whimsical book will help children discover the world of fairies and learn to enjoy and appreciate the outdoors.

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Review

This book has wormed its way right into my heart! Now, I will admit that I love fairies anyway, but this book is absolutely charming!

The text rhymes and is nice and lyrical. The pictures are just beautiful, engaging, and full of little surprises. If you really take the time to look through all the pictures, you’ll see little ladybugs, snails, bees, other little bugs, and woodland creatures. There’s a decent amount of diversity within the fairy ranks, including a boy fairy, and our main fairy is black.

I cannot say enough about the illustrations! I’m absolutely charmed by them. They’re delightful! One page talks about using tiny brushes and oil pastels to paint the flowers and some of the fairies are holding little oil pastels that they’re clearly using to color the flowers. It’s just lovely.

The text is very lyrical. A few times the rhyming words were stretching it a bit, but they never broke the lyrical pace and flow. It’s also obvious that the illustrator really paid attention to the text when she made the illustrations.

I highly recommend this book for any fairy lover in your life! It’s just delightful!

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. ***

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Strange Fruit – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4.5 out of 5 stars

Strange Fruit by Gary Golio (author) and Charlotte Riley-Webb (Illustrator) is an absolutely wonderful picture book about Billie Holiday’s famous song with the same title.

*** UPDATE: I’m happy to report that I have since seen a copy of the physical book and the font used and the size of the words is much easier to read that way! Yay! ***

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday & the Power of a Protest Song by Gary Golio (author) and Charlotte Riley-Webb (illustrator) book cover - Brilliantly colored painting with Billie Holiday singing and being accompanied by musicians

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Brief Synopsis

This picture book for older readers tells the story of how the racism protest song “Strange Fruit” came into being in 1939. This is also the story of two outsiders – Billie Holiday, a young black woman raised in poverty, and Abel Meeropol, the son of Jewish immigrants – whose combined talents created a truly unforgettable song. (Source: Goodreads)

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Review

The first thing you notice in this book are the illustrations. They are vibrant and seemingly leap from the pages. They’re sort of brash and crazy, but they’re absolutely beautiful and just right for this book. I’m not sure of the medium. They appear to be either oil paint or pastels. Perhaps even oil pastels. Whatever was used, the broad strokes and vibrant colors combine just perfectly.

The story line of the book is well told and moves along at a decent pace. The prose is well written and it’s definitely a story that deserves to be, even needs to be told. It’s not a real nice story as far as “happy ever after” and making you smile all the way through, but it’s a needed story and a well written one. It will make you think. It may cause difficult discussions between you and any children you read it with, but it’s an important story to tell and an important piece of history (and unfortunately, to a point, part of current events as well) that needs to be discussed.

The only reason this picture book did not get 5 stars from me is because I felt that at times, the text was difficult to read because of the vibrant illustrations and the small font used. Now, I did read this book as an eBook and not in print format. Perhaps it is easier to read the text in the print format. Other than that small issue, this book is phenomenal and I highly recommend it to everyone. Those who are fans of Billie Holiday will certainly appreciate it, but I believe that it’s a great book for everyone, not just those who are fans.

*** I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. ***

Line of music - 2/4 tempo with 1 flat and several accidentals in the music

About the Author and Illustrator

Gary Golio is an artist and acclaimed picture book author. His Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow was a New York Times bestseller.

Charlotte Riley-Webb, a professional visual artist with a career that spans more than 40 years, resides in the Atlanta area.

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A Tale of Two Mommies – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4.5 out of 5 stars

A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager (author) & Mike Blanc (illustrator) is a charming book about a young boy talking with another boy and girl about his two mommies, Mommy and Momma.

A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager (author) and Mike Blanc (illustrator) book cover - beach background with two white women from the waist down in shorts and sandals. A young black boy is holding one hand of each and swinging legs

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© Irenes Graphics
© Irenes Graphics

Brief Synopsis

A Tale of Two Mommies is a beach conversation among three children. One boy asks another boy about having two mommies. A young girl listening in asks some questions too.
True to a child’s curiosity, practical questions follow. “Which mom is there when you want to go fishing? / Which mom helps out when Kitty goes missing?” To which he answers: “Mommy helps when I want to go fishing. / Both Mommies help when Kitty goes missing.”

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© Graphic Garden

Review

I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t give it five stars because I felt that it began and ended really abruptly. Perhaps that’s how the author intended it to be, but it felt awkward to me. Outside of that, I really enjoyed this book.

The illustrations are brightly colored, engaging, and delightful. There is a diversity in the characters. The two mothers appear to be caucasian, as is the little girl the young boy is talking to. The protagonist of the story is a little black boy and the other little boy is Asian. I appreciate that the author/illustrator took the time to make the characters diverse.

I also loved how the questions were very much kid-oriented. They’re great questions and answers as far as which Mom helps the child with various things.

I would definitely recommend this book as a good LGBTQ resource!

** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. **

Sea floor with kelp growing and fish swimming, including 3 clown fish, 2 seahorses, 2 angelfish and 1 trout
© Irene’s Graphics

Cinder Edna – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

5 out of 5 stars.

How many ways do you know of to cook a tuna casserole? If you’re Cinder Edna, you know 16 different ways!

Book cover with penny loafer sitting on a pillow

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Synopsis

The famous Cinderella and her neighbor Cinder Edna each worked sunup to sundown for their wicked stepmother and stepsisters. But while Cinderella had the good fortune to be rescued by her fairy godmother, Edna was strong, self-reliant, spunky–and she lived happier ever after!

Line of gold crowns with alternating green, red, and blue tips
© Graphic Garden

Review

I absolutely adore this book! I picked it up at my local library many years ago and was enthralled by it. When I saw it in a small town country store in West Virginia, I bought a copy for my own. Cinder Edna is a wonderful counterweight for all the princess fairy tales that are out there. Now, I have nothing against fairy tales. I personally love reading them and love reading re-tellings of them, but I also believe that there needs to be something to balance them. Something that teaches young girls that they have the power to make their own destinies and they don’t have to rely on a Fairy Godmother or Prince Charming. Cinder Edna does this.

Cinder Edna lives next door to Cinderella. She’s treated just as badly by her stepmother and stepsisters, but she doesn’t just take her fate lying down. She doesn’t sit in the cinders thinking about all her troubles. She learns to cook tuna casserole 16 different ways. She does odd jobs around the neighborhood. She takes the bus to the various places she needs to get to. Maybe she’s not as conventionally pretty as Cinderella, but she’s spunky and fun-loving. She marries a prince too, but not one who’s conceited and vain like Prince Charming; a down-to-earth man who loves her just like she is.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to all parents, caregivers, children, teachers, etc. It’s one of the best “alternate” fairy tales out there.

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© Graphic Garden