This picture book counts up mythical creatures in a magical fairyland as they dance and fly with their parents. Each family of fairies, griffins, centaurs, and trolls grows in size as we count from 1 to 10. The rhyming text is meant to be sung to the tune of "Over in the Meadow".

Each mystical family is in their own element. The mermaids swim in cool water. The centaurs practice archery in a forest. The dragons fly through the clouds. The dwarves carve rock and stone. The mother or father teaches their children to work together and learn the magic ways of the woodland.

The illustrations are marvelous. The art is warm, rich, and vibrant. There are tiny details in the illustrations that make each scene come alive with magic: little dew drops on a leaf, the sparkle of a waterfall, the strands of hair or fur on the mythic creatures. Each little whisker is alive with energy and movement.

My favorite illustration is of "a bright father phoenix" and his little phoenix child. They are reborn from the ashes and fly up towards the sun with flaming feathers and glowing eyes. The artwork is incredibly beautiful with the rays of the sunshine illuminating the entire scene.

I sang this book to my nieces and they loved it! The text is perfect in every way. The rhymes are good, the rhythm is correct, and the lyrics are clever and fun! It's easy to sing along.

One of the best things about this book is that there is a griffin hidden in each scene. At the beginning of the story, the mother griffin sends her children out to "guard every home" in the woodland. So the griffins are hiding in the background of each scene, watching over the fairy families, and keeping everyone safe. At the end of the story, the griffins return to their den at nightfall and report back to their mother that the woodland is "all safe."
I LOVE picture books with hidden things to look for in each page, and I love how the griffins tie the entire story arc together.

I am so in love with this book! This is one of those books that you keep forever and read to your grandkids someday.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

A ruthless gang of dognappers is on the loose, and their next target is.... That Dog! But That Dog will not be caught unawares. He is on their trail, following the clues to rescue the other dogs who have been dognapped. The dognapper's assistant is not too bright, and he mistakenly kidnaps a snake, a rabbit, and a cat while searching for That Dog.

I love the silly story and the fun characters. That Dog is quite a clever dog, and I liked how we see him with a notebook full of clues. He carries around a magnifying glass and reads books like "Sherlock Bones and Dog Watson". He reads the newspaper and does the crossword puzzle. A dog who reads is my kind of dog.

I love the cute illustrations in this book! The cartoony style and bright colors are perfect for this type of silly story. The best part is all the details in the background of each scene. There is a newspaper that alerts the community of the dognappers evil presence. There are Wanted posters around the town. As the dognapper's assistant searches for That Dog, he leaves behind little clues; he loses a hat, then a glove, and he leaves footprints on the floor. Those little details that aren't included in the text enhance the story so much, and make it really fun to search the artwork for clues. My favorite illustrated detail is a child in the background reading "Big Cat", which is another fantastic book by this author. It may be a shameless plug, but it's adorable!

Everything about this book is whimsical and fun!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Florence's class is making family tree projects, and Florence is worried that her tree will cover the whole wall in the classroom. Her family is big and blended and beautiful. She has three sets of parents and step-parents, along with several half-brothers and half-sisters. Florence isn't sure if her class will quite understand the complexity of her family tree, but she learns to be proud of her unique family.

I loved this sweet book about family identity! Florence is just adorable, and she has to navigate her anxiety over how other people might judge her family. As she learns to appreciate her wild and complicated family connections, she has the confidence to explain her family tree and celebrate how massive her class project has become.

The illustrations are lovely with soft colors and gentle brush strokes. I like the fuzzy quality of the art style. Each character is really cute!

I love the positive message of family in this book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This whimsical story follows two friends, Max and Ely, as they try to stop the passage of time so that Ely won't have to go to the hospital. If they can stop the moon from moving, then they can stop time. They build a rocket ship for Ely's wheelchair and try to lasso the moon, but nothing can stop the moon and eventually Ely has to leave. Max has to deal with his feelings of grief and his anger at the moon, but eventually he realizes that his memories of his friend are more precious than anything.

I love how this book takes a difficult subject like childhood cancer and creates a sweet story of healing. Even though the subject is serious, there are some light-hearted moments of fun. I love how imaginative the children are as they plot how to stop the moon from moving and how to build their rocket ship.

The characters are very kind to each other, working together to alleviate their fears. It's really lovely to see how they connect and support each other.

I love the gentle writing style. It's thoughtful and emotional, with just the right mood for each scene. It's truly masterful story-telling.

The illustrations are beautiful! I love the fuzzy art style and the soft colors. Each illustration really captures the emotion of the scene and quietly leads the reader through the story.

This would be the perfect book to help start a dialogue about grief, and give some context and guidance to help make sense of the loss.

(In the ARC I read, there are a couple of places with some punctuation errors, but I'm assuming those will be corrected before the first edition is published.)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

While a mother is folding the laundry, her child climbs into a big shirt, and she tries to fold the "shirt". First she folds in the arms, and then folds the shirt in half by tucking in the child's legs. But the "shirt" runs away! She tries to put it in a drawer, but it pops out again. She tries to hang it up in the closet, but the "shirt" is too heavy for the hanger.

This is such an adorable book! I love how imaginative the mother and child are as they pretend the child is a shirt. Their affectionate connection is evident on every page as they play and pretend together. It's fun to see them transform a boring chore into a game.

Even though it's such a simple story, I was giggling through every page, and almost cried when the "shirt" says "I love you, Mommy." So sweet! So cute! Adorableness overload!

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. The art has such a unique style, and I love all the details in the background. There are even detailed designs on the clothing and fabrics that make each scene stand out as something special. The characters are perfect with playful expressions and gestures that bring the story to life.

I am so impressed with this delightful book! It perfectly captures the silliness and fun of playing make-believe with a young child.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Santa has retired, and the elves use Santa.com to handle delivering all the Christmas presents. Cyber Scrooge hacks the system and Christmas will be cancelled unless three determined elves can find Santa, the missing sleigh, and the reindeer.

This story is funny and entertaining. I like the mystery as the elves search for the sleigh and try to find Santa. There is also some great humor when they find the reindeer, but the reindeer have grown fat and are too out-of-shape to pull the sleigh.

I love the positive messages about preserving your heritage and not losing personal connections in a faceless technological corporation. The elves and Santa working together is what made the magic of Christmas so special, and they begin to realize that nothing can replace a personal connection, especially when it comes to Christmas.

The story line is great, but the writing confused me in a couple of places. There's a scene where everyone is standing, and then it says that someone stood up. Um, weren't they already standing?

There's another scene where some random person helps the elves to repair the sleigh. Who is that dude? What's his motivation? What's his name? Why is he helping? How does he know how to fix the sleigh? Who are you, nameless character with one line?

In another scene, the elves ask local children to help the reindeer to get back into shape. How are they getting them back in shape? Feeding them less? Riding the reindeer around? Herding the reindeer up a mountain path for exercise?

I just wish things were explained a little more. It's kind of random. I'm being nit-picky though, and I'm reading this like an adult who needs things explained. A child would not notice these things and would just enjoy the story.

One of the things that annoyed me is the present tense writing. That always gets on my nerves. It's just a pet peeve of mine. It probably would not bother other people at all.

Overall, this is a delightful Christmas story! Don't listen to my bah-humbug criticisms.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This counting story follows ten animals as they snuggle into a nice warm den to hibernate through the winter. The mouse falls asleep, and is soon joined by a snail, squirrel, hedgehog, mole, rabbit, and more, until they are all snoring together in a big heap.

The text introduces each animal, and then has a repetitive rhyme that counts up the animals and describes how the animal den is growing from a tiny heap to a massive heap of snoozing animals all snoring together. The repetition is perfectly designed for young children, who love repetition and can learn to count and read along.

This is such a snuggly book! The gentle story is perfect for bedtime. There is also a lot of silliness that makes the book fun. I was laughing at the cute animals and the charming ending.

I love the sweet illustrations. Every little animal is adorable and cute! I love the soft art style, and the beautiful scenes. When the rabbit yawned, I ACTUALLY yawned too! haha! That's how powerful the suggestion of a yawn can be.

This whole book makes me want to snuggle into a warm blanket and take a nap! Lovely from start to finish.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Josh is a little squirrel looking for a family, but he misbehaves and pushes away anyone who tries to get close to him. He plays pranks and makes a nuisance of himself to prove that no one could ever really love him, until he meets an elephant couple who are patient and kind. They teach him about family and how to be there for each other no matter what.

I loved this sweet story! Josh is such a sad little character, but he is also cute and funny. I like how this book balances fun and silliness with the more serious subject material.

The illustrations are completely adorable, and I love all the various animal characters. The expressions on their faces really bring the story to life. I like the soft art style and the little details of the feathers and fur of the animals.

A beautiful book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This treasury includes "Princess Pistachio", "Princess Pistachio and the Pest", and "Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent".

In the first book, Pistachio is convinced that she is actually a kidnapped princess. She receives a mysterious crown in the mail, and believes that her real parents, the king and queen, will be coming to take her away to a palace. When she wears her crown to school, the other children make fun of her. Eventually, Pistachio learns to appreciate her family even if they aren't royalty. She even learns to love her bratty little sister, Penny.

In the second book, Pistachio has to babysit her baby sister, Penny, and they go to the park. But Penny keeps getting into trouble. She shoplifts fruit, she dives into a fountain to steal the coins, and she climbs over a wall into the garden of an old woman who appears to be a magical witch. They escape before they are turned into toads, but Penny is such a handful, and Pistachio is fed up with her. But at least they are never bored!

In the third book, Pistachio takes her dog to an audition for a theater play, but the only thing her dog can do is sleep all day. How can she get her dog to perform at the theater if he just snores through his audition? At first, Pistachio's friends tease her about her boring dog, but when Pistachio's dog becomes famous, they might get a little jealous.

Pistachio is a mess: tangled hair, sloppy clothing, and always falling into puddles. She's so hilarious and cute! I love how she is a perfect combination of girly princess and tomboy. She is passionate and wild and impatient. I love her character development in each of the books. She is definitely bratty and rude. Her friends tease her, and never seem to have anything nice to say.  But I can forgive that because Pistachio does seem to learn her lesson by the end. 

The illustrations are completely adorable. The bright colors and cartoony style are charming and sweet. I love the funny expressions on the characters' faces. It brings the story to life! I really like the pretty design of this book with gold-leaf details on the cover and a lovely ribbon bookmark attached.

The writing is delightfully funny with rich words, perfect for expanding the vocabulary of young readers aged 8-11. I love that vivid words like "menacing, clenches, preening, triumphant, rustling, and frantically" are included in the book. The writing is clear and powerful. This is a great little chapter book for readers who are starting to read more on their own.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Timo signs up to participate in a garden tour, and only has seven days to prepare his garden for the judges. He spends every day weeding, hoeing, planting, and trimming, and ignores his friends' invitations to go swimming or play tennis. Eventually he realizes that he should have been tending to his friendships instead of spending so much time in his garden.

I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.

The story is deliciously emotional and tender. Timo gets all excited about redesigning his garden, but begins to get discouraged when the work ends up being overwhelming. He is determined to get it all done before the garden tour, but realizes that he is pushing his friends away in the meantime. I loved his character development!

I love the beautiful illustrations! The gentle lines and bright colors really draw you into the story. I love the detail on the animals' fur. The artwork is clear and lovely.

This book would be perfect for young readers who are just starting to read short chapter books on their own. Each "chapter" is 4-7 pages long.

One of the special things about this book is the flower glossary at the back. All through the book, Timo is planting and tending to different types of plants and flowers, and at the end we get an illustration of each one with all the names. There's clover, daisy, ginger, gentian, iris, marigold, rose, cosmos, poppy, lilac, pansy, rue, lily, and violet.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.