Timo's friend, Hedgewick, is hoping for an opportunity to show off his baking skills to a visiting food critic, so Timo agrees to host an apple festival in his orchard and invite the entire town. But Timo gets nervous at large parties, and he worries that he will not be a good host.

As Timo prepares the invitations, decorations, and games, his friends give him advice about how to host a party and talk to people with ease. Meanwhile, Hedgewick is baking and cooking and chopping apples in a storm of delicious recipes.

My favorite line in this book is "The orchard was as quiet as a wish". I just love the graceful writing style. Even a simple children's book becomes an absolute delight with writing like this! The story is sweet and tender. I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.

I just adore Timo's character. He loves to make lists. He is industrious, and works hard to help his friends. He worries about not living up to social expectations. He's determined and friendly and sweet. The character development is wonderful too!

One thing that makes this book really special is the recipe in the back for an apple-banana cake just like in the story. I just love little details like that!

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.

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's friends are planning a camping trip, but none of them have ever been camping. Timo is nervous about trying something new, so he heads to the library and researches how to tie a knot, build a fire, paddle a canoe, and navigate with a compass.

The friends start off on their camping trip, and they make some mistakes. The tent falls apart, the canoe topples them into the lake, and they get lost in a swamp. Whenever one of the group make a mistake, Suki teases them good-naturedly and everyone laughs, but it bothers Timo that Suki is teasing people. It doesn't seem to bother anyone else, so Timo doesn't say anything, but his feelings are hurt. Timo will have to brave the wilderness and find a way to explain to Suki that her words are sometimes hurtful.

I just love that the first thing Timo does when confronted with a problem is make a list or go to the library. A rabbit after my own heart! Timo is such an amazing little character. He's sensitive and kind, and I just love that about him. He has excellent character development, and I appreciate the deep thoughts and feelings that go on in that little heart.

My favorite line in this book is "[The library] smelled like paper and ink and comfort". I just love the graceful writing style. Even a simple children's book becomes an absolute delight with writing like this! The story is sweet and tender. I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.

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. It really brings the characters to life. I could FEEL Timo's anxiety or happiness through the art.

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.

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.

The animals are all dancing in a massive parade of exuberant dance moves! From aardvarks to zebras, every animal group is hopping and stepping and thumping their tails. They show off their skills with the fandango, the waltz, the can-can, the tango, the hustle, and ballet.

The whole book is hilarious and sweet! I loved the rhyming writing style, and how the book takes us through the entire alphabet with various words for each letter. The Aardvarks Arrive, and the Elephants Enchant, and the "Jack Rabbits can Jam- They've got this Joint Jumping." haha! I love how fun and silly this book is! The writing uses such vivid words, and it is a joy to read aloud.

The illustrations are bright and colorful with a fun cartoony style. There are lots of little details in the costumes of the animals that make this book special, and all the animal characters are so cute!

This board book is made of sturdy material, perfect for little toddler hands.

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 the other animals get ready for bed, one baby baboon is determined to stay up! Baby baboon burps during snack time, brushes his bum instead of his teeth, plays loud lullabies on electric guitar, and runs around causing mayhem, until finally baby baboon is ready for a goodnight hug.

I love how this book is designed as a counting book, and we count down each animal group getting ready for bed. 9 skunks take a bath, 8 hamsters have a bedtime snack, 7 sloths put on their PJs, etc... and through it all, baby baboon is getting into trouble!

The whole book is hilarious and sweet! Baby baboon manages to bounce across each page, getting into shenanigans before bed and monkeying around. I love how irreverent and silly this book is!

The illustrations are bright and colorful with a fun cartoony style. There are lots of little details in the background that make this book special, and all the animal characters are so cute!

This board book is made of sturdy material, perfect for little toddler hands.

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.

Maisy visits her friend Penguin and gets a new kitten. She plays with the kitten, feeds it, and cleans the litter box. Maisy has to take her new kitten to the vet, and make sure the kitten gets plenty of exercise and sleep.

This is such a sweet book to teach young children about caring for pets, and how to be gentle with animals. Maisy has to be responsible, but can also have fun with her new pet. I really love the teaching moments in this book, and how it is presented in an entertaining way for toddlers.

I love the crayon art style and how simple the artwork is. There are lots of little details in the background that make every page special. The art style is just right for little readers, with lots of bright colors to capture their attention. This book is so cute!

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 book has short stories for beginning readers that focus on two sight words for each story. One story has the sight words "a" and "little", so the story uses those words again and again. "A little shirt, a little sock, a little shoe, a little hat..."
At the end of each story there is an activity page where the child can trace words, complete a maze, do a word search, and color or circle the sight words.

Each story has bright illustrations with cute characters. I like how simple and fun the stories are as the characters go to school, play at the beach, go to a ballgame, and start a lemonade stand. Some of the characters are human, and some are animals, but every story is adorable!

Most of the stories are only 6 sentences long. Just right for little readers to try a little at a time.

These books is perfect for K-5 and 1st grade readers! There is also a "Note to Parents" at the beginning of the book about how to help your child read and sound out the words.

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 book includes short stories that focus on word families, such as words that end with -et or words that end with -ig. So the first two stories have a lot of words like "vet, pet, wet" and "pig, jig, dig, wig." At the end of each story there is an activity page where the child can trace words, complete a maze, do a word search, or circle the words from that word family.

Each story has bright illustrations with cute characters. I like how simple and fun the stories are as the characters go to the beach, take their dog to the park, ride in an airplane, and follow a treasure map. Some of the characters are human, and some are animals, but every story is adorable!

Most of the stories are only 6 sentences long. Just right for little readers to try a little at a time.

This book is perfect for K-5 and 1st grade readers! There is also a "Note to Parents" at the beginning of the book about how to help your child read and sound out the words.

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 book has word searches, coloring pages, mazes, spot-the-difference puzzles, and dot-to-dot activities all with a mermaid theme. Dozens of different mermaids and ocean creatures are everywhere! There are little stories about mermaids and how they love to sing, comb their hair, and have tea parties underwater.

The mermaids help a turtle to get out of a net. They explore old shipwrecks looking for treasure, and discover new animal friends. They practice their swimming skills and their music. There are so many cool mermaid things in this book!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book has colorful artwork. I thought it would be all black and white on each page, but there are many beautiful colored illustrations and puzzles. The only black and white pages are the coloring pages. I loved all the cute stories about the mermaids and sea animals. I love how this book is designed, and there is even a certificate at the back of the book to make the reader an honorary merperson!

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 book has coloring pages, mazes, spot-the-difference puzzles, and dot-to-dot activities all with an animal theme. The activities are perfect for ages 3-5 with simple designs and bright colors. Not every page is colored, some are black and white, but all the designs are so cute! The animals are adorable.

The activities include things like drawing a line from an animal to its type of food, helping a penguin through a maze of icebergs, or finding 3 differences in two pictures. The first pages are very simple, and they gradually get slightly more complex towards the back of the book.

Every page looks so fun, and is sure to catch the attention of young children!

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.

When Life knocks on the door, one child learns that Life is weird and wacky and not always what you expect. But if you can embrace Life and weather the storms, Life can be a beautiful journey.

This book is so cute! "Life" is portrayed as a little gray monster dude who cavorts around, pulling pranks, and having adventures.
The text of this book is full of wisdom and encouragement, but the illustrations are what make it so fun and silly!
The text says "Life is short." and the illustration shows Life trying to reach up a tall table to get a cake. The little Life monster guy is ACTUALLY too short to reach the table. haha! The book is full of silly puns and jokes like that. I love how clever the story is!

The illustrations are what make this book really special. I love the soft lines and bright colors. The energy and action on each page is fantastic, and the expressions on the characters' faces really draws you into the story.

Such a sweet and cute 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.