Everywhere in Bustletown people are getting things done, going to a museum, doing their shopping, finding lost objects, eating icecream that melts all over the floor, having a picnic, and tending to the animals. Everywhere you look there is something interesting happening and a story line to follow!

I love the colorful and detailed illustrations! Each page is beautifully drawn with fun little details to draw the reader in. I'm 37 years old, and I was fascinated with each beautiful scene!

It's so fun to search for people in the hustle and bustle of the scenery and follow them from page to page as their little story unfolds. A mysterious fox is running through the city, rummaging through garbage cans. A lady finds two cats have stowed away in the trunk of her car. Billy trips on a banana peel and his friends help him to patch up a cut.

The simple stories of each person are full of humor and surprises as they find themselves in hilarious situations. Everything is so ordinary, but strangely fascinating at the same time. They get their hair cut, play with their children, meet a friend for coffee, or pick fresh strawberries. A summer storm blows up and it begins to rain, but the clouds are soon replaced with a rainbow, and everyone comes out again to play in the park. It's charming and fun!

This book is perfect for little readers to search for individual people and items in the pages! My nieces both adore these books, and they are 8 months old and 2 years old!

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

Everywhere in Bustletown people are getting things done, going to a space museum, doing their shopping, finding lost objects, taking dance lessons, raking up leaves, and tending to the animals. Everywhere you look there is something interesting happening and a story line to follow!

I love the colorful and detailed illustrations! Each page is beautifully drawn with fun little details to draw the reader in. I'm 37 years old, and I was fascinated with each beautiful scene!

It's so fun to search for people in the hustle and bustle of the scenery and follow them from page to page as their little story unfolds. Two people buy an enormous pumpkin, and enter a pumpkin carving contest. Children bring colored lanterns and lights to an evening concert in the park.

The simple stories of each person are full of humor and surprises as they find themselves in hilarious situations. Everything is so ordinary, but strangely fascinating at the same time. They hang up fall festival decorations, fly a kite, meet a friend for coffee, or take a nap. It's charming and fun!

This book is perfect for little readers to search for individual people and items in the pages! My nieces both adore these books, and they are 8 months old and 2 years old!

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

Everywhere in Bustletown people are getting things done, going to a museum, doing their shopping, finding lost objects, playing ball with their friends, getting their car repaired, and tending to the animals. Everywhere you look there is something interesting happening and a story line to follow!

I love the colorful and detailed illustrations! Each page is beautifully drawn with fun little details to draw the reader in. I'm 37 years old, and I was fascinated with each beautiful scene!

It's so fun to search for people in the hustle and bustle of the scenery and follow them from page to page as their little story unfolds. A mysterious fox is running through the city, rummaging through garbage cans. A lady finds two cats have stowed away in the trunk of her car. Billy trips on a banana peel and his friends help him to patch up a cut.

The simple stories of each person are full of humor and surprises as they find themselves in hilarious situations. Everything is so ordinary, but strangely fascinating at the same time. They buy a new hat, play with their children, meet a friend for coffee, or take a nap. It's charming and fun!

This book is perfect for little readers to search for individual people and items in the pages! My nieces both adore these books, and they are 8 months old and 2 years old!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Media Masters Publicity 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 children's picture book describes all different types of weather, and gives some simple scientific information about temperature and cloud types. I like the writing style that is perfect for a child's level of understanding.

The illustrations are adorable! Full of bright colors, each page draws the reader in. The clouds are smiling, and the children are playing in the rain.

There are even questions to answer in the text, prompting the reader to choose the right accessories for a rainy or cold day. Should I wear boots or sunglasses? Should I carry mittens or an umbrella? I like that the book gets the reader involved, and encourages children to think carefully.

I was disappointed to see a statement about the sun being 4.5 billion years old. There's no scientific evidence of that. It's a theory, but it's presented in this book as fact. It's misinformation like this which promote fallacies into becoming public knowledge. Other than that, all the other information appears to be correct.

This adorable book is perfect for ages 4-7.

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.

In this Search and Find book, children travel to the park, grocery store, grandma's house, the zoo, mini golf, the beach, the dinosaur museum, the aquarium, the pool, and a farm. The ride on trains, buses, planes, a cruise ship, and even join a parade! On each page there are items labelled and drawn at the bottom of the page that you can look for in the illustrations. You can look for food items at the picnic, find flowers and bees at the farmer's market, and find pencils and blocks at school.

I love the illustrations drawn in a sort of fuzzy crayon style. They are so cute! It's really interesting to search through the artwork and find different characters doing activities, eating, playing music, buying flowers, swimming in the pool, cooking on a grill, putting up a tent, or running to catch a plane. There is so much action on each page!

Not only does this teach young toddlers to identify items, but it also helps them to use their imagination as they learn about each destination.

I just love this adorable book! I can't wait to read it with my 2-year-old niece and help her find all the items.

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 little boy named Allegro is fed up with practicing piano. He throws his sheet music on the floor, and petulantly sits and thinks about music. He goes on a magical journey to discover new music and how beautiful music can truly be. Through all the different moods and styles of classical music, he learns to love and appreciate the emotions and sensations that music can offer to us.

This book includes short recordings of famous classical pieces such as Fur Elise, New World Symphony, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, The Nutcracker, Ode to Joy, and Claire de Lune. At the beginning of the book on the end pages, there are short one-paragraph bios of the composers along with a photo or painting of the composer. At the back of the book, there are one paragraph descriptions of the music pieces featured in the book. These describe what inspired the piece, who it was dedicated to, or how it became famous.

The main story is very simple with only a sentence or two on each page. I love that this is kept short and sweet for young readers, and the emphasis is on the music recordings to tell the real story instead of relying on text.

Of course, the sound quality is not fantastic, but what do you expect from a little speaker in a book? It's the best quality that I could reasonably expect to find in a book of this type, and I am satisfied with it.

The illustrations are gorgeous and bright! I love the soft lines and whimsical designs. In many of the illustrations, musical instruments are used to make up the landscape. A drum becomes a mountain. A line of staff notes becomes a beach. A cello becomes a rolling hillside of grass. The whole design is charming!

I loved the character of Allegro and how enthusiastically he grows to love music. He's such a cute little guy! He throws himself heart and soul into the music, and his facial expressions are so eloquent.

As a professional musician and piano teacher, I came into this book with HIGH expectations. I was not disappointed! I love the selection of classical music, and the beautiful story of musical discovery.

Personal Story Time:
I had just received this book in the mail, when my little 2-year-old niece visited me at work, and sat at my desk in the office, and I thought, "What am I going to do with this 2-year-old in my office?  Aha! I have a children's book for her to read while she sits here!"
SHE LOVED IT!!!!  She pushed all the buttons, we matched up the pictures in the book to the pictures on the buttons. We listened to the music, and said, "This song is sad. This song is happy. This song has marching soldiers."  It was so fun!  She kept saying, "Again! Again! Turn the page!"   
Needless to say, this book gets 5 stars, both from myself and from my niece!

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.

Two wildcat kittens follow their mother through a Scottish forest, learning to hunt for fish and mice. Their home den collapses, and the wildcat family must search for a new hole. The kitten siblings are getting into mischief, and squabbling and fighting the whole way. After escaping from a hungry kite and a grumpy pine marten, they finally find the perfect home and the kittens learn to work as a team instead of fighting all the time.

This cute picture book has lovely illustrations of beautiful Scottish countryside, as the wildcats travel through forests, across a flowing burn, into a meadow of grass, and find an old castle ruin. The illustrations use soft colors with sunshine on every page! I loved the art style and the way the illustrations added depth to the story by adding details and expression.

I loved the sweet kitten siblings as they tease each other and fight over who is the best hunter. As they navigate the wild and learn to avoid danger, they begin to support one another and look out for each other. Working as a team, they finally are able to secure a safe new home with their mother. The story has lovely character development for the two kittens.


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.

Prince Zal is left for dead when he is a baby, and the magnificient Phoenix raises him with her own little chicks in her nest atop the mountain. She teaches him art, science, poetry, music, and history as well as how to survive in the wild. He grows up to find his true parents in the end.

I liked this traditional story from Iran with its message about the sanctity of all human life. The story is told with strong writing and vivid words.

I liked the art style of the illustrations with bold strokes and bright colors, but I didn't like the faces of the characters. Their eyes are distorted, and their mouths are crooked, giving them a creepy look! The rest of the artwork is lovely, but all the people have weird faces.

This picture book comes with a QR code that links to an audio narrative of the book along with background music and sound effects. Listening to the audio narrative with the cultural music makes the reading experience truly special. (To use the QR code, simply point your phone's camera at the code on the first page, and a link to the audio will pop up. No special app is needed.)

This story is taken from a traditional story in an ancient Iranian epic poem. At the end of the book, there is an explanation of the different Iranian instruments used in the music recording, showing how each instrument represents a different character.

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 little elephant child describes all the ways his mama plays with him, helps him, and guides him. But he describes it all wrong! He says that his mama loves to play cars with him, and he likes for HER to tidy away the toys afterward. He "helps" his mama with the grocery shopping, but eats an entire bag of chips behind her back! He has to push his mama on the swings, so SHE can go higher and higher. He says that HE is the one always in charge, as he rides his mama like a pretend horse galloping around the room. The illustrations prove that the little elephant child is mistaken, and the cheeky text has a silly charm.

This sweet book has soft illustrations and a simple story. There isn't a linear plot, but little snippets of scenes between mother and son. At the end, the mother elephant tucks her son into bed and a peaceful little elephant gazes up at the stars.

At one point, the elephant child urinates on the garden plants, and says, "I like watering the plants." His mama sprinkles his head with water to tease him, and he thinks it is raining. I thought that was strange. Why didn't his mother reprimand him for killing her plants and urinating outdoors? Weird. Although, I guess elephants as animals are allowed to urinate on plants outdoors, even if they are anthropomorphized and wear clothes. I worry that it would encourage children to misbehave though.

I like the soft artwork and the cute characters in this book! It's adorable!

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.

As we countdown from 10 to 1, each little farm animal finds their mother in the barn, at the pond, in the stable, or in the fields, and rejoins their family in their own home after playing with their friends. At the end, only rooster is left, and he calls out to his animal friends to join all together again!

The text rhymes and has a lilting rhythm that I enjoyed reading aloud! I really like the pleasant writing style, and it would be a joy to read with a child. It's a fun way to teach children to count, and to teach about farm animals and scenery.

On each page there are die-cuts showing all the farm animals that are still left, and they dwindle one by one as the animals join their mothers. The die-cut openings really make this book a special experience!

The cartoon illustrations are adorable! I love the bright colors and clean lines. Each animal has a smile, and I think it's so cute when they are reunited with their mothers. Each of the scenes in the farmyard are full of little details, like the garden full of vegetables, the wheat fields with a scarecrow, bunnies hopping along in the grass, an old tractor and bales of hay in the barn, frogs in the pond, and an apple tree by the pig sty. These details add to the delight of discovery on every page!

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.