A bear, a moose, and a beaver all come together to celebrate Christmas. The moose loves to bake and cooks a fabulous holiday meal for the friends. The beaver is especially good at decorating and puts up twinkle lights. The bear does the heavy lifting, piling up massive armfuls of presents and gifts for everyone.
They search for the perfect Christmas tree to cut down and bring home, but the bear loves all living trees and will not allow his friends to cut down any trees! Will Christmas be ruined without a Christmas tree to decorate?

I loved this book! The characters are so cute. The storyline is interesting and imaginative, and the writing is charming and simple for young readers. The story made me smile!

I adored the festive illustrations. The colors are bright and really draw your attention. There are large white expanses of snow that give a wintry feeling to each page. I loved the clean lines and cartoony style.

This book put me right into the Christmas spirit! It's only November, but I want to put up my Christmas tree NOW! haha!

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 is inviting all her friends to a Christmas Party, and they each reply with a special letter. Eddie sends Maisy a little calendar to count down the days until the party. Cyril sends her a recipe for gingerbread. Tallulah sends Maisy a star to put on her tree. Charley includes a joke book with his letter, and Maisy laughs and laughs at his jokes. Finally, it's the day of the party, and the friends have a good time together.

This is such a special Christmas book, with pockets for each of the letters the friends send to Maisy. Inside each envelope/pocket is a letter and a different decoration, recipe, or tiny booklet.

I'm 37 years old, and I had fun reaching into the pocket and bringing out the goodies from each of Maisy's friends. I was enthralled with each little discovery and the cute letters. I mean, if an adult thinks it's entertaining, you can imagine how much fun a child would have with this book!

I love the simple illustrations and bright colors! There are lots of sweet details in the background of each page as we see the friends baking Christmas cookies, decorating their tree, building a snowman, or playing games.

The quality of the book itself is excellent. The pages are thick and glossy, and the binding is sturdy to withstand little hands.

I can't wait to read this with my little nieces!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free 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.

Three siblings hear the story about how their father found a magic ornament when he was a boy. When they examine the ornament on Christmas Eve, the children are whisked away to Santa's Workshop in the North Pole, where they play with toys and meet Santa's elves. They are given an ornament off Santa's own Christmas tree, and they return home full of the joy of Christmas.

The writing is good, but has a stiff style, especially in the dialogue. It doesn't flow as well as it could, but it's not bad. The story is interesting, but rather simple. There isn't anything particularly memorable or special in the plot, but it is a sweet story.

The illustrations really bothered me. The artwork looks like some strange blend of oil painting and photo-shopped pictures of people. Sometimes the background is really blurry, while other objects in the scene are unnaturally crisp.

Characters are depicted as holding objects in their hands that look like they were drawn in a different art style from the character themselves, so it looks like someone copy and pasted the object into their hand.


Sometimes, the expressions on the characters faces are demented! They look like lunatics with wide smiles.


Sometimes their heads look too big for their bodies, and I don't even know what was wrong with the elves. They looked completely out of proportion.


I wonder if the illustrations are trying to capture the cartoon realism style from "Polar Express", but this book does not do it well.

The accompanying ornament that comes with the gift set is a plain plastic ornament, covered with silk and gold braid. Two scenes from the book are printed on each side, but the printing is so blurry that it doesn't look very good. I won't be putting it on my tree this Christmas.

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.

Frankie is afraid of every noise that he hears in the dark, imagining that there are monsters after him. But his mother assures him that there is nothing to fear from nightly noises, and his imagination can be his greatest tool in fighting off his fears, instead of letting his imagination run wild.

I really enjoyed the story, especially how Frankie's mother encourages him to harness his imagination and control his fears. The writing is excellent, and I appreciated all the alliterative noises the monsters make, like "crashing, creeeaking" and "scraping, scratching". Those details make it fun to read, and paint a vivid picture.

The artwork was so busy that it was difficult to follow what was happening on the page, and some of the text was lost in the crease in the middle of the book. But I did like that all the monsters that Frankie imagines are lit up with this ghostly glow, while the rest of the background is in muted colors. That was a cool feature.
I have to say, Frankie's eyebrows are weird. They look detached from his face somehow.

I wasn't a big fan of the artwork, but I liked the story and the message about not letting your imagination get the best of you.

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 baby board book teaches little toddlers what is okay to eat and what is yucky! Fruit, veggies, icecream, donuts, and pizza are all good to eat, but boogers belong on a tissue, NOT in your mouth. Coins go in a piggy bank, NOT in your tummy. Crayons are for drawing, NOT digesting; and even toothpaste has to be spit out.

Each page has a simple silhouette of an item with the caption of "yum, yummy," or "yuck", perfect for teaching little hands to keep certain things out of their mouths.

I can really imagine reading this with a young child, and making faces as we read each page together; licking our lips and rubbing our tummies for the yummy pages, and making gross faces and gagging at the yucky pages. haha! Even a simple book like this is fun when read with a child!

This book is also useful to teach little kids the names of different types of foods, as they are learning to speak and identify various vegetables and fruits.

I like the clean illustrations that use geometric shapes to give the silhouette of the objects and items. The colors are bright but not overpowering, and the shapes bleed into one another for an interesting transparent look. The simplicity would appeal to any baby or toddler, catching the eye and engaging the attention.

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 collection of picture books for children includes: Count to 10 with a Mouse, A Song for All Seasons, Sleep Little Angel, Away in my Airplane, Wish Upon a Dream, Sleep Tight Sleepy Bears, All the Families, and The Tickly Spider.

There are eight adorable stories with the same author, but different illustrators and artists. Each story is unique with artwork to match the style and mood of the writing.

Count to 10 with a Mouse: A cute mouse is struggling to count up his fingers and toes, so he goes on an adventure through a hole in the pages of a book, and he finds wondrous things on every page that help him count. He meets fish, butterflies, cats, and crows, and counts them all.
The soft illustrations have beautiful detailed lines that show every little whisker and pawprint. The gorgeous colors will appeal to little children as they count up items on each page!

A Song for All Seasons: Two children play in the summer sun, make snowballs in winter, rake leaves in the fall, and chase butterflies in the spring. The writing is simple, pointing out the beauty of each season. The illustrations show the children fishing, playing, watching the rain and lightning of a storm, building snowmen, or doing chores, as forest animals hide in the background of each scene. I love the sweet illustrations with many imaginative details and a beautiful layout.

Sleep Little Angel: This is probably my least favorite story in this book, for two reasons: The repetitive and uninspired poetry, and the misty/foggy art style. Many of the rhyming words were obviously used simply because they rhyme with something else, and not because the phrase actually adds anything relevant to the story.

For instance,
"I will sing of tall black trees that fret,
Lest you forget,
Lest you forget,
The ice and snow are not melted yet."

I never heard of a tree "fretting". What does a tree have to "fret" about? The only reason that was added is because it rhymed with "yet." It doesn't make any sense with the story. I find this frustrating.

Away in My Airplane: A child goes flying up into the sky in their own little red airplane, with goggles, flight jacket, and a long red scarf trailing behind them. The child soars through clouds, sun, and rain, before coming to rest in the arms of their parents for a safe landing.
I liked the colorful cartoon art style for this book, but I did not like the script font for the writing. It made the words difficult to read, and the writing is scrawled all across the page in long loops, which made it hard to keep track of where a line began or ended. For a child just learning to read that could be difficult. The story is also repetitive, mentioning sun and rain and sun and rain and sun and rain many times. But most children enjoy repetition, so that can be a good thing.

Wish Upon a Dream: This book follows the dreams of many different creatures including girls and boys. Squirrels dream about nuts, rabbits dream about carrots, horses dream about clover, and little girls dream about horses. And then a random fish is having a dream about.... other fish? Not sure. The fish's dream is never explained. He's just there because "fish" rhymes with "wish." The fish serves no other purpose in the story.
Bees dream of making honey, boys dream of sailboats, birds dream of singing, and another fish dreams about... "a dolphin's niece and a turtle's daughter."? Their only purpose is for "daughter" to provide a rhyme for "water". Random fish and his weird dreams that don't fit with the rest of the story. The writing could have been more polished. It's a little incoherent. Then again, aren't all dreams at least a little incoherent?
I LOVED the art style for this one! So beautiful, with really delicate lines and graceful colors. The illustrations feel dreamy and gentle, perfect for the soft mood.

Sleep Tight, Sleepy Bears: This is the perfect bedtime reading to lull children into sleep. With its repetitive prose and soft illustrations, it's sure to have you yawning and ready for a good night's sleep. As a sleepy big bear and a sleepy little bear prepare for bed, they snuggle under the covers, sing a gentle lullaby, and drift off to dreamland.
The soft and warm illustrations are delightful, with light colors and fuzzy brush strokes that invite the reader to give a little stretch and yawn a big yawn before crawling into bed. I think this one might be my favorite story in the entire book!

All the Families: Every one has a family. The elephants with their one baby elephant, the dogs with their five puppies, and the rabbits with their nine bunnies. Each family finds food, plays together, and finds a cozy place to sleep at night.
I couldn't help stopping to count each bunny and puppy to make doubly sure that there really are nine bunnies and five puppies. And if I couldn't resist counting them, you know a child would delight in counting them on every page! The calming illustrations use simple lines and mellow colors, and I loved how gentle the art style feels.

The Tickly Spider: A little boy lays down in the grass to watch all the bugs crawling around. He attracts the attention of a friendly spider who creeps over to the boy to investigate. The spider comes quite close and crawls along the boys face, tickling him, before peacefully going home.
The bugs in the illustrations are so cute and funny-looking! Every snail, beetle, caterpillar, grasshopper, ant, and ladybug has a goofy smile and big buggy eyes.
The prose is engaging and playful, and I was cheering for the brave spider all through the story!

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.

"One small step for swan, one giant leap for birdkind."
This colorful board book tells the story of Neil Armstrong's journey to the moon, but with a cast of animal characters, and hilarious animal puns.

This book follows his life story and legacy, starting from when Neil "Armswan" grew up as the oldest of his "flock" with two siblings. Neil learns to fly, becomes an Eagle Scout, and serves in the Korean War where he receives three air medals as a naval aviator. He becomes a test pilot, and falls in love, starting his own "flock" with his lovebird "Gannet". They "migrate" to Houston with their "cygnets", where Neil launches into orbit in the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions, leaving "webbed" footprints on the Moon.

I loved the silly puns and adorable animal characters! The whole book is so bright and funny, and the legacy and accomplishments are truly inspiring. The writing is perfect to read aloud with young children, and the illustrations are engaging with interesting details in the background to capture the attention of little readers.

This book is also well-timed with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when so many people are celebrating that national accomplishment, and little ones might be wondering what it's all about.

I just love this entire Wild Bios board book series, and every book is gold!

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.

When she goes to visit her grandfather in the country, Bea discovers a green giant made of plants in the greenhouse next door. They have a lovely summer together, playing, swinging from trees, flying kites, and jumping rope with vines. But soon, Bea has to return to the city, and the green giant gives her a magical gift.

I thought this story was charming! The giant tells Bea all about when he was a young sapling in the city, and how he had to move out to the country because of all the pollution that made it hard for him to breathe.
Bea herself is an adorable character. Curious and sweet, she enjoys simple summer activities and is friendly to everyone (and every plant).

I like the crayon look of the art style, but the artwork isn't very polished or symmetrical. Sometimes Bea's eyes are different sizes, and the green giant's design is severely lacking. He just has a plain smiley face for a face! Just two dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. I would have expected something a little more imaginative from an artist. And his body doesn't seem like it has any structure. He's a boneless blob of green and yellow leaves. He looks weird, instead of endearing.

Most of the backgrounds on each page are a mess of green leaves and scribbled green plant life. I would have liked to see a more detailed background for this charming story.

I do like the message of this book about making the world a friendlier place for plants to grow and thrive without pollution. If it just had a more polished look, it would be a beautiful book!

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 book encourages children to be creative and true to their dreams, reminding them that they are capable of anything, but also that not everything will go their way. But most importantly, this book conveys the message that each child is loved, no matter what.

The one reason I enjoyed reading this book is the possibility for pointing out so many fun details in the illustrations. There is a ladybug hidden on every page, and it's so delightful to search for it in the pictures. When reading with a child, it would be really fun to point to each picture and ask them "What is that?" or "Who is that?" and teach them about various people, places, and things.

All the illustrations are bright and colorful with a cartoonish look. The pages vary from simple and clean to extremely busy with complicated pictures of various things all jumbled together. I prefer the clean style, but I can also see the appeal of the jumbled images since it would be fun to point out each thing on the page while reading with a child.

For instance, one page has icecream, koalas, rainboots, electric guitar, sailboats, trees, butterflies, birds, bees, apple, cake, toads, bread and jam, a mountain goat, and a cat- all in various larger-than-life sizes. The next page is much simpler and cleaner with a blank background and a child sitting on top of a massive trophy surrounded by ribbons and plaques.

Each page is so different that it can be jarring to read. It would look nicer if the art style and the complexity of the pictures stayed mostly the same throughout the book.

The poetry lines are good. The poetry isn't too cringey. Everything rhymes correctly, and the meter is good too. But it felt a little forced at times. It doesn't flow naturally. A kid wouldn't know the difference, but I've read other children's books with beautifully lyrical poetry and can't help comparing them to this one. This is just decent. Not great, but not awful either.

The message of this book is really inspirational and encouraging! I like how positive and hopeful the words are, full of promise and possibilities.

I enjoyed reading this picture book, and look forward to reading it with my nieces!

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 beautifully illustrated book teaches about extinct animals from the ancient past. There are no monstrous lizards or dinosaurs in this book. This is all about other types of mammals, birds, and sea creatures who once roamed the earth. Some are familiar to us, like the woolly mammoth and the sabre-toothed tiger, but most are impressively rare and wild-looking.

The illustrations are soft and colorful, with a gentle and silky style. But I wish there were more detail in the illustrations, and I wish that there were more drawings of each animal. It would have been interesting to compare the bone structure of fossils to the artist's rendition of fur, feathers, and scales. It is very beautiful, but I was hoping for more detail.

As always with these sort of scientific books, I'm put off by the assumption of theories and dates that have not been proven. The author writes about millions of years, as though those dates were established scientific fact. The theory of evolution is also discussed as though it were fact and not theory. It makes me lose confidence in the veracity of the writing when ideas that are not proven are written about as if they were true.

I really love the structure of the book. It has thick pages and rich coloring, with beautiful end papers. This would make a gorgeous gift!

I feel like this would be a good starting point for a child or teen interested in extinct species, so that they could then go on and do some further research. There's not a lot of information in this book, and it leaves me hungry for more material on this subject. It definitely sparks my interest with the wonderful illustrations!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free 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.