This was a great story.  When I opened the pages, I was not expecting to hear a US indigenous story.  This is about to cousins who live in the city, and one moves back to the “rez”.  Will they still be friends? will they still like each other?  The story is approachable to all with feelings of being “away” from family.  What is interesting is the information in the back where the author talks about the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 which was pitched as a jobs act but was a way of assimilating native culture.  This was a fantastic book both in story and education and I would be proud to put it on my library selves. 

 

Sometimes growing up hearing about a person you have never met is hard.  You try to do things they liked to do and wonder if they would like you are you are.  But even thought that person is no longer with us, you do still know them through the stories told by others and pictures left behind. 

 

Lockdown drills are scary.  They can have lasting effects and leave children feeling vulnerable and scared.   This is exactly how Ava feels.  Grandad says, that is okay.  When he used to do Duck and Cover drills, he too felt scared.  So, they talk over how to feel better and what to do with these feelings.  I hate that books like these need to exist, but they are needed.  This one does an excellent job of letting the reader know their feelings are valid and allowed. The author even puts her own story of being in a school lockdown at the end of the book.  

 

Sesame always knows the right thing to say, and the best way to teach it.  The book is not overly preachy, uses great examples, and is short and memorable. 

 

This book is a perfect way to illustrate differences in family and make these difference understandable to all.  It does it in such a way as to be open with concepts and ideas some may find troublesome but shouldn’t.  A family is a family, and they are all different in all types of ways. And the artwork, while done in washes of yellows and browns, are at once classic and old fashioned while still being fresh and new.  All over this book was excellent and should be on all library shelves. 

 

My favorite thing about this book is the illustrations.  I really wanted to love this book, and while I do like it, it is just too long.  I found my mind wandering while reading, with no real need to finish the tale.  This book would have been better if it has been cut down more.  This isn’t’ a literary class, it’s a picture book. 

 

This book was lovely.  Norman is a horse who wonders where their owner Ellie goes every night.  So, they sneak out of the barn and into the house to discover the secrets of Ellie and have a grand adventure.  I am more surprised no one heard the horse in the house than by any other part of the story. 

 

I really wanted to like this book more than I did.  First off, it was too long and too wordy.  Lulu is a dog (probably a pug) and when she sees her owners dancing, she wants to dance too.  However, the dance instructor thinks this is not possible.  So Lulu sneaks off to a dog dancing academy to make her dreams come true.  Overall, the story is cute, but not one I would sit down to read frequently. 

 

This story is a fine story about being able to ask for help.  The illustrations are lovely and set the book off well.  I think the story is a bit long, but it does work.  It is a book I would add to my collection, but probably not replace once damaged. 

 

This book was interesting.  There was nothing wrong with the story.  Shayla would rather write with her magic pen then do anything else. Her grandma forgives her for spending her time writing instead of eating or helping around the house once she sees what is written.  I don’t care for the “God” reference, even if it is just brief, because there will be people who won’t read it because of that.  But there is a bigger problem.  The pen Shayla uses is purple, and very much looks like an eggplant emoji.   Which is something I hope only adults pick up, but just from that, it makes it hard to gift this book or place it in a library collection as it could receive complaints from parents.