This is a perfect simple book to help explain simple cultural differences to kids.  Thao is used to being called anything but her name.  Her name is unusual in American culture, because it is an Asian culture name.  Thao.  They really wish they had a more normal name, but goes on to explain how to say it.  And then mentions her lunch which looks delicious.  It’s the simplicity of this book that makes it perfect.  It’s the simplicity of the illustrations. All the characters except Thao are paper dolls, while Thao is a real picture of the author as a child.  It shows the differences between the author and the rest of her class that make them stand out. I just love it.  

 The original Little Old Lady died at the end, and everyone wondered why?  There have been various retellings of this book, but this is one of the few that takes the original story and changes very little.  Mostly what is changed is the last stanza.  Instead of “I wonder why”, each page has a different end like “i’d rather eat pie”, or “that’s no lie”.  Plus at the end the little old lady gets to live.  Plus the illustrations are a laugh riot.  This is a great replacement when your well loved older copies need replacing. 

 This book lets kids and partners know it is okay to be cranky.  Everyone is that way sometimes.  But that crankiness will eventually go away.  So when you see others who are cranky remember that this happens to you too and help them find a way to happiness. 

 This is a high concept.  Looking for the spaces between things.  Mostly the book is asking the reader questions or to do things, mainly looking for spaces. The spaces between a jump and a land, the space between a clap, the space between the trees.  I think for this book to truly be the lesson it wants to be, you have to have an adult who believes and sees the world like this.  I like the story, but feel I can do nothing with it.  I wouldn’t use it for storytime, and while I know it is to help in the concept of Mindfulness, it just seems too vague. 

 Love Love Love this book!  It starts out with an illustration of a cross cultural picnic and then becomes a counting book that counts to 10 and then back again.  And each number shows something that may be different from our norm like flying dragon kits, or trucks full of sand in the desert, but is a norm for someone else.   It’s great because it reiterates that we all live under one sky.   

 This book is really long.  It is telling multiple stories at once.  It is about a family who plants native species in their yard to attract the birds and butterflies, and the kids waiting to see a specific type of bird - the Cerulean Warbler.  It is also the story of the Cerulean Warbler who has to cross hundreds of miles of sea to get to his destination and all the bumps and bruises along the way.  It also wants to be a non-fiction story telling the reader true facts about birds and what they can do to help their populations.  Over all the story is nice and the illustrations while at times seem dated, they also at times seem fun and lively.  For this reader, this story jumps between stories too often and tries to be all to everyone.  I like it, but it has been done better. 

 This book is so funny.  At the start it kind of reminds me of the books in the movie the Pagemaster where they complain about no one reading them.  And that is how this book starts out.  But then the reader makes friends with the book and they have a grand ole time.  This book would be so much fun at story time.  Every library needs to add it to their collection. 

 This book is strange and may be a bit esoteric for kids.  It's a story that not only asks what time is, but gives examples like a growing tree, or a setting sun.  The artwork inside was a bit of a surprise compared to the cover.  It’s great artwork, but only appears on one other page.  All in all this book is nice, but I don’t think it has the staying power to be in libraries past a few years. 

 Simple story that works in all the right ways.  It starts with the big bang, and how everything was created but one thing that know one knew what to do with, or what to call.  This thingamabob tried to find their niche, but came to realize that not being anything specific means you can be everything.  This story is sweet and the illustrations lively and well executed. 

 Ummmm… when no one wants to come to Caterpillars party he makes new friends. Its new friends are different parts of itself.  It has a grand time, but a nightmare makes it worry about all of them leaving him, and then it takes a bath.  That is where the story ends, but this bath would make the friends leave since they were just drawn on to begin with.  This is actually a really sad book wrapped up to be a comedy.