This sweet tale is a look at a girl in a doll house.  And the Giant is the girl playing with the doll house.  The story is a bit slow, but very emotive.  It has an almost sad and serene quality that will make it memorable.  Those qualities are heightened by the lovely soft illustrations. 

 This cool book mixes the fictional adventures with a real robot and real jobs the robot did to tell readers about Opportunity aka Oppy and the planet Mars.  Oppy was only supposed to go on a 90 day mission but actually got to be a teenager.  They spent 14 years exploring.  This story was just darling and great for science nuts and everyone else. 

 What an interesting read.  Most students know or learn about segregated schools in the South.  Ruby Bridges is a heroic name.  But this reader had never heard about schools trying to segregate in California, in order to keep the mexican school children away from the white ones.  The reason the school board gave was a language barrier, which a lawsuit named for Roberto Alverez proved was intentional racism.  This was a wonderful story and the illustrations are fitting and feel like California in the 1930s. 

 This lovely story is based on true events.  A girl with long blond hair fell in love with a grey pony.   They had the summer together but were separated.  Years later after dreaming of her beloved pony, the girl went hunting for her friend, and eventually she was found and they were reunited.  This story is sweet, but also a bit sad. The illustrations, while beautiful, are soft and help that sad feeling linger. 

 I really want to like this book.  I really do. Momma squirrel just had a new baby and big sister squirrel is feeling left out.  All the neighbors and her friends are coming to see the new baby and she is afraid no one will think she is pretty or sweet anymore.  It’s the “pretty and sweet” that turns me off.  This is too focused on how someone looks.  Is the baby prettier than me? This is a refrain over and over and over again.  So is that they are both pretty and sweet and I just get tired of it.  The concepts in this book are true feelings, but it could have been delivered in a way that focused on the person/squirrel and not on how they look. 

 What I like about this book is first the color and fun artwork, but more that there is no fear.  Robin doesn’t want to go to school, but they are not afraid to go to school.  Then they get so involved in what is going on in class they don’t want to go home.  This book is not saying “don’t be afraid, school is fun” it’s just saying that there is lots to do and you might enjoy it if you give it a chance.  Just like this book. 

 I preface this by saying I was reading a galley without all the bells and whistles, otherwise this might have been higher.  The author matches the music of Beethoven to a story of a girl's adventures in her dream.  A dream of being a pirate, meeting mermaids, and finding buried treasure.  Each page has some music that is supposed to be played while reading, as well as other sounds (those are missing in the galley).  The story is great and I think it will work great with the music that was picked (it’s all listed in the back).  I also like that a mini biography of Beethoven was included at the end. 

 If it wasn’t for the ending this would be a 5.  :). The ending is actually funny, but I can’t help myself.  This book is simple and so are the illustrations but that is what makes it perfect.  We want a dog?  What type of dog do you want?  The book describes various types in perfect rhyme and cadence, and it just works.  I would use this book every time we did a pet story time.  Every time!. 

 What fun!!  The narrator is a character in this story trying to tell the reader about animals that can be found on every continent but Antarctica.  Well the animals are having nothing to do with that!.  They are going to Antarctica.  Even if they have to defy the narrator to do so.  The story works.  It just does.  The illustrations help play up the comedy and kids of all ages will enjoy it.  Plus the Narrator does get to throw his facts in at the end. 

 This book is about mindfulness, which is a buzz word right now in kids books.  The problem for this reader is that I didn’t immediately get how this book was showing mindfulness.  The author had to explain it at the end.  Overall, the book was nice, but it can not be successful if it has to explain itself at the end.