The lesson in this book is that you should be yourself. Carlos makes friends by trying to be the other animals. He changes his color to match those around him. Part of me likes the book, but part of me doesn’t. On the surface the story works, is cute, and makes its point. But at the same time, if it was told with animals instead of people, it would be disastrous. It’s about a character changing his skin. He changes his skin to fit in. And while he learns to be himself, I think the message at the beginning might play harder than it originally feels. Carlos made his friends to begin with by looking like them. I think maybe add a character who doesn’t look like Carlos, that Carlos makes friends with by being himself needs to be in here somewhere.

This is a great start in explaining trans gendered to children, whither the feelings are theirs, or someone in their social group. It’s extremely simpleized, which I think is great for the age it’s geared towards. I do think there needs to be some explanation of what a “Vixen”. Vincent talks about his brothers and sisters, but they are always described as a fox. But the ending line is “Vincent grew up and lived happily as Vincent the Vixen” with no explanation of why that is important. The illustrations help greatly with the concept, but I think it needs to be in words as well.

I think this book needs a new title. I was expecting something cheeky and fun loving. Instead I got a heartfelt book that many parents should read to their children during holidays. Our little boy really wants a pair of ice skates for Christmas, but his parents warn that Santa may not be able to make it this year. Times are tight and tough. The little boy decides to be Santa for his family and make gifts he thinks they will love. In the end he gets his skates, but not from Santa.

I think the reason I love this so much is that it shows a parent skimping and saving to get their child his wildest dreams. At Christmas there is a movement to make the small gifts from Santa and the big gifts from mom and dad. This is so that children don’t question why some kids get expensive extravagant gifts from Santa, and others get socks and underwear. I love how this story gets the concept across in a way that a child could understand. It’s perfect.

Please no attacks from the Bey Hive, this is me being honest. I don’t get the big deal about Beyonce. Yes she can sing, dance, act, etc. That is great. But why is she so great that not only does she have a “hive” but the hive can be deadlier than the most poisonous wasp? I was hoping for an answer to that as I read through this book. Did I get a full answer, no, but I enjoyed the trip.

This book is part biography, part music history, and part photographic table book. There are gorgeous pictures, and great graphics that explain everything from her range as a singer, compared to other great singers, and how well each album performs. Without knowing any better I would say this book was done by a drone of the hive. Everything is glowing, sunshiny day. Nothing bad, no feuds, etc. It seems like a one sided view of her life. It works well, and I can see many of her fans loving every page.

This is such a wonderful graphic novel. It's one you can gather the young one around and read together. Many believe that Santa has a daughter named Holly Claus. In the kick off to this series she is set to babysit the Yeti princess Frostina. The two have a grand adventure and help save Troggie Town from the Evil Krampus. This is a really fun graphic novel, and would make an excellent animated holiday special.

It's been awhile since I have seen a book that looks at classic nursery rhymes. They seem to be forgotten. This book hopefully helps these tales make a resurgence. While I knew most of the rhymes, there were some new one which was nice. Some of the nursery rhymes have more stanzas then are listed and I wished they had included them all.

The cover of this book is ugly, but the story inside is sweet. Two boys are trying to find a creative way to present what they learned about since in school. A trip to the candy store gives them fabulous ideas, and teaches the readers about science. The book gets its point across and acts as an early chapter book.

I find this book well done. It has the right mix of illustrations and real pictures to keep things intriguing. The illustrator also uses stick figures at strategic places to add some fun.

An interesting book about a blow fish who is a big fish in a little pond, who goes in search of something better. But he instead finds a lesson in how small he actually is, and learns to appreciate what he has. The artwork is not typical for a picture book and looks very childlike, but I think it is wonderful and helps the story along.

This book was nothing new to me as I have taught children in a group setting how to quilt. And speaking from experience, this book is right on. It has all the tips and tricks I would suggest and at least one I am going to steal. And while this is geared towards kids, I think there are some adults who might find this an easier book to learn from than many of the books for adults.