This book is a fabulous look at Sylvia Mendez and what her family did to fight segregation in California. Most students and kids learn about the court case of Brown versus the Board of Education, which desegregated schools nationwide. Years before that landmark case, the Menendez family did the exact same thing for their local Orange county community. This led to California becoming the first state to have a law against school segregation. The story is told from the point of Sylvia and what she experienced. This book is wonderful, and the artwork is truly unique. When looking at how the students in the book are drawn, it has an Inca or Myan feeling. Particularly with the way, the ears are drawn, but it makes such a statement that the illustrations stand out and pop off the page. This is a fantastic book for any reader and should be in all library collections. 

 

Wow. This powerful story is about a child who has the ability to move across the bridge between Mexico and the US, and how they help the families stuck on the bridge. These families cannot enter the US but also can’t enter Mexico. Each country says we don’t have room. But our young child narrator wishes for the day when his friends can travel the way they do, even if it is just a few miles back-and-forth. This book is fantastic and looks at a border town in a different light. It still has a happy feel to it even though it’s about a very heavy topic. It’s a great start to teach children about some of the issues with modern immigration. 

 

This is a brief introduction to Ralph Waldo Emerson for children. It is very well done, even though when I look at it, I think of Mr. Lincoln. There is nothing wrong with this book per se I just found it a tad bit boring. 

 

The illustrations in this book are simply beautiful. They’re soft and unique and very eye-catching. However, the story, while nice and interesting, is too long. This reads like somebody telling a spoken word story rather than reading a picture book. And while the story is lovely , it feels like a long odorous journey to get from beginning to end. 

 

Opal Lee is considered the grandmother of Juneteenth. She has fought for many years to make Juneteenth in official national holiday. She did finally succeed. The story looks at how Juneteenth came about, and why it should be celebrated. It also gives a brief look into Opal’s experiences, and what made her such a proponent for this national holiday. Lovely book with great illustrations that sure to be read for years to come. 

 

I really want to like this book, but it is extremely long. Professor goose is apparently the great grandson of mother goose, and he insists she did not do enough research on her tales. He even reads the three little pigs and tell use one what is wrong. As a professor, he brings up interesting side trivia that kids may find interesting, but it extends the story so far one is constantly wanting the end. This is a neat idea and I think it would make a fantastic project around second or third grade but in general not a picture book to grab for a quick fun week. 

 

When you read the title, but look at the cover, you see the oxymoron. The book is titled the Good little mermaids guide to bedtime, but the mermaid on the front cover has a sinister evil look. And that is because that little mermaid is not good. She is evil in all the ways that make evil evil. She doesn’t want to go to bed. She doesn’t want to clean her face, or moisturize her scales, but to be shiny like a dagger, not soft like something fluffy. This book was fantastic, and I will be buying a copy for my permanent collection. The artwork had the perfect mix of sinister and sweet that I want hanging on my walls. This is one of those books that says it’s OK to not live by the old Sugar and spice and everything nice, that you can have a darker haunted soul but still be a good girl. I love this book I loved everything about it. 

 

This is a nice book but a bit sad. Winter is coming, snows on the ground, and everything is chilly. A daughter and her mother live in their home and the daughter loves the outside in the snow, but her mom does not. Mom takes her daughter on a vacation to where she grew up, where it’s always warm and sunny. The daughter learns what her mother loves about home and tries to find those same things in their home back in the winter place. As I mentioned before, this was an interesting, read. It’s deep and reflective and leaves room to think and have discussions about families, in particular immigrant families who are making new lives. 

 

This book is a tad bit odd but still a fun read. It’s very simple and starts by listing who has sparkles and who doesn’t. And animals go about getting sparkles and sharing sparkles, then losing sparkles once again, just for everybody to have sparkles. There are places where the book rhymes and it has multiple cadences, but at the same time while it doesn’t have cadences, it’s still all coming together in a fantastically fun book That will have kids going again please. 

 

What a wonderfully heartbreaking and heart healing book. This book is about a grandchild and a grandparent. They think about how many things are called by different names, be had a person or a building or an activity. Every weekend grandpa and grandchild go on a walk and look at the world and one day the grandchild realizes that grandpa is starting to lose his words. And grandchild realizes that things are not always great. But the grandchild has a way to help grandpa remember. This book is so sweet and heartfelt and wonderful. It’s also sad and reflective but in a way that makes you feel happy at the end.