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Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade
Community Helpers: Butcher, Firefighter, Junkyard, Mail Carrier

A v. smart street dog writes request letters to people in the community to be their faithful pooch. Rejection letter after rejection letter leaves Arfy dispirited. The last couple pages depict Arfy in a battered cardboard box, all alone in the dark in the rain. It's real sad, guys. But in the morning, there's a letter stuck to his box--addressed to him! "Can I be your person?" starts the letter.
SpoilerThe next page shows the mail carrier (which we've seen throughout the book delivering Arfy's letters) waiting for Arfy to arrive.
This has the sweetest ending for dog lovers and people with hearts.

Age: Toddler-Preschool
Animals: Panda, Lemur, Mouse, Octopus, Elephant, and Goat

Mr. Panda has an armload of presents for his friends. Delivering them one by one, we find that all the presents are a little off in some way--Mouse's shirt is too big, Octopus' only receives 6 socks, etc. But Lemur is there to remind everyone that it's the thought that counts--and it certainly is.

This book in the series is similar to the other stories because Mr. Panda visits each animal one by one but, unfortunately, the book doesn't "reward" the use of the words "Thank you." Instead, it focuses more on accepting the kind offers a person extends towards you.

Age: 4th-6th grade
Tough Issue: Sibling of cancer patient

First line: “When someone tells you your little brother might die, you’re quick to agree to anything.”

Thyme is uprooted from her childhood home to travel across the country to a small and unfamiliar New York apartment with a cranky downstairs neighbor, a new school, and city gloom. She has every right to feel alone, unhappy, and bitter. But Thyme must push these feelings down because her family has moved to find a final treatment for her brother with neuroblastoma cancer. But ignoring her feelings may lead to more problems.

An authentic and complex family dynamic, the Owens’ must push aside personal desires in order to rally behind the youngest in their family. Even though the main character isn’t the one experiencing the trauma of cancer, Conklin manages to write her perspective without making her selfish and unlikable.

Age: Preschool-1st grade
Concept Skill: Perspective and sizes

This book provides a nice look at perspectives and how something big can actually be quite small when compared to something else. Rueda only uses black, white, and red to help the listener focus on the sizes of objects.

Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
Family: Older sister, new baby
Emotions: Mad, sad, happy, overwhelmed, jealous

A little girl describes her range of emotions from happy to mad to sad. The reader/listener sees that most of her negative emotions come from the new baby in the house. On those mad sad noisy days, the little girl uses her imagination to escape into a rain forest of her own creation, visualizing her large and daunting problems as trees and mountains and overcoming them.

Two-Four sentences per page make this an excellent read-aloud but readers will want to pause and discuss some of the pictures to fully understand the character's reasoning behind her emotions. Non-computer generated artwork (watercolor) help diversify your read-aloud collection.

Age: Toddler-Preschool
Family: Dad and Daughter

A large dad is juxtaposed next to his little girl only by size for their hearts and interests align. The watercolor illustrations are charming and full of stories but the actual text is bland and scattered. Wish the illustrator got a writer to pair with her delightful duo.

Age: Toddler-Preschool
Clothing: Shoes
Familiar Experience: Shoe shopping

A young child must say goodbye to some very loved shoes but gets to chose a new, fun pair. The POV of the child adds a fun dimension to this common experience.

Age: Toddler

Bear can NOT keep a secret--because he has to get everyone ready to celebrate your birthday! Revealed on the last page, this is a sweet surprise to share in storytime, circle time, or at home.

Age: Preschool-1st grade

Max has a delightful confidence in everything he does, providing silly problem solving skills and insightful pro-tips. For the grocery store, Max knows everything about getting the most out of the trip because he goes All. The. Time. Throughout his excursion, Max has a lot of (sweet) suggested purchases but is always shot down by his mom. Miraculously, there are no tantrums, adding to his charm. In the end, he does get to share a chocolate bar at home with his mom.

A diagram of the store, speech bubbles, and Max's antics and confident attitude throughout the store make this a delight to read. Illustrator Hocking also incorporates some of the words into the illustrations, adding a nice touch. Can't wait for the second installment in this series!

Age: K-2nd grade
Family: Older sister,
Spoileradopted new baby sister


A surprise lies at the end of this book as we see Caroline stumble through a very unusual day.

SpoilerAlmost like an introduction to the mystery genre, readers/listeners are left guessing why Caroline is feeling strange and discombobulated. In the end, Caroline's parents meet her at school with a bundle from far, far away--her new baby sister. I wish that the word adoption had been mentioned cause my dull brain was unable to figure that out until I read some other reviews. That being said, it's nice to have an intriguing storyline for an adoption story that doesn't feel nonfiction-based.