Children’s Books – Mini Reviews:

Here are three books I got for my 6 year old son at the Hawaii Book and Music. We enjoyed all of them. 😄

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Boy From The Dragon Palace

Author: Margaret Read MacDonald

Illustrator: Sachiko Yoshikawa

Format: Paperback

Pages: 32

Categories: Japanese Folklore, Wishes

Book Blurb:

One day, a poor flower seller drops his leftover flowers into the sea as a gift for the Dragon King. What does he get in return? A little snot-nosed boy—with the power to grant wishes! Soon the flower seller is rich, but what will happen if he forgets the meaning of “thank you?”

MY REVIEW

I picked up the paperback, autographed copy of this book at a recent book festival. I love the cover and thought it would be perfect for my 6 year old son. We read it together and we laughed a lot. It’s a retelling of a Japanese folktale about a boy who would blow his nose and basically grant wishes. A snotty nosed genie! 😂 The illustrations are very beautiful and the lessons taught in the story are about greed and being ungrateful. My son and I loved this book!

Get it here: Amazon

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My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Bye, Bye, Big!

Author: Margaret Read MacDonald & Gerald Fierst

Illustrator: Kitty Harvill

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 36

Categories: Animals, Circle of Life

Book Blurb:

BIG BIG Frog snaps up little little mosquito. But BIG BIG snake snaps up little little frog. And so the chain continues…until BIG BIG man is zapped by little little mosquito. BIG print and easy to read text, fun to read aloud or to pour over on your own. Kitty Harvill’s bright papercuts leap off the page.

MY REVIEW

I got the autographed copy of this hard cover version at a book festival and what caught me eye was the colorful cover. Also, I wanted a book my son would have fun reading by himself. This is simply worded and repetitive enough that he wouldn’t find it too challenging to read. He also loves animals, so this was perfect for him. I read it to my 2 year old daughter and she actually told me to stop it. I think because the animals were getting eaten by the bigger one, similar to There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly. She was scared for the animals, I think. But when I read it to my son again, she listened and actually laughed this time. The illustrations are nice and big!

Get it here: Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost for you. Thanks!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Look Inside Space

Author: Rob Lloyd Jones

Format: Hard Cover

Pages: 14

Categories: Space

Book Blurb:

This is a great fun flap book packed with interesting information about space, and the amazing things that float through it – stars, moons, comets, and the planets of our solar system. Each double-page spread has a stunning colour illustration, and several flaps to lift to find out more about what’s going on in the scene – such as what goes inside the International Space Station, how astronauts visited the Moon and what they did there, as well as the history of astronomy, from Galileo to the Hubble Space Telescope.

MY REVIEW

Another book festival find at the Usborne books tent – my son is into all things space, so I had to get this book for him. It was flaps in the book which makes it a but more interactive. We went through this book together and I learned some things as well! We loved the illustrations and facts about planets, black holes and more. It’s a great book for kids who are interested about space!

Get it here: Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost for you. Thanks!

Children’s Corner Book Review: Llama Llama Mess, Mess, Mess

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Anna Dewdney

Format: E-book

Publication Date: August 27, 2019

Categories: Helping, Cleaning Up, Children’s Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

MY REVIEW

My family and I love all the Llama Llama books. So this one is no exception, it’s a great book teaching young ones how they can help to clean up their space. I need to read this book to my kids every day and maybe the message will someday stick. They sure don’t listen to ME when I tell them the house is a mess, mess, mess and to help me clean up! 😂 This is a perfect edition to the whole Llama Llama series with it’s classic illustrations and a topic that is on going in any household.

Children’s Book Review: Summer Days Fall Days

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Kate Colley

Illustration: Dale Nigel Gobel

Publication Date: September 24, 2019

Categories: Flip Book, Seasons, Children’s Book

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

MY REVIEW

This book had me at “flippable book”! I always engage my kids in these book reviews, and my daughter saw the ice cream on the cover and was immediately excited. Now, because I read this book to her on an iPad as an e-book, she lost interest by the time I went to flip the book. But if this was a physical copy, I have a feeling this would be added to our night reading pile because it’s colorful with large pictures, it’s short and it flips. I enjoyed the flipping part to the Fall Days section, because we live in Hawaii, we don’t really experience fall but that doesn’t stop me from showing my kids how autumn is experienced around the world. Overall it’s a great book! I’d buy a physical copy for my child and it would make a great gift for other children as well.

Book Review: Little Bear Wants to GROW

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Judith Koppens

Illustrator: Suzanne Diedren

Publication Date: April 19, 2019

Categories: Children’s Fiction, Growing Up

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

MY REVIEW

This book is perfect for my two year old daughter who is enamored by cute, fuzzy creatures. I read this book to her and she smiled happily when she saw the Little Bear. From an adult’s perspective, the book’s illustrations are charming and colorful. I chose it for my daughter because of the cover and she’s a two-year old, so lately I keep telling her she’s a big girl now, especially because she just gave up her pacifier. This book covers the concept of “growing” for children in a sweet-mannered, simple way. It’s perfect for toddlers who might be wondering why adult’s keep talking about them growing up all the time.