board book – One Chapter

One Little Leaf by Molly Littleboy

5 stars Children’s Board Book – Nonfiction

There’s lots to explore and learn in this book for children and adults. Each two-page spread carries a theme from leaves to senses, to seeds and lots more. The pages are packed with information relating to those individual themes but also on these pages are many tabs on cutout items, that are to be lifted which contain more information to read.

On the Magic of Leaves pages, there are 15 different leaves featured from cedar, yew, horse chestnut, redwood, elder, oak, aspen and many others. On the fir, sycamore, and linden leaves, there are cut-outs for fingers to hook the cut-outs of these leaves so that you can lift them open to read more about how special leaves are. I liked that most of the two-page spreads have 4 or more tabs to open.

Did you know:

“Just one tree trunk can make 10,000 sheets of paper. Tiny pieces of wood are mixed with water to create pulp, which is pressed through a paper machine. We also use these tiny pieces of wood to make toilet paper.”

“Leaves have skeletons, just like humans!”

“Sap is a sticky liquid that helps carry water and nutrients from the soil to every part of the tree- just like blood does in our bodies.”

Great illustrations make this a great resource. I liked the variety of text fonts used in the book and I enjoyed all the different varieties of species that they included and how they also identified them in the book. The use of color and the attention to detail in the illustrations was wonderful. This is a great book for young children interested in nature and for those who are just learning about it. 5 stars

Tell Me About Space by Lisa Varchol Perron

5 stars Children’s Nonfiction Picture Book

SO much information! This is definitely a book for school age children and not one for toddlers unless your toddler is well-advanced for their age. This book briefly explains gravity, earth’s rotation, the solar system, the moons, and the galaxies.

As a boy talks with his mother and asks her questions about space, the book expands on his questions and answers them in a direct manner. I like the one-one dialogue they have and how the book gives a brief, direct answer without giving a too complex and overwhelming answer. The text is easy to read, and I like the different fonts that were used in the book.

The illustrations are soft, and I liked the different color schemes that they used within the book.

It really is an educational book without being too wordy and overwhelming for a child. It’s a book that will answer their questions about space and could lead them to seek more information, if they so desire. It’s a book that could be read repeatedly and one with great illustrations and pictures that children can understand. 5 stars

“Tell me why I’m standing still if Earth is spinning around.”

“Everything is moving – you and me, the air, the ground!”

“Although we feel like we are staying in one place, we are always spinning along with Earth – about a thousand miles an hour! We don’t perceive the movement because it is constant.”

Whose Prints? by Kari Allen

5 stars Children’s Board Book

This is a great board book that has cut-outs of animal tracks that help children identify which track belongs to which animal. Follow along with a father and his child as they take a walk in the woods and notice the footprints in the newly fallen snow. There are about 4-6 tracks on each page which are cut-out on the page for the reader to identify. One page per animal and the reader is also given a short question about the animal before the reader turns the page to see the answer and an illustration of the animal. This is a super book for children and adults alike as it covers 7 different animals (including humans).

I like the beautiful peaceful illustrations. The text is simple and fun to read. This is a book that can be read repeatedly as the child examines the footprints and makes their guesses. They can apply this knowledge to their own world as they explore the great outdoors too. A gem of a book! 5 stars.

“Quick! Who scurried, then skittered around, over, and up?” There is a set of 5 small tracks on the page whose prints vary in length between them. Turning the page, you’ll see three squirrels up in the tree and the following answer printed on the page. (Answer: “Scurry, skitter. Up, up, up. A Squirrel!”)

Little Halloween by Denise Brennan-Nelson

5 stars Children’s Board Book

Cute rhyming book with riddles that are easy for young children to guess.

I really loved this little board book as it had many of the Halloween ideas inside it.

From scarecrows, to moon to black cat to costumes, little ones can guess these answers to the simple riddles that one the previous page.

“All shades of orange,

both big and small.

Hey ripen to

be picked in fall.

(answer: Pumpkin)

It’s the right size too for little ones and sturdy too. All in all a great Halloween book – one that I would highly recommend! 5 stars

Biscuit’s Snowy Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

5 stars Children’s Board Book

We love Biscuit! This little brown puppy will warm your heart as he loves to get involved in everything that his friend does. Today, they’re going outside to play in the snow. First, they must put on their snow clothes and even Biscuit has to put on a sweater to head outside. As all the children build a snowman, Biscuit helps and so does the dog.

Next, they create snow angels or snow puppies in the snow.

Time to go sledding before heading inside and warming up beside the fireplace. It was a fun-filled day! Woof, Woof!!

Such a cute, simple book that we read repeatedly. The colorful illustrations are action-packed, and the facial expressions set the tone for the book.

Curious George Goes Fishing by H.A. Rey

5 stars Children’s Board Book

Who doesn’t love George? With a curious mind, George finds a man walking to the lake. As the man puts some food on a hook that’s fastened on a pole, George is fascinated when the man catches a fish!

George wants to do that too! Off George goes to make his own fishing pole.

Finding a mop, string, some cake, and a hook, George creates his own fishing pole.

Fishing doesn’t come easy for George but that’s okay, as George does have fun. What’s this? Bill comes by with something that looks more interesting than fishing and it looks like it will be more fun too!

So much for fishing, as George is now going to see what Bill is up to. A fast-paced book with short sentences and cute illustrations. 5 stars

Every Body by Megan Madison

3.5 stars Children’s Board Book

Great information but I’m not sure a board book was the right avenue for it. I realize board books have expanded but this book is deeper than I anticipated. I hope that because it’s a board book individuals will not skip over it because the subject matter is well established in this book, where a variety of topics surrounding an individual’s body image is discussed. There is a picture book by the same title available and I guess I thought the information presented in a board book would be toned down compared to the same picture book, so now I’m curious as to what the picture book looks like.

At first glance, the illustrations inside this book are amazing. They’re bright, colorful detailed drawings that include a wide variety of individuals doing everyday activities. Every two-page spread also features an assortment of diversity: age, physical, ethnic, cultural, racial, etc. I liked the black text font as it’s bold and easy to read. I like how the book asks questions for the reader to answer based on their own experience. There are a lot of words to read in this book and the concepts discussed in this book are deeper than a beginning board book.

I like how the book addresses all the concepts surrounding body image. The book begins by addressing all the different types of bodies there are in the world and how they’re all special and healthy. From there, they address energy, fat, body needs, feelings, changes, body abilities, self-care, body image, being healthy, and it ends with every body is good. I liked how this book began with giving children a positive feeling about their bodies and accepting who they were, no matter what they looked like. I thought that the tone of the book started to get negative when it talked about BMI as they spent too many pages on this information.

Perhaps they should have just stated that they thought this concept was wrong (as individuals tried to change to fit this standard) and moved back into a more positive tone with “every body is a good body.” “Every body can be healthy.” I also never saw any mention of exercise or being active. The book talked about your body’s energy and listening to your body needs but it never addresses how your body needs exercise.

I think this book has great potential for lots of uses. To share the illustrations (without reading the words) and talk about what they see, would be a great conversational starter about diversity and bodies. Sharing the whole book with a child who would understand the words could lead to some interesting conversations. I hope individuals pick up this book up for its content and don’t overlook it because it is a board book. There is also a picture book with the same title. 3.5 stars