Board Books about Animals

September 8 – International Literacy Day

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About the Holiday

In 1966 UNESCO (United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture) established International Literacy Day on this date to “actively mobilize the international community to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities, and societies.” This year, the theme is “Promoting literacy in the digital era” and focuses on the way digitization has changed and is changing the way people learn, live, work and socialize—both positively and negatively.

Today’s observance also shines a light on the importance of engaging children in reading from their earliest ages. It is well-documented that children who are read to from birth develop better reading and communication skills, which leads to better across-the-board performance in school and beyond. While reading together, parents, adults, and caregivers and their children also develop strong bonds that last a lifetime. Today’s two books offer young readers the joy and excitement of reading in interactive formats that adults will love sharing with their kids. To learn more about International Literacy Day, visit unesco.org.

Thank you to Twirl Books and Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for send me copies of these books for review!

Animals Everywhere: A Lift, Look, and Find Book

Written by Stéphanie Babin

Illustrated by Sophie Ledesma, Robert Barborini, Marie Caudry, Jessica Das, Marie Kyprianou, and Charlotte Roederer

 

Take your little ones on an around-the-world tour to six diverse environments in the enchanting Animals Everywhere, a vibrant and fun seek-and-find book that includes flaps for even more surprising discovery. Habitats featured are a rural countryside, a polar region, a forest in autumn, a farm, the rainforest, and a wildlife-welcoming backyard. Each of these habitats are presented with either one or two gatefold pages that open to reveal a panoramic view of beauty and delightful details that invite children to find either 12 or 16 creatures.

Illustration © 2025 by Robert Barborini, text © 2025 Stéphanie Babin

Running along the bottom of each page spread, a banner includes a short, easy-to-understand description of the environment as well as small circles containing images of the creatures to be found and their name. To help the youngest readers, each creature is depicted in the exact way and orientation as in the large picture.

This well-conceived book goes far beyond a simple search-and-find concept. Each spread is loaded with action and interactions, animals, people, vegetation, vehicles, objects, and weather events for kids and adults to talk about, point out, and use to create their own seek-and-find fun. These fully realized landscapes make for exciting and challenging searches that kids can enjoy again and again and that will engage children over a wide age range.

Illustration © 2025 by Charlotte Roederer, text © 2025 Stéphanie Babin. Courtesy of Twirl Books.

Stéphanie Babin’s charming text is enthusiastic and evocative as she welcomes young readers to each habitat and shares a sprinkling of facts just right for little learners. These can lead to discussions about pollinators, camouflage, where we get our food, and even to trips to the backyard or nearby park to search for creatures and plants there.

Each environment is gorgeously illustrated by a different artist, giving the book the feel of walking through an art museum and encountering a stimulating variety of styles. Kids will be transfixed with the bright colors, adorable animals, and all there is to see and do.

Sure to quickly become any young child’s story time favorite, Animals Everywhere: A Lift, Look, and Find Book is a must for home bookshelves and library collections. The book would also make a much-appreciated gift.

Ages 2 – 4+

Twirl, 2025 | ISBN 979-1036381454

About the Author

Stéphanie Babin is an author of books for young children, particularly nonfiction and interactive titles. She lives in Paris, France.

You can purchase Animals Everywhere: A Lift, Look, and Find Book from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

My Animal Sounds (Baby Basics™)

By Xavier Deneux

 

Babies love books! Babies love animals! How can you combine these two favorites in one fun activity? With the interactive board book My Animal Sounds! Created for the youngest learners, My Animal Sounds combines high-contrast illustrations of ten adorable animals with sound chips that bring the pages to life. High-contrast books engage babies from birth and as their vision develops during their first year by featuring bold, black-and-white images that are easier for them to focus on and see clearly.

Text and Illustration © 2025 by Xavier Deneux. Courtesy of Twirl Books.

Spots of color add cheery notes to each of Xavier Deneux’s charming scenes, as a curious cat roams a rooftop, a bird stops by on an early spring day, a rabbit uncovers a carrot, and a sheep and dog meet on a twilit evening, among other sweet images. And who can resist the endearing giggles that will bubble up from hearing the frog croak and chirp, the rabbit chitter and crunch, and the pig snuffle and snort. Kids will continue to enjoy this book well into toddlerhood as well.

Text and Illustration © 2025 by Xavier Deneux. Courtesy of Twirl Books.

Cuddling with your baby or toddler and My Animal Sounds will become a favorite way to spend quality time together. The book makes a perfect take-along for parents, grandparents, and caregivers, a smart choice for any daycare setting, and a fun addition to a babysitter’s or nanny’s pack. The book would also be terrific new-baby gift.

Ages Baby – 3

Twirl, 2025 | ISBN 979-1036382086

About the Author/Illustrator

Xavier Deneux‘s chic, bold style and insightful grasp of what makes younger children think, connect, and smile has resulted in more than 100 critically lauded books. After graduating from ESAG (École Supérieure d’art graphique) Penninghen, he worked in advertising before becoming a full-time children’s book illustrator. He is the creator of the TouchThinkLearn series. He lives in Paris, France.

You can purchase My Animal Sounds (Baby Basics™) from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review

July 15 – Wild about Wildlife Month

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About the Holiday

Wild about Wildlife Month celebrates the wonderful diversity of our planet’s wildlife while reinforcing the importance of all animals to our ecosystem and even to our survival! The holiday also focuses on conservation, recycling, and education about how humans’ actions affect crucial habitats and the health of flora and fauna populations. While July is designated as Wild about Wildlife Month, the holiday’s significance is something to be mindful of all year around. To participate, explore the wildlife in your area while learning about the creatures on the other side of the world and everywhere in between. Today’s book will get you and your youngest nature-lovers started!

Thanks go to Phaidon Press for sending me a copy of The Secret Powers of Animals for review!

The Secret Powers of Animals

Written by Soledad Romero Mariño | Illustrated by Sonia Pulido

 

It’s no secret that kids of all ages are fascinated by animals. Little ones stand on tiptoe gazing up up up in awe at elephants and giraffes, fold themselves into pint-sized scientists to inspect bugs on the sidewalk, and are endlessly entertained by family pets. And when they learn interesting facts about their favorites, they love sharing their knowledge.

Illustration © 2025 by Sonia Pulido, text © 2025 by Solodad Romero Mariño. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.

How do you replicate the excitement of witnessing an animal in person at home or in the classroom? With The Secret Powers of Animals, a lift-the-flap board book that combines jaunty introductory rhyming verses, three amazing secret powers, and the fun of interactive learning for 10 distinct creatures of the land, sea, and air.

Illustration © 2025 by Sonia Pulido, text © 2025 by Solodad Romero Mariño. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.

Among this menagerie, kids meet a brainy octopus, who tells them “I’m a master of disguise— / I’m cunning and I’m wise. / Through swirling seas I glide / with my many ways to hide.” Indeed, the octopus’s superpowers back this up! Just one of the three amazing talents this eight-armed beauty reveals to readers is the ability to change “my shape or skin tone to look like something else.” 

Little learners will love trying to guess each creature’s super powers as they discover which animal has the best sense of smell, who has a tusk that works like a thermometer, who can chomp harder than a shark, who can detach its tail to throw predators off its track, and so many more ingenious animal traits! 

Illustration © 2025 by Sonia Pulido, text © 2025 by Solodad Romero Mariño. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.

Soledad Romero Mariño brings each animal to life with witty and spirited vocabulary that not only describes the creature’s physical attributes but evokes a sense of their personality and place in the natural kingdom. The elephant “swishes” its tale and “flaps” its ears, the owl “swoops about,” the lizard “scuttles” and “darts,” and the cheetah “inches” and “creeps” before “. . . [giving] chase / in a big, bursting leap.” Romero Mariño explains each secret power in simple language that even the youngest reader will understand and remember. Her flowing verses are a joy to read aloud and are perfect sparks for pretend play at home, in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, and for library story times. 

Sonia Pulido’s realistic, museum-quality illustrations transport children to the savanna to meet an elephant face to face; under the sea, where a strikingly beautiful octopus levitates amid colorful coral and a family of narwals floats in the deep-blue water; to desert sands and rocky paths; and to sun-drenched grasslands among other locales. On the facing page, Romero Mariño’s text is bordered by lovely and thoughtful details that reflect the animal’s natural habitat. Both kids and adults enjoy lingering over each spread to talk about the animals. On each tab, Pulido includes an icon that depicts the secret power—for instance, the image of an eye with the words “Amazing eyes” for super vision—which becomes familiar to readers as it is repeated throughout the book. 

The Secret Powers of Animals, a stunning, sturdy board book that adults will be excited to share with young children, is a must for all nature-loving families, early educators, and library collections. The book also makes a terrific gift for any young animal lover.

Ages 2 – 5

Phaidon Press, 2025 | ISBN 978-1838669522

About the Author

Author Soledad Romero Mariño is an experienced children’s non-fiction author who specializes in ‘best of’ round-up style books. Her works include Superpowered Animals: Meet The World’s Strongest, Smartest, and Swiftest Creatures (also published by Phaidon), Awesome Accidents: 19 Discoveries that Changed the World and Famous Robberies: The World’s Most Spectacular Heists.

About the Illustrator

Sonia Pulido’s illustrations have appeared in publications globally, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. In 2020 Pulido won the Spanish National Illustration Award and she is the illustrator of Phaidon’s bestselling What a Shell Can Tell. Visit her at soniapulido.com.

You’ll find my review of the stunning Super Powered Plants for older readers here.

Wild about Wildlife Month Activity

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Handprint Elephants

 

This easy craft is fun for siblings to do together and can make a nice decoration for a child’s room or a gift for mom, dad, or other family members.

Supplies

  • Craft paint in two colors of the children’s choice
  • Yellow craft paint
  • Black fin-tip marker
  • Crayons, markers, or colored pencils to make a background
  • Paper
  • Paint brush

Directions

  1. Paint one child’s hand and press it on the paper. The thumb is the truck and the fingers the legs.
  2. Paint the second child’s hand and press it on the paper near the other “elephant.” A couple of examples are: the elephants standing trunk to trunk or trunk to tail 
  3. After the paint has dried, draw on ears and an eye
  4. Add a sun with the yellow paint
  5. Add grass, trees, or other background features

You can purchase The Secret Powers of Animals from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review

March 21 – Celebrate Spring

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About the Holiday

Yesterday we celebrated the spring equinox, which means that spring is officially here! With the coming of longer and warmer days, we’re looking forward to the return of vibrant color on trees and in gardens, birds, bees, and butterflies flitting here and there, all the fun activities the outdoors provides, and, of course, the books that bring cheer and meaning to the season. 

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House for sharing a digital copy of this book with me!

Little Bunny, Spring Is Here!

By Deborah Marcero

 

Little Bunny and Field Mouse are walking through the woods. Little Bunny doesn’t see much evidence of spring, yet, and wonders when it will come. Looking at a tiny green shoot, Field Mouse has some good news. “I think spring is coming, Little Bunny,” she says. Little Bunny is excited and wants to go off to find it.

Text and Illustration © 2025 by Deborah Marcero. Courtesy of G.P. Putnam’s Books for Young Readers.

They meet up with Duck, who’s still wearing a winter hat but offers to join the search—leaving someone else behind in the tall grass at the edge of the pond. In a cave they find Black Bear awake and ready to explore. A short walk in the rain brings them to the welcome shelter of Chipmunk’s hollow log. Soon, the rain stops, the clouds disperse, and the sun rises high in the sky. The five friends scan the surrounding hillside, where pale green leaves appear on tree branches, turning darker along with the grass that carpets the meadow.

The rain has also brought bubbling water to the river, and glowing rainbows to the sky. In a blink “Flowers bloomed” and “Bees zoomed! Birds sang.” In fact, “Spring SPRANG!” Little Bunny celebrated. “Spring is here, everyone! And so it was.”

Text and Illustration © 2025 by Deborah Marcero. Courtesy of G.P. Putnam’s Books for Young Readers.

Adorable in every way, Little Bunny, Spring Is Here! will delight little ones with its cute characters, sweet friendships, and magical landscape that blooms in time-bending quickness. Deborah Marcero’s engaging storytelling ushers in spring with repeated phrases that youngest readers will love joining in on. After the rain brings a transformation, Marcero invites little ones to welcome spring’s beauty with lively, two-word rhyming verses. Little Bunny’s final announcement of spring’s arrival is one we all can cheer.

Marcero’s bright and charming illustrations provide surprises on every page as the group of endearing friends goes searching for spring. Wise little readers will have fun recognizing and pointing out the signs of spring, such as tadpoles in the pond, those “April showers,” and blossoms galore before Little Rabbit and the rest of the gang discover them. And don’t forget to look for hearts among the leaves and flowers. Adults and kids will also share a giggle as the little tadpoles line up in the pond for their turn to use Black Bear’s snout as a diving board as, in a bound, each instantly transforms into a frog.

A lovely, multilayered board book, Little Bunny, Spring Is Here! is a perfect read aloud as well as a terrific take-along choice for spring and summer outings to invite kids to find signs of the changing seasons. The book is highly recommended for home, preschool, and library collections.

Ages Birth – 3

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2025 | ISBN 978-0593698969

Deborah Marcero is the author and illustrator of the picture book bestsellers In a Jar, which was called “stunning” in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and “beguiling” by the Wall Street Journal, and Out of a Jar, which was an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year and was called “simultaneously simple and profound” in a starred review from School Library Journal. She also wrote and illustrated the picture book My Heart Is a Compass and the Haylee and Comet emerging reader series. Learn more at deborahmarcero.com and follow her on Instagram. 

Celebrate Spring Activity

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Bunny Candy or Organizer Jar

 

A little bit of candy makes Easter or any spring day sweeter! With this Sweet Bunny Candy Jar, you can give a child, a friend, or even yourself a special treat that will make you hoppy!

Supplies

  • Printable Hat Rim and Bunny Ears Template
  • Baby food jar (I used a Beech-Nut Naturals jar)
  • White fleece, 8 ½ inches by 11 inches
  • 1 piece of colored foam 
  • Small piece of pink foam or felt for nose
  • Googly eyes (I used oval)
  • Medium pom-pom
  • Multi-surface paint, purple (for the hat)
  • Fabric glue (I used Fabric-Tac)
  • Black ultra-fine or fine tip permanent marker
  • Large nail or ice pick
  • Hammer
  • Scissors

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Directions

  1. Remove label from baby food jar
  2. Clean and dry jar and lid
  3. Trace the hat rim template onto the purple foam
  4. Cut out the rim of the hat and remove the center
  5. Trace the ears template onto the white fleece and cut out

To Make the Body and Face

  1. Cut a 2-inch wide by 7-inch long strip of white fleece
  2. Glue the strip of fleece to the jar under the lip and leaving about ½ inch of glass showing at the bottom
  3. Glue on the googly eyes
  4. Cut a little nose from the pink foam and glue to the face
  5. Make the mouth with the permanent marker on a little piece of fleece, cut out and glue under the nose

To Make the Hat

  1. Paint the lid with the purple paint. Let dry.
  2. (Adult Needed) With the nail or ice pick and hammer, make a hole on either side of the lid to insert the ears. You can make the hole a little bigger with a phillips head screwdriver
  3. Flip the lid over and hammer the edges of the hole flat
  4. Trace the hat rim template onto the purple foam and cut out

To Insert the Ears

  1. Pinch the end of one ear together and push it through one hole in the lid.
  2. Pull it through the hole a bit to form the ear
  3. Repeat with the other ear

Finish the Bunny

  1. Add the foam rim to the lid
  2. Glue the pom-pom to the back of the jar for the tail
  3. Add M&Ms, jelly beans, or other small candy

You can purchase Little Bunny, Spring Is Here! from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review

April 17 – International Haiku Day

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celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-peek-a-boo-haiku-cover

About the Holiday

Small things are amazing—and surprising! We all know good things come in small packages, and just look at the wisdom, humor, and capacity for love of children. The same goes for haiku—the smallest form of poetry in size but never in impact. Coming mid-way through National Poetry Month, today’s holiday shines a spotlight on the haiku. The simple 5-7-5 rule that we all learn in school doesn’t begin to define the complexity of these three-line beauties that distill the world into little nuggets that make readers see life in amazing and surprising ways.

Peek-a-Boo Haiku

Written by Danna Smith | Illustrated by Teagan White

 

In this beautiful board book, little ones are taken through an auditory and visual wonderland from winter through spring, summer, and fall as two mice visit woodland, meadow, garden, and aquatic creatures to play, discover, and celebrate the changing seasons.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-peek-a-boo-haiku-winter-hidden

Children will enjoy predicting what animals are hiding behind the log and boulder. Image copyright Teagan White, 2023, text copyright Danna Smith, 2023. Courtesy of Little Simon.

Each of Danna Smith’s haiku verses surprises, sparkling with lovely alliteration and evocative language that invites young readers to anticipate and predict who will appear when the flaps on  the facing page are lifted. Smith’s giggly humor and exceptional imagination elevate readers’ experience as she deftly uses games and experiences familiar to children (hide-and-seek, confetti, splashing in water, and lullabies to name a few) in ways that will spark creative thinking and bond them to the natural world. As late fall with its nighttime frost appears in the last spread, Smith’s gentle, sleepy verse welcomes little ones to drift off to dream along with the two snuggled up mice.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-peek-a-boo-haiku-winter-bunnies

When the rabbits are revealed, Smith’s verse encourages readers to talk about “long ears” and “short ears.” Image copyright Teagan White, 2023, text copyright Danna Smith, 2023. Courtesy of Little Simon.

Any book illustrated by Teagan White is a treasure, and in Peek-a-Boo Haiku, she populates Smith’s various habitats with adorable, yet realistic animals that will charm little readers and adults alike. White’s glorious colors add breathtaking beauty to her gorgeously detailed pages. Each spread is a tiny masterpiece that gives children and adults much to discover and talk about as they move through the seasons. The final spread, washed in somnolent shades of twilight, puts little ones in the mind for sleep, just as the owl snugged into its tree-trunk nest. Kids will enjoy finding the mice (appearing alone or together, allowing the youngest children to engage with the idea of one and/or two) in each spread, and the variety of creatures, plants, and environments provide a wealth of learning, from vocabulary to math to science, for a wide-range of ages and development. 

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-peek-a-boo-haiku-spring-bird-shown

When the colorful bird is revealed behind stems of flowers, Danna Smith invites readers to talk about what she has in her beak, where it came from, and what she will do with it. Image copyright Teagan White, 2023, text copyright Danna Smith, 2023. Courtesy of Little Simon.

Exquisite in every way, Peek-a-Boo Haiku is a book adults and children will love to share again and again and is a perfect choice as a gift for special occasions, baby showers, new siblings, or simply to add to a child’s bookshelf. This superlative board book also belongs in all preschool and kindergarten classrooms as well as school and library collections.

Ages Birth to 5

Little Simon, 2023 | ISBN 978-1665926461

About the Author

Danna Smith is a poet and award-winning author of numerous books for children, including One Blue Gnu; Rooftop Garden; Wake Up, Freight Train!; and several Little Golden Books. Her nonfiction picture book, The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry, received two starred reviews and is a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year. Danna currently lives in northern California, where she is hard at work on her next book. For more information about her books and teaching activities, visit her website at DannaSmithBooks.com.

About the Illustrator

Teagan White is an artist and author who creates playful watercolor scenes of the natural world and the friendly creatures who inhabit it. Teagan lives in Oregon, enjoys visiting seagulls at the beach, and has illustrated nine picture books. Find out more at TinyMothStudios.com.

Take a Peek at this Peek-a-Boo Haiku Book Trailer!

National Haiku Day Activities

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Woodland animals love to play hide-and-seek in trees, behind logs and rocks, under bushes, and in all sorts of places. This Peek-a-Boo Haiku Memory Game lets little ones find matching pairs of animals while building observation skills and having lots of fun!

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Young children will enjoy writing their own haiku from what they see in nature with this adorable Write a Haiku Page that gets them thinking and using their imagination.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-peek-a-boo-haiku-cover

You can find Peek-a-Boo Haiku at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop

Picture Book Review

April 20 – It’s the Month of the Young Child

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celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animals-move-cover

About the Holiday

During the month of April, we celebrate families and their young children. The aim of the holiday is to raise awareness of all the ways people can support and advance children’s happiness and wellbeing. Getting kids excited about learning and experiencing new things, getting to know their community, engaging in healthy habits like eating well and exercising are important components of a happy life. Today’s book incorporates many of these goals and will delight young readers. Earlier this month, families, schools, and caregivers celebrated the Week of the Young Child with different special activities encouraged each day of the week. These activities are fun all this month and anytime of the year. To learn more about how you can incorporate Music Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Work Together Wednesday, Artsy Thursday, and Family Friday into your schedule visit the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Animals Move

Written by Jane Whittingham

 

It’s no secret that little ones love to jump, run, climb, and snuggle. Not only are these activities fun and great for getting the wiggles out, they help kids build strong muscles and develop large and fine motor skills. In her new book, Jane Whittingham entices children to get moving while also introducing them to fifteen baby animals and what they are called through her engaging rhythmical and rhyming text. Even the youngest children will pick up on Whittingham’s lively words and want to read along too.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animals-move-ducklings-splash

Copyright Jane Whittingham, 2022, courtesy of Pajama Press.

Beautiful, action-packed nature photographs of each baby animal – from whale calves to swan cygnets , echidna puggles to alpaca crias, puppies and kittens to tadpoles and more – are paired with photos of a wide range of kids, including a girl with Down syndrome and a young ballerina who uses a walker, mirroring the animal’s motions and inviting readers to pounce, nibble, splash, and dash along with them.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animals-move-crias-wobble

Copyright Jane Whittingham, 2022, courtesy of Pajama Press.

Animals Move is part of the Toddler Tough series, which, in addition to the text for children, provides adults with a guide on how the book assists with physical, language, and subject-matter learning development. The spirited photographs of readers’ peers engage kids in recognizing a variety of facial expressions, emotions, and body language, which enhances social emotional learning – important skills for success in school and beyond. Back matter also provides ways in which to use the book as a springboard for your own creativity through games, singing, movement exercises, and even making your own book. Sturdy construction and a padded cover complete this well-thought-out book. 

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animals-move-foals-dash

Copyright Jane Whittingham, 2022, courtesy of Pajama Press.

If you’re looking for a book that’s sure to be an active story time favorite at home, in the classroom, or for library programs as well as a terrific take-along for spontaneous fun on walks, at the park, on picnics, and during other outings, you’ll want to add Animals Move to your book collection.

Ages 2 – 5

Pajama Press, 2022 | ISBN 978-1772782387

Discover more about Jane Whittingham and her books on her website.

Month of the Young Child Activity

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animal-matching-cards

Match Up the Animals! Game

 

Test your powers of memory—or your ability to guess correctly—with this Animal Pairs matching game!

Supplies

  • Printable Match Up the Animals! Cards to color
  • Printable Full-Color Funny Matching Cards – Set 1 | Set 2
  • Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
  • Scissors

Directions

  1. Print the Animal Pairs Cards, print two pages to have double cards. To make the game more difficult print 3 or more pages to find 3 or more groups of matching animals
  2. Color the cards
  3. Cut out the cards
  4. Lay the cards face down on a table in random order
  5. Turn over cards to look for matching pairs
  6. When you find a matching pair leave the cards face up
  7. Continue playing until you find all the matching animal pairs or groups

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-animals-move-cover

You can find Animals Move at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

February 1 – Wishing a Hoppy Book Birthday to Every Bunny Dance Now!

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About the Holiday

I’m excited to be celebrating the book birthday of Joan Holub’s and Allison Black’s newest seasonal board book for enthusiastic little readers. With touch-and-feel surprises and lively rhymes and rhythms to get kids engaged with every page, this is one spring charmer you’ll want on your child’s library shelf. 

Thanks to Joan Holub for sharing a digital copy of Every Bunny Dance Now! with me for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

Every Bunny Dance Now!

Written by Joan Holub | Illustrated by Allison Black

 

If your kids always have the joys of spring in their heart and a jaunty spring in their step, then they’ll love hoppin’ and boppin’ along with the bundle of bunnies, lambs, ducks, pigs, squirrels, and cows who can’t stop mooovin’ to the groove. Even a skunk and some butterflies join in the fun.

Ready to get started? Then “give your fuzzy tail a wiggle. Twitch your bunny nose and giggle. Skip through flowers in your jammies. Boogie-woogie with the lambies.” Think your kids can resist that invitation? Me neither! 

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-every-bunny-dance-now-party

Image copyright Allison Black, 2022, text copyright Joan Holub, 2022. Courtesy of Scholastic.

Joan Holub’s infectious rhymes will have little ones jumping and laughing, twirling and peeping – and even doing the chicken dance – as they visit a pond, a mud puddle, a patch of clover, and a colorful field of wildflowers. When all the wiggles are out, kids will find more to love with the touch-and-feel elements on each page that make this a terrific lap-time book as well. However you share this book, you and your kids will want to cheer, “What a great day, bright and sunny. Happy springtime, little bunny!” 

Joan Holub’s enchanting romp is the perfect way for kids to celebrate the season of spring as well as to enjoy the wiggly, giggly fun of movement all year around. Holub’s short sentences, punctuated with invitations to join in on the ducks’ “quack-quack,” the pigs’ “oink-oink,” and the cows’ “mooovin’,” will have kids excited to read along. Those who like a little learning during story time will like pointing out or naming and counting the different animals.

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Image copyright Allison Black, 2022, text copyright Joan Holub, 2022. Courtesy of Scholastic.

Allison Black infuses every page with loads of color and vivacious, smiling animals enthusiastic to spend time with their friends. As the bunnies come topside to start the party, Black sprinkles her vibrant backgrounds with music notes and surrounds the animals with charming flowers, clover, and butterflies. Kids will love spying the adorable bespectacled moles who pop up to attend the celebration too.

An exhilarating and charm-filled way to spend time with little ones and get them excited about reading, Every Bunny Dance Now! will become a quick favorite for active and snuggly story times. The board book makes a fantastic addition to Easter baskets or gift for springtime celebrations.

Ages 2 – 5

Cartwheel Books, 2022 | ISBN 978-1338795004

Discover more about Joan Holub and her books on her website.

To learn more about Allison Black, her books, and her art, visit her website.

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You can find Every Bunny Dance Now! at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

November 3 – It’s Family Literacy Month

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About the Holiday

National Family Literacy Month was designed to encourage parents and other adults to read together with the children in their life. Studies show that children who are read to are better prepared to read on their own and do better in school. Cuddling together before bedtime or during special story times with favorite books instills a love of reading that can last a lifetime. To celebrate, plan some special reading-related activities: take a trip to a local bookstore and let your child pick a book; if your child is old enough, visit the library to sign up for a library card; and schedule extra reading time, especially with grandparents or other family members who may be visiting for the holidays. A fun and educational board book like today’s book is a perfect way to get little ones enthusiastic about reading as they grow older!

Thank you to Abrams Appleseed and Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for sharing Odd Beasts: Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals with me for review consideration. All opinions about the book are my own.

Odd Beasts: Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals

Written by Laura Gehl | Illustrated by Gareth Lucas

 

From their earliest years, kids are attracted to animals, whether for their fluffy coats, enthusiastic “kisses,” or silly antics. They love visiting the zoo and the aquarium to see – and maybe even touch – animals and sea creatures from around the world. And they’re always excited to meet new animals through the books they read. Through an age-appropriate short, charming poem played out over eight boldly illustrated pages, Laura Gehl does just that, introducing kids to a few of the earth’s most unusual animals. 

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Image copyright Gareth Lucas, 2021, text copyright Laura Gehl, 2021. Courtesy of Abrams Appleseed.

Gehl begins with an animal from Asia and Africa that at first glance might appear like an unlikely combination of an anteater and a fish – the pangolin! Turning the page, readers do meet a fish – and what a fish! “This sunfish weighs a ton.” Another ocean dweller is introduced two pages later: “This angler sees no sun.” Readers will be equally charmed by a turtle whose “neck is long,” and a clever camouflaged insect whose “jumps are strong.”

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Image copyright Gareth Lucas, 2021, text copyright Laura Gehl, 2021. Courtesy of Abrams Appleseed.

In addition to these three quirky creatures, kids get to know a glass frog, a long-horned orb-weaver spider, and a bush baby. Then Gehl tickles kids’ funny bone with a surprising perspective about how beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Following her lyrical pages, Gehl presents readers with a factual paragraph about each critter that reveals more about the trait that makes them so unusual and where they live. These descriptions are accompanied by a full-color photograph of the animal so kids can get a close-up view of nature’s amazing adaptations.

For young nature-lovers in the making, Odd Beasts: Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals is an engaging way to introduce them to a few creatures from around the world that will whet their appetite for more discovery. The book would be a much-read addition to home, classroom, and school and public library bookshelves.

Ages 2 – 4

Abrams Appleseed, 2021 | ISBN 978-1419742224

Discover more about Laura Gehl and her books on her website.

You can connect with Gareth Lucas on Instagram and Twitter. 

Family Literacy Day Activity

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Odd Beasts Coloring Pages

 

These odd beasts could use some color! Download and print these three coloring sheets from Laura Gehl’s website!

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You can find Odd Beasts: Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review