I Know a Rhino

I Know a Rhino

by Charles Fuge

Have you ever taken a bath with a giraffe? Played doctor with a dragon? Brunched with a bear? Rocked out with an orangutan? The female lead in I Know a Rhino is a little girl with a big imagination. She brings her stuffed animal friends along in all of her imaginative adventures.

Charles Fuge's luscious illustrations in I Know a Rhino made this Yuri's favorite board book from infancy. The text flows nicely, with well-formed rhymes and a good pace. You will quickly be able to read this book with your eyes closed (which is quite handy with a cranky child who's up all night long).

As an added bonus, this is a great book to start working on scientific names of animals (if you're so inclined). A close reader might notice that the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) on the cover seems to become an Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) on the final page.

I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge

The Dark

The Dark

by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Laszlo lives in a big, old house with a creaky roof and lots of stairs. There are plenty of places where the dark likes to lurk - behind the shower curtain, in the closet, outside the windows at night. But the dark's favorite place is its room down in the basement.

Laszlo doesn't like the dark, but the dark likes him. One night, Laszlo wakes up to discover that the dark has come to visit him in his bedroom. It wants to help him. Summoning up all of his bravery, Laszlo makes friends with the dark and it never bothers him again.

Lemony Snicket's The Dark is a cute story about overcoming your fears and making friends in the most unexpected places. It's a lot of fun to read out loud, giving different voices to Laszlo and the dark. With Jon Klassen's gorgeous, slightly creepy, retro illustrations, it's visually pleasing as well. I was a bit concerned that this book might be too spooky for Yuri, but he absolutely adores it.

The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Violet the Pilot

Violet the Pilot

by Steven Breen

Violet van Winkle has a problem. She's a mechanical genius and aspiring aviatrix, but she has no friends (aside from her faithful pup Orville). The kids at school mock her for her strange books and greasy coveralls, but her parent give her the run of their junk yard where her creativity blooms. She builds all manner of crazy flying contraptions - the Pogo Plane, Bicycopter, and Wing-a-ma-jig to name a few but has trouble keeping bugs out of her teeth.

When she learns of the upcoming airshow, she hatches a plan to earn the respect of her peers and sets to work building her greatest flyer yet - The Hornet. Her plan to win the blue ribbon is thwarted when she sees a Boy Scout troop in distress. Little does she know that her heroic rescue will earn her an even better prize - a visit from the Mayor and the esteem of her whole town.

Violet the Pilot promotes the DIY ethic, selflessness, and heroism and to top it off, has a female protagonist. It's a great story all around.

Violet the Pilot by Steven Breen

All in Just One Cookie

All in Just One Cookie

by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Timothy Bush

Have you ever wondered where your sugar comes from? Your flour? How about your baking soda (spoiler: it's mined from underground in Wyoming)? And what exactly does the baking powder do anyway?

This fun book takes you and your child on a guided tour through the ingredients of a chocolate chip cookie, explaining the origin and purpose of each ingredient. With a frame story of a Grandma and her pets getting ready for company, there's a good source of humor as well.

If your child loves to ask 'why' (and what child doesn't ask 'why'?) and 'how' (ditto), this is an excellent book to satisfy their appetite for knowledge. With a recipe for chocolate chip cookies in the back, it will do a good job of satisfying their appetite for desert, as well.

All in Just One Cookie, by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Timothy Bush

Support Bibliopapa!

I write this blog for many reasons - to keep track of what Yuri and I have enjoyed reading together, to help other parents find good books for their kids, to help promote excellent authors and illustrators, to help clueless childless aunts and uncles find a good birthday present, and to practice my much neglected writing. This blog takes time and energy and I'm writing it on my own time.

I will not put annoying banner ads on this blog. Every review I post will include an Amazon link to the book. By buying books through those links, I will receive a (tiny) portion of the purchase price (this includes other things from Amazon - not just the books that I review). If you decide to buy any of the books that I review here, please use the links provided. It will help me justify this use of my time to the management.

Here are a few ways to help:

• Tell your friends, parents, teachers, and librarians about Bibliopapa
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Bibliopapa

There are many books out there, some are good.

Parents know that they are going to read some books to their children hundreds (or thousands) of times. You are reading with your child to help inspire a lifelong love of books and reading. If you read a book with bad flow, uninspired illustrations, or shoddy writing, you won't enjoy it and neither will your kids.

Here at Bibliopapa, I will review some of my very favorite children't books to help parents, teachers, and anyone else who's interested in books for kids pick just the right one for the little people in their life. I won't rate books that I (or my son) don't like.

If you have any favorites that you would like to recommend, please include them in the comments section!

Barbapapa

Barbapapa 

by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor

Barbapapa is a giant shapeshifting creature, who sprouts out of François' garden one sunny morning. Unfortunately, François' parents won't let him stay, so Barbapapa must try to find his place in the world. After a tearful goodbye, Barbapapa has many adventures, before eventually moving into a special home of his own in François' back garden.

Annette Tison and Talus Taylor's sweet story with simple illustrations takes on themes of loneliness, not fitting in, adventure, heroism, and friendship. It is one of my favorite books from childhood and it provided inspiration for the name of this blog.

Barbapapa, by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor