This meme was started by Rae Longest at Powerful Women Readers. As I am a grandmother, who loves to read to her grandchildren, a mother who loved to read to and with her children, and a retired teacher librarian, this meme really attracted me.

I LOVE reading to my grandchildren and do it every chance I get. Before Christmas, I read several books to them, but never highlighted them on my blog. Unfortunately, I do not remember their comments or reactions, but I do know that they enjoyed them all. I love that my 2 oldest love reading them back to me or to their younger brother. You’ve got to encourage them starting young.

Ameya’s Two Worlds by Aditi Wardhan Singh, Noor Alshalabi (Illustrator) 

Published September 3rd 2022 by Raising World Children

5 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ameya’s Two Worlds is about an Indian American girl who has been invited to her cousin’s wedding in India. She and her mother travel to their home and take part in the celebrations. Ameya is worried as she doesn’t speak Hindi or Marathi well. How will she communicate with her cousins and other relatives. Her cousins ask her if she is Indian and she talks to her mother. She wants to know if she is American or Indian and her mother tells her she is whichever she feels she is. Ameya participates in many of the Indian wedding customs and comes to an important conclusion. She is both and lives in two worlds. This is a great book to teach about heritage. You may have been born in North America, but you can still celebrate your heritage by learning and using the language, participating in celebrations and customs. Ameya’s mom let her make decisions about what she wants, which I loved. The illustrations were extremely well done. They are detailed, show expression and are bright and vibrant. They add much to the story. This is a great book for schools when doing a unit on multi-culturalism and heritage.

I Like This Color (Duck and Cluck Story) by Liz Goulet Dubois

Expected publication May 2, 2023 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I Like This Color is the second book we have read in the Duck and Cluck series. These graphic novels are short, funny and have great messages about friendship, listening to others, cooperation and feelings. In this book Duck and Cluck decide that the page is too boring and needs some color. They each have their favorite color (orange or pink) and try to convince the other it is the best choice. They decide to color half the page with their color to see how it looks. The next thing you know, they are arguing and mixing up the color. Another friend wanders by and there is an exchange of thoughts and feelings that makes this a feel good story. Of course, Duck and Cluck will be arguing again soon. My youngest grandchild enjoyed the humor of this one the most. He thought they were funny and loved their mess. The oldest talked about cooperating or getting help to make the decision fair, while the middle one picked up on the blended colors (you can see they are all very different). We read this one a couple of times with the 8 yo reading to the younger ones as well. A great book that can be used for various discussion points. The illustrations are simple, yet bright and vibrant adding to the story.

My First How to Catch the Big Bad Wolf by Alice Walstead, Joel and Ashley Selby (Illustrator)

Excpected Publication March 1st 2023 by Sourcebooks Wonderland

3 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

How To Catch the Big Bad Wolf is a cute picture book aimed at children toddlers and kindergarten aged children. The narrator is a young girl who loves fairytales. She has decided that the big bad wolf is a villain that needs to be taken care of before he hurts the other fairy tale characters. She uses three stories (The 3 Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and The Boy Who Cried Wolf) and comes up with unique and creative ways to catch the big bad wolf. The illustrations by Joel and Ashley Selby are really cute and whimsical with lots of color and detail to make the story fun. We read this together and even the 8 yo was interested in the creative solutions, even though he said it couldn’t happen. We discussed that they were fairytales and not real, so he was okay with that. The younger two enjoyed the story, but when I asked if they wanted to read it again, or if one of the older ones wanted to read it to me, they passed. This tells me that it is a one time read for us, so not a huge success.

You Shamrock My World by Rose Rossner, Ela Smietanka (Illustrations)

Published January 6, 2023 by Sourcebooks Wonderland

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

You Shamrock My World is part of the Punderland series of books and boy is it full of puns. It says it is a book for babies and toddlers, but my 4 yo grandson didn’t get the puns, nor understand all the vocabulary but my 8 yo did and he loved it. We laughed and groaned together. Some of them included “I’m lucky and I gnome it, and I love to watch you grow” or “You’re my special leprechaun, who loves to dance and jig” or the one we groaned at “You’re the life of the paddy, to you we give a cheer”. This is a great book to teach vocabulary around St. Patrick’s Day, as well as to get a laugh or two from the listener. The cadence wasn’t always perfect during the read aloud, but we did enjoy it. The 8 yo read it to her father as well, and they both laughed together at some of the puns, so to me, that is a success.

Cocoa’s Cranky Valentine: Can You Help Him Out? by Thomas Nelson, Beth Hughes (Illustrations)

Published November 22, 2022 by Thomas Nelson

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We read and enjoyed Cocoa’s Cranky Christmas, so knew we had to read Cocoa’s Cranky Valentine. I read this to my 4 yo grandson and he enjoyed the story, especially the cat who teased Cocoa. In this story Cocoa gets a valentine card, but the kitten grabs it and runs off with it before he can even see who it is from. He chases it, tries to get it interested in something else and then has to find the card. Along the way, there are things for the listener to do such as follow the wool or show cocoa how to dance. He enjoyed the story, but wasn’t keen on some of the activities, but we did enjoy the book. The illustrations are cute and add much to the story. Overall this is a cute valentine story about friendship and the unexpected.

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