Blog Feed: Kid Book Ratings

If you are a loyal follower of my blog and want to save yourself some time, this is virtually the same analysis as we saw for Hello, My Name Is Bob. > read more

The Present

Published on 2012-04-20 21:13:00

There's no time like NOW to review The Present! > read more

Cecily G. And The 9 Monkeys

Published on 2012-04-18 22:44:00

Did you know that Curious George was not the first book to include Curious George? > read more

One Cool Friend

Published on 2012-04-16 22:50:00

What I wouldn't give for one of those :) > read more

Six Crows

Published on 2012-04-15 22:45:00

During my trip to Colorado this week, I stopped by Mesa Verde National Park. > read more

White Is For Blueberry

Published on 2012-04-14 22:59:00

Wait, what?? > read more

A Couple Of Boys Have The Best Week Ever

Published on 2012-04-08 21:11:00

If I had to give this review a subtitle, it would be: > read more

My Big Boy Potty

Published on 2012-04-07 21:07:00

A pipe burst in my mother-in-law's building yesterday, resulting in many hours without water. > read more

Llama Llama Home With Mama

Published on 2012-04-04 22:58:00

Flu season is over, right? > read more

Tales For Very Picky Eaters

Published on 2012-04-03 05:24:00

Finally! > read more

Knoxville, Tennessee

Published on 2012-03-30 22:58:00

How could I ignore a book with the most random title I have ever seen? > read more

Chopsticks

Published on 2012-03-28 23:21:00

Anyone else hungry for some sushi right now? > read more

Grandfather Buffalo

Published on 2012-03-27 21:58:00

Giddyup! > read more

First Day Of School

Published on 2012-03-26 05:12:00

Pack a sack lunch, we're gonna be here a while. > read more

Olivia Counts

Published on 2012-03-24 22:19:00

Pig as a Latin instructor? > read more

Chick & Chickie

Published on 2012-03-22 20:53:00

Awful title versus a very nice cover image ...I don't know how to judge this book by it's cover. > read more

Caliente Y Frio (Hot And Cold)

Published on 2012-03-20 21:09:00

A children's book, as sung by Katy Perry. > read more

Big Bad Wolf Is Good

Published on 2012-03-17 17:56:00

Let's return to the land of nursery rhymes to check in with one of our favorite villains. > read more

Mouse TV

Published on 2012-03-16 22:47:00

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the name of a real channel that Comcast/Xfinity offers. > read more

300th Review Recap

Published on 2012-03-14 18:55:00

Three hundred down. > read more

It only seemed natural to follow up my review of a butt book with one about potty training... THREE PROS*The flaps help take the focus off of the task at hand *Doesn't feel the need to inundate you with poop smears or extreme closeups of the inside of the toilet*Works in the concept of hand washing being an integral part of the processTHREE CONS *Playing potty hide-and-seek makes it more fun and emphasizes (in a roundabout way) where the apparatus should be, but I was left wondering if this sty [..] > read more

Chicken Cheeks

Published on 2012-03-12 22:25:00

A KBR fan reached out to me a few weeks ago and suggested I review this book. Let's see how it fares:) THREE PROS*Unless you've got a stick up your you-know-what, it'll be fun for you to teach your kids a littany of fanny synonyms *Illustrator Kevin Hawkes is the real glue that holds it all together -- his pictures force author Michael Ian Black's words to grab a seat on the backburner*Having a parallel ant escapade that only fully reveals itself at the conclusion made me want to go back and s [..] > read more

Marvel Super Hero Squad (Team Spirit)

Published on 2012-03-11 22:47:00

I guess the good guys can't win every battle... THREE PROS*Crams in roughly half the Dolch Sight Words (a reading tool) into one convenient place -- I'm not a huge proponent of educational theories being a primary reason for buying books, but this method seems pretty solid *Couldn't ask for much more in the illustration department, especially since it appeals to all age groups*The message comes through clearly despite an overall mundane writing effortTHREE CONS *I still don't get how three, alb [..] > read more

Walter The Farting Dog

Published on 2012-03-08 22:22:00

This story about Walter is kind of a stinker. THREE PROS*Farts normally equal comedy gold across all non-snooty demographics *Children loving their pets unconditionally is always refreshing to see*I laughed out loud when the family cheered that the VCR had been saved, mainly because a VCR can be had on eBay for $7.99 right now (granted the book is a little more than a decade old, but I had a DVD player in 1998 so still kinda funny back then)THREE CONS *Unsupervised visits to dog pounds, depress [..] > read more

Ants In Your Pants, Worms In Your Plants!

Published on 2012-03-07 22:22:00

Full disclosure: As a member of the DC Green Party, my review might be overly influenced by the planet-loving theme. In other words, I'm Erik and I approve of Diane deGroat's message. THREE PROS*Not only is that message strong, but it is detailed -- there are numerous examples of life changes we can all undertake to become better residents of Earth *My favorite spread in the book has to be the discussion on composting since it involves worms, worms pooping, and multiple opportunities to say th [..] > read more

The Gingerbread Man Loose In The School

Published on 2012-03-05 22:22:00

I'm hoping my positive review will help convince at least one person to ignore the weird title and Buy it. THREE PROS*Quite simply one of the best rhyming books I have reviewed to date *My son is absolutely enamored with this thing; so much so, in fact, that he could care less about the Spider Man novel we checked out the same day (which is saying a lot)*It comes with a poster -- let me say that again -- it comes with a poster THREE CONS *I rarely have a problem with stories being too long, but [..] > read more

Numeros

Published on 2012-03-03 22:25:00

I'm counting on this one to be better than average. THREE PROS*Great pix, good variety on the subjects depicted, plus a nice range of colors *Goes to ten and then throws in a fun bonus page to boot (although it took me a while to find that eleventh elephant)*As a man, I think more children's authors should pose the way Lauren Child does for photo spreads :)THREE CONS *The original working title involves characters named Charlie and Lola...so I'm going to need someone to explain to me why Carlos [..] > read more

I Know Where My Food Goes

Published on 2012-03-02 20:44:00

I haven't had to create a new category for some time, but this one warranted such a move. THREE PROS*Until your child reads this book, there's a good chance that she or he will have no idea what happens between the time when food enters the mouth and when it comes out the other side *Katharine McEwen's drawings are fairly crude but do a good job of getting the point across*Emphasizes being careful when swallowing food, which has to be one of my top three concerns as a parentTHREE CONS *I want y [..] > read more

Joshua of Gaia (The Lost Elderzamia)

Published on 2012-02-29 22:59:00

How long has it been since I reviewed something for older kids? Let's break that spell right now. THREE PROS*Chapter lengths are ideal for frenzied bursts of reading -- I felt like I could devour fifty pages in what felt like seconds, put it down for a while and then pick it up again without having to dive back into the middle of something I had arbitrarily placed my bookmark on *The inclusion of an ominous limerick before the first chapter really set the stage for what was to come*Spends the [..] > read more

Good Morning Toucan

Published on 2012-02-27 23:19:00

Dwell Studio should just stick to home furnishings or whatever it is they consider their bread and butter. I mean why would they waste their time on $9 books when they make $250 on a frigging piece of wood! THREE PROS*If you are a dyed in the wool yuppie who only buys trendy things for your home and who also views your child as a blank canvas for accessorizing, then this should be right up your alley *Much like the morning sun when it hits the perfect angle coming through yo [..] > read more

Scribble

Published on 2012-02-25 21:19:00

I think I could scribble something down on a napkin that would be better than this. THREE PROS*Pink and yellow are a pleasing combination of colors you don't see every day that gave each page a lot of energy -- too bad the story sapped every ounce of it away *However misplaced it might have been, you've gotta give the author points for creativity and originality*I did like how Scribble the cat turned the thicket into a ball of yarn THREE CONS *My wife and I cannot stop ta [..] > read more

One More Sheep

Published on 2012-02-24 04:29:00

I refuse to to let Mij Kelly and Russell Ayto pull the wool over your eyes... THREE PROS*By far, the best part of this story is the running joke revolving around Sam's inability to count all his sheep without falling asleep *I wasn't a huge fan of all the conversational portions of the text -- however, the pages dedicated to pure rhyming had a nice cadence to them*If you can't get enough of the whole "wolf in sheep's clothing" metaphor, then I suppose this will work out okay for youTHREE CONS * [..] > read more

The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!

Published on 2012-02-22 14:55:00

Not coo. Not coo at all. THREE PROS*Doesn't deviate from Mo Willems' calling card: humor *The hot dog zinger at the end is inherently funny, but the joke definitely requires a lot of, um, processing by children in the target demo*For those who have read other titles in the series, this will feel like a miniature greatest hits homageTHREE CONS *This is not a story at all, but rather a really brief compilation of related thoughts that were slapped together and bound *Circling back to that hot do [..] > read more

Everything Goes: On Land

Published on 2012-02-19 22:58:00

Except for the Chevy Nova. Ya feel me Mexico?! THREE PROS*The whole thing has a bit of a Where's Waldo? flair to it, but instead of looking for one guy in a striped shirt, it makes you want to soak up every tiny detail on each page *The handful of vehicle cross-section pages are not only informative but also serve as excellent palate-cleansers between subsets of modes of transport*Things the jacket designer did that would often go unnoticed stood out to me on this effort -- so kudos to you Dan [..] > read more

One Pup's Up

Published on 2012-02-17 22:58:00

This One's got more bark than bite... THREE PROS*On a macro level, Marsha Wilson Chall followed the tried-and-true number book template by counting from one to ten and back to zero (tiny bonus points for going that extra step), then improved upon it by closing the story with a fun return to one *Henry Cole's illustrations did not have a high degree of difficulty, but were big and colorful enough to be viewed as a plus*Works in the concepts of "all" and "none" -- a tasty learning treat for your [..] > read more

A New Resource

Published on 2012-02-16 21:57:00

Did anyone else see the article in USA Today that listed Scholastic Parent & Child magazine's top one hundred "greatest books for kids?" A friend was nice enough to cut it out and give it to me this morning, so when I got a second, I scanned it. The list seems pretty legit from a recognizable title standpoint; although if #76 is any indication, it's not perfect. My goal for the next month or so is to review as many of these stories (in my son's age group) as possible. Who knows, maybe they'r [..] > read more

St. Patrick's Day

Published on 2012-02-14 22:48:00

Time to turn our attention to the next holiday on the calendar... THREE PROS*Mother/daughter team Anne and Lizzy Rockwell took the easy road by producing a series of holiday-themed titles (including this one), but at least they did a decent job with it *The two-page interlude that detailed the origin story of Saint Patrick was slightly forced (especially when compared with the creative way they explained him driving the snakes from Ireland), but it was nice to see the Rockwells inject a little [..] > read more

Kumak's Fish

Published on 2012-02-13 22:59:00

Bloggers of the world, here's some free advice for you: When trying to break a reviewing cold streak (in reference to the material selected, not the act of reviewing itself, since I am the world's foremost kid book rater), don't choose a story about life in Inupiat Alaska. THREE PROS*Author Michael Bania (a woman) took something from her own experience and tweaked it just enough to make it feel like a yarn that could be passed down from generation to generation to teach kids about teamwork both [..] > read more

The Bored Book

Published on 2012-02-12 05:22:00

It's no surprise that something with this title would screw the pooch royally. THREE PROS*Doug Keith's illustrations prove that he is skilled at drawing epic scenes despite the fact that they are extremely misplaced in a children's picture book *Idea Man Michael Slater's humane decision not to include text (outside of the words on the spines of some literary classics) ended the misery as quickly as possible*Reminded me a little bit of Jumanji, which was a decent movie (and pr [..] > read more

I Love Trains!

Published on 2012-02-10 21:26:00

Do you? THREE PROS*After reading a bunch of meandering books in a row, it felt good to get back to something with a nice and easy storyline that included some good rhymes *Walked away not knowing if the boy really saw the train out his window or if it was all in his imagination -- in a good way*Shari Halpern's artwork is more local than express, but that doesn't matter since it's perfectly matched with Philemon Sturges' writing paceTHREE CONS *There's really nothing wrong with ILT! (as evidence [..] > read more

2012 Picture Book Reading Challenge AND Liebster Blog Award

Published on 2012-02-09 02:53:00

I've been waiting far too long to take my blog to the next level, so I figured this month would be different. First I tried to do a prize giveaway. It went OK. Probably need to rethink how I am going to advertise it next time without turning KBR into one of those annoying prize giveaway clearinghouse sites that I stare at for about 5 seconds before my eyes feel like they are gonna explode... Today I'm doubling down. Step one: I am going to finally break down and do one of the many challeng [..] > read more

A Giant Crush

Published on 2012-02-08 22:37:00

A Giant Crush will not be getting a valentine from me anytime soon. THREE PROS*Melissa Sweet and Gennifer Choldenko, if nothing else, fill a niche in the picture book market by choosing a topic that is, frankly, difficult to tackle *The little girls' reactions to their classmates' bunny love was spot-on*I did like the anticipation Choldenko built by delaying the reveal of where the flower wentTHREE CONS *Keeping track of the bunnies names was a real chore, especially since three of the four mai [..] > read more

The Pirate Of Kindergarten

Published on 2012-02-07 20:56:00

Shiver me timbers! Another rotten scallywag off of the library shelf. What's with this run of bad luck we've been having? THREE PROS*Lynne Avril's depiction of the way the main character (Ginny) sees the world with double vision is realistic but also demonstrates the imaginative flair I demand to purchase an illustrator's work *George Ella Lyon wrote this from personal experience, and, to be fair, many of the emotions she felt growing up translate well as we read along*Doesn't devote any text [..] > read more

Mouse's First Day Of School

Published on 2012-02-05 22:57:00

Call the exterminator. THREE PROS*Buket Erdogan deserves very little blame for this effort, since her illustration is actually quite pleasing to look at *Does a good job of referencing objects that are often found in a classroom without going for the most obvious items*Outside of the scary reality associated with a mouse nibbling on kids' snacks, the food page was a particularly appetizing feast for the eyes THREE CONS *Lauren Thompson severely miscalculated with the styl [..] > read more

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