Young Reader Pick: Tiny and the Big Dig

Tiny and the Big Dig
by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Illustrated by Matt Myers
Scholastic Press
2018
32 pages
ISBN: 978054504292

Available January 30, 2018

Tiny and the Big Dig is a book with tremendous heart! Tiny is a small dog who loves to dig. Digging is hard work but don't let Tiny's size fool you! He is determined and strong. The cover depicts Tiny in all  his digging glory, his puppy face alive with elation as a surprised snail watches over him. A bird and a cat try to tell Tiny that he's too small to dig such a big hole, but Tiny just won't quit. Tiny's owner, a little boy, believes in his dog.

Tiny says, "I am little, yes, that's true/ But wait and see what I can do." Tiny finds every kind of bone but believes there is a very, very big bone yet to be discovered. Young readers will squeal with delight when they see the bone Tiny discovers! (Spoiler alert: it's a dinosaur).

Tiny and the Big Dig is fun and written in rhyme that young ones will learn more of  each time they read. This is likely to be their favorite bedtime story. For those who are too little or too weak, Tiny is like the little engine that could. He never gives up! This is a lesson children need to learn.

Sadly, you can't buy Tiny and the Big Dig for Christmas since it's on sale January 30, 2018, but put it on your list for a Valentine's Day or Easter gift for that special little one you know.

Highly, HIGHLY recommended. This is the book that you and your children will LOVE.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Phonics Help Pick: Frog on a Log?

Frog on a Log?
by Kes Gray
Illustrations by Jim Field
Scholastic Press
2015
32 pages
ISBN: 9780545687911

(ebook also available)

* Review, Kirkus Reviews:

"The clear, guffaw-inducing illustrations and repetition and rhyme give all the support (new readers) need for success. Mo Willems fans will find this a perfect challenge, and storytime will never be the same. Impossible to resist." --Kirkus Reviews 

A friendly but inquisitive frog asks a bossy, know-it-all cat where he should sit. The cat orders him to sit on a log, but Frog doesn't want anything to do with sitting on a hard, cold log or the possibility of  getting splinters in his backside.  He asks the cat question after question about each animal  and the rule of where each should sit. The unflappable cat  tells the frog exactly where each should sit. 

The dynamic rhyming and fun word play will have parents smiling and children giggling. Not only will the rhyme teach kids the pronunciation of words, the frog asks about animals not normally included in picture books.   Kids can add hares, mules, gophers, storks, weasels, moles, newts, puffins, and gibbons to their vocabulary.

The cat explains each animal's seating preference until the frog asks the ultimate question and one that is bound to end with a belly laugh! You may not want to read this clever book as a bedtime story unless you want to wake little ones up! I can't imagine a child who would not be fully awake and questioning and begging for more after reading this book. Frog on a Log? is bound to be that favorite childhood  book that your toddler will ask for again and again and again (you get the picture).

I LOVED this children's book. I can see this being used in English as a Second Language classes to teach phonics and using it to teach rhyme as a poetic device.

Highly, highly recommended for every emergent reader of any age. This one is great fun!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Rhyming Pick: Monkey and Duck Quack Up!

Monkey and Duck Quack Up!
by Jennifer Hamburg
Illustrations by Edwin Fotheringham
Scholastic Press
2015
32 pages
ISBN: 9780545645140


Monkey gets a great idea. He wants to enter a rhyme contest and he asks Duck to help him win. If they win, they go on a cruise. Monkey can't wait to board that ship. He tries everything to get Duck to rhyme. Monkey begins: "Beat! Sheet! Meet! Greet!/Eat some wheat,/Then wash your feet!/Have a seat!/Trick or treat!/Hear a finch go tweet, tweet" and Duck says "Quack." Monkey really wants to win, so he devises a brilliant plan. What do you think Monkey has planned?

Readers will be delighted with Monkey's cheerful friendship and Duck's lack of language or rhyming skills. Just when you think you know what the Duck will say, he astonishes! Fun and cute, Monkey and Duck Quack Up! is a great book for teaching beginners  rhyme. The surprise ending will have young readers squealing with delight.

This book is bound to bring a smile to every adult who reads it for a child.

Edwin Fotheringham captures each animal's expressions of surprise, elation, "aha" expression, and satisfied expression.

Highly recommended for young readers and beginning rhymers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Young Readers Pick: Good Night, Sleep Tight

Good Night, Sleep Tight
by Mem Fox
Illustrations by Judy Horacek
Orchard Books
2013
32 pages

Bonnie and Ben are thrilled when their favorite babysitter comes to sit for them. It's bedtime and Skinny Doug entertains the two children with nursery rhymes. The kids fall in love with his delivery and the funny rhymes including "It's raining, it's pouring" and "Pat-a-cake." They beg Doug to say them again, but Doug has tons more rhymes in his repetoire.


The kids yell for more and finally all three of them are fast asleep. Young readers will love all the rhymes. Some are well known, others will be new to most. "This is the way the ladies ride: trit, trot, trit, trot" and "Round and round the garden" are two rhymes that young readers are likely not familiar with.

Colorful, vibant art by Judy Horacek will captivate children. This book could be a babysitter's best secret weapon. If every babysitter was as fun as Sklnny Doug, kids would beg their parents to go out more often.

Highly recommended ages 3-5. This is a must have for bedtime reading.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Early Reader Pick: Where's the Scone

Where's the Scone
by Beth Dexter-Smith
Illustrated by Calvin Innes
My Little Big Town Ltd
2013
32 pages
ISBN: 978-1-907746-13-0

for more information and the Ipad app

Simply charming text, quaint rhyming verse, and adorable animal illustrations make Where's the Scone an imaginative counting book for young learners.

The author wisely chose unique animals: llamas, bream, yeti and gnu to eat equally unique foods: tofu, scones and prunes. American children may not have ever heard of or tasted tofu or prunes. Scones are not usually a part of the American diet, but hail originally from Scotland and are as common to the British as biscuits are to Americans. Young children will encounter bream (a type of fish), gnu (also known as the wildebeest), and yeti (abominable snowman) for the first time.

The illustrations are clever, colorful and quirky and the rhyming text is creative and innovative. Consider "6 gnu tasting tofu/ 5 Yeti sucking spaghetti..." and you know that children will giggle as they learn.

Where's the Scone will have wide appeal with young learners and toddlers learning to count.

Highly recommended ages 1-up. Available from the publisher and other fine booksellers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Young Readers Pick: The Highway Rat

The Highway Rat
by Julia Donaldson
Illustrations by Axel Sheffler
Arthur A. Levine Books
2013
32 pages

"The Highwayman" (1906) --a rhyming and rhythmic narrative poem of love and revenge   inspired this rhyming children's story The Highway Rat for the much younger set. A mean but comic rat rides his horse through the countryside terrifying country creatures.

"His teeth were sharp and yellow/his manners were rough and rude/and the Highway Rat went riding/riding--riding/Riding along the highway/and stealing the travelers' food." He steals  clover from the rabbit, nuts from a squirrel, a leaf from some ants, flies from a spider, milk from the cat, hay from a horse and the creatures get thinner and thinner. They are terrified of the evil thief until....

Finally, the Highway Rat encounters a clever duck. The duck tricks the Highway Rat into a wild goose chase. She promises that her sister--who lives in a faraway cave--has goodies galore. The Rat is tricked into believing the sister is answering the duck when the duck yells into the cave. She yells, "Do you have cakes and chocolates?" and the rat hears the sister answering (it's really the echo), "Chocolates! Chocolates! Chocolates..." The silly rat enters the cave and the resourceful duck escapes on the rat's horse. The duck shares the bounty from the saddlebags with all the country creatures while  the rat wanders blindly through the cave until he ends up on the other side of the mountain. He gives up his life of crime to work in a bakery--at least he'll get to eat sweet treats there!

The rhyming story will capture young readers. The rat who starts out a bit menacing is comic later. The duck is the true hero of the story and kids will like the clever trick she pulls. Illustrations of all the animals are spot on for young readers. The two page spread of the animals celebrating captures their joy as they dance and eat goodies  from the saddlebags. The menacing rat at the beginning is a meek mouse as he sweeps the floors in the cake shop at the end.

Highly, highly recommended ages 2-up. This book could by paired in any  classroom where "The Highwayman" is read and used when teaching rhyme and rhythm to any grade level.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)