Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Dough Knights and Dragons” tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a dragon and a knight. The knight stumbles into the lair of the dragon and starts cooking. Instead of being eaten by the dragon, they developed a friendship through their mutual love of cooking and baking.

But there is a problem. In their world, dragons and knights do not become friends with each other. They are supposed to fight and kill each other. As they cooked and baked, they devised a way to save each other. They baked dough knights and dragons and ate cookies in the shape of knights and dragons. They ended up keeping their friendship, ending the tradition of killing each other, and forged peace and friendship in the land.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Brave” by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is a celebration of the many ways that kids can be brave. Kids can be brave simply by seeking adventure, by staying calm, by fighting for justice, standing up for truth, and through many other courageous acts.

The book also celebrates kids’ bravery in the presence of other kids and adults. It also shows kids with disabilities being brave and doing things that many kids do. In the age of superhero movies, it is great for kids to be reminded that simple acts of kindness can help other people, too.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“All My Friends Are Fast Asleep” tells the story of a boy who couldn’t sleep at night. To help him sleep, he decides to get some help from his friends. The boy uses his imagination to try different positions to sleep based on how animals sleep. His friend the bat sleeps hanging by his feet, a horse sleeps while standing up, the whale sleeps on the waves, the lark up a tree, the mole in a hole, and so on. In the end, he goes back to his room where he started from and decides to sleep like a boy.

The book can be read as one long poem with a chorus and needing help to “help me fall asleep.” In fact, the author has provided a song for this book, which I found on Soundcloud and embedded below. While the song is not exactly a lullaby, it is fun to read, thanks to its rhyme and rhythm.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Claudia and Moth” tells the story of Claudia and her love for butterflies. She loves them so much that she wanted to bring them home, but she can’t. She learns to paint them instead. This gives her inspiration and joy until winter comes and she could not see the butterflies anymore. As she gets a sweater on a cold day, she discovers moth and starts painting again.

Claudia chases Moth all over her room as the latter becomes fascinated with light. Moth manages to go outside when Claudia opens the window and it shimmered. So Claudia did what she does best–paint! She paints a really good depiction of moth.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Bear and Chicken” tells the story of an unlikely friendship and a good Samaritan. Bear walked during the winter and he stumbled onto a frozen chicken. He brought the chicken home and helped her thaw and be warm. Then he prepared ingredients for a lunch of soup. But Chicken thought that Bear was going to eat her! She tried to run away. Bear chased after her and explained that he was cooking lunch for the two of them. They then started to talk about being friends and eating lunch together.

The book also explains that Black Bears found in North America are mostly vegetarian, and so it is not just wishful thinking that the bear is a vegetarian.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Bye Bye Big” is about the contrast between “big” and “little.” It’s a simple enough book that somewhat describes the food chain in the animal kingdom. It follows a simple formula: “1. There’s a big animal. 2. There’s a little animal or insect. 3. Big animal eats or captures little animal.” It follows this formula until the very end when a little mosquito bites a big man. Then the man falls down and the tiger appears to vomit all the animals that were previously eaten.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Elephants Walk Together” tells the story of two elephants–Precious and Baba–elephant siblings who belong to the same family. They walk together with family. One day, hunters capture them and bring them to a circus. Precious and Baba had to learn tricks for the circus. Though it was difficult, they had each other. Through the decades, they grow up until the circus decides to break them up. Precious ends up in a zoo while Baba continues to perform in a circus.

The zoo director eventually grew concerned of Precious’ situation and takes her to a sanctuary, where she heals and starts walking again. Then one day, out of the blue, Baba walks into the sanctuary, and together, they walk again.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“What is Chasing Duck?” is a simple book about running away from, and then facing one’s fears. Although the book clocks in at 41 pages, those pages are mainly composed of short text and illustrations. Duck is running away from something, and as it encounters other animals–Sheep, Donkey, and Dog–their idea of what chases Duck grows scarier. But Dog challenges them to turn back and face their fears.

The thing chasing Duck is not scary at all. It was just Squirrel bringing Duck the turnips it dropped. Squirrel then drops an acorn. When the other animals pick it up to bring it to him, Squirrel runs faster, thinking that something scary is chasing it.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

The One Day House tells the story of Wilson, a young boy, and Gigi, his older friend (or maybe a grandma) in the neighborhood. Gigi’s house is old, dilapidated, and needed lots of repairs. Wilson says that one day, he will paint Gigi’s house, fix her window, build a fence, fix the stairs, and plant a garden so Gigi’s house will be better.

He started telling people about his plans “one day.” He told people at the library. He told his teacher and his classmates. Until one day, the whole community came together to Gigi’s house and worked together in fixing Gigi’s house.

This book was inspired by the author’s writing partner and friend who is a carpenter and volunteers his time to build and fix houses for people who cannot afford to do so.

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Every week I write about the books that we read for my son. He is currently 4 years old and loves a good book! I am not a professional book and illustration reviewer or critic, but I can write about the book, what I think about it, and how our son reacted to it.

What the Book is About

“Flashlight at Night” chronicles the adventure of three kids on a dark night with a flashlight. With some books around them, they go through a lot of adventures! They then explore a forgotten trail into the woods; a path to the waters; an ancient hall, and along the way, they meet animals and ride a ship, until they get chased by a giant squid!

They get back to where they started from and the story shows the three kids reading books with sleepy eyes. Although they still want to go on more adventures, they hear someone say “Shhh… lights out.” It’s sleeping time!

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