picture books
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Book ReviewsA triune tale of diminutive swine
2012 / 42 pages by John Branyan Rating: GIFT What if the Three Little Pigs was retold in Shakespearean English? And what if the third…
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Book ReviewsThe girl who never made mistakes
by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein 2011 / 30 pages Beatrice, “The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes,” doesn’t want to go skating with her friends,…
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Book ReviewsMr. Pusskins: A Love Story
by Sam Lloyd 2006 / 32 pages Rating: GREAT One of my favorite teachers was an English professor who would point out how the works…
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Book ReviewsDogger
by Shirley Hughes 1977 / 32 pages Rating: GIFT There are a lot of beautifully drawn children’s books, but not nearly as many that tell…
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Book ReviewsAlfie – a very likeable little chap
I love children! I love books! And I love it when the two come together! It is indeed a rare treasure to find books that…
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Book ReviewsFrog’s rainy-day story and other fables
by Michael James Dowling illustrated by Sarah Buell Dowling 2023 / 76 pages WORLD magazine touted this as “one of the six best Christian picture…
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Book ReviewsDon’t trust fish
by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat 2025 / 40 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Can you look at this title and not open the cover? And it…
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Book ReviewsBear goes sugaring
by Maxwell Eaton III 2020 / 32 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give A coat and toque-wearing bear is going to show us how to make maple syrup from…
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Book ReviewsBeautiful oops!
by Barney Saltzberg 2010 / 28 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give I play a “scribble game” with my girls. One person makes a quick jot on a…
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Book listsDemi’s fresh folk tales
Demi (1942- ) is the nickname that Charlotte Dumaresq Hunt’s father gave her as a child because she was half the size of her sister….
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Book ReviewsThe Moon is Always Round
by Jonathan Gibson 2019 / 32 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give This picture book is a beautiful catechism truth wrapped in a heartbreaking story of loss. Author Jonathan…
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Book ReviewsSaint George and the Dragon
retold by Margaret Hodges illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman 1990 / 32 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give There are a lot of “powder-puff” stories for the pre-K…
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Book lists10 picture book authors parents will love
Ready to settle down and read your kids a cozy bedtime story? Looking for some new and fun ideas? When choosing a picture book, some…
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Book listsAmy Krouse Rosenthal: the Ginger Rogers of children’s lit
Amy Krouse Rosenthal (1965-2017) was a prolific children’s picture book author, crafting more than 30 in just a dozen years. Together with illustrator Tom Lichtenheld,…
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Book listsMo Willems: so many to choose from!
Mo Willems might be the new Dr. Seuss, simply the most prolific and best known picture book author of this generation. With 70 (or so)…
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Book ReviewsJourney
by Aaron Becker 2013 / 40 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give If your children loved Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon you’ll want to check this…
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Book ReviewsBaseball saved us
by Ken Mochizuki 1993 / 32 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give This is the story of a chapter of World War II that I didn’t know anything about…
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Book ReviewsBaby Monkey, Private Eye
by Brian Selznick 2018 / 192 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Gift Baby Monkey investigates five separate cases, but the biggest mystery in each case is how he’s going…
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Book listsKeiko Kasza: All about cartoon critters
Author and illustrator Keiko Kasza was born in Japan and moved to the US for college only to meet and marry an American and then…
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Book ReviewsFern and Otto
by Stephanie Graegin 40 pages / 2020 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Fern is a bear, an author, an illustrator, and a best friend to Otto, the adventurous…
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Book listsBest of Caldecott: 151 great picture books!
As a new parent, I sometimes had a hard time finding picture books to read to my girls. There were just so many stunningly boring…
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Book listsMr Putter & Tabby: 25 sweet stories
by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Arthur Howard 44 pages / 1994-2016 Rating: Good/Great/GIFT It’s always fun to find a children’s book that is interesting enough…
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Book ReviewsDr. Seuss’s “Horton trilogy”
Parents may be familiar with the first two of Dr. Seuss’ Horton books, but the third, only recently republished will be a new delight for…
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Book ReviewsLittle Red Riding Hood
by Trina Schart Hyman 28 pages / 1983 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give This is about a little girl and the big wolf that gobbles her up. If…
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Book ReviewsSir Badalot and the Cranky Danky Dragon
by Rachel Jankovic Illustrated by Forrest Dickison 32 pages / 2022 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give “Now this cranky danky dragon Liked to drink a dragon whine That he…
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Book ReviewsThe Gardener
by Sarah Stewart and David Small 38 pages / 1997 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Lydia Grace Finch’s family has fallen on hard times. So their little girl…
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Book ReviewsDon’t let the Pigeon drive the bus!
by Mo Willems 2003 / 40 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Pigeon desperately wants to drive the bus. But the bus driver, who has to leave for…
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Book listsMo Willems’ “Elephant & Piggie” (25 books)
From about three years old and up, my daughters and I have all loved Elephant and Piggie and their whole 25 book series. When I’d…
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Book ReviewsWho’s on First?
by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello illustrated by John Martz 40 pages / 2013 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give If you’ve ever seen the ol’ Abbott and Costello “Who’s…
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Book ReviewsNobody knows how to make a pizza
by Julie Borowski 2019 / 30 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give The picture book’s title makes a claim that my daughter just couldn’t believe: “Come on Dad, you know…
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Book lists130+ wordless wonders for creative kids, wanna-be readers, and reluctant ones too
If you can remember waaaay back to when you first learned to read, what probably sticks with you is that feeling of triumph. It takes…
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Book lists7 (or is it 8?) great board books!
If you want to foster a love for reading in your children, it’s never too early to start reading to them. Even newborns will tune…
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Book listsJerry Pinkney: Making the classics kinder
In addition to the dozens of books Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021) has illustrated for others, he has also retold a number of tales from Aesop’s Fables,…
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Book listsDavid Wiesner: weird and wonderful
Super creative? Ultra creative? Mega creative? Every good picture book author is imaginative, but somehow David Wiesner (1956- ) manages to be all the more…
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Book ReviewsOnce upon a banana
by Jennifer Armstrong illustrated by David Small 48 pages / 2013 Rating: Good/Great/GIFT I’d almost forgotten just how wonderful wordless books can be. But then…
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Book ReviewsCorrie ten Boom: the courageous woman and the secret room
by Laura Caputo-Wickham 2021 / 24 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give For such a short one, this picture book sure fits a lot inside. We meet Corrie ten…
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Book ReviewsFinding Winnie
by Lindsay Mattick 56 pages / 2015 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give It turns out that Winnie the Pooh, a teddy bear who had fantastic and entirely fanciful…
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Book ReviewsNicky & Vera: a Quiet Hero of the Holocaust…
by Peter Sís 2021 / 64 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give Nicholas Winston never set out to be a hero but he also knew what needed to be…
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Book ReviewsDon’t let the pigeon stay up late!
by Mo Willems 2006, 34 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give My kids and I love this for two very different reasons. They love it because they get…
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Book ReviewsAnansi and the Moss-Covered Rock
by Eric A. Kimmel 32 pages / 1988 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give Things begin with Anansi (uh·naan·see) the spider making quite the discovery: a strange moss-covered rock that…
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Book listsJan Brett: picture books’ peak
What sets Jan Brett (1949- ) apart as a picture book illustrator is how much she packs into every page. There’s always lots going on…
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Book ReviewsGutsy Girls Book Two: Sisters, Corrie & Betsie ten Boom
by Amy L. Sullivan 2016 / 36 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give This is the true story of two Dutch sisters who knew that God could be trusted…
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Book ReviewsDown to the sea with Mr. Magee
by Chris Van Dusen 2006 / 36 PAGES Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee love camping, skiing, and sailing the sea They…
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Book ReviewsFinding Narnia: the Story of C. S. Lewis and His Brother
by Caroline McAlister 48 pages / 2019 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give C.S. Lewis wrote, “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good…
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Book ReviewsPro-life kids!
by Bethany Bomberger 48 pages / 2019 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give What I most liked about this book is that my kids just picked it up and…
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Book ReviewsHenry says good-bye
When you are sad by Jocelyn Flenders edited by Edward T. Welch 32 pages / 2019 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give This book is part of an excellent series…
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Book ReviewsNoah: A wordless picture book
by Mark Ludy 60 pages / 2014 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Mark Ludy’s wordless account of Noah’s life will fascinate young and old. There’s so much to…
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Book ReviewsGood Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.
by Kirsten A. Jenson 2017 / 40 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give Talking with our kids about pornography on the Internet is not a conversation any parent wants…
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Book ReviewsGod made me unique
Helping children see value in every person by Joni Eareckson Tada and friends 32 pages / 2019 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give Everyone is unique, but some of us…
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Book ReviewsYellow & Pink
by William Steig 1984 / 32 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Sometimes one encounters a work of art, a poem, piece of music, figurine or painting which is…
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Book lists46 children’s books to foster the love of reading and learning
We are “People of the Book” so reading should be, and is very important, to us. The goal of all reading is to become readers…
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Book lists100+ read-aloud suggestions…
I’ve been reading out loud to my girls since they were born, and now that they are older we’re still reading, ending each day with…
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Book lists5 powerful pictures book
Julia Gonzaga by Simonetta Carr 64 pages / 2018 This is another book in Simonetta Carr’s “Christian Biographies for Young Readers” series and it is…
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Children’s picture booksSophie and the Heidelberg Cat
by Andrew Wilson illustrated by Helene Perez Garcia 32 pages / 2019 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give The story, written in engaging rhythm, opens with Sophie crying because her…
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Book ReviewsBolivar
by Sean Rubin 224 pages / 2017 Rating: Good/Great/GIFT New York is the busiest city in the world, and people there are simply too busy…
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Children’s non-fictionShooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914
by John Hendrix 40 pages / 2014 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give I was raised with stories of the Dutch Resistance and the Canadian liberators fighting against the…
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Children’s picture booksGod made Me and You: Celebrating God’s design for ethnic diversity
by Shai Line illustrated by Trish Mahoney 32 pages / 2018 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give Reformed rapper Shai Linne has written a children’s book about racism and God’s…
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Book lists4 picture books mom and dad won’t mind reading
The Oxpecker and the Giraffe: I Need You and You Need Me by Patrick Fitzpatrick 32 pages / 3013 Giraffe is tired of his near-constant companion,…
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Book ReviewsFaithfulness Under Fire: the story of Guido de Brès
by William Boekestein 2010 / 32 pages Rating: GOOD/Great/Give “Church history” and “picture book” are almost mutually exclusive terms, but William Boekestein, author (and URC pastor),…
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Children’s picture booksGolly’s Folly: the prince who wanted it all
by Eleazar and Rebekah Ruiz illustrated by Rommel Ruiz 36 pages / 2016 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Inspired by the Preacher’s denouncement that “all is vanity,” this is…
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Book Reviews3 fantastic books/free videos children will love
Dai Hankey has a great voice, and has paired up with a fantastic illustrator for his three books about Eric, and how this little fellow…
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Book ReviewsThe Farm Team
by Linda Bailey 32 pages / 2006 Rating: Good/GREAT/Give The Farm Team is about a bunch of chickens, pigs, sheep, and one cow, who love…
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Book ReviewsBlueberries for the Queen
by John and Katherine Paterson2004 / 32 pages I hate blueberries but I loved this book. In this true story set in Lee, Massachusetts in…
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Book ReviewsLittle Jake and the Three Bears
by Robert H. Jacobs, Jr.2007 / 31 pages After enduring a cold winter Little Jake realizes the solution to his chill is a thick warm…