Children's Book List

Reviews of Children's Literature

My Life with the Wave

By Catherine Cowan

My Life with the Wave
Reviewed by Children’s Book List

A child befriends a wave at the seashore and brings her home.

Rating: 5 *****

Although completely impossible, this is a very imaginative book about a boy’s friendship with a wave and how it affects his everyday life.

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Sylvie and True

By David McPhail

Sylvie and True
Reviewed by Children’s Book List

Sylvie, a rabbit, and True, a water snake, are best friends. They live together in a small apartment on a quiet street in a big city. Like a lot of best friends, Sylvie and True are different in many ways. Sylvie sleeps in a bed; True sleeps in the bathtub. Sylvie leaves the apartment by going through the door and down the stairs; True slides out the window and down a drainpipe. But, of course, they have things in common, too – they both love food and bowling – and together they make quite a team. Told in four short and easy-to-read chapters, this is a sweet and funny story about the give-and-take of friendship.

Rating: 4 ****

This book does a good job demonstrating the everyday friendship. How sometimes they get along and other times are misinterpreted and other times help out.

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Play With Me

By Marie Hall Ets

Play With Me
Reviewed by Children’s Book List

On a sunny morning, a little girl tries to catch the meadow creatures to play with her, but one by one, they run away.

Rating: 5 *****

A great book about making new friends and teaching patience.

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Will I Have a Friend?

By Miriam Cohen

Will I Have a Friend?
Reviewed by Children’s Book List

Jim’s anxieties on his first day of school are happily forgotten when he makes a new friend.

Rating: 5 *****

This is a great book for any child who’s worried about the first day of school and making new friends.

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Ginger

By Charlotte Voake

Ginger
Reviewed by Children’s Book List

Ginger the cat lives a comfortable, well-tended life. But when a pesky kitten moves in, Ginger’s days of ease are over. Now it seems he must share his bed and his meals with the intruder forever! What is a pampered cat to do?

Rating: *****

A nice book to talk about sharing with others.

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Don’t Fidget a Feather

By Erica Silverman

Don’t Fidget a Feather

Duck and Gander are having a contest. But Duck swims faster, and Gander flies higher. So which one is the champion Then Duck gets an idea: “Don’t move,” she says, “Don’t talk. Don’t fidget a feather And the winner will be the one and only, true and forever champion

Rating: ****

What’s good for the goose is not always what’s good for the gander and this gander proves it. It’s still a very cute book and opens the way for a nice discussion about friendship and winning.

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Orson

By Rascal

Orson

Nobody in the forest wants to be friends with Orson, a big brown bear, but one day, he finds a lost toy bear, and a deep, lasting friendship develops between the two.

Rating: *****

A really sweet story about friendship.

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Friends

By Kim Lewis

friends

Friends

Two very young friends learn about cooperation and forgiveness in this reassuring story.

Rating: *****

This story nicely covers the difficulties of children’s friendships.

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Shrinking Mouse

By Pat Hutchins

shrinking-mouse

Shrinking Mouse

Mouse, Fox, Rabbit, and Squirrel watch fearfully as their friend Owl seems to get smaller as he flies away from them. Will he disappear altogether? A comic view of spatial perspectives.

Rating: *****

You’ll love that your kids are learning without even knowing.

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Little Mouse’s Birthday Cake

By Thacher Hurd

The Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook

Disappointed that his friends seem to have forgotten his birthday, Little Mouse goes skiing by himself.

Rating: ****

I felt really sorry for little mouse. Birthdays are so important to children this seems like it would be a fairly traumatic experience.

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