Some Bugs by Andrea DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel (Beach Lane Books, 2014) is a simple rhyme for young kids about different kinds of bugs. Paired with the rhyme are collage-like illustrations created with “everything imaginable.” (See the note on the last page.) Crayon, pencils, watercolor, and collage make our backyard world in to a multi-colored

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My daughter has developed a love for reading. It’s not surprising, given the number of books by which she is surrounded. What I’m finding somewhat amusing and annoying is that right now she has a very definite preference for what books we read together: she wants the ones she has read before, and if I

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No Two Alike by Keith Baker (Beach Lane Books, 2011) celebrates the uniqueness of winter with gorgeous digital paintings of two birds enjoying nature. The text is rhythmic and rhyming, and provides a gentle framework for the how nothing is completely alike – snowflakes, fences, trees. The ultimate conclusion is that the birds are similar

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Wishes by Jean Little and illustrated by Genevieve Cote (North Winds Press, 2012) builds on the familiar refrain that “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Each page has another sometimes silly ending to the “if wishes were…” beginning, from “if wishes were snowflakes” to “if wishes were kisses.” I love the analogies in this

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Dolphin, Fox, Hippo, Ox by Brian Cleary (Lerner Publishing, 2012) and other books in the Words are CATegorical. These books are clever. Using fun rhymes, they teach about concepts that children are still learning about: parts of speech, mathematical concepts, or, in this case, animal groups.  Dolphin et al is about mammals. I liked this book enough

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We loved Jan Thomas’s books a few months ago, so we have been looking for more. My four-year-old loves Rhyming Dust Bunnies. The pages are very simple and easily readable by a young kid because they contain, for the most part, rhyming words. Friends Ed, Ned, Ted, and Bob (who are dust bunnies) are quite silly,

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