Felix and the Monsters
Written and Illustrated by Josh and Monica Holtsclaw
Terrie Bishop
Molly’s Moon Mission
Written and Illustrated by Duncan Beedie This is a story about having a dream, setting a goal, failing, and not giving up. Molly is a moth who dreams of becoming an astronaut and flying to the moon. Discouragement and doubt from her mother and other insect creatures never let her lose her determination, and along …
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Retold by Georghia Ellinas, Illustrated by Jane Ray I am not familiar with Shakespeare’s The Tempest in its original form, so this review is from that perspective. As a picture book this is a complex story with a lot of characters, told in first person by the magic sprite Ariel. She tells of her imprisonment …
Home In The Woods
Written and Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler Inspired by the author’s grandmother’s childhood, growing up during the Great Depression. When Marvel’s father dies from cancer and her mother is left to raise eight children between ages 3 months to 14 years, they are forced to find an abandoned, tumbledown shack in the woods and turn it …
The Hundred-Year Barn
Written by Patricia MacLachlan, Illustrated by Kenard Pak By the time I finished this picture book I was bawling. Patricia McLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, has written a story 100 years in the making. In 1819 her grandparents, who had come from Russia and settled in the plains of North Dakota, needed to …
Birdie
Written by Eileen Spinelli This is an incredibly sweet story about 12 year-old Birdie Briggs, who loves birds, bird watching, and bird facts. Birdie has just moved to Idaho with her mother, to live with her Grandma, after the death of her father. It’s about first love, second love, friendship, grief, and healing. Lovely characters …
Carl and the Meaning of Life
Written and Illustrated by Deborah Freedman Carl is an earthworm who has no idea what the purpose of his life is. During his wanderings, he learns that his friends all know why they do what they do. Rabbit does what she does for her babies, fox does it for the hunt and squirrel does it …