Michelle's Reviews

This Duck and That Duck are trying to make sense of their Big Puddle and the ever-changing world around them. And we can’t help but root for them as they learn to swim (“‘How do you know?’ That Duck asked. ‘It just feels like swimming,’ This Duck answered.”) and dip and dunk, and then to run and hop and fly. Once the restless itching sets in, they know it’s time to fly South, wherever that is. By paying attention to others that are “Like us, only not us,” these two duck friends do so much more than just waddle in a line. A kindhearted ode to figuring things out. Ages 3–7. - Michelle

In this collection of 20 poems, each placed on oversized pages that can barely contain their dinosaur subjects, David Elliot gives us rollicking species-specific rhymes with just enough information to entice a budding dino-expert-to-be. As if that weren’t fun enough, Matthew Trueman’s lush and earthy illustrations expose every wrinkly fold, spiky tooth, and feathery dinosaur hair. A delight from start to finish, with cool endnotes and a thoughtful chronological organization. Echoes of Jack Prelutsky’s fabulous Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast but for the slightly younger set. Ages 3–7. - Michelle

This is Sadie. And this is a celebration of Sadie’s imagination. Sadie sees a boat when others might see a box; she tells secrets to her favorite garments; she checks for her wings, which safely deliver her home from any adventure. “Sadie has been a girl who lived under the sea. She has been a boy raised by wolves.” She likes stories best of all because they can be anything at all, just like Sadie. Julie Morstad complements the open-ended words with sky-is-the limit illustrations, delightful from beginning to end. Preschool. - Michelle

The Caldecott Medal–winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee is available unabridged in a new board book, paper cut–free for a younger set of listeners. Philip Stead takes us through the thoughtful routines of Amos McGee’s usual workday at the zoo, where “he always made time to visit his good friends” the elephant (who needs a chess partner), the rhinoceros, tortoise, and penguin, and the owl (who is afraid of the dark). One morning Amos wakes up with a bad head cold and calls in sick. After waiting and worrying and missing their friend, the animals hop on the bus and pay Amos a visit, giving him the care that he has so kindly provided them every other day of the week. With all feeling much better, Amos and friends settle in for the night so that they can catch the morning bus back to the zoo, together. Always with plenty to discover, Erin Stead’s lovely pencil-and-color illustrations hold the attentions of reader and child alike, with new things to discover with every reading (look for the tiny mouse!). Preschool. - Michelle

Follow along as we gently, dreamily behold each of the elements that make a house a home, from the front door “once a colossal oak tree” and the bricks “once mud that oozed around roots” to the window that “was sand once…melted to glass.” Misty, almost velvety, watercolors reveal both the history and the now of this home, as we come to see how our own house fits into the world outside our door. A cozy bedtime read. Ages 3–7. - Michelle

Much more than a tongue twister, this sweet and joyful picture book astounds and astonishes with each successive read aloud. Wary for just the briefest moment, the dog and the hog leap into play, whirling and reeling around each other and right off the pages. Has there ever been a more perfect word pairing—or animal pairing—than greyhound and groundhog? Ages 2 and up. - Michelle

Deserving of its durability through the decades, this slim picture book lays out ten rules for choosing your rock, and with that, for finding your way. With evocative pen-and-ink illustrations, these words read differently depending on what you bring to the table. Ages 6–100. - Michelle

Follow Minli as she embarks on a quest to change her family’s fortune and along the way you will fall in love with her adventurous spirit and the dragon that accompanies her. Truly a book that reminds us it is the journey, not the destination, that really matters. Ages 9 & up. - Michelle

Written a half-dozen years ago yet somehow even more relevant today, Cory Doctorow’s tales of clever teens engaged in a technological rebellion serve as both a wake-up call and a lesson in resistance. If George Orwell’s 1984 is on your mind these days, then jump into the 21st century with this novel. Ages 14 & up. - Michelle

Written a half-dozen years ago yet somehow even more relevant today, Cory Doctorow’s tales of clever teens engaged in a technological rebellion serve as both a wake-up call and a lesson in resistance. If George Orwell’s 1984 is on your mind these days, then jump into the 21st century with this book. Ages 14 & up. - Michelle