Reviews
Kirkus Reviews - Grandma's Christmas Wish
A gray grandma bunny expresses her love for her little bunny grandbaby in this sweetly sentimental sequel to Grandma Loves You! (2013). The short, gracefully rhyming text is written in first person from the grandma’s point of view, stating her love for her grandchild in different… View →
Kirkus Reviews - Frog and Friends Celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve
The stories are quietly entertaining and cleverly humorous with solid plots, subtle lessons, and a cozy sense of community among the group of friends. Bunting’s polished prose is several levels above most early readers, particularly in Frog’s calm leadership and in the… View →
School Library Journal - Leopold the Lion
Jack and Ella discover a lion doing somersaults on their backyard trampoline and want to keep him. While the siblings easily sneak the wild feline past their distracted parents, their grandpa knowingly quips, “Doesn’t look like an indoor cat to me.” After Leopold is fed a misguided diet… View →
School Library Journal - The Legend of the Beaver's Tail
This retelling of an Ojibwe legend successfully illustrates a moral and explains an important natural concept, while still being an enjoyable read. The story tells how Beaver once had a fluffy, soft tail that made him so prideful he drove away his friends. When a tree lands on his tail… View →
Kirkus Reviews - Leopold the Lion
Keeping a lion as a pet is never easy. Jack and Ella find a lion in their backyard, a lion that can perform backflips and somersaults on the trampoline! They, of course, want to keep him. Sneaking him by their parents is simple (they are busy, and the role reversal portrayed in their… View →
School Library Journal - Tallulah: Mermaid of the Great Lakes
A group of young mermaids is given instruction on searching for a personal gemstone to enhance their tail colors and deign magical powers that allow them to assist mariners and create “enchanting melodies.” Platinum haired Tallulah (her name is Native American for “leaping water”) lacks… View →
School Library Journal - Papa's Backpack
Papa’s Backpack begins with a thoughtful dedication to military families but becomes a much more universal allegory for separation by employing the simple symbolism of a child riding piggyback. Carroll’s use of spare and emotional language and earthy illustrations that play on contrasts… View →
Booklist - Papa's Backpack
A young bear wishes it could travel along in its father’s backpack when Papa has to “go away for awhile.” The cub understands that Papa is a soldier and that he leaves in order to protect the cub. Maintaining a child’s perspective, the little bear expresses its sadness, imagines what the View →
Booklist - Promise
The town of Promise is a tight-knit one, but 11-year-old Kaden has always been on the outside, with only a half-tame raven for a friend. He and his strict grandmother live simply just outside the town limits and keep to themselves, barely acknowledging their old family shame: Kaden’s… View →
Kirkus Reviews - The Little Kids' Table
The little-kids’ table is where the fun is. Duh! Grown-ups can keep their fancy-schmancy dishes and the icky green stuff they put on them. At this celebration of the family meal divided into adult and kid tables, much of the charm resides in Riehle’s unselfconscious… View →