My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Korean Language and Culture by Henry J. Amen Iv and Kyubyong Park, illustrated by Aya Padrón

This is an "ABC" book of Korean words. The only catch is that the romanization of Korean does not include all the letters. Thus some of the words are English with a Korean translation, such as "F is for flying - nalda". Other words use less popular romanization "G is for gimchi", though most of us would think of it as kimchi. They do have downloads of the words. However, the bulk download did not work properly and the individual words were each in a single file. It did work, but it could be a bit painful. The book was not bad, but kids did not seem too interested.

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet

King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim, illustrated by Cindy Kang

From boyhood, King Sejong loved to read. He wanted his subjects to be able to read and write also. However, it was difficult because they had to use Chinese characters. He invented an alphabet that represented how sounds were made that would be easy for everyone to learn. After many centuries this caught on and became the official alphabet of Korea. The book tells the simple tale and then has a brief historical explanation at the end. There is also a small explanation of the alphabet (though I wish there would have been more.)

Victor, the Wolf with Worries

Victor, the Wolf with Worries by Catherine Rayner

A wolf worries about a lot of things. He just can't do a lot of wolf things well. Then a friend helps him see that all wolves have worries. Then he goes on to be a good wolf. It is a fairly generic story.

There's No Such Thing as...Unicorns / No hay tal cosa como los... unicornios

There's No Such Thing as...Unicorns / No hay tal cosa como los... unicornios by Lucy Rowland, illustrated by Katy Halford

A girl hears from everyone that there is no such thing as unicorns. In the zoo, school and elsewhere the message is repeated. Finally, she looks in the sky and sees a unicorn. The book has a nice rhyming style in English, but the accompanying Spanish is just a literal translation that misses out on the structure.

The Book with No Pictures

The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak

This is a "picture book" with no pictures. It starts out with something resembling a story. Then it it becomes a vehicle for the reader to make silly sounds for the child listening. It is meant for an adult ot read out loud to a kid. The kid will get kicks out of the "silliness" that is read.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

As I kid walks his regular, boring route home, he imagines that he sees something more interesting. This imagination keeps crowing and extending until it gets to the point of an elaborate parade of different people, animals and vehicles. Though when he finally does get home, he just mentions that there was nothing special. 

This was one of the first Seuss books and has since been withdrawn from publication because of a Chinese Man eating with sticks. It seems just weird that heirs end up with control like this. I guess that's what you get with copyright extensions. At least this will be in public domain in a decade (unless there is another extension...)

A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy

A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy by David McPhail

A boy partners with a bug and a bear to carry out his adventures of the day. The bug is small and the bear is big, allowing them each to do certain things. The book is simple and may be entertaining for early readers.

How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?

How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? by Jan Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague (Illustrator)

Dinosaurs are like humans in the way they learn to read - at least according to this book. It doesn't have much to do with dinosaurs, but it does provide some fun pictures. It seems this series has gone a bit too far.

Me Too Iguana

Me Too Iguana (Sweet Pickles Series Book 9) by Jacquelyn Reinach (Author), Richard Hefter (Illustrator), Ruth Lerner Perle (Editor)

Iguana wants to do whatever other animals are doing. This gets a bit annoying and other animals plot a way for it to stop. It is a "me too" book.

Hi, Pizza Man!

Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter, illustrated by Ponder Goembel

A hungry kid eagerly awaits the pizza man. But then she thinks - what if it is a pizza woman? Or pizza kitty? Or other various different beings delivering a pizza. It is a fun look at how imagination can go from what we see as reasonable to things that appear very wild.

I Am Both: A Vietnamese Refugee Story

I Am Both: A Vietnamese Refugee Story by Kerisa Greene

A Vietnamese family gets out of Vietnam on the last commercial flight (thanks to family airline connections.) They adapt to new life in the United States. It is very different. They even pick a new name and have to learn a new language. The girl at the center of the book realizes she is both American and Vietnamese. The book shows the positive experience that kids can have even as life poses many challenges.

A Feel Better Book for Little Tempers

A Feel Better Book for Little Tempers by Holly Brochmann and Leah Bowen, illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez

When kids have tempers they need to react appropriately. This book presents ways for children to let go of their tantrum so it doesn't impact them. It also shows parents reacting in similar ways. It tries too hard to be "educational" that it does not tell a good story. However, kids did like it.

Will the Pigeon Graduate?

Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems

Does this release of this book signify that Mo Willem's daughter has recently graduated? Or is this just an attempt to jump on the "life events" bandwagon. The book is in the typical "pigeon" style. However, the content is different. Pigeon is not really trying to get something. Instead, he is worrying about his graduation and what will happen. At the end, he finally walks over the edge and realizes that he can fly. It is a nice metaphor for life and graduation, told in a "pigeon-style" children's book.

Mariam’s Dream: The Story of Mariam Al-Shaar and Her Food Truck of Hope

Mariam’s Dream: The Story of Mariam Al-Shaar and Her Food Truck of Hope by Leila Boukarim, illustrated by Sona Avedikian

A girl living in a Middle Eastern refugee camp will not take no for an answer. She wants to do something and make the people in the camp happy. She finds that the women enjoy cooking. They start to cook and want to expand to a food truck. She must go through a lot of challenges, especially as she navigates through bureaucracy. After years of work, she finally gets the food truck launched. It is an aspiring story of persistence as well as a look at the challenges faced by refugees.

Clifford's Good Deeds

Clifford's Good Deeds by Norman Bridwell

Clifford wants to help out and do good deeds. However, due to his size, most of the good deeds end up backfiring and making things worse. Finally in the end he finds some things where his big size can be helpful. The "good deeds" backfiring is something relatable, even if not in the same way as they occur with Clifford.

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow by Joanna Cole, illustrated by John Speirs and Bruce Degen

The magic school bus goes small to hang with the bugs and nectar as plants are pollinated and seeds produced. As a twist, they go back to Phoebe's old school and even see her old teacher. (Thus when she talks about her old school, they respond that they are there.) 

Cat

Cat by Matthew Van Fleet, photos by Brian Stanton

This big board book has a lot of pictures of cats doing cat things. The pictures look nice. the book however, fell apart and is making it to the recycling bin.

Og Finds the Cog: (Monster Og)

Og Finds the Cog: Ready-to-Read Pre-Level 1 (Monster Og) by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Elio

A monster (or is it a cat)? try to find a missing Cog. The book uses very simple language with some nice rhyming patterns. However, the simpleness is the downfall as the story is a bit too simple to maintain interest.

The Danny and the Dinosaur Treasury: Three Huge Adventures

The Danny and the Dinosaur Treasury: Three Huge Adventures by Syd Hoff

This treasury includes

Danny the Dinosaur (1958)

Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur (1985)

Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp (1996)

I'm a bit baffled about the dates. Everywhere I see claims the Goes to Camp was copyright 1996, yet this treasury was clearly copyrighted in 1993. There is no additional copyright date shown for the two additional stories.

The original story is half the book. The other two are half the length of that book. There is a huge gap in time from when they were written, yet the stories could easily fit in the same time line.

In the first, Danny runs into the dinosaur in the museum. It is just natural for everyone to do things with the dinosaur.

In the next, Danny is celebrating a birthday, so the dinosaur does too.

In the final, the kids go to camp. The dinosaur makes camp a lot of fun in a different way.

The later stories do continue in the same spirit of normalcy with the absurd.

The Big Worry Day

The Big Worry Day by K.A. Reynolds and Chloe Dominique

A girl worries that her dog is worrying about all sorts of things. This is likely her way of expressing her own worries and concerns. It tries a bit too hard to have a message.