LOVING These Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers!

All of the following books came to me for review through the wonderful Abrams Books for Young Readers. Check out their online catalog if you have a moment Im sure youll see many books to add to your wishlist. 🙂

These books are the tops! Especially the very first one. 🙂

Bear in the Air
Written by Susan Meyers
Illustrated by Amy Bates
Rating: (5/5)

Bear in the Air is my two-year-old daughters favorite book right now. It is one of the few that she brings to me to read every night one that she wants me to read again immediately after weve finished it! This is one of my top recommendations for sure.

This is the bear that went for a ride.
Bounced from the stroller,
How Baby cried!
Mother looked everywhere, Here and then there,
Had to go on without finding the bear.

In this story, we travel on an exciting adventure with this fluffy brown teddy bear as he falls from the stroller of the baby that loves him. Among many things, he is picked up by a dog and taken to the beach, carried away on a wave in the ocean, played with by seals, picked up by a bird, and much more. Eventually he ends up back in the path of the stroller, to the delight of the mommy pushing it and the baby inside!

Emma loves this story, and so do I! Reading this book, she really understands and relates to the baby shell say, Oh no! when the bear falls and the baby cries, then identify the dog when he comes up, the bird when he comes up, and even calls a man on a ship who tries to catch the bear in a net Daddy! (I have no idea why, hes a gray-haired old man, lol). This is a delightful read for both of us, and a pleasure to read aloud. Its really a short and sweet read, with rhyming prose and simply gorgeous illustrations. I love the illustrations so much, I want to track down the illustrator and buy all of the books she illustrates! Im including a favorite picture here taken with my camera:

I highly recommend you add this one to your shelf it is one of the sweetest childrens books Ive come across! Especially recommended for younguns age 1-6.

Buy it at Amazon.com
Buy it at Abrams Books for Young Readers

The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza
Written by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans
Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Rating: (4/5)

The Jellybeans are back! I absolutely love the story behind the title of this book. These best friends call themselves The Jellybeans after their favorite yummy treats

Just as jellybeans are different flavors but go well together, the girls were all different but got along great and so they called themselves the Jellybeans!

This sweet story focuses in on Anna (the bunny) who loves to read. She practically lives at the library and reads constantly. When Anna and her best friends are given a book review assignment at school, Anna is thrilled! She finally has an excuse to drag her friends to the library with her! Despite their initial hesitation about the library, everyone is able to find something they would like to write about. However, when it comes time to read their book reports out loud in front of the class, Anna finds herself needing her friends encouragement.

The author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has done it again! The pictures and story are charming, the cover is glittery, and I love the detailed illustrations inside. We found this to be an enjoyable read and recommend it for 4-8. You can also find the other book in the series, The Jellybeans and the Big Dance at Amazon.com.

Buy it at Amazon.com
Buy it at Abrams Books for Young Readers

The Taming of Lola: A Shrew Story
Written by Ellen Weiss & Illustrated by Jerry Smath
Rating: (5/5)

Little Lola the shrew is a troublemaker, and a mean one at that! Her constant whining has shredded her familys nerves. Her siblings are fed up, and her parents have just plain given up. She always gets her way. But the real trouble begins when Lolas cousin Lester comes to stay with her family. Turns out, hes meaner than she is! Suddenly Lester is the one getting special treatment, just because he demands it. Lola and Lester find themselves in screaming matches over the silliest things. Will Lola ever learn her lesson? Will Lester learn his?

This is just the cutest book Ive ever read about temper tantrums! The story is so well-written and I had to laugh while reading it out loud. Lola the shrew is quite unbearable, but by the end she sees how horrible shes been by watching her cousin act the same way. I think the author is a genius this is a wonderful way to show children how their attitudes affect other people!

The detailed illustrations are just as delightful as the story, with much to look at as youre reading. Even I wanted to stop and peruse the underground home of the shrews before turning the pages. The shrews have so much character, especially Lola.

This delightful storybook is definitely a favorite, and recommended for children 3 8.

Buy it at Amazon.com.
Buy it at Abrams Books for Young Readers.

More to come!

I would like to give a special thanks to MaryAnn from Abrams Books for sending me the books reviewed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you!