The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright; illustrated by Chris Chatterton. Published by Orchard Books, 2020

An EA recently returned this book to the library and I took a minute to read it and thought it was so cute! Poor little Worrysaurus is always worried but takes a minute to stop, think on his mother’s advice that if it isn’t a happy ending then it hasn’t ended yet, and hold some personal items close to help his worries pass. He feels much better and is able to carry on and enjoy his day with a new friend. I appreciate Rachel Bright gave some specific ways to help anxiety and I love the illustrations. When Worrysaurus is worried, the illustrations tend to be darker, and when he is feeling better, they are bright and colourful.

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner; pictures by Mark Buehner. Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, ©2002.

I’ve been reading this to classes this week and it is just so cute! A child makes a snowman but is surprised to see it looking a little different the next day. This leads the child to imagine all the different things snowmen might get up to at night. It’s such a cute book and the kids have enjoyed pointing out the funny things happening to different snowmen on the pages. I will definitely have to read it to my daughter to see what she thinks.

Monster Chef by Nick Bland. Published by Scholastic, ©2014.

I love Nick Bland books and totally forgot all about this one! I read it today in honour of Halloween (although I guess it isn’t technically a Halloween book?) and the kids enjoyed it. Poor Marcel the monster is not very good at scaring kids until a child accidentally opens his lunch box to find a very unappetizing and, frankly, scary meal inside.

Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray; illustrations by Brandon Dorman. Published by Greenwillow Books, ©2008.

I’ve been reading this book to classes the last few days and it is really cute. It starts out like “The Night Before Christmas,” but is definitely a much creepier take to the Christmas version. Our creepy creatures are preparing their delicious feast of bugs, slugs, rotten eggs, and other not-so-yummy items to share with the trick-or-treaters, but for some reason, the kids are much too scared to share in the feast! As the kids run home, the creepy creatures continue on with their party and have a great Halloween night! The illustrations are very detailed and creepy (not super creepy, but probably too creepy for my 4-year-old) and I feel kids could spend a good chunk of time looking at them. It’s also a rhyming book, which is always my favourite!

Once Upon Another Time by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine; illustrated by Andrés F. Landazábal

I’ve been reading this book to my library classes in honour of Earth Day. It paints the picture of what Earth was like before people existed, without tall buildings, cars, roads, farming, mining etc. and offers a way we can appreciate our Earth now, by putting down our devices and stepping outside into the (hopefully, depending where you live) fresh air. The illustrations are beautiful and it was a great read!

Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

So my daughter chose this book from the public library a while ago and, while I thought it was okay, I didn’t think it was a super great read or anything. Today, however, when I was trying to rush and choose a book to read to my kindergarten class, I noticed we had a copy of this in my school library. Wow, the kinders sure liked it! I have never seen them react to a book like that before. I’m not sure if it was because it was Friday or if they had a bunch of sugar or something, but it was hilarious to see them being so totally into it. Now I feel like I have to read it to some other classes and see if I can get some more big reactions!

Pig the Pug books by Aaron Blabey

I just love these Pig the Pug books by Aaron Blabey so much. I’ve been reading them to my classes the last few weeks and we’ve had so many laughs. Pig is quite the naughty dog, always causing trouble and never thinking about the consequences. When Pig gets his comeuppance at the end, the kids are always like “that’s karma!” These books are just so much fun and a regular go-to.

Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett

I took this book out for my daughter from the public library and thought it was so cute that I had to buy it for my school library. Cyril is the only squirrel in the park and becomes best friends with Pat, who happens to be a rat, although Cyril doesn’t know this (or perhaps just doesn’t care) even though other animals try to tell him. The two enjoy doing things together, such as playing hide-and-seek and a game called Pigeon Sneak. Together, they are even able to out maneuver Slim, a dog that enjoys chasing them. Finally, a little boy ruins their friendship by outing Pat as rat, causing him to leave the park and his friend. Luckily, after being chased by Slim, Pat and his team of rats save Cyril and Pat moves back to the park. This is just such a sweet story of friendship and how you can be friends with those who might be “different” from you. My only little pet peeve, likely because I’m trying to get my three-year-old to use kinder words, is that “stupid” is a word in the book. Probably not an issue for most, but I just changed it to “silly” when I was reading to my daughter and to classes at my school.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson; illustrations by Jane Chapman

I’ve posted about these Bear books by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman on my old blog and I still stand by what I said there. I’ve been reading this Christmas one and it’s just such a cute, heart-warming read; Bear, who is used to sleeping all winter, is determined to stay up for Christmas this year. With the help of his friends, he stays busy by going to look for a Christmas tree, hauling it home, and decorating it. Ironically, his friends fall asleep, but that gives Bear the chance to make some Christmas surprises for when they wake up.

Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug! by Mem Fox; illustrated by Laura Ljungkvist

I borrowed this book from the public library for my daughter a while ago and we had so much fun reading it together! She loves ladybugs and had so much fun looking for all the places the ladybug was hiding. I recently purchased it for my library but I’m not sure I’ll read it to any classes; I think it would become a little too much if all the kids wanted to try to find the ladybug. But, it would be a great option for kids to take home! It’s light on the text and uses a bigger font, which could be great for the younger kids who are just learning to read.