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MADreads for Kids

Book reviews for children by library staff and guest contributors

Seeing the magic in each other

Cover of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn
A review of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale and Lueyen Pham

This adorable picture book series is about feeling like you are one thing when you may look like another. Kitty is sweet and little and fluffy and pink and feels like a unicorn. Nobody else thinks Kitty looks like a unicorn and this makes Kitty very sad. Until she meets a unicorn who thinks they look like a kitty! And so begins a friendship of mutual respect, understanding, and support about recognizing each other for who they are and seeing each other for what they want to be.

Also in this series:

Mar 1, 2023

Celebrating love

Cover of Love, Violet
A review of Love, Violet written by Charlotte Sullivan Wild and illustrated by Charlene Chua

As far as Violet was concerned,
only one person in her class raced like the wind.
Only one had a leaping laugh.
Only one made Violet's heart skip.

Feb 20, 2023

A mostly good fourth-grader

Cover of The Best of Iggy
A review of The Best of Iggy by Annie Barrows

“All of us do things we wish we hadn’t done,” reads the first line of The Best of Iggy. Especially when we are 9 years old. Some things really aren’t so bad… we just wish we hadn’t gotten caught. Some things aren’t so bad… buuuuut we probably shouldn’t have taken things quite so far. But some things. Some things we just really really wish we hadn’t done. Iggy does all of these things, with all the hilarity you might expect. (This is a snort-laugh out loud while reading in public sort of book - be warned!)  But also with the humility and remorse that comes after.

Feb 17, 2023

Learning from those who came before

Cover of The Year We Learned to Fly
A review of The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson Illustrated by Rafael López

From the Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López, creators of The Day You Begin, comes a new story about using your imagination to soar. Stuck inside on a rainy day, two siblings are told by their grandmother to use their minds, to "close your eyes and take a deep breath, and believe in a thing." No longer stuck in their apartment, they soar over the city, each season escaping from their boredom, their arguments, and their loneliness, just as their ancestors who also flew with their beautiful and brilliant minds. 

Feb 15, 2023

It's always time for cake

Cover of Sometimes Cake
A review of Sometimes Cake by Edwina Wyatt

I get some of the best book suggestions from the people who come into the library. I was helping a lady the other day who had a charge on her account for a lost book. Don't worry - she had just put it in the book return. She knew it was overdue, but her little one loved the book so much that they just couldn't stop reading it. With a recommendation like that - I just had to read it myself.

After reading Sometime Cake I understand why they had trouble returning it!

Feb 10, 2023

Caldecott Honor Book: Berry Song

Cover of Berry Song
A review of Berry Song by Michaela Goade

Caldecott medalist Michaela Goade's new picture book is a gorgeously illustrated tale of family and land that warmed my heart and felt so cozy. 

On an island at the edge of the sea, a young girl learns from her grandmother how to live on the land, picking berries of all kinds from the forest:

Feb 8, 2023

Most distinguished American picture book for children

Cover of Hot Dog
A review of Hot Dog by Doug Salati

It is summer and it is HOT in the city. In this incredibly illustrated new picture book by Doug Salati, you can feel the summer heat, sweltering pavement, and oppressive crowds. Past the fire engines, construction crews, and chaotic skateboarders mom and her little dog walk until her hot dog has had ENOUGH. “THAT’S IT!” And lays down in the middle of the crosswalk. Throughout the illustrations, readers will notice little dog’s mom growing grumpier and grumpier as errands progress and doggy drags his feet. 

Feb 6, 2023

Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award winner

Cover of Frizzy
A review of Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega illustrated by Rose Bousamra 

Marlene spends every Sunday in a salon having her hair straightened in order to look presentable according to her Dominican mother's standards. Keeping her hair smooth requires her to avoid running around, sweating, and playing outside with the other kids. This makes Marlene miserable. The situation reaches a fever pitch at an older cousin's quinceañera where Marlene is taunted and berated for her wild behavior and unruly hair.

Feb 2, 2023

Caldecott Honor Book: Choosing Brave

Cover of Choosing Brave: How Mamie
A review of Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy Illus. by Janelle Washington

This book opens on August 31, 1955, when Emmett Till's body was found and his mother, Mamie, chose to have him sent home - the braver thing. We then jump back in time to Mamie's childhood, learning about her family, her schooling, her marriage, and Emmett's birth, with each of Mamie's brave choices highlighted. Emmett's childhood comes next, noting his stutter of speech that came from polio, and his trick of whistling to calm him down.

Jan 31, 2023

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