Review: The Pea in Peanut Butter by Allyn M. Stotz

Author: Allyn M. Stotz

Illustrator: Valerie Bouthyette

Genre: Children's Picture Book,

Publisher: Future Word

Format: Review Copy

Source: Author

Purchase: Indie Bound

I made a decision to be more open to reviewing children's books this year. My son is getting older. We are "reading" a lot more and I am always on the look out for stories that have a good message.

Anything having to do with food and eating more fruits and vegetables is always top on my list. My son, like the young girl in this story, believes that everything green is yucky. Where he got this I have no idea. I think they come programmed that way!

We try everything and anything to get him to eat veggies and like most things with a four year old, it's a back and forth battle filled with compromise and some blackmailing. :)

Also like the young lady, Kailee, in this story, my son is obsessed with certain foods. I loved that this little gal loved peanut butter so much that she dreamed about putting in on everything. Very relatable as a parent with a young child.

The gist of the story is this little gal only wants to eat peanut butter and one night, with her grumbling tummy, she sneaks into the pantry to snack on some ol' pb. Well, she enters a dream like musical number where the food in the pantry convince her that green is not bad.

I particularly liked the little food song they sang;

"A color has no taste.

Avoiding it's a waste.

All colors need a chance.

To do the food yum...yummy dance!"

Kids respond to songs and one that has a good message like this is even better. My son certainly got a honk out of it. Is he eating tons of veggies? No, not yet. But having a little tune like this to pull out certainly doesn't hurt!

So in this fun, she comes to find out that other foods, NOT just peanut butter are pretty darn good.

Rating: Recommend

The edition I reviewed came with a coloring book which is a fun add on. It's a cute story with a good message. As a mom, that's what I look for. The illustrations are pretty simple yet colorful. If you have a young one in your life between the ages of 2-6, this would be a silly read to bring the topic of eating well into a new light.

Author's Blog:

Allyn's Blog

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

A Quest for Good Manners by Karin LeFranc (review #125)

Title: A Quest for Good Manners

Author: Karin Lefranc

Publisher: Beluga Press

Genre: Children's Picture Book, ages 4-8

Format: Copy given to me by author

Starting this year I have, on occasion, reviewed children's books. Goodness knows I read plenty of them, atleast 5-10 new ones a week with my three year old son. I just don't have time to review all of them! I try to reserve my reviews for some of the books that I feel are special OR that my son really takes a liking to. Then I share them with you all.

A Quest for Good Manners was given to me at the Book Blogger Convention this year. Karin Lefranc, the author, was introduced to me by Sandra Brannan (thanks Sam!) and we starting talking; about books, kids, being a mom, potty training, etc. She was a really down to earth, genuine person and was kind enough to give me the copy she was carrying around.

Karin Lefranc and me

I sent it back with the other stacks of books I got during the week and when it got to my house, it was one of the first books we read. Well, my son took to it right away! He kept calling the dragon (see on the cover), a "really nice dragon" and loved the pictures and the story.

The story is about Princess Rosalind and her dragon, Sparkler. They have really bad table manners and her mother, the Queen, sends them on a Quest to find Good Manners. So they go off and meet several people along the way to help them. They learn to say Please, Thank you and You're Welcome. When they arrive back home, the Queen is impressed and allows her daughter to keep her pet dragon (just so long as there are no flames at the table!)

Rating: 5/6

Children's books to me have to have a good message, first. That is the most important thing to me when I read to my son. Cute, flashy pictures don't mean squat if you are reading about something silly that doesn't bring out good things.

This book had that good message but it also had beautiful illustrations that were colorful and fun to look at. I would recommend it for parents of a young reader.

It's never to early to learn yours Please and Thank Yous!

Author Website:

Karin Lefranc

Thank you to Sam for introducing me to the author!

Thank to you the author for giving me a copy!

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin (review #105)

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Publisher : Harper Collins

Copy: Library Loan

While I was writing my year end wrap up and posting how many books I have read with my son, I realized that I want to start doing a few reviews of the fabulous books we read together. It is also my son's 3 year birthday today, so I thought today would be a good time to start. We are serious library supporters, even before I started working there. I used to buy a lot of kids books for him but learned very quickly that I could not afford our habit! So the library has become our greatest friend.

I won't post reviews for every book we read because I would not have enough time. I will choose a few here and there that I feel have a really great message and should be shared!

We have been reading to our son really since he was inside but our reading ritual really started when he was about seven months old. It started with story time before bed and we read three books at that time. It has now progressed to a morning circle time of 1 or 2 stories, 3 books at nap time and 5 at night time. I pick the morning circle theme and he picks the rest. We have his books at his level and I rotate them weekly.

Pete the Cat has become one of our very favorite stories to read. It's colorful, has a good beat to it and a very good message. Pete has new shoes but when he is out walking he steps in strawberries, blueberries, mud and water causing his brand new white shoes to change color. After stepping in water, they go back to being white. He rolls with it all and still loves his shoes no matter what color.

The ending phrase is the best:

"The moral of Pete's story is: No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song because it's all good"

Rating: 6/6

We love to sing along to this book and our son knows all the parts as well. It's a great feel good book that's perfect to read right now to start off the new year.

Author Website: Eric Litwin

The website is full of fun videos of live children's events reading the book out loud and lots of info on buying pictures of Pete and Pete stuffed toys! We spent the morning watching Pete on You Tube. I couldn't resist posting this fabulous video of Pete the Cat dancing.!

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Review #96: Hide by Jeff Foxworthy (Children's Book)

Hide !!! Jeff Foxworthy

Genre: Children's Book, ages 4-8

Publisher: Beaufort Books

(Copy compliments of publisher. Thank you!)

Description from Amazon:

On a Saturday morning
Like many before
The kids were all restless.
In fact, they were bored.

It had finally stopped raining
After nearly a week
Then they had an idea,
"Let's play hide-and-seek!"

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy tells the story of a neighborhood hide-and-seek game and invites readers to join in! With vivid illustrations and a hearty dose of silliness, each page includes a hidden child, a seeker, and other objects for kids to find.

Can you help Rachel Green find Sue, along with one raccoon, two spoons, three mops, four flip flops?

Hide!!! is guaranteed to charm readers of all ages.

My Thoughts:

When the opportunity comes up to review a children's book, I usually jump at the chance. Having at toddler who loves to read stories, I am always looking for new stories to read at night time.

Though this one was cute and colorful, I would not recommend it for a bedtime read. There is a lot of activity going on on each page and it requires a bit of attention and collaboration on the part of the reader. It was a little over the head of my two year old though we did scale it down a bit and he did enjoy it. I liked the seek and find on each page. That was fun. I like the colorful illustrations and the neighborhood feel of friends and community.

Rating: 4 stars/6 stars

Definitely for a bit older reader like it says. 4 years to maybe 6 years, in my opinion. When I saw the picture book format, I automatically assumed it would be a "story" to read instead of seek and find. Still fun, however. It will keep an interested child entertained!

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child