Life by Cynthia Rylant and Illustrations by Brendan Wenzel

Five GIANT stars for this AMAZING picture book. Incredible, lovely story with fun AND beautiful illustrations! I LOVE the way he draws animals, especially their expressive eyes!! This is a keeper and I will be buying it for the grandloves!

#bookaday Little Elliot Big City by Mike Curato

Sweet story of a new and wonderful friendship. Adorable illustrations! 5 Stars

#bookaday How to Make a Night by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Tricia Tusa

Loved the bright colors, unique illustrations and that it was written in verse. Enjoyed it 4/5 stars!

#bookaday The Bored Book by David Michael Slater Illustrations by Doug Keith

Such a wonderful wordless book with tons of  ideas for writing prompts. Doug Keith's illustrations remind me of David Wiesner's. This is the kind of book that will be enjoyed again and again and again.

#bookaday Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton

Fun book...love the illustrations! Chris Haughton's Website. 

#bookaday The Last King of Angkor Wat by Graeme Base

BEAUTIFUL books...he is amazing! Graeme Base's website.

Library Bag Fave: NIGHTSONG by Ari Berk and Loren Long

4 of 5 stars. To say Nightsong is about bats would be true. And there is science to learn, also. But it's about so much more...the love between mother and child. There's trust and letting go, and believing in someone and oneself. We watch our children grow up and it happens so fast. And yet, it is life. We grow, we learn, we change. What we get out of it, is our decision. Will we choose to see nothing or everything? For our children, we hope that they choose well.

Loren Long's illustrations are dark and light and lovely. A wonderful book!

Library Bag Fave: TIGER IN MY SOUP by Kashmira Sheth and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler

4 stars for the story, 5 stars for the pictures. Kashmira Sheth Jeffrey Ebbeler

It's the illustration on the cover that catches the eye. They are just magnificent throughout the book, the inside cover, and the end pages! The story is fun, too, about a little boy being babysat by his teenage sister. She has the earbuds in, reading a book of her own, and not paying much attention to her brother. He keeps begging her to read to him but she ignores him. So his imagination runs wild, jungle wild, since the book is about a tiger! She makes him lunch but still won't read the book to him. So the tiger comes alive and ends up in his soup! And then the real mischief begins!

Library Bag Fave

5 of 5 stars to Count the Monkeys! by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Mac Barnett is a fave of mine (LOVE his Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen) and this book is ALL awesomeness! It's not your typical counting book...not by a long shot! It's a participation book like Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Kids and other human beings will laugh at the craziness that is going on inside! Fun, fun, fun will be had by all who enter!

Mac Barnett