David Melling, author-illustrator of the 2025 picture book Ruffles and the Bouncy, Bouncy Ball, definitely knows dogs. This knowledge shows up in the tight, almost […]
Sleep Tight Farm
Sleep Tight Farm: A Farm Prepares for Winter is an interesting and multi-faceted picture book (2016). Writer Eugenie Doyle and her family operate Last Resort […]
How to Make a Bedtime
Med McKinlay’s 2024 How to Make a Bedtime is a gentle picture book about putting a little to bed, or a beloved little. Karen Blair’s […]
Blacksmith’s Song
Last week I took an introductory class in blacksmithing at a forge in a town about 50 miles away from my own town. (Lawless Forge, […]
Secret Pizza Party
I thought I was picking up a book. I was actually picking up a Wonderbook. Perhaps I should explain. I picked up Adam Rubin’s 2024 […]
Once Upon a Fairy Tale House
Hmm. The story in this book is historically important, but I didn’t find it engaging, and am curious just how/why this was published. Let me […]
Montana’s Memory Day
Sue Lawrence’s 2012 picture book Montana’s Memory Day is lovely, strange, and nearly necessary for some readers. The subtitle signals why. This “a nature-themed foster/adoption […]
Sister Wish
When I read the back cover flap on Giselle Potter’s 2021 picture book Sister Wish, I learned that Potter’s parents had a puppet theater, and […]
Big Bear and Little Bear Go Fishing
Amy Hest’s 2024 picture book Big Bear and Little Bear Go Fishing posed a small question for me: why does this book seem timeless, but […]
My Pillow Keeps Moving!
I recently picked up Laura Gehl’s 2018 My Pillow Keeps Moving!…and I don’t know why. I don’t mean that dismissively: I enjoyed the book, and […]