Tree is a beautiful and vibrant celebration of trees and some of their purposes in nature, covering the ways they change throughout the seasons. I love the colors (even though they're occasionally unconventional) and the different aspects of nature that are represented -- birds, bees, rodents, flowers, fruit, etc.

The cut-outs in the pages and the owl make even more visual enjoyment for young kids, and the rhyming text is evocative and linear as it leads us gently through the year, inviting us to observe the different effects that the seasons have on the same tree. 

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Patricia Hegarty
Illustrator: Britta Teckentrup
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Whatever names you may have for them, based on tradition or heritage, grandparents are special. Here are some of my favorite picture books in which a child's relationship with one or both grandparents features prominently. For this list I decided to focus on living grandparents, rather than books that deal with loss -- but those are important too, and I plan on compiling a separate list later.

Last Stop on Market Street is a deceptively simple story about a boy named CJ and his Nana who are traveling by bus to volunteer at a soup kitchen. There are some eccentric-looking people on the bus, and they pass through a "dirtier" part of the city, but these things do not weigh down Nana's perception of the world. Instead, she and CJ make some connections with their fellow bus passengers, and CJ's Nana encourages him to take a higher view of life, no matter what they are doing. You can learn a lot from a Nana like this, without even realizing it.

I grew up enjoying the Else Minarik classic (also illustrated by Maurice Sendak of Where the Wild Things Are fame) Little Bear's Friend, and so I also enjoyed the simplicity and charm of Little Bear's Visit, in which Little Bear goes to visit his grandparents for the day. It is not a busy day, but a day for exploring and spending time with his grandparents, as each one tells him a story -- his grandmother tells him the story of her pet robin and how she eventually let him go, and his grandfather tells the more fantastical tale of a goblin who is scared by a bump in an old cave and hears something coming after him (it's not as scary as it at first sounds). It's divided into short chapters for early readers, but my kids enjoy having it read aloud to them too.

Time for Bed, Miyuki is a whimsical and fantastical story of a girl whose grandfather urges her to go to bed, but patiently puts up with the extraordinary things that she must get done before she is able to slumber. Very cool illustrations too, which tie in to Japanese culture. See my full review here.

Nana in the City is about a boy who goes to visit his Nana in the city, and is at first nervous about how noisy and different it is, but soon comes to appreciate it more with his Nana's help. The plot is simple, but the relationship is sweet, and the illustrations are lovely and vibrant. The beautiful foliage colors also make this a wonderful book for autumn. See my full review here.

Joy is a very sweet book in which a girl named Fern tries to cheer her Nanna up, but finds it very difficult to capture joy with ordinary physical tools. Her child-like perspective is believable, and together she and her Nanna learn how to find pieces of joy even in the midst of difficulty, by helping each other. See my full reivew here.

We really enjoyed Reeve Lindbergh's lovely poem about the life of Johnny Appleseed, as well as Kathy Jakobsen's intricate and colorful illustrations of an older, wilder American countryside, capturing each season beautifully. It helps that we'd previously read a biographical picture book about Johnny Appleseed's life, but this poem still manages to include basic information about him and what he did while maintaining poetic structure.

For part of this book, we see Johnny through the eyes of Hannah, who first meets him on his travels when she's a girl, and sees him again when he's old and she's getting older too. We learn about his pacifist nature and genuine belief that he should "hurt no living thing," and his helpful attitude and desire to help settlers grow their own food. We also learn that he has become a legend since his lifetime and that sometimes it's hard to tell truth from fiction when it comes to stories of his life.

There is an additional page of information about him at the end of the book, but the poem itself does such a good job of not only communicating information, but evoking the spirit of Johnny Appleseed, and what he's come to represent in American history and lore: adventure, independence, helpfulness, sacrifice, and love and conservation of nature.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Paperback
Author: Reeve Lindbergh
Illustrator: Kathy Jakobsen
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Ideas from Nature is a simple early reader book featuring different aspects of nature that engineers and inventors have copied for people to use. 

The clear photos illustrate ideas such as hook-and-loop closures (like Velcro) and the burrs that inspired them, snakes and snake-bots which have a few different uses, architecture shaped like a giant flower, and more.

This is a great way to inspire kids to look around at the ingenuity present in nature, as they grow in confidence with reading.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Mary Lindeen
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Time for Bed, Miyuki is a charming, fantastical story of a girl who doesn't want to go to bed. While that is not an unusual theme for children's literature, this story stands out by its use of amusing fantasy elements (such as a family of giant snails, and creative use of character sizes), as well as the celebration of certain aspects of Japanese culture.

I love the colors in the illustrations, and the way that fantasy is incorporated into reality -- I think it strikes a good balance. Miyuki's grandfather patiently plays along with each of her requests to complete all the different things she must do before bed, but by the end she finally does lie down and go to sleep, making this a great, whimsical bedtime story.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Roxane Marie Galliez
Illustrator: Seng Soun Ratanavanh
Pages: 26
Content Advisory: None

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