Becca

This lives up to the hype. The Dot is about being vulnerable when you're not secure about being good at something, artistic expression and experimentation, and how much it matters when grown-ups show they believe in you.

This was a childhood favorite and it executes a clever concept well. It's a direct if basic lesson about how to stand up for yourself and face your fears.

I am BEIGE and I am proud.

Hilarious and I loved it, even though there wasn't much happening before or after all the letters.

A funny existential book with scarce words that somehow covers a lot: how experience limits knowledge, how little minds come up with big questions, the bravery and determination it takes to face the unknown, and chicks pipping. Very cute illustrations, too. I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would, and I think kids would too.

This book was not meant to please children but to devastate parents. What a sad, beautiful story about rescue pets. Rude to make me cry this much while not writing a single word.

Didn't think I could personally love a board book this much but I do. I love the rhyming, I love the embedded sensory play, I love the changing color schemes, I love that it includes moms, dads, and groups all going to bed, I love the dedication in the beginning to granddad, the best of all dinosaurs. I did have a slight existential crisis over whether brontosauruses are real midway through. Even still, good book.

I just love these books. They are adorable and feature cutouts in a clever way. All are about different characters or motifs, but the uniting themes are love, reassurance, and sleeping safe and sound.

An in-depth primer on boundaries, consent, and communication. I learned some things too (I'd never heard the term safety network, for example).

I liked tying heavier themes into more low stakes situations like someone grabbing your toy in the sandbox or getting mad at a sibling. A lot of discussion questions are included at the back of the book. I think this has a lot of uses and parents and teachers could both find it to be a good resource for breaking down important topics.

A seasonal twist on a favorite. It's nice to have these options for if someone has a due date or a child has a birthday falling close to a holiday they celebrate.

Another childhood favorite that I haven't read in forever. This was excellent. Gorgeous, hilarious pictures. Verdi is scared to grow up because he feels so energetic and invincible in his youth, and the mature snakes seem bored and tired. I like the message that even inevitable fears are hard to face, AND that Verdi comes to realize he'll still be himself no matter how old he is. Peter Pan should read this.

A very simple and cute book about autonomy, consent, and respecting boundaries.

I liked that Ladybug was also asked if she wanted to hug, even though we know she loves hugs in general. I would have liked if there was a page of a friend refusing the high five too, and stating that that's okay as well; you don't have to negotiate a compromise if someone just doesn't want to be touched (the way it was phrased, “Is Sheep ready for a high five?” stuck out to me). But this is a board book, you can't cover everything!

Compared to some other recent reads ([b:Some Bodies 60757758 Some Bodies Sophie Kennen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649194286l/60757758.SX50.jpg 95800715], [b:I Love My Body Because 59363885 I Love My Body Because Shelly Anand https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649601173l/59363885.SX50.jpg 93536863], even [b:We're Different, We're the Same 55321661 We're Different, We're the Same (Sesame Street) Bobbi Jane Kates https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600088918l/55321661.SX50.jpg 105966]), this was fairly limited.Not all eyes see, not all ears hear, not all noses smell, etc. There were also weird inconsistencies, like how it shows someone playing basketball in a wheelchair, but then later says, “Legs are for running, walking, sitting, standing, jumping, and dancing! Legs help you move from here to there.” Strange. Also there was a picture of a mouth I really hated.

A childhood favorite I revisited for the first time in decades. The pictures are hilarious and the colored pencil style is charming. The word choices are descriptive. Stellaluna is appropriately enthusiastic about mangoes, which are probably the best food that exists. The story contains themes of the issues with and pressures of assimilation, rediscovering your roots, and forging strong, genuine bonds despite and across huge differences.

Vastly superior to the board book version ([b:A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon 18467809 A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon Audrey Penn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1379393180l/18467809.SX50.jpg 26127426]) I read alongside it. Good for separation anxiety, facing fears, trying new things, and children learning that they can both give and receive love and comfort. The illustrations are sweet, especially the last page, but I wasn't the hugest fan of the artistic style.

Colorful and adorable illustrations. I mean look at this guy:

I do like that each set of two pages has a theme, but some of the themes did not excite me or feel relevant. Why are we teaching children so much about farms? What am I missing?

Completely delightful. Affirming and simple but nuanced and sensitive. A refreshing and compassionate way to teach children how to think about physical bodies—both theirs and everyone else's.

A whimsical, very pretty book about two friends who share lots of memories together having to figure out how to keep doing that when one moves away. It is both about dealing with change and how friendships can adapt to outlast and even carry you through major life events, no matter how much time has passed or how much distance separates you.

I know this is a classic, but I read it for the first time today and didn't love it as an adult. The pages were nice and thick even though my copy was a picture book, and I like how the flaps are different colors and open in different ways. I can see kids loving this to bits.

I like the concept a lot. Simple but effective. The cut-paper pictures are very cute.

I knocked off a star because the search and find aspect was kind of challenging and confusing. I liked that Takeuchi put in different shades of the same color and the pages were a lot of fun to look at, but sometimes you were meant to disregard the same animal (e.g., upright dinosaurs vs. one walking on all four legs, all but one specific type of fish) whereas other times you were supposed to seek out variety (e.g., the snakes not looking like the example image given, because they were all stretched out instead of scrunched into more of a zig-zag).

A brightly colored (maybe vaguely like Todd Parr?), sweet bedtime book about how caregivers and families come in all sorts of arrangements, and what makes a family is not a nuclear unit, but the love shared between people.

I would have liked to see more older kids and elderly empty nesters, but that's me nitpicking, especially because it's probably deliberately reflecting the ages of its target audience.

A cute and vibrant book about how though we look and feel different from others, functionally our body parts and emotions serve the same purpose for everyone.

Some of the generalizations about body parts left out that some eyes don't see, some mouths don't speak, etc. Also, it felt like the group shots included more variety than the close-up pages, which felt like a strange choice. But, I get that this is a bite-sized message for little ones, and I like that the Sesame Street characters are included.

Nothing wrong with this, but it didn't stand out to me much. I think it doesn't say a ton that hasn't already been said. Also, some of the eyes freaked me out.

A cute and simple book about embracing diversity and difference, while also touching briefly on colors. But, because it's so simple, I feel it implies that people of different races having children together in and of itself solves racism? I know systemic injustice is not an easy or light concept, but the focus on individual choice made it fall a bit flat for me.

A beautifully illustrated story about finding hope and joy in books and love. Set in the Minidoka incarceration camp and based off of the author's real grandparents, this is an accessible yet honest depiction of Japanese internment camps. I think this would be a great classroom resource for teachers to integrate into history lessons and read aloud.

A sweet little book about how to approach conversations about differences in physical appearance. I didn't think about how sometimes in trying to stop kids' ogling and pointing, we shut down conversations in a way that can cause what (or who!) they are curious about to feel shameful. This book tackles everything from skin, hair, and eye color to mobility aides, weight, and transition-related procedures.