New Review: How to Catch a Monster

A lesser known book that deserves outsize attention, children's book author Michael Yu's book How to Catch a Monster has something unique about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Sure, it's got a charming illustrative style and endearing monsters wrapped up in a fun bedtime story, but it just gives me a warm feeling that goes beyond a simple tale of imagination and discovery.

I do find the weakness of the story to be the text, which can be stilted at times and even confusing. It just doesn't reach the same level as the illustrations when it comes to capturing the story at hand. Sometimes it doesn't read as smoothly as it could, but it treads water well enough to get the story along.

One cool feature of the book is the Kindle Text Pop Up, which gives readers an entirely new way of absorbing the book. The pages look fantastic and seem to jump right off the screen.

Ultimately, the story has a heartwarming ending and is all smiles. It's an impressive book that my son wants to read over and over and even brings up in conversation other times throughout the day. In my mind, a good children's book lets kids connect the dots and think about things in a new way. This one does a marvelous job doing that.

Good For: Bedtime, feeling silly, too energetic, making mistakes, and getting messy.

My son says: Can we read the monster book? I'm that monster. You're that boy. Do we have any monsters in our house?

Name: How to Catch a Monster
Rating: 4.7 stars over 649 reviews


Description:

This book features vivid, full-color layouts with Kindle Text Pop-Up

Eric hates taking a bath. Eric hates brushing his teeth.

Eric hates putting on his pajamas. Let's face it, Eric hates getting ready for bed.

Thankfully, Eric's mom and dad have the perfect plan to help their little boy.

Find out what a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a monster has to do with it.

How to catch a monster is a fun and beautifully illustrated book with a surprisingly sweet ending that all readers will surely enjoy.

This charming children's story that is sure to become a favorite.

If you enjoy this book, please check out One Little Dragon.

It’s our family favorite.

New Review: I'll Follow the Moon — 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition

It's hard not to want to include one of my all-time favorites, one that happens to be the favorite of my son as well. He loves turtles and I love the bond that we share. Together, that makes I'll Follow the Moon an epic win that we've read probably a hundred times. It's perfect for bedtime, mornings, and vacations at the beach. Sometimes it can be paired with videos about sea turtles as well.

The story consists of a baby turtle trying to get back to his mother by the light of the moon. The repetition is soothing and comforting. It takes about 10 minutes to read at a moderate pace. Illustrations get an A+ and more than once I've climbed back into the back seat of the car to read it to him after he requested it. These are the kinds of memories you treasure and it's special when a book can be a part of it.

I've bought copies for several friends and it's a bargain at twice the price. It really makes you think as well about what really ties us all together. Simply wonderful.

Name: I'll Follow the Moon — 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Rating: 4.7 stars over 1,601 reviews


Description:

Double-gold medalist begins simply in baby sea turtle's voice: "I'm coming Mama, I'll see you soon, I know just how, I'll follow the moon..." Celebrating the love between child and parent comes an achingly beautiful story that has captured hearts around the world. *Donates to charity: every book saves a turtle!

One night in 2001, about a month after I brought baby Madeline home from the hospital, I noticed something quite strange on the beach in front of our south Florida home. It was late and Mom was tired, doing a last-one-of-the-day bottle feeding on the deck after along day of new mom activities. As Maddie slurped down the final ounce of her formula with that familiar glup, glup, glup sound, I noticed dark, tiny shapes scurrying across the sand.

What was this? I wondered and went down for a closer look. There they were! Baby turtles streaming out of hundreds of small nests, gentle rises in the sand were their markers. The babies made fanciful patterns in the sand as they dashed on little green legs in a remarkable race to the sea.

I watched them hop, one by one, into welcoming waves that sparkled under the beautiful moonlight. "I'm coming Mama..." they seemed to be saying, and I realized that I was witnessing one of nature's sacred events, the love bond between mother and child.

New Review: The Bad Seed

A recent release that has reluctantly won me over, I'm always slightly put off by any sense of negativity in a children's book. But I also think it's good to explore these very natural emotions as well as the aspect of labeling that can so often come up in our lives.

My son was willing to read this book a few times, taking particular interest in some of the nuts and other seeds that appear. The words were easy for him to understand and at some points he was able to read the story by himself. Particularly if you're involved in programs like 1,000 books in Kindergarten or other programs, this could be a good filler book to help you meet your quota.

Good for: Afternoons, car trips, bad moods

The author Jory John has hit on an interesting storytelling style that needs to be explored in more stories, hopefully they'll also have the same kind of surprising, meaningful ending.

Name: The Bad Seed
Rating: 4.3 stars over 775 reviews


Description:

This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know?

He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He’s been bad since he can remember! This seed cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself, and decides that he wants to be—happy?

With Jory John’s charming and endearing text and bold expressive illustrations by Pete Oswald, here is The Bad Seed: a funny yet touching tale that reminds us of the remarkably transformative power of will, acceptance, and just being you. Perfect for readers young and old, The Bad Seed proves that positive change is possible for each and every one of us.

New Review: Santa's Underwear

We're some of those people who don't mind reading holiday books all year round, but if you think a Christmas book is really only good for December then you may need to wait a few month's before picking up this one. I kind of always thought that Santa wore his pajamas while delivering toys to children all around the world, but little did I know!

There's a lot more to the story about how Santa goes about his day, gets dressed, and gets ready for bed. And his elves get in on the action at every step along the way. The wording gives you an enchanted feeling that is fun for kids and brings Mom back to her childhood. It was my son's favorite out of all of the books we've flipped through.

The ebook version was particularly well formatted and contained lots of bright, vivid images that kept our attention. This may not be How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but it does hit the right spot.

Perfect for: December 24th, Potty Time, Reading with Dad

Name: Santa's Underwear
Rating: 4.4 stars over 47 reviews


Description:

It's Christmas Eve and Santa is busy getting gussied up for the big night. But when he goes to put on his warm, cozy (holey, ragged) Christmas underwear, they're nowhere to be found!

With undies for every occasion, he tries on the rest of his collection.

But nothing is quite right.

Just when he's about to give up he find a surprise from his considerate team of reindeer.

Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!