Giant Squid written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann is a nonfiction book about (no surprise here) giant squid. This is categorized as a children's picture book but after reading it myself I would say that this would be more appropriate as a middle grade (or advance reader) picture book. It might be good for those curious children in your life who you read aloud to but I don't recommend reading this before bedtime. Note: If you have a phobia of the ocean or deep waters then this will only serve to scare you further. (I'm putting all of these warnings upfront because I went into this one completely blind.) The only thing I knew going into this book was that the artwork on the cover looked intriguing and it looked to be an interesting read. It turns out that pretty much everyone is ignorant about giant squid because they're so elusive. The book is packed with the facts that scientists do know as well as eerily beautiful illustrations of different aspects of squid anatomy. At the back of the book is a detailed drawing of the squid with the different parts labeled as well as additional notes and suggested reading. As I said, this would be really great for children (or adults) who are interested in marine life and want to learn more about a fascinating and mysterious creature. Personally, I think it was written a tad too dramatically which made the imagery and the facts scarier than they would ordinarily seem. If I judged this based on educational merit and artwork alone I'd give it a 10/10 but all combined it's a 7/10 for me.

I would use this book in a history lesson in grade 3-6. This book is only pictures, but it teaches students to make inferences as to what might happen throughout the story. This story also includes dinosaurs and predicts what they might have been like in their time.

Genre:  Animals / Friendship / Humor

Year Published: 2002

Year Read:  2016

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Now I will admit. I never knew that there was a TV series based on this book until just recently (I guess it is because I just read this book recently). But despite not knowing about that, “My Friend Rabbit” is a children’s book that is written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann and it has won the Caldecott Medal award and this is seriously one children’s book that I had enjoyed immensely!

Mouse’s best friend is Rabbit and they usually play together, especially with Mouse’s special toy airplane. Unfortunately, Rabbit has a tendency to get himself in trouble and when he plays with Mouse’s toy airplane and gets it stuck in a tree, Rabbit of course, has a plan to get the airplane out of the tree. So, Rabbit gathers up various animals in the forest which included an elephant, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, a bear, an alligator and many more animals in order to have the animals stand on each other to make a ladder and have mouse climb on the animals to reach his airplane.

Will this plan work or will it cause more problems for everyone?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! This book was simply cute, hilarious and amazing all at the same time and I am so glad that I had the honor to check this book out! Eric Rohmann’s writing is witty and cute, even though there were not that many words on each page. I loved the hilarious moments in this book where Rabbit ends up causing trouble for everyone when he tries to help out his friend Mouse as his tactics such as stacking various animals on top of each other to create a ladder was downright exaggerated to see! I also loved the fact that Mouse was still willing to defend Rabbit throughout the story despite Rabbit making so many mistakes as it shows how strong their friendship is and how Mouse accepts Rabbit for who he is no matter what. Eric Rohmann’s artwork is also something that should be desired as the characters are drawn in bold and sharp edged lines that really bring out so much uniqueness to the story and I loved the way that Rabbit and Mouse are drawn in an extremely cute way on each page.



Overall, “My Friend Rabbit” is a truly fantastic book that children who want to learn more about the power of friendship should definitely check out and this book will remain a favorite among children and parents for many years to come!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

After Gus's dog Ella dies, he doesn't feel like doing much. And even though he didn't really want to go out on Halloween, he still put on his costume and went trick-or-treating. Gus soon finds himself in a bit of trouble, unexpectedly Ella comes to his rescue.

I know what it is like to lose a pet so this book got me. I thought it was such a sweet story. I really enjoyed it. 

Use your imagination and let this book take you away.  The pictures are amazing and with the text, I loved this book.  Not a lot of depth in the book but if you let your imagination go, you can walk away with a lot from this book and as an adult, I did.  The first couple pages have no written words but show a boy sailing a ship in the sky landing on a peaceful, sandy island.  He builds a huge sand fish and falls asleep beside it. In twilight, lions “cats like velvet shadows move, their coal-fire eyes ablaze.” come upon the boy and his magical sand fish.  The sand fish comes alive and it plays with the lions and the boy. Other creatures from the ocean join the party and it is like an underwater fish tank with the lions and the boy. The pages are bright and brilliant; the story takes on a rhythm as the fish swim and sway. As the sun begins to shine, the water settles and the creatures head back out into the sea, the boy heads to his ship to sail home and the cats settle down on the sand to sleep their day away.  What a busy night!!