[ARC REVIEW] A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager

Title:  A Tale of Two Mommies

Author:  Vanita Oelschlager

Artist:  Mike Blanc

Genre:  Children's / LGBT / Family

Year Published: 2011

Year Read:  2018

Publisher: Vanita Books, LLC

Source:  eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I would like to thank NetGalley and Vanita Books, LLC for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly have not read many children’s books that dealt with same-sex parents. The only children’s book I had read that dealt with same-sex parents was “And Tango Makes Three,” which I really enjoyed.   I actually picked up that book because it was on the banned children’s book list and I was curious in seeing what the controversy surrounding that book was all about.  Anyway, after I finished reading that book, I was interested in reading more children’s books that features same-sex parents and I managed to find this cute little children’s book called “A Tale of Two Mommies” by Vanita Oelschlager along with artwork by Mike Blanc.

This book is basically about a young boy telling his friends at the beach about what kind of activities his two moms do and he refers to them as momma and mommy.  His momma would do activities like teach the young boy to ride a bike or make scary faces with a flashlight, while his mommy helps the boy set up a campsite and is the coach of his T-Ball team.

Wow! Vanita Oelschlager’s writing was just so adorable and inspiring to read through!  I rarely read children’s books that dealt with the child having same-sex parents since there aren’t that many LGBT themed children’s books out there (or there aren’t that many that I could get my hands on).  So, I was happy to finally get around to reading this book and I loved the way that this book tackled the topic of same-sex parenting in a kid-friendly way.  I loved the fact that Vanita Oelschlager manages to bring in the topic of same-sex parenting by having the boy’s friends ask what kind of activities the boy’s mothers do with their child.  I liked the fact that the other kids never asked about why the boy has two mothers because it helps send out a message that it does not matter what kind of family you have; what matters is that you love them no matter what.  Mike Blanc’s artwork is extremely adorable to look at, especially of the images of the little boy doing various activities with his two moms.

Overall, “A Tale of Two Mommies” is a fantastic book for children who also have same-sex parents and who want to read a book that’s relatable to them.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• These Little Piggies Go to the Beach by Amy E. Sklansky

• D.W. All Wet by Marc Brown

[ARC REVIEW] Worry Says What? by Allison Edwards and These Little Piggies Go to the Beach by Amy E. Sklansky

Title:  Worry Says What?

Author:  Allison Edwards

Artist:  Ayesha L. Rubio

Genre:  Children's / Self-Esteem / Monsters / Imagination

Year Published: 2018

Year Read:  2018

Publisher: National Center for Youth Issues

Source:  eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Some Bullying)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I would like to thank NetGalley and National Center for Youth Issues for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts off with a young girl mentioning about how there is a monster called Worry that would set up camp inside her brain and say things that would worry her.  Whenever the girl receives a math test, the Worry monster would tell her that she cannot do the math test and the girl ends up not finishing the math test due to being worried.  Another time was when the girl wanted to play with the other kids at recess and the Worry monster would tell her that the other kids will not like her and the girl ends up not playing with the other kids.

Can the girl overcome Worry?

Read this book to find out!

Allison Edwards has done a fantastic job at writing this book as the narrative is both imaginative and emotional!  I like the fact that Allison Edwards tackled the issue of being worried about certain situations as many kids in real life do worry about whether or not they can do a certain task.  I also liked the fact that this book help teaches children about how to deal with being worried as many children do get concerned about what they can and cannot do and it is great that there is a children’s book out there that helps children overcome their worries about a particular situation.  Ayesha L. Rubio’s artwork is adorable to look at as I loved the images of the girl herself as she looks truly adorable and her facial expressions were so well done as I enjoy seeing her confident and worried expressions throughout the story.  I also like the way that Ayesha L. Rubio did the artwork for the monster itself as it does not look threatening and it actually looks like a humorous gray furry creature that mostly has a mischievous look on its face.

Overall, “Worry Says What?” is a truly fantastic book about dealing with your worries that children who go through the same thing will definitely enjoy!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz

• Hiznobyuti by Claude Ponti

• My Little Heart, Ruthie by Toni Jannotta

Title:  These Little Piggies Go to the Beach

Author:  Amy E. Sklansky

Artist:  Christine Davenier

Genre:  Children's / Family / Animals / Fantasy / Beach

Year Published: 2018

Year Read:  2018

Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group

Source:  eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Quarto Publishing Group for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story starts off with a pig family going out to the beach to have a good time and the story is told in the same rhyme as “This little piggy” like this:

“This little piggy said, “Beach time!

This little piggy agreed.

This little piggy packed a picnic.

This little piggy stopped to read.

And this little piggy cried, “Me, me, me! I have what we need!”

Amy E. Sklansky’s writing was adorable to read through as I loved seeing the pig family going out to the beach and seeing what kind of adventures they get into at the beach!  I also loved the fact that Amy E. Sklansky wrote this story in a rhyming scheme that is based off the “This Little Piggy” poem. It reminded me quite a bit of Jill Sardegna’s book “The Roly Poly Spider” which was a book that was also written in a rhyming scheme that was based off of an old nursery rhyme called “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” with a modern twist.  Christine Davenier’s artwork is scratchy, but in an extremely adorable way.  I loved the looks of the pigs themselves as they all look adorable and I really enjoyed seeing them doing various activities while on the beach such as reading, building sandcastles and playing ball.

Even though I thought that this was a really cute story, I thought that there should have been more adventurous scenes with the pig family or at least more humor in the story.  I felt that there were some parts of the story that felt a bit empty, meaning that I wanted to see more excitement in this story, even if it is just about a family going out to the beach (if that makes sense).

Overall, “These Little Piggies Go to the Beach” is a truly cute read for anyone who is a fan of the “This Little Piggy” poem and wants to see a more modern take on the classic nursery rhyme!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• D.W. All Wet by Marc Brown

• Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

• Flotsam by David Wiesner

[BOOK REVIEW] D.W. All Wet by Marc Brown

Title:  D.W. All Wet

Author:  Marc Brown

Genre:  Animals / Beach / Siblings / Family / Vacation

Year Published: 1988

Year Read:  2017

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Series: D.W. #2

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

After I read “D.W. the Picky Eater,” I got even more interested in Marc Brown’s “D.W.” series since I am a huge fan of his “Arthur” series and I wanted to get into the “D.W.” series as well!  So, when I finally got around to reading “D.W. All Wet,” I was pleasantly surprised by the simplistic yet hilarious storytelling of this book!

The story starts off with Arthur’s family going off to the beach for a nice vacation, but D.W. was complaining about not wanting to go to the beach because she did not want to get wet.  Even though her family enjoyed swimming in the ocean, D.W. still refused to go out into the ocean for a swim.  A few moments later, Arthur was planning on going for a walk and D.W. wanted to go with Arthur, so she climbed on Arthur’s back and they started walking along the beach with D.W. giving Arthur directions on where to go on the beach.  Suddenly, Arthur starts losing control of where they were walking and…

Where is Arthur taking D.W. and will D.W. ever get in the water?

Read this book to find out!

You know what, I have always loved Marc Brown’s cute and witty writing on his “Arthur” series and this book is still as witty and fun to read as Marc Brown’s other “Arthur” books!  I loved the way that Marc Brown wrote D.W.’s predicament in not wanting to go into the water because she did not want to get wet and it was hilarious seeing D.W. refusing to go into the water even though her family are enjoying themselves.  I also found myself relating to D.W.’s predicament in not wanting to go into the water because I remembered when I was little and I was trying to swim for the first time, I did not want to go into the water because I was afraid of drowning, but I eventually got the courage to go into the water after I saw how much fun everyone else was having in the water and this book is extremely relatable to any child who has trouble trying to get into the water at the beach for the first time.  I also like the way that Marc Brown portrayed Arthur and D.W.’s relationship in this book as they are not as antagonistic to each other as they usually are in the other “Arthur” books and it was great seeing Arthur trying to help his sister D.W. get into the water and show her how fun swimming can be.  Marc Brown’s artwork is much more subdued in this book than in his other books as the outlines of the characters are much lighter in tone instead of the usual bold black lines and the color tones are much more earthly, giving this story a more traditional and down to earth tone.

Overall, “D.W. All Wet” is a truly fantastic and fun book to read for children who love reading books about beaches and having the same experiences as D.W. did.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book, unless D.W.’s bratty behavior might be a problem for some children.

[BOOK REVIEW] Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

Title: Time of Wonder

Author:  Robert McCloskey

Genre:  Family / Nature / Weather / Poetry / Exploration

Year Published: 1957

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (One Intense Scene involving a Hurricane)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

When I first read this book as a child, I did not really care for this book since I thought that this book was too boring to sit through.  However, when I read this book later on as an adult, I realized that this book was a truly moving book.  “Time of Wonder” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book from the great mind of Robert McCloskey and it is about how a family spends their time on the islands enjoying the beauties of the island.  “Time of Wonder” may seem a bit too boring for smaller children, but it is truly one of Robert McCloskey’s most beautiful and moving books ever created!

Robert McCloskey has done a great job at making the story extremely dreamy and beautiful as he describes the girls’ adventures on the island in a dreamy and poetic fashion, giving the story a beautiful feeling, the type of feeling you get when you go to a wonderful place.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are much different in this book than in his other books since the images are actually colored instead of the usual black and white images that he usually uses for most of his books.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are truly realistic and beautiful as he shows images of the island showing its beauty towards the two girls.  The images that stood out the most in this book are the images of the ferns growing and the images of the hurricane coming towards the island.  The images with the ferns growing shows the ferns uncurling themselves from the ground, which is truly a beautiful sight and the images of the hurricane coming to the island shows the storm making a strong wind that violently blows at the family’s house and you can see the waves being blown so violently and the family being blown by the wind as the father tries desperately to close the door.

Smaller children might be bored with this book since the beginning is a tad bit too slow and the action does not really come around until the scene of the hurricane coming to the island.  Also, the length of this book is much longer than most picture books and many small children might become bored with this book.  Parents might want to read one section of the book for the first day and then read the second section of the book the next day so that way children would not become so easily bored.

“Time of Wonder” is a beautiful and enchanting book about enjoying the true beauty of nature that will have many children respecting nature so much more.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the slow beginning.     

*  1958 Caldecott Medal