Children’s Book Reviews

Beato Goes to Israel by Sucheta Rawal is the second in the series of “Beat Goes to” books – the other books taking him to Greenland and Indonesia – featuring a globetrotting cat and his adventures. Here Beato travels throughout Israel with a girl named Helena who teaches Beato about the country’s history, culture, religion, food, and more.

Beato is a charming character, who’s endlessly optimistic and positive about everything he sees – even the size of tomatoes! He’s open to every experience, and loves to learn. Rawal smartly couches the more-factual detail about the country into an entertaining story, […]

The Perfect People by Cathi D’Avignon is a wonderful children’s book about inclusion and acceptance. Princess Caitlin is sent out by her father, the king, to find the “perfect people” for a selection of jobs. First, she finds a man who tends a beautiful garden, but who’s deaf and fears that wouldn’t be the best person for the job. Princess Caitlin replies, “Please, sir. The fact that your son cannot hear has no bearing on his worthiness as a gardener.” From there Caitlin finds a group of people with unique abilities, but also disabilities, but they’re each, of course, the […]

The Year Santa Stubbed His Toe by William M. Hayes is a whimsical Christmas story in which Santa, yes, stubs his toe (not once, but twice) and he can’t complete his Christmas duties. He enlists four elves to help him complete his Christmas deliveries, which may just end up changing how people think about St. Nick.

This is definitely a book for parents to read to their children, as the prose is advanced – lyrical and well-written, to be sure, but complex for a new reader. Its lyricism really makes the book a stand-out. This isn’t a cookie-cutter Christmas story. […]

Danloria: The Secret Forest of Germania by Gloria D. Gonsalves is a book for 4 to 7-year-olds about Stan who goes venturing into the forest and meets a magical collection of plants, mushrooms, and other fauna. In each meeting with the different plant-creatures, we learn about different plant’s properties (such as fern, moss, blackberry, and many others). When Stan falls ill, we then learn the medicinal properties of all these different plants. Gonsalves deftly integrates real facts about plants without seeming too encyclopedic – kids will learn and appreciate the different forms of plant life without even realizing they’re learning![…]