Olivia (4 out of 5)

We recently borrowed a copy of Olivia from our local library. This is the first in a series of books by Ian Falconer. There is not a strong story to it, but it features a trip to the beach (because it’s sunny) and a trip to the museum (because it’s rainy). The museum trip features two pieces of real art, so that is nice to have mixed in. The book is set in black and white and red which is a very effective use of color to emphasize things for young readers.

Olivia, like all young children, likes to sing loud songs and has way too much energy. The book follows her through a typical day, which involves brushing teeth/hair, getting dressed, terrorizing her brother, refusing to nap, going somewhere, eating dinner, and demanding multiple books for bed time. Sound familiar? Thought so.

Pictured: What older siblings think “Play with me” means.

Just like when I let my child pick her clothes to wear, Olivia takes a long time and has to try on everything. The two pages dedicated to this feature Olivia in 17 different outfits and provide a great opportunity to learn some words. Keeping with the art style almost all the clothing is red which makes it easy to point to and discuss with your child.

Olivia is very smart and has a vivid imagination. While looking at the artwork of ballerinas in the museum, Olivia imagines herself as a ballerina. This provides a great talking point with your child of how to use your imagination. The other artwork in the museum is an abstract painting, which Olivia says she could paint in about five minutes. She goes home and tries. In the process, she gets paint all over the floor, rug, and wall. Olivia is appropriately punished with a timeout for making a mess. Then she has a bath, eats dinner, reads books with her mom, and finishes with goodnight kisses and exchanges of “I love you anyway” with her mom.

Overall this book has some great concepts for a young reader, a good format for emphasizing objects/characters, and a healthy parent-child relationship. There’s enough reality in the story that kids can relate to Olivia and that helps children to learn.

Pros	Cons
Effective use of limited color	None
Healthy parent-child relationship

Breakdown
Current Price	$5.34
Duration	3:00 – 3:30
Longest Syllable Word	4 (Olivia)
Contractions Used	8 (he’s, won’t, it’s, she’s, Olivia’s, doesn’t, that’s, they’ve)

The Fat Cat (3 out of 5)

I recently picked up a copy of The Fat Cat at a yard sale for about 5 cents. This version is translated and illustrated by Jack Kent, but it’s based on a Danish folktale. This story really highlights how much of a jerk cats are, so if you do not like cats, you will love this cat’s portrayal as a no good, lying, glutton.

The story starts out with an old lady cooking some delicious gruel. She needs to run an errand, so she asks her cat to watch the gruel while she is gone. The cat agrees to watch the gruel, but while the old lady is gone, the cat eats all the gruel – and the pot too. When the old lady comes back and asks where the gruel went the cat fesses up that he ate it – “And now I am going to also eat YOU.”

From there everyone the cat meets says something like, “Whoa, you’re fat. How did you get so fat?” The cat lists everything it has eaten and then lets out his signature catchphrase, “And now I am going to also eat YOU.” The cat eats some anthropomorphic creatures, some birds, some little girls, a lady, and a parson.

Pictured: How to Properly Play with Your Food

After all that, the cat makes a big mistake. He attempts to eat a woodcutter who is carrying an axe. That woodcutter says he will not be eaten, and luckily, he is a skilled gastrointestinal (GI) surgeon, because he cuts open that cat and gets everything out that the cat has eaten. There are three lessons here, kids. First, do not tell people your plans to eat them. Second, only prey on people who are weak and do not carry axes. Third, chew your food or you will cause a GI obstruction and need surgery.

I made the mistake of reading this book with my child for the first time without reading it through myself. She may be a little bit young for a story about a cat that eats people, but it only took one reading for her to learn the phrase “And now I am going to also eat YOU,” so she says that quite frequently now which is hilarious.

Pros	Cons
Bright and distinct colors	Cat eating people may be scary
Bad behavior is “corrected”	Uses the word “fat” a lot

Click on the image to view on Amazon.com

Breakdown
Current Price (New)	$27.02
Current Price (Used)	$12.40
Duration	4:00 – 4:30
Highest Syllable Word	4 (Skohottentot and others)
Contractions Used	1 (I’ll)

Llama Llama Red Pajama (5 out of 5)

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney is a great rhyming bedtime story and is the first in the Llama Llama series. We received our copy from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL). In case you have not heard of DPIL before, it sends free books each month to children ages 0 – 5 registered with their program. They send out millions of books each year! If you have not signed your child up for this program, I highly recommend it as we have received some great books and it’s completely free! Follow this link (not a sponsor) to check for availability in your area.

In this story, Mama Llama puts Llama Llama to bed and like every other child who has ever existed, Llama Llama waits seventeen minutes and then calls for his mama to come back. He tries his best to wait for his mama, but he gets inpatient and starts yelling for his mama, which causes his concerned mother to dash upstairs to his bedroom.

This is where other children’s books get it wrong. Llama Llama has exhibited some poor behavior, but instead of glossing over this like in Giddy-Up Buckaroos! or glorifying misbehavior like in Cookiesaurus Rex (which I reviewed in my previous post), when his mother arrives and realizes nothing is wrong she explains to him that sometimes Mama is busy and he has to wait. She reassures him that this does not mean that Mama does not love him and that she is always nearby if he needs her. Mama Llama tucks Llama Llama back in bed and he goes to sleep.

Our little one always wants her mama to lay her down for the night, but lately, she will wait around for a while and then call for her to come back. However, I swoop in and when my child persists for her mama I explain to her that her mother is busy, but Daddy is here. It only took one or two times for her to learn to be content with her Daddy when Mama is busy (even when it is not bedtime) and I like to think this book helped as a teaching tool.

Pros	Cons
Bright and distinct colors	None
Rhyming
Healthy parent-child relationship
Teaches about patience

Breakdown
Current Price	$8.99
Duration	2:00 – 2:30
Highest Syllable Word	3 (pajama)
Contractions Used	6 (Mama’s, she’ll, isn’t, Llama’s, don’t, she’s)

If You Give a Moose a Muffin (4 out of 5)

We recently borrowed If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond from our local library. It is the second book in the If You Give… series. If you have read any of the other books in the series or my reviews of books 1, 3, 5, 6, or 8 then you know how it goes. Each story is a chain of events that eventually leads back to its starting point. In this story we get muffins, sewing, puppets, and lame Halloween costumes that the moose uses to scare… himself.

Changing one letter in the animal’s name makes a big difference in house manners. While the mouse ate the cookie offered to him, drank some milk, and then cleaned the entire, filthy house out of respect to his new human captor, moose takes a different approach. He eats a muffin, then decides to eat all of the others, and then asks the kid in the story to go to the store to buy ingredients to make more muffins. All while he contributes nothing to society, but hey, kid must be wealthy with all these muffins, so he should provide muffins to the muffin-less.

On the positive side, this is the first book in the series that I have read where a parent is actually present. The (single?) mother in the story makes blackberry jam part-time and has a budget of $2,350,000 for her spot on House Hunters International. At least she is teaching her son to work outdoors and care for plants.

Yet, I have to wonder about what she is teaching him indoors. Take a look in their fridge. Who in their right mind stores vanilla wafers, Special K cereal, and a pumpkin in their fridge? Also, what is that green thing on the top shelf? A moldy onion?

Despite this, If You Give a Moose a Muffin is as entertaining as the other books in the series and it contains subtle references to the first book like a mouse sock puppet and the cookie magnet on the fridge. If you like the other books in the series, then I am sure you will like this one too.

PROS	CONS
Bright and distinct colors	None
Want/ask relationship
Associations (ex. muffin & jam)

Breakdown
Current Price	$16.09
Duration	2:30 – 3:00
Highest Syllable Word	3 (blackberry and others)
Contractions Used	4 (he’ll, you’ll, they’re, he’s)
Page Count	29
Word Count	306

If You Take a Mouse to School (4 out of 5)

If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the fifth book in the ~~Where Are These Kids’ Parents~~ If You Give… series. If you have read any of the books in series or my other reviews here, here, here, or here, then you are familiar with the story format. One thing leads into another which leads into another and so on.

It is the third book to feature the mouse, so if you love rodents you will be pleased to discover that mouse is actually a genius…at least compared to the eight year-old he lives with and may be imbued with the powers of Spider-man. While at school, mouse does “a little math” and spells “a word or two” on a chalkboard while suspending himself from it. Clearly, mouse is from an advanced alien species trapped in the body of a rat that has only one fatal weakness…cookies.

Moving on, mouse shows his mastery of several school-related activities: building blocks, clay sculpture, writing, and recess. Oh, and we see mouse experimenting with purple goo, which is clearly to be used to overthrow his human captor/roommate, with the unmistakable look of pure, maniacal pleasure. (Yes, crazy eyebrows are included. Thank you, Felicia.)

If you like the other books in the series, you will undoubtedly like this one too. It may also be a nice way to introduce a child to the concept of school showing some of what happens in a day sans mouse.

PROS	CONS
Bright and distinct colors	None
Want/ask relationship
Associations (ex. school & lunchbox)

Breakdown
Current Price	$13.23
Duration	2:30 – 3:00
Highest Syllable Word	4 (experiment and others)
Contractions Used	3 (he’ll, you’ll, he’s)
Page Count	29
Word Count	264

If You Give a Dog a Donut (3.5 out of 5)

If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the eighth book in the If You Give… book series. If you have read my other reviews here, here, and here or another If You Give… book then you know the drill. These stories are all about one thing leading into another until they come full circle. This one includes donuts, apples, baseball, pirates, and kites.

In case you were worried, don’t be, because this book contains a crazy eyebrow. Something I look forward to in every If You Give… book, but sometimes they just aren’t included.

This particular story has a much lower word count than others in the series, so it is a shorter read. Because of this, compared to the other books in the series I have to give it a little lower rating.

PROS	CONS
Bright and distinct colors	Shorter length than others in the series
Want/ask relationship
Associations (ex. apples & juice)

Breakdown
Current Price	$14.19
Duration	2:00 – 2:30
Highest Syllable Word	3 (Celebrate and others)
Contractions Used	4 (he’ll, won’t, he’s, you’ll)
Page Count	29
Word Count	234

If You Give a Pig a Party (4.5 out of 5)

If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the follow-up to If You Give a Pig a Pancake, which I already reviewed here. If you have read any of the If You Give… book series then you should already be familiar with the story format. One thing leads into another which leads into another which cycles on ~~endlessly~~ until you finish reading the story in about two and half minutes.

While there are no crazy eyebrows in this installment, what I have to give extra credit to this particular book for is a hide and seek page. This story includes two past characters in the series (mouse and moose), two future characters (cat and dog), and some additional animals that do not have their own books (maybe they are in the TV series?). If you own the other books, it is a nice little crossover. For that reason, this book in the series gets a little higher score.

PROS	CONS
Distinct and bright colors	None
Want/Ask relationship
Associations (ex. party & balloons)
Activity page (hide and seek)

Breakdown
Current Price	$8.02
Duration	2:30 – 3:00
Highest Syllable Word	3 (decorate and others)
Contractions Used	3 (she’s, she’ll, you’ll)
Page Count	28
Word Count	230

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (4 out of 5)

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the first in the If You Give… book series and is one of my childhood favorites. This story includes cookies, milk mustaches, haircuts, cleaning, and drawing.

I already reviewed If You Give a Pig a Pancake, the third book in the series, here. Both books are similar in that one thing leads into another, into another, into another… However, this book contains the original crazy eyebrows, so props to Felicia. (There is one crazy eyebrow in If You Give a Pig a Pancake.)

Yet, the most ridiculous part of this story is how filthy this kids’ house is which is made apparent after a ~~brownie rat~~ cookie mouse sweeps it. Apparently, this kid has lived in a 30-year abandoned house which is why none of the walls are square and there is 100 lbs of dust on the ground.

Despite this kid’s poor living conditions, the story is quite cute and is the beginning of a book series which later became a TV series (but I have not watched it so I cannot vouch for its content). Being completely biased, I think this is a classic children’s book that makes a great addition to any child’s library.

PROS	CONS
Bright and distinct colors	None
Want/Ask relationship
Associations (ex. cookie & milk)

Breakdown
Current Price	$11.49
Duration	2:30 – 3:00
Highest Syllable Word	5 (refrigerator)
Contractions Used	4 (he’s, he’ll, doesn’t, you’ll)
Page Count	28
Word Count	291

If You Give a Pig a Pancake (4 out of 5)

If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the third in the If You Give… book series. Each book is its own, independent story. This one includes pancakes, baths, tap dancing, mailing photographs, and treehouse building.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the first in the If You Give… book series was one of my absolute favorites growing up. I often liked to tell my own stories like this where one thing led into another, led into another, and led into another. For that reason, I believe this series of books to be excellent food for thought for any child’s imaginative play.

PROS	CONS
Distinct and bright colors	None
Want/Ask relationship
Associations (ex. pancake & syrup)

Breakdown
Retail Price	$15.95
Duration	2:30 – 3:00
Highest Syllable Word	3
Contractions Used	3
Page Count	29
Word Count	290