Mini Reviews [15]

The Other Bears by Michael Thompson

Synopsis (via Goodreads): An eloquent tale about tolerance and acceptance, this beautifully illustrated story shows how Mother and Father Koala's suspicions of the "other" bears are mollified. The Koalas don't like the pandas and don't trust the polar bears; they believe that black bears are noisy and that brown bears have big teeth. However, all of the Koalas' grumpiness melts away when they watch the littlest bears at play. Appealing to young and old readers alike, this picture book conveys an important message in a playful way. 

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I love, love, loved this book! It was a wonderful story that conveyed a really important message (yes, I know the synopsis says basically the same thing, but it's true). The adults always found something negative to say about the other families, while the children only saw kindness and the potential for friendship. They were open to meeting new people and making friends, while their parents acted annoyed and affronted. 

However, in the end... seeing all of the children playing together -- without judgement -- caused them to reevaluate their perspectives. Yay!

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When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge,

Matt James (Illustrator)

Synopsis (via Goodreads): In this atmospheric story, a group of kids play hockey on a frozen lake by moonlight. At once nostalgic and timely, this is a gorgeous book that will speak to readers young and old.

The beaver flood has finally frozen--perfect ice, without a bump or a ripple. For the kids in town, it's Christmas in November. They wait, impatiently, for the right moment.

Finally, it arrives: the full moon.

They huff and puff through logging trails, farms, back roads and tamarack swamps, the powdery snow soaking pant legs and boots, till they see it--their perfect ice, waiting. 

And the game is on.

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I think the writing in this book might be underappreciated by its target audience. I'm sure they'll enjoy reading it, but the writing was just so beautiful. It was elegant and flowed in a way that really made this story feel magical. 

As a parent, I would freak out if my kids were doing something like this (leaving in the middle of the night to walk through snow up to their waist, building a fire, and staying out until their toes are numb). It did make a good story, though. There's a lake or a pond in the middle of the woods, and they use the moonlight to play hockey on the surface (after they clear the snow away themselves). 

It was a story my husband really enjoyed reading to our son, and he encouraged me to read it afterwards so I could have the same experience. A really lovely book!

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Neither of these have a legitimate synopsis on Goodreads, but you can find Play with Your Food by David G. Derrick Jr. here, and We Love Dinosaurs by Lucy Volpin here.

Play with Your Food isn't a book I would have chosen for myself, but my son has always loved stories about dinosaurs. It ended up being quite a funny book, and not at all what I was expecting. The little guy avoids being eaten by trying to teach the larger dinosaur how to play games (which most children are already familiar with). His antics were enjoyable and the story was a lot of fun!

We Love Dinosaurs is a better fit for younger children that are still learning words and what they mean. The writing is very simple, but the illustrations are beautiful! I really loved all the colors and how they made the dinosaurs pop. This book gives examples of a dinosaur that eats plants, one that eats meat, another that likes to cuddle when it sleeps (I think), and so on.

We own The Other Bears, but the three library books will definitely be future purchases!