93. The Feelings Book: A Touch-and-Feel Playbook

93. Board book: The Feelings Book: A Touch-and-Feel Playbook. Mike Henson. Miguel Ordonez. 2025. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars, board book, touch and feel, interactive]

First sentence: Orange is all buzzy and jittery. Can you scratch Orange's paw? Can you choose which emotion Orange might be feeling?

Premise/plot: Board book, concept book, interactive book--that's what you get when you pick up The Feelings Book. The feelings are color-coded. Blue is sad, hurt, worried, sick, gloomy. Green is calm, still, quiet, rested, careful. Yellow is happy, surprised, playful, brave, funny. Orange is excited, silly, confused, nervous, scared. Red is angry, mad, grumpy, cranky, prickly. So the "clues" little ones have are the COLORS and descriptive words. For example, "buzzy and jittery" describe orange.

My thoughts: I have SO MANY THOUGHTS. On the one hand, I love, love, love the TEXTURES are actually TEXTURES. 90% of the time books that are supposed to have different textures to touch and feel get it wrong. They'll include a few textures, but, then use "shiny" as a texture. I thought the textures were good.

On the other hand, I don't love the colors. I'll try to explain. I honestly don't know if I mean saturation or contrast. But *something* is off with the colors. Green and blue look too similar and red and orange look nearly identical. Yellow looks a bit gray. The colors are not *true* colors.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Young Readers

31. Wrong Time Rooster

 

31. Wrong Time Rooster. Michael Parkin. 2025. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 star, picture book, telling time, concept book, farms] 

First sentence: One morning, a very important delivery arrived at the farm. The animals all gathered together, wondering what could possibly be in the crate! 

Premise/plot: The farm has a new rooster. The problem? (As you should know by now, all books have a 'problem.') This rooster can't tell time....literally. This rooster has clocks--many of them. But he can't read time, or, tell time. Therefore, he crows at all the wrong times. 

My thoughts: I expected the book to be funnier. For better or worse, it turned into a concept book about telling time. I suppose that could be a great thing for some. Does it make for the most entertaining farm story? Probably not. Would it still be a natural choice for reading aloud? I think so.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Young Readers

139. Board book: ABC Touch and Trace Nursery Rhymes

ABC Learn with Me: Touch and Trace Nursery Rhymes. Editors of  Silver Dolphin Books. 2024. 10 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [board book]

First sentence: A is for Apple
B is for Bee
C is for Cow
D is for Dog
E is for Elephant

Premise/plot: What you see is exactly what you get. Mostly. I would say the emphasis is definitely more on the alphabet and tracing the alphabet than on the nursery rhymes. There is at least one line from a nursery rhyme per spread, but, you have to know to look for it, perhaps. That being said if you were looking for a book of nursery rhymes, this wouldn't be the one you'd reach for anyway. 

My thoughts: The tracing element is especially well done for capital letters. There's a groove of sorts for little fingers to follow. I appreciated the tactile experience. It is not a touch and feel book by any stretch, still, there's something to engage the senses a little bit. The book is basic, but really there's nothing wrong with basics when it comes to concept books.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

137. Are You Small?

Are You Small? Mo Willems. 2024. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars] [picture book]

First sentence: Are YOU small?
This book is small.
(But it has big ideas in it.)
A hamster is small.
(But it can be a big friend.)
A baby tooth is small.
(But it's a big deal when it comes out.)

Premise/plot: Are you big??? or are you small???? Mo Willems explores size and scale in this one. 

My thoughts: It was a solidly good read. My expectations for Mo Willems books are always so high. If you go into this one with reasonable expectations, I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you are expecting the most super-amazing-wonderful-brilliant book of all time, then you might be a little disappointed.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers

115. Catside Up, Catside Down

Catside Up, Catside Down. Anna Hrachovec. 2023. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, concept book] [5 stars]

First sentence: Catside up,
catside down,
cat on a turntable, spinning around.
Under a piano,
over the moon,
swept high and away
by a cat-shaped balloon.
Inside a sock,
surrounding a pie,
lolling about on some catnip nearby.

Premise/plot: Catside Up, Catside down is a book of prepositions. It is a concept book--technically, definitely. I mean there is a grammar lesson there for elementary-aged students. (Or for readers of all ages who need a bit of a refresher course). But it is also a super-adorable cat-themed, arts-and-craft themed picture book for readers of all ages to enjoy. The illustrations--are PRECIOUS, ADORABLE, SWEET, AMAZING.

My thoughts: I loved this one so much. I love, love, love, love, love all the crafted items. The cover is adorable--no doubt, no question--but each page only gets better and better. I love the art. I love the narration. I love the concept-lesson. I love the rhyming.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers