The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy by David Soman and Jacky Davis

Summary

Bum Bum Ba Bum! The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy is such a fun story! I really enjoyed reading it. It's about a boy named Sam who is pretending he is a superhero named Bumblebee Boy. He fights pirates, aliens, bank robbers and lions. The story switches between Sam's imagination and real life. His little brother Owen keeps interrupting Sam because he wants to play too. But Bumblebee Boy flies alone! Sam doesn't want to be bothered by his little brother. When Bumblebee Boy is chasing down the bank robbers he isn't sure if he can catch them. All of a sudden there is a car blocking the robbers path and Bumblebee Boy is glad he has help until he realizes it's Owen. Sam tells Owen to go play by himself and he goes off to fight some aliens. Bumblebee Boy realizes there are too many aliens to fight off by himself, he needs help. Sam goes in search of Owen to get his help. Owen doesn't want to fight aliens, he is playing bank robber monsters. Sam tells Owen that there are bank robber monsters in alien fighting too and Owen agrees to fight the aliens. Together Bumblebee Boy and his little brother sidekick fly off together to fight the aliens. Bumblebee Boy flies alone... but not always!

Evaluations

This book is great! Bumblebee Boy's adventures are entertaining! This would be great for any child, especially one with a little sibling who always wants to tag along. Being the oldest child, I identify with Sam. No one wants their little brother or sister tagging along or copying them all the time. This book teaches that it can be fun to let your siblings in on the fun every once in a while. 

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Mo Willems

Summary

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems is a simple story that is highly entertaining. The story starts on the title page, the bus drive introduces himself and says that he needs to leave for a bit and asks if you could keep an eye on the bus, but remember: Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! In comes pigeon, he wants so badly to drive the bus. He tries to convince you that he won't do any harm. He begs and pleads with you to let him drive the bus. He's disappointed when you don't let him drive the bus. The bus driver comes back and thanks you for not letting the pigeon drive the bus. Meanwhile, the pigeon has found something new to drive and on the inside of the back cover you see him drive away in a semi.

Evaluation

I loved reading this book. The illustrations and concepts are so simple but it was still very entertaining! This book would be great for kids, especially those with a short attention span. While I was reading this I could almost hear the children yelling no every time the pigeon asked to drive the bus. It would be a good book for participation because it's easy to anticipate what pigeon will ask next.

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivansan is about an owl who makes his rounds to all of his nocturnal animal friends. He partakes in lots of nightly activities with various different animals. In the end he asks his mom what the end of night is like. She describes the coming of dawn beautifully and when she's finished she realizes that little owl has fallen asleep, so now he still doesn't know what the end of night is like!

This book is great for a bedtime story. It interests curious children who wonder what animals do at night while they are sleeping, just as owl wondered what it was like when he is sleeping. I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the illustrations with the black backgrounds throughout the book, it really makes the images pop. The story is simple and told in such a way that you can't help but like little owl. The ending when you find out he's fallen asleep is my favorite part.

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliot

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott is the story that is told with no more than a few words per page. Elliott's illustrations really tell the story. There is so much texture in the illustrations and this is what got my attention in the first place. 

Zoo Girl is about a little girl who lives in an orphanage. She feels alone because she doesn't have any friends or family. The orphanage takes a trip to the zoo and she accidently gets left behind. She makes the best of a bad situation and starts to make friends with all of the animals and she has a great time. She ends up getting found by the zoo keepers and she pleads with them not to take her back to the orphanage. In the end the zoo keepers adopt her and she gets to keep her animal friends and have a family.

This book is great for toddlers and up. It is simple since it only has a few words per page and it would be a great way to introduce adoption. What I really liked about this book is the illustrations. Elliott put so much texture and detail into each page, it's really nice. Even with such few words, she really makes you feel for the poor little zoo girl who has no family. She does this all with illustrations and it really works.

One of My Favorite Picture Books

In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories
retold by Alvin Schwartz 

I first read In a Dark, Dark Room when I was in the 2nd grade. I still enjoy reading this book to this day. It has several short "scary" stories within that are entertaining and appropriate for children. My favorite story in this book is called The Green Ribbon. It's about a young girl who goes through life with a ribbon around her neck. When she gets older, a boy becomes curious and he unravels the ribbon and her head falls off. I recommend this book as good story to read around Halloween time.