The rhyming verse and adorable yet silly illustrations celebrate the nightly childhood rituals of bedtime, by seeing them through the lense of a family of mice. When there are 38 little ones to be settled, the feeding and bathing and brushing and dressing and reading and drinks take a while. The rhymes are fun and the illustrations are full of personality, and the topic is so familiar. I can see kids wanting to read it again and again.

I really like this one, and can see it being great as an interactive read-aloud. The illustrations a fun and full of personality, and the text is written as an interaction between the narrator, who is giving some very bad advice, and the main character, Poopsie, an adorable and pampered house cat living a rather sedate life. That is until our narrater dares her to venture out into the world, where she tangles with snakes and crocodiles and tigers. When put to the challenge, Poopsie shows she’s got some real spunk, but in the end chooses to return to her to the safety and simplicity of home, turning her back on the pushy narrator who got her into that mess.

Adam and his dog, Up are eating breakfast while his parents watch the news concerning the local cleanup after a large storm. The mayor cajoles everyone to keep working together for the community and ends her broadcast with, “Now, it’s time to get to work. Up and at ’em!” Adam heard a call to work for himself and his dog. Helping with lots of small tasks throughout his neighborhood, Adam’s cheerful greeting, willingness to help, and smiling face lighten everyone’s spirit. Finally Adam cooks batch after batch of cookies to share on the boardwalk.

Adam is identified in the endpapers as modeled after the author’s son who has Down syndrome. This story celebrates what Adam can do rather than focusing on how he is different. Through accepting and nurturing Adam for who he is, his cheerful and helpful nature resonated out into the community.

Use this book to promote a more inclusive community and to encourage community service.

A lovely story showing a child coping with bullying for being overweight. Francis loves words and the class’s weekly word day. The teacher always has the class review earlier letters; ” A is for antelope…R is for rainbow.” When two of her classmate giggle F is for fat, like Francis, all Francis’s joy in words is frozen. Francis had associated her size and the word fat with positive things like puppies, cuddling, and family. Jericho and Tabitha made fat feel cold and small. The required apology didn’t help Francis let go of her feeling. It followed her all through school and to the park after school. After sitting for a while with her Baba, their conversation turned to “possible.” In their exploration of possible, Francis again found joy and acceptance of the world around her and her place in that world.

This book shows how small acts of bullying can greatly impact a child and their self perception. Wisely the story doesn’t show a fix, but rather shows that true recovery takes space, time, and caring which allows the child to process and recover.