Peggy the Pug’s family is not feeling very cheery this Christmas. Business is slow, Ruby doesn’t like her teacher, Chloe feels like she is losing her friend, and Finn has lost his bandmate. Peggy wants to help them be happy again. She decides that she needs to talk to Santa and to do that she needs to become a reindeer. She tries to give herself antlers, she eats carrots, and finally decides to talk to the reindeer at the school Christmas fair. Each thing that Peggy tries seems to make more work for her family at home.

This is short chapter book with sketched illustrations and is a part of an 8 book series. The book was originally published in Great Britain.

A young boy and his father cross the border to Mexico every Saturday. Each week they cross the Rio Grande. On this visit they go to Tio Mateo at his jewelry store, plays soccer, has a sweet treat from the paletero, and visits the pharmacy. On their way back home, they make one more stop, they check in with and drop of supplies for friends on the bridge who are refugees and stuck between the United States and Mexico. The watercolor illustrations by Erika Meza are colorful and eye-catching.

In the 2nd Chicken Little book by Sam Wedelich, Chicken Little still asserts that she is not afraid of anything and definitely not a big bad wolf especially because she has never seen a wolf. One day Chicken Little and the wolf collide and Chicken Little runs away. While trying to decide what she saw and if she is afraid, the rest of the flock is debating fight or flight. Chicken Little decides to investigate why the wolf is always running and discovers that the wolf is just misunderstood and wants to belong.

Written in Spanish and English, a young girl recounts her visits with her abuelo in Cuba. On her visits they sell fruit in the street while singing the names of the fruit. Other vendors are singing about their wares as well. The girl’s favorite visit is on New Year’s Eve where she wishes for friendship between the two countries and more visits with her family. When she returns home she misses her abuelo, but knows that they can continue to sing rhymes through the letters they send each other. The colorful illustrations by Sara Palacios are vibrant. The author’s note at the end talks about Spanglish, travel restrictions between Cuba and the United States, the singing vendors in Cuba, and New Year’s Eve in Cuba.

A young girl and her cat are outside on a dark night when they see a firefly. The night starts to clear and they see stars in the sky. The book then starts to look at natural and artificial light. It introduces vocabulary with bold text and a glossary is included at the back of the book. The text is broken up with diagrams and illustrations. There is a lot of information in the book, but it does not always flow smoothly from one concept to another. It introduces a firefly at the beginning of the book, but does not talk about how a firefly produces light. The book does focus on how light behaves and how we see light. The illustrations complement the text and help further explain the concepts. Overall I think this book is a good introduction for explaining the concepts of light.

Lola’s dad, the super secret agent, James Blond, is kidnaped by Max Imum and other Friendly Falls villains. Lola sets out to find him with her dinosaur, James, and her cat Hot Dog. Luckily she brought her pencil and eraser to help her defeat the villains. Along the way she is joined by two skeletons and a scribble monster. In the second story, Lola sets off through the television to save her mom who has gone missing.

This story is full of twists and turns and imagination. As an adult, I had a hard time following and keeping up with the story. I think this story would appeal to 2nd and 3rd grade fans of silly graphic novels.

When their owner, Mrs. Food, slips and falls and is taken away to the hospital, the pets learn they are in serious trouble. The dog, cat, bird, and two rats must come up with a plan to survive on their own. They concoct a plan to become independently wealthy. Their plan involves stealing coins from the Coin Man on the top floor. Along the way, they discover something is going on with the little girl who is taking care of them and discover it might not just be the pets that need saving.

Each of the pets have distinct personalities. Readers will laugh at the animals plans and antics. This is a page turning read.

Rigel loves living off-the-grid in Alaska. She talks to ravens, hunts rabbits and lives in a two-room cabin with her two sisters, Willow and Izzy; her mom, Lila; and her dad, Bear. Lila and Bear have been fighting a lot lately and one day after coming home with her first rabbit, Lila announces that Lila and Bear are separating and they are moving to Connecticut to live with Grandma and Bear is staying in Alaska. Rigel does not want to leave in Alaska and Bear makes a secret pact with her that she can come back in a year. Rigel hates Connecticut with all of its noise and crowds. She misses nature. She hates school and has a hard time fitting in. Eventually she befriends a crow at school.

There was a definite connection to Rigel and how she tries to navigate this new unfamiliar world.

Bear is so excited for the surprise party and he just can’t wait. The friends decorate and bake a cake. Bear is impatient and in his impatience he squishes the cake which makes bear sad. Bear’s friends comfort him and help him build a new cake to surprise Hare. The text is rhyming and the illustrations are colorful and bright.