A little beetle and a caterpillar are friends having a picnic and watching the moon on a cliff. One day the caterpillar is gone and the beetle is sad. Looking for its friend, it sees some red in the distance and sets off to look for its friend. In the illustrations, the reader can see that the caterpillar has built a chrysalis on the underside of the cliff out of view of the beetle. He encounters a crow and a frog, but it is not afraid. Once the beetle reaches the red, it sees that it was wrong. Soon a butterfly comes along and looks very familiar and it realizes that it is the friend.

The illustrations are black and white, but the caterpillar and butterfly are in red. The illustrations are striking in this story about friendship.

A little pig faces frustration again and again of not being able to do it yet. The pictures on the pages show the piglet’s frustration as riding without training wheels, flipping pancakes, playing violin, and completing a puzzle are tried without success. The book goes on to say that it takes patience to get to yet and to get there, you will make mistakes, but that is okay. The pictures are watercolor and add to the sweetness of the book. A great story for encouraging young ones to keep trying and not give up.

Victor and Linesi are twins in Malawi. Victor goes to school and plays with his friends, but Linesi has to collect water and do chores during the day. At school, Victor’s teacher asks them to think about equality and if boys and girls are treated equally in their own lives. Victor does not think it is fair that his sister does not get to go to school and is too tired from all of the chores to learn anything at the end of the day. He decides to take turns with his sister, so that she can go to school as well. This inspires others in the village to do the same.

This picture book is based on true events. The end of the book includes an author’s note about access to fresh water and a list of organizations for finding out more information about water scarcity and gender inequality. The author’s note also includes words to know and the pronunciation, since several Chichewa words (one of the languages in Malawi) are included in the story.

A humorous look at differently topics from parts of the body, animals, plants, and the earth. Cartoon panels introduce us to diary entries for different items. It is divided up into three different sections: Human Body, Animal Kingdom, and Earth and Science. The content is not in-depth, especially since each item is only discussed on one to two pages, but there are some interesting and funny facts. The topics and the focus will definitely appeal to children. Did you know wombat poop is cube shaped? Vampire bats throw up in other bats mouths? Some of the pages has me laughing out look, but I was disappointed to see that some of the humor came from making fun of others (the slug calling the snail stupid and a loser). A table of contents and glossary are included.

This is book one in the series Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly. A curse has come upon the land and has a young dragon sets off to find the king for a cure. At the kingdom, she stumbles upon the prince’s pet dragon. They end up setting off on an adventure to save the land from the curse.

The story is geared towards younger readers and there is not a lot of text on the page, but the font is small. The illustrations are colorful and the frame size varies on the different pages. I story line and content make this a good choice for younger graphic novel fans.

This sweet book shows different ways that we can be friends. Each page only has a few words on it describing things that friends do together. The pictures compliment the gentle text. The text is written in a curlicue font that may make independent reading difficult for readers. This could be used as a read aloud and then a discussion of friendship.

Vinny is a dog. Every day his mom goes to work everyday. When Vinny asked his adopted brother, a cat, where Mom goes, he learns what a job is and decides he should get a job. He tries a restaurant but he started licking the plates. He tried a florist shop and was asked to water the plants, but that didn’t work out. Finally he tries a museum, but he ends up taking a large dinosaur bone because it looked so delicious. When he finally returns home, Mom tells him his job is to be a dog.

The story is funny and sweet. It would be fun to read to a group and use for a lesson on prediction.

Book was new and bright and shiny. It went on many adventures until one day Book was moved to a lower shelf where it was lonely and forgotten. One day someone picked up Book and it was so excited to go on new adventures, but instead it was tossed in a box. Then suddenly Book was chosen again and went on new adventures.

The end notes includes places to donate books. The author’s note says that he has so many books that they are in boxes, which is not place for a book to live. During a school visit one day, the librarian mentioned that they donate excess books to readers who do not have a lot of books and that inspired him to research places to donate books.

Space is all around us. You find space in between words, buildings, and in the sky. Space can be useful. This short picture book causes readers to pause and think about empty space in a different way. The illustrations are diverse and inclusive, but does include and anthropomorphic gorilla.

The book might be useful in looking at perspective or trying to look at things in new ways. It would probably be best in an individual or small group setting.

Maya lives with her Japanese father and American mother in Japan. Her grandmother and Great Grandfather live nearby. Maya is in school on March 11, 2011 when an earthquake hits off the Japanese coast, followed by a tsunami and damage to a nuclear plant. Her family is safe and intact, but Maya is scared as the aftershocks keep coming for days and weeks. She makes paper cranes and writes messages to “The People in the Northeast” to help her cope.

Written in verse, the author uses fonts and color to show the aftershocks and Maya’s feelings. Dates at the top and timestamps for the aftershocks make you feel the anxiousness that Maya was feeling. Maya and the other characters in the story of different ways of coping and the story shows us that we all have different ways of getting through a disaster.