Well I pretty much love most things Melissa Stewart has written, and this one illustrated my another of my favorites, Steve Jenkins. The book shares details about fourteen different kind of monkeys that all live in the Manu National Park in Peru. It begins by pointing out that it is unusual for so many different kinds of monkeys to live in the same area, and that it is possible because they each live at different heights above the ground, behave in different ways, and eat different foods, meaning they don’t compete with each other for food or space. Each two-page spread is dedicated to a different kind of monkey, with a two line rhyming stanza in a large font for younger readers, and a more detailed paragraph for those seeking more information. Accompanying each illustration is a silhouette of a tree marking the height within the rainforest that that monkey occupies. In the back of the book a larger version of the same silhouette shows all the monkeys on one, and an illustration depicts all the monkey sizes in relative scale, alongside the shadow of an adult human for comparison purposes, and further statistics such as lifespan, scientific names, diets, and predators are listed for each monkey.

So I looked online at the professional reviews posted on the Titlewave website, and they were all more or less generally positive, but I’m just going to be honest and say I didn’t like it. I couldn’t find a plot or purpose to it. The illustrations depict a town made up of 51% vampires, and are suitably dark for such a setting, and yet are silly and cartoonish for a young audience. The reader is invited to come visit this town and is shown assorted scenes one might find looking down upon the town on a typical night. The text isn’t so much a narrative as a series of captions.

It’s a cute, simple story outlining the differences between rabbits and hares. Cartoon-like illustrations depict a conversation between a hare and a ground squirrel as they walk through the dessert. The hare takes objection to being called a rabbit by the ground squirrel, and in the process of arguing his point he gets so riled up that when the coyote that’s been stalking him throughout the book finally pounces with a, “Gotcha, Rabbit!” the hare punches him out with an, “I’m a hare! So there, Jackal!” The back of the book lists some other animals that are similar, but not the same, and outlines distinguishing differences; and also offers readers a Can-you-find-them list of other desert creatures that made appearances in the illustrations so they can go back and hunt.

I like the concept of the book, but I wish it made its point clear more consistently. It’s about the idea that size is relative and how something that may seem small to a person could seem huge to an insect. It tries to draw relative comparisons, such as pointing out that some fleas can jump up to 100 times their own height, and then declaring that would be like you being able to jump to the top of the Eiffel Tower. But then it says that the Eiffel Tower is 1063 feet tall, and since I don’t know any 10-foot tall people, that comparison doesn’t compute. And the comparison to “If your foot could grow as fast as a caterpillar can…” comes out as a bit awkward, because it’s not comparing to how a caterpillar’s foot grows, but the whole caterpillar, but for the person it’s got the foot growing independently of the rest of the human. It’s just a bit clunky.

In his wonderful debut title, Jimmie Allen, platinum-selling country music artist, encourages us to listen to the many voices around us but to also use our voices to trumpet our commitment to improving ourselves, our community, and our world. With rhythmic rhyming text, the book itself sounds like a anthem encouraging us to,

SAY NOT TO HATE 
by using this voice,
and ALWAYS CHOOSE LOVE—
a magical choice

Highly recommended for all elementary libraries.

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.