Picture book Archives - Reading Middle Grade

Picture Book Friday | Bella’s Recipe for Success

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Bella's Recipe for Success is about a girl who can't seem to figure out what she's good at. Her brother plays piano excellently and her sister is a brilliant gymnast, but Bella can't do either of those things well. She decides, though, that she's going to bake, but it turns out baking isn't that easy and her first recipe is a bust. But just before she gives up, her abuela steps in to teach her and Bella learns that learning new things -- and becoming good at them -- takes time and effort.

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Picture Book Review: Shh! The Baby’s Asleep

Fri, 28 May 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In Shh! The Baby's Asleep, an entire family tries their hardest to keep the house quiet for their sleeping baby. How hard can it be? It seems impossible! Not while the dog is howling, the neighbor is mowing her lawn, Grandma is trying to wash by hand, and Mom's shoes are noisy on the squeaky hardwood floors! On top of that, one of the kids is trying to unjam the wheels of his toy car. Will the baby stay asleep?

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Picture Book Friday: Dumplings for Lili

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Nai Nai is making her favorite dumplings for Lili. Lili walks readers through each step, until the final one when Nai Nai realizes that she's run out of cabbage! She sends Lili up to the 6th floor to see if the Polish grandma (Babcia) has any cabbage. This is where the story gets even more interesting.

It turns out that Babcia does have cabbage, but she's also missing an ingredient for the pierogies she's making. Lili's one errand becomes several as she shuttles between a Jamaican grandma (Granma), a Pakistani grandma (Teta), an Italian grandma (Nonna), and a Latina grandma (Abuela) -- all in Nai Nai's building picking up and dropping off ingredients. Will Nai Nai finally make her dumplings?

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Picture Book Review: The Doll

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 10:50:00 +0000

The Doll is a picture book based on true life events. When a family arrives as refugees from war-torn Vietnam. The family is understandable disoriented and the children cling to their mother at the airport. There, a little girl hands a doll to the youngest daughter. The small gift is welcoming, reassuring to the child and stays with her throughout her childhood and into adulthood. Eventually, she is able to hand that same doll to another child from a family of refugees at another airport.

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Picture Book Friday: Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

When Bina's mom suggests buying bracelets for Bina's brothers in celebration of Raksha Bandhan, Bina decides that she's now old enough to make the bracelets for them instead. Each brother has a different favorite color, and one color they dislike. Bina's challenge is to make bracelets with two alternating colors: one, their one favorite color and another color they like, while excluding the one color they absolutely do not like. Can she do it?

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Picture Book Review | Go Be Wonderful

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Go Be Wonderful is the saying that ushers the new baby in this picture book into the world. When Daisy is born, her daddy holds her close and says "Go be wonderful," and throughout her childhood, from gurgling infant to curious toddler, the adults in her life remind her to be wonderful. Daisy explores her surroundings, living up to the encouragement she receives, bravely trying new things and being unafraid to experiment. That is until the first day of school, when the doubts come: would people like her? What if she couldn't find the bathroom on time?

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Picture Book Friday: Bindu’s Bindis

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Bindu's Bindis are her favorite accessories -- and she has a lot of them! Her Nani (grandmother) sends her a new pack every week and Bindu loves changing them to match her mood, outfits, or the occasion. Bindu loves her culture and the heritage the bindis represent, but most of all, they make her feel connected to her Nani. But when Nani comes to visit and the family is confronted with xenophobic protests outside the airport, Bindu wants to hide her bindis and the parts of her culture that make her feel "other."

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Picture Book Friday: The Electric Slide and Kai

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Kai is from a family of dancers, and he seems to be the odd man out. The family has been invited to their Auntie Nina's wedding, and Kai and his siblings will have roles in the wedding. Kai immediately becomes worried because he has a history of messing up his moves. He even tripped over someone the last time he tried the electric slide.

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Picture Book Friday: Off to See the Sea

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In Off to See the Sea, a boy is cajoled into bath time, and with his mother's help and an active imagination, bath time becomes a more whimsical and enjoyable experience.

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Picture Book Friday: Ten Little Dumplings

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Larissa Fan's Ten Little Dumplings is based on a true account of the life of a family member. It follows a family with 10 sons in the village of Fengfu. In Taiwanese culture, male children are prized over females, and so as Fan writes, the family is viewed as special. They're "special because they had ten sons. To have one son was considered lucky. To have ten was great luck indeed." As we see the 10 boys grow through life, a beautiful surprise awaits readers in the middle of the story.

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