Mary Had a Little Glam by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Publisher: Sterling Children’s Books
Pages: 32
Age Range: 3 – 7 years old
Grade Level: Preschool – 2
Format: Hardcover
Available for Sale: August 2, 2016

Synopsis (from Amazon)
This little Mary has STYLE! In this fun take on Mother Goose, fashion-forward Mary helps some of childhood’s most beloved characters go glam. From the kid who lives in a shoe (and dons some fab footwear, too) to Jack, who breaks his crown but gets a great new one, Mary’s school friends look fantastic in their finery. But are they now too well dressed for recess? Not to worry—Mary always shows her flair for what to wear!

Reflection
Move over Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious, there’s a new girl in town.  Mary is her name and fashion is her game!

“Mary had a little glam that grew into a lot.  And everywhere that Mary went, she wasn’t hard to spot.”

In this adorable book, Mary helps some of childhood’s most beloved characters go glam!  It’s the first day of school at Mother Goose Elementary School and Mary tells her mom she “must accessorize”!  Much to her surprise, when she arrives in her class she sees all of her nursery rhyme friends like Little Boy Blue, Georgie Porgie and Little Bo Peep looking glam-less from head to toe.  Quick on her feet, Mary steps in and starts offering fashion tips from fabulous footwear for the kid who lives in a shoe, to a new stylish crown for Jack.  But when it’s time for recess, they realize they have one problem…they’re way too overdressed to play.  Don’t worry – Mary is the queen of accessorizing and she always knows what to wear.

The kids and I absolutely adore this book…it’s such a fun rhyming book.  Mary is the cutest little fashionista I’ve ever seen in a children’s book!  Toting her little lamb purse and donning her pink sunglasses with matching outfit, Mary is ready for the first day of school.  I love how she takes control of the situation and starts dressing everyone up.  Even the teacher, principal and classroom pet get head-to-toe glam makeovers!  From pink feather boas to gowns and crowns it’s an accessorizing extravaganza.

This book was illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Vanessa Brantley-Newtwon.  Vanessa can seriously do no wrong!  I love all of the bright and cheerful colors she used, the diversity in the characters and her outstanding attention to detail.

The overall message of “less is more” at the end just seals the deal for me.  While I LOVE little Mary’s sense of style, I appreciate the fact that the author showed girls there is a time to dress up and be fancy, but there is also a time to play and have fun.  It’s ok to get a little dirty every once in a while.  You can still look cute and let your true natural beauty shine through.  I think it’s so important to teach little girls things like this because a majority of the world still defines natural beauty based on physical traits only: perfect skin, straight teeth, straight hair, skinny body.  Mary teaches us that while true glamour often calls for lots, sometimes less is more.  Natural beauty is derived from within and exudes from your soul, transforming you into a brighter, lovelier and kinder person than anything material or physical can ever do.

This playful story adds a whole new flair to our favorite Mother Goose rhymes and teaches children about real glamour and true natural beauty.  Two snaps up with a twist for Mary…a winner!  A must-have book for fashion-forward little readers everywhere.

About the Author
Tammi Sauer is a former teacher and library media specialist who is highly involved in the children’s book community.  Her picture books include: Your Alien, Cowboy Camp, Chicken Dance, Bawk & Roll, and The Twelve Days of Christmas in Oklahoma.  Tammi lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Connect with Tammi at her website or on Twitter.

About the Illustrator
Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator who has worked on over 30 books.  She’s the author and illustrator of Let Freedom Sing and Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table, and is the illustrator behind One Love and Every Little Thing written by Bob & Cedella Marley, and Presenting Tallulah, written by Tori Spelling.  Vanessa lives in Charlotte, NC.

Your turn: Are you looking forward to reading this book with your little fashionista(s)?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty illustrated by David Roberts

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Grade Level: Kindergarten – 2
Age Range: 5 – 7 years
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32

Synopsis (from Amazon)
Like her classmates, builder Iggy and inventor Rosie, scientist Ada, a character of color, has a boundless imagination and has always been hopelessly curious. Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs growing inside your nose? When her house fills with a horrific, toe-curling smell, Ada knows it’s up to her to find the source. Not afraid of failure, she embarks on a fact-finding mission and conducts scientific experiments, all in the name of discovery. But, this time, her experiments lead to even more stink and get her into trouble!

Inspired by real-life makers such as Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, Ada Twist, Scientist champions girl power and women scientists, and brings welcome diversity to picture books about girls in science. Touching on themes of never giving up and problem solving, Ada comes to learn that her questions might not always lead to answers, but rather to more questions. She may never find the source of the stink, but with a supportive family and the space to figure it out, she’ll be able to feed her curiosity in the ways a young scientist should.

Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere have earned their places among the most beloved children’s characters, and they have inspired countless kids and adults to follow their dreams and passions. Now in her own charming and witty picture book, determined Ada Twist, with her boundless curiosity for science and love of the question “Why?,” is destined to join these two favorites.  The book is the perfect tool to remind both young girls and women that they have the intelligence and perseverance to achieve their dreams.

Reflection
I could hardly contain my excitement when an advanced copy of this book showed up on my doorstep.  I honestly don’t remember being so excited to read a children’s book before.  The reason behind my excitement is two-fold: 1. I am a huge fan of Iggy Peck, Architect and Rosie Revere, Engineer so that automatically made me have high expectations for this book.  2. Ada Twist is a little Black girl and she’s also a fellow scientist!  No, I’m not a scientist, but I majored in Computer Science in college and graduate school…that counts, right?

“Ada Marie! Ada Marie!
Said not a word till the day she turned three.
She bounced in her crib and looked all around,
observing the world but not making a sound.”

As you can tell from the opening paragraph of this book, Ada didn’t utter a word until she turned three years old.  When she finally did talk the first word she said was, “Why?”.  She’s a rather curious child who wants to know everything.  Ada’s curiosity gets the best of her both at school and at home.  Fed up with all the chaos and havoc, Ada’s parents put her in “time out” and send her to the thinking chair.  In the end, Ada’s parents learn to accept her for who and what she is: a young scientist.

To say we enjoyed this book is an understatement.  We absolutely LOVE it!  I knew it was going to be just as good as the other two books in the series.  From the cadence to the illustrations to the overall plot, I’m smitten by Miss Ada Twist and so are my kids!  We read it three times in a row the first night we received it and have been reading it nonstop at bedtime since.

After looking through the two previous books, I noticed that Ada Twist appeared along with all of the other classmates!  (One subtle difference I noticed is in Rosie Revere, Engineer Ada has a gap in her two front teeth.  However, in Ada Twist she doesn’t.  Not sure if it’s actually a gap or just missing teeth that didn’t grow in yet.  In Iggy Peck Ada isn’t shown smiling so you can’t tell if the front tooth gap is present in that book or not.)

How interesting that all three characters are in all three of the books!  I honestly never realized Iggy Peck made an appearance in the Rosie Revere book until recently.  Knowing this now makes me wonder if this series continues which classmate will be the protagonist of the next book.  I’m so curious to know more about all of the remaining 14 kids in Miss Lila Greer’s second grade class.  Aren’t you?

Overall, this book is a delight to read with stellar illustrations to match.  It teaches little readers about problem solving, perseverance, science, working together as a family and challenges them to have a sense of curiosity like Ada.  I don’t know about you, but I appreciate curious children who constantly question why things are the way they are.  Highly recommended for kids ages 4 and up.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.  However, all opinions expressed are my own.

Your turn: Are you looking forward to reading about Miss Ada Twist?  Feel free to share in the comments.

School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover
Age Range: 4 – 8 Years (Preschool – Grade 3)
Available for Sale: June 28, 2016

Synopsis (from Amazon)
It’s the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone’s just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him?

The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he’s not the only one going through first-day jitters.

Reflection
This amazing book urges readers to imagine what the first day of school must be like for their school.  We all know most kids are filled with anxiety and nervousness on their first day of school, but let’s look at it from the school’s perspective, shall we?

Think about it.  Have you ever wondered what your house or your car would say if they could talk?  Would they tell on your kids for spilling that apple juice in the back seat or your dog for once peeing in the plant again?  Would your walls be quite sullen as they’ve been long ignored – with outdated wall paper, old finger prints and sad paint?  I know I’ve certainly pondered this question before since houses, apartments, buildings, cars and even schools store memories of our lives.

The book starts off showing a picture of the brand new elementary school that was just built – Frederick Douglass Elementary School.  The school is happy with a big smile plastered across his face – he’s proud of how great he looks after all the hard work that went into building him.  The school is happy that he has his friend the janitor to take care of him and keep him clean.  He’s quite content with the school being occupied with just the two of them in the days leading up to the first day of school.

When the school finds out there will be lots of kids and teachers occupying his space, he becomes nervous.  What will they think of him?  Will they like him?  Will he live up to their expectations?

At first, the school is excited to have so many people there, but when he overhears kids saying things like, “I don’t like school” and “This place stinks” he starts to feel very sad and frustrated.  He even squirts a kid in the face from the water fountain, but feels bad about it afterwards.  In the end, the school tells his friend janitor all about his first day.  Surprisingly, he asks the janitor to invite all of the kids and teachers to come back tomorrow.  The janitor tells the school how lucky he is to be a school and the school thought he was probably right about that.

The kids and I adore this book.  I love the fact that this story is told from the perspective of the school and not the kids.  Not only does it make me wonder what objects could say if they could talk, but it also makes me want to take even better care of the things that I own as well as the school my kids attend.  I love how the janitor took care of the school to keep him clean.  True story, after reading this book the first time I immediately went upstairs and folded a load of laundry that I had sitting in the dryer since the previous night.  I was thinking what the clothes and the dryer would say if they could talk!

The bight and colorful illustrations in this book are exceptional!  This book also has lots of diversity.  The kids are all different colors and races and there is even a little girl in a wheelchair featured.  Such great attention to detail.  Illustrator Christian Robinson can do no wrong!

I think this book is perfect to be read aloud to little readers in preschool up through 2nd or 3rd grade on the first day of school.  It’s great for teaching kids about feelings, friendship, the first day of school jitters and how to honor and respect their environment – especially their school.  A winner!

Your turn:  Have you read this book yet?  Let me know what your opinions are in the comments.