#MMBBR #ReviewRoundUp @HolidayHouseBks #BookLove #5StarReads

This is post one of two for the Holiday House Spring books. I love Holiday House because there is something for everyone!  This post has a board book, I Like to Read books, picture book and a chapter book.  These books are all 5 star reads and books I seriously loved!!

I Like to Read® Books:

NOTE:  About the Series

I Like to Read® books are picture books written and illustrated so that even the newest reader can enjoy a satisfying, quality literary experience. The books in the series are written at kindergarten and early first grade reading levels.

"These books deftly combine text and art to create a positive experience for new readers."—School Library Journal

"This series dares to make entertaining reads from short texts and familiar vocabulary"—Kirkus Reviews

"Each one makes the hard world of learning to read enough fun to encourage children at this critical developmental moment to try another one."—Vicky Smith, Children's and YA Editor at Kirkus Reviews

Two accidental friends use innovation, trial and error, and some help from an unusual acquaintance to find their way home again.

Peeper the bird and Zeep the alien both love to fly. When the little bird and the young alien meet after a tumble from the sky, they must band together to figure out a way home. With the help of the innovative but eccentric A. Frog, the three friends try various machines to get Peeper and Zeep off the ground and back home. One machine leaves them stuck in a pond. Another leaves them stuck in a tree. So the three friends cooperate to design an alternate solution. Peeper and Zeep learn the meaning of friendship and family.

MY REVIEW:

This book is so darn cute.  The illustrations are adorable and made me smile from start to finish.  I love that this book shows the power of unexpected friendships and working together to accomplish a goal.  I cannot wait to use this book in my classroom to create art projects and talk about teamwork.  With simple text a new reader will love reading this fun adventure of Peeper and Zeep!!  Such a delight!  

In this charming, easy-to-read story, ducklings think Pip is their Mama. 

Mother Duck asks Pip to sit on her eggs for a bit. As soon as Pip sits, he hears a tap! The chicks are hatching! The chicks follow Pip, even when Mother Duck returns. Oh no! They think Pip is their mother! With charming art and a sweet, simple text, Mary Morgan tells a fun and touching story about mistaken identity, childhood adventures, and motherly love.

MY REVIEW:
PIP SITS is about the power of love and getting out and exploring the world.  Pip has to take care of some new ducklings and learns that in the end the one thing they all want is the same....their Mom.  I Like to Read Books are designed with simple text and sweet stories to help engage new reader this combined with the beautiful illustrations makes this book a hit!

Mac and Mac, who love pie and hate making their beds, are hollow-headed. "See in here? Nothing! Zippo! Nada!" Mac explains. That’s why they get duped by their friend Meatball and fooled out of their fair shares of apple pie. Slapstick humor, puns and wacky fun abound as the empty-headed duo comes up with outlandish solutions for everyday problems, such as sleeping under their beds to avoid ever having to make them again. Written in a comic-book style, this book will have young readers rolling on the floor, and educators rethinking their approaches to folklore.

MY REVIEW:
Who doesn't love Tedd Arnold. He is a master of his craft. He casts a spell over his young readers and creates children that love to read due to his hilarious stories and zany illustrations. Noodlehead Nightmares is another hit. My son and I have read this numerous times and have laughed each and every time. I always looking for books that keep my son's interest. He struggles with reading, so finding books that capture his attention and create a desire to read is any mother's dream come true. Noodehead Nightmares is one of those books my son is happy to read/reread. In this hilarious story the Noodleheads have a problem...they don't want to make their beds and nothing but fun ensues when they try to find a way to deal with the problem. These Noodleheads are a creative duo and this comic book style read is one both my son and I adored. 5 stars

The wacky Noodlehead brothers are back for a second adventure that brings folktale tomfoolery into the 21st century! Although Mac and Mac are as hollow-headed as, well, noodles, they are certain Mom will bake them a cake if they gather some firewood for her. In the woods, they run into Meatball, who tricks the Noodleheads out of their hard-earned kindling with imaginary clairvoyant powers. Oh no! Fortunately, the gullible Noodleheads unwittingly accomplish an even greater task for Mom and earn their beloved cake, after all!

MY REVIEW:
Another zany installation in the Noodlehead series, this time they are in the woods trying to find firewood for the oven when they run into Meatball and trouble arises.  Luckily, these hollow headed noodles find a way to fix the problem.  In the end, they discovered that sometimes problems have a way of working themselves out.  Another fun read, that both my son and I enjoyed immensely!  

Mole has a new shovel and he is digging for buried treasure. But what he finds are treasures for everyone else! He finds a stick and gives it to Bird for his nest. He finds a shell and gives it to Snail for a home. An acorn he gives to Squirrel for his dinner. Finally, he finds a treasure for himself, a friend.

MY REVIEW:
I loved this board book.  It was so fun to see mole helping out other animals during his quest to find treasures.  This book focuses on the fact that ones man's trash is another man's treasure.  In the end, mole found the best treasure of all, a new friend!!!  This book has so much potential for fun art projects in the classroom.  I cannot wait to use it.  This book is certain to keep the kids attention and capture the creativity that is within them.

Hip, hip hooray! Street and Brace have put their heads together and came up with a book about idioms that hits the topic right on the nose for elementary school students and English language learners. This handy volume allows readers to have hundreds of idioms at their fingertips so they can stay on their toes. The rib-tickling jokes, eye-catching illustrations and an overall lighthearted approach will have kids smiling from ear to ear, if they aren’t already too busy laughing their heads off at the book’s knee-slapping humor.

MY REVIEW:
I think the pictures in this book are just hilarious. There is so much to look at that the reader becomes completely entranced from page one. All the idioms explained in this book keep the reader entertained and maintains attention for a long time. This is great for elementary aged kids because it explains the idioms with a sense lighthearted fun and humor. My sons are going to adore this book! There are so many teaching points and dialogue starters for kids contained in this book. There are so many funny and strange things we say in the English language that may be confusing for young kids. This book brings them to life and offers an explanation as to what they all mean. It is important for kids to know what the idioms mean because it will help them better understand things that are said and the things read in books. Idioms are everywhere. This book captures metaphors, proverbs, rhymes and alliterations and repeat vowel sounds, as well as exaggerations. All the idioms are based on the human boy, so you know kids are going to think that is beyond funny. 5 HUGE stars

You had better not monkey around when it comes to place value. The monkeys in this book can tell you why! As they bake the biggest banana cupcake ever, they need to get the amounts in the recipe correct. There’s a big difference between 216 eggs and 621 eggs. Place value is the key to keeping the numbers straight. Using humorous art, easy-to-follow charts and clear explanations, this book presents the basic facts about place value while inserting some amusing monkey business.

MY REVIEW:
I love books that teach complicated information in an easy to understand way.  Adler is a master of this.  He uses brilliant visual components that help aid in learning.  He creates an understanding of place value, the use of commas in numbers, the importance of the decimal in numbers and so much more.  This is all done in a way that is easily understood.  I love that these books are written because it allows our younger (and older) kids to learn concepts in a way that decreases frustration.  I think learning and reading should be both fun and engaging and Adler merges the two together flawlessly.  This book is a must in the classroom and home libraries! 

Fourteen-year-old Oscar Dunleavy is missing, presumed dead. His bike was found at sea, out past the end of the pier, and everyone in town seems to have accepted this as a teenage tragedy. But Oscar’s best friend Meg knows he isn’t dead. Oscar is an optimistic and kind boy who bakes the world’s best apple tarts; he would never kill himself, and Meg is going to prove it.
Through interwoven narratives, the reader learns what really happened to Oscar. His sweet life had turned sour after Meg’s family moved away. Though Meg didn’t know it, Oscar had a manipulative bully plaguing him with toxic humiliation. Meg must confront the painful truth of Oscar’s past six months—and the possibility that he might really be gone. Surrounded by grief and confusion, she starts to put the pieces back together.   This story of love and friendship reminds us to keep hope in our hearts.

MY REVIEW:

I cannot stop thinking about this book! It is one of the BEST books I have EVER read! If you love John Green, this book will blow your mind. I am sitting here trying to review it and I am afraid my review will not capture the way this book moved me, changed me and both broke my heart and put it back together all at the same time!!!! I have told so many people about this book because I feel like it is an important read...
for kids and parents to read together and then discuss.

This book is a coming of age story, a story about first love, first heartbreak, unyielding friendship, finding hope among despair and grief, about believing in yourself and moving past the hard times, so you can live all the great times.

I have never filled a book with more sticky notes than this book! So many beautiful sentences, paragraphs capturing life lessons, heartbreak, first love, fear, the loss of innocence and then finding hope when all seems lost... Seriously swooning still! 

Here are only a few of my favorite passages:

"I mean," continued Andy, "there's this one moment as you're growing up when the world suddenly feels more or less pointless- when the terribleness of reality lands on you, like something falling form the sky." 
(pg. 6)

I wanted to say lots of things to him too. Things that had gradually become clearer just before I was supposed to leave. But sometimes the things you want to say are exactly the things that somehow you are least able to. (pg. 22)

He wasn't just my friend. He was a kind of magic. (pg. 25)

"But it's not an ordinary apple tart. It's the apple tart of hope. After you've taken a bite, the whole world will look almost completely different. Things will start to change and by the time you've had a whole slice you'll realize that everything is going to be okay." (pg. 34)

These are only a few of my favorites. My book is covered in sticky notes. So make your you have a pack ready when you read this book!! 

5 HUGE STARS

Stay tuned for another round up coming next week!!!

BUY THE BOOKS: