My rating:

Are we alone in the world, or is the world alive and present all around us? There Is a Flower at the Tip of My Nose Smelling Me suggests that the reader is connected with everyone and everything—that everything around the reader influences them and interacts with them—a concept which some readers will find soothing. Walker (The Color Purple, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For) uses poetry and a profound turning-ideas-on-their-head to open readers to changing how they see the world. This is not so much a story as a beautiful, thoughtful poem on life and the world around us, and an episodic list of examples of the way the world can interact with us. Literal-minded readers may have trouble diving into the poem, but fantasy lovers, readers who enjoy mindfulness or meditation, and readers with open minds will have no problem.

The text has a kind of magic to it, a thinking-outside-the-box freedom, opening the reader's mind to possibilities they may not have seen before. Walker's text sings, and feels joyful and full of life. Each complete thought appears on its own spread, the words arranged like a miniature poem. . . .

My rating:

Goodnight, Sweet Pig is a comforting, sweet bedtime story that cleverly incorporates counting into the tale, without seeming to teach counting. A little pig is trying to get to sleep, when in walks another pig who wants to read with the light on and eat buttered toast. Then another pig walks into the bedroom—this one wanting to watch TV, paint her trotters and drink iced tea. And on and on it goes, all the way up to ten—until the little pig bursts into tears and asks them to let her sleep. And then the pigs, ten downwards, each leave or do something to help the little pig sleep.

Bailey's rhyming text is pleasing to the ear—the lively rhymes work well, they're fun, imaginative, and quirky, and they tell a brief but entertaining story while counting up to ten and back down again. The writing is full of energy, both in the words chosen and in the plot. . . .

My rating:

Melling (The Scallywags; The Ghost Library) has created a fun, heart-warming book about taking the time to say goodnight to the people you love, and being truly present with them. In the book, a busy king blows his son a kiss, but the kiss misses, flying out the window into the night. When his son complains, the king instructs his knight to get the kiss back. The knight follows the kiss where all sorts of wild creatures are waiting—and then the kiss says good-night to them all, and they all settle down to sleep. But the kiss doesn't stop there. The knight follows it to a hungry dragon. But before the dragon can do anything, the kiss settles down on the dragon's nose, transforming the dragon into a friendly, kissing creature. The knight takes the kiss back to the castle, where the king promises not to be in such a hurry, and he slowly reads everyone a bedtime story.

Melling's beautifully written text pulls readers quickly through the story. It uses strong, descriptive words ("the kiss rattles around the room, bounces out of the window"), sensory details ("it was dark, it was smelly"), and humor and surprise to make the story come alive and delight readers. . . .

My rating:

The book is like a parent speaking directly to the child reading the story, telling her/him about the beauty and wonder of the world and of the child.

The text is simple and soothing, and reminds readers of the many beautiful and wonderful things there are in the world to see, feel, and experience—the warmth of the sun, softness of a blanket, the vastness of the sky, the smell of a spring day—and also, of the child her/him self, their strong cry, their bright smile. . . .

My rating:

This soothing book provides messages of unconditional love and acceptance. A little bunny keeps asking her mother if she should be different—not cry, not be scared, look different—and she quickly gets loving reassurances that she is just right the way she is, and that everyone cries or gets scared. The book is like a reassuring conversation directly to the reader.

My rating:

Andreae takes us through a young bear's day, from waking up to going to bed, equating happy events and feelings with love. ("Love is that fluttery feeling you feel/when a butterfly taps on your toes.")

The love that Andreae mentions are all connected to activities that young readers will recognize and enjoy doing, both alone and with others, such as splashing through puddles, snuggling with someone, eating when you're hungry. Andreae captures the excited and carefree happiness of young ones well--skipping, hopping, stuffing food into mouths, enjoying being soaked by the rain. . . .