Picture Book Review: Night of the Veggie Monster

Night of the Veggie Monster
Written and illustrated by:  George McClements
Published by: Bloomsbury, 2008

Do you deal with a picky eater like I do?  If you do you can totally relate to this picture book!  Every Tuesday night a little boy sits at the table while his parents serve pork chops, mashed potatoes, and......peas.  His parents don't understand what happens to him when he eats peas.  He turns into a Veggie Monster.  As a parent who deals with dinner eating issues almost every night I could really connect to this story. The parents made snarky side comments that I found very humorous.  The characters in the story look like colored cardboard cutouts and I thought that the real pictures of the table settings and food added a nice touch.  Overall, this was a short, quick read that the whole family enjoyed.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.

Picture Book Review: Creepy Carrots

Creepy Carrots
Written by:  Aaron Reynolds
Illustrated by:  Peter Brown
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012

Although Aaron Reynolds has written many children's books, this was our first read of his.  In this story Jasper Rabbit loves carrots so much that he keeps eating them from Crackenhopper Field, where the fattest and crispest carrots grow.  That is until Jasper thinks that they are following him.  Now he sees creepy carrots everywhere - in the bathroom, in the shed, under the bed, etc.  Are they real or is it just his imagination?!  The illustrations in this story are in shades of black, white, and gray with orange carrots which helps add to the "creepiness" of the book.  The kids seemed to enjoy this book more than I did.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up. 

Picture Book Review: Waiting for Winter

Waiting for Winter
Written and illustrated by:  Sebastian Meschenmoser
Published by:  Kane Miller, 2009

As winter is quickly approaching I thought that this book was a timely read.  In this story, Squirrel, who usually stays inside during winter, has decided that he wants to see it snow.  He soon discovers that waiting for snow is boring and in the midst of waiting awakens Hedgehog.  They eventually waken Bear and the three animals sit waiting for snow.  Since none of them have actually seen snow they go with the info from Deer that snow is, "white and wet and cold and soft."  Each animal has their own idea of what snow is (which had my kids hysterical!) until at the end it really does begin to snow.  Amost every page of text in this book is followed by several pages of just sketched illustrations.  My husband and kids really enjoyed the pictures in this book.  I thought that Squirrel looked a bit scraggily.  This was a seasonally appropriate book that we all enjoyed!

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Picture Book Review: Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy

Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy
Written and illustrated by:  Jan Thomas
Published by: Beach Lane Books, 2012

We are big Jan Thomas fans!  We've read most of her books including Is Everyone Ready for Fun? and Rhyming Dust Bunnies.  Her books are silly with big, bright illustrations and this one is no different.  In this story cowboy is singing a lullaby to put the cows to bed when he gets scared by some not-so-scary things.  You can click here to visit the Jan Thomas official website and listen to Cowboy sing his lullaby.  When he finally should be scared of something he's not, which provides for a cute ending.  We all enjoyed this book as much as her others.  I highly recommend you check Jan Thomas out if you haven't before!

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Picture Book Review: Big Mean Mike

Big Mean Mike
Written by: Michelle Knudsen
Illustrated by: Scott Magoon
Published by: Candlewick Press, 2012

I wasn't so sure about this book based on the title.  Big Mean Mike is a big, tough dog who dresses in big, black combat boots and wears a spiked collar. He's very surprised to find a little, fuzzy, white rabbit in the trunk of his car.  But Big Mean Mike and soft, cuddly rabbits don't go together so he leaves the bunny on the sidewalk.  The next day two fuzzy, white rabbits appear in his car and so on, until he has four rabbits that he can't get rid of.  In the end he discovers that he likes the cute, cuddly things and he doesn't care what his friends think of him.  He likes what he likes and that's just the way it was going to be.  The book has a good message about how kids shouldn't care what other people think of them.  I'm just not sure that I like the emphasis on the "big and mean" since we really try to raise our kids to be nice.  I also am not a fan of the idea that you have to dress a certain way to uphold an image.  Luckily, I don't think the kids read into the story too much and they enjoyed the dogs going to the monster truck show (especially  my son!) and seeing the fuzzy, cute bunnies. 

This book was borrowed from the library.  

Family Rating:   1 thumb up.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Busy Mom Bookshelf.  I used to post book reviews at my blog The Busy Mom Cafe but decided to separate the two.  I love to read and have fortunately passed that love on to my two children.  Both my daughter, age 6, and my son, age 4 are avid readers.  This blog will explore our adventures in reading!  Hope you enjoy!