Everyday Bean (Tiny Bean’s Big Adventures) by Stephanie Graegin (Tundra Books, 56 pages, ages 3-7). “Bean wants to tell a story about tiny ghosts. And Grandma wants to tell a story about giant strawberries. They can’t decide which story to tell you. So they’ve asked me to tell some stories instead.” Ten stories follow about Bean and Grandma, each one only a few sentences long, with adorable illustrations of a young hedgehog and her grandmother. There are tales about everyday events, like swinging at the park, making different things from a cardboard box, and picking out a cactus at Mr. Green’s plant store (“This plant reminds Bean of Grandma. And it reminds Grandma of Bean.”). The last story, “Bean Burrito,” shows Grandma tucking Bean into bed, and both of them nodding off as she reads a bedtime story.

This feels like a book with great potential to become a well-loved favorite over time, with gentle humor, familiar situations, and adorable characters. Listeners who are paying attention will notice that they get to hear stories about both giant strawberries and tiny ghosts.

More or Less by Alison Hughes, illustrated by Oge Mora (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 40 pages, ages 3-7). The entire text of this book consists almost entirely of the words “more”, “less”, and “plenty”. Oge Mora’s colorful collage illustrations give readers a lot to consider about what those words mean. A family has plenty, but one of the kids has a room with more…and more (with two pictures side by side that kids can compare to see what’s been added). Less in the room can lead to more donations and community building. Less going into the trash results in more recycling and creative repurposing of unwanted items. The last page shows the family hugging one another with the word “Plenty.”

Take your time going through this deceptively simple book. There’s a lot to see, and many interesting ideas about what we want more or less of in our lives, as well as the meaning of the word plenty. I’m looking forward to projecting this on a screen and sharing it with kids, who I know will see all kinds of things in the illustrations that I missed.