Published by Random House Books for Young Readers 

Summary:  An ethnically diverse group of young children enjoy the outdoors in all seasons.  In spring they play in the mud, they enjoy a summer trip to the beach, in fall they play in the leaves, and winter brings cold and snow.   After each outdoor adventure, they bring a bit of the outdoors in.  At the end, they enjoy a box filled with photos of their adventures as well as a few keepsakes likes shells, leaves, and sticks.  32 pages; ages 3-6.

Pros:  The rollicking rhyming text and exuberant illustrations should be enough to pry any young couch potato away from the Xbox and into the great outdoors.

Cons:  The text seemed more like a song than a rhyme, but alas, there was no music provided, and I’m pretty sure it’s beyond my capabilities to make any up.

Published by Clarion Books

Summary: Yaks yak, dogs dog dogs, crows crow. Each two-page spread has an animal whose name is also a verb; the illustration depicts the animal demonstrating the action and includes a definition of the verb.  The final two pages list all the words, with a history of both the animal name and the action word; at the top of the list is a definition of homographs, words that are spelled and pronounced the same but have different meanings.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Word lovers will have lots of fun with this book and will enjoy thinking of more homographs when they’re finished.  The illustrations are adorable with plenty of humor.

Cons:  I struggled to think of even one other animal homograph…bears bear bears?

Published by Candlewick Press

Summary: Two sailors have a problem: their ship is too old to sail. When one of them loses a button, the other has an idea.  Swap!  They swap the button for two teacups; two teacups for three coils of rope; two of the coils of rope for four oars.  Slowly their collection grows until they have enough items to refurbish the ship.  Then it’s anchors a-weigh, and they are back out to sea.  40 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros: Although the story is simple, the artwork is not. Similar to Light’s two previous books, Have You Seen My Dragon? And Have You Seen My Monster?, the main story is told with color, while the black-and-white activity is mostly in the background. That activity is pretty complex, though, and will have kids poring over the pages to see all that’s happening.

Cons:  Due to the detailed illustrations, this is probably better for one-on-one sharing than reading to a large group.

Published by Atheneum 

Summary:  “Once upon a time, in a beautiful glass kingdom, there lived an unusual fairy named Bloom.”  Bloom uses her magic to help keep the kingdom beautiful, but she’s muddy and heavy-handed (and footed), and eventually, through mutual agreement, the kingdom and fairy part ways.  Many years later, the glass all over the kingdom is breaking, and no one can fix it.  It’s decided that a messenger should go into the forest and convince Bloom to return.  The king tries and fails, the queen tries and fails; the last hope is an ordinary girl named Genevieve.  Unlike the king and queen, Genevieve isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, and Bloom teachers her how to use the mud to make bricks and build things.  Delighted, Genevieve returns, teaches others her new-found skills, and saves the kingdom. 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Award-winning author-illustrator team Cronin and Small contribute to make a magical tale that extols the virtues of hard work and girl power.

Cons:  “[T]here is no such thing as an ordinary girl,” said Bloom.  Just in case you missed the message of the story the first two or three times.

 Published by Scholastic Press

Summary:  Emma and Julia both love ballet.  Emma goes to her beginners’ class, while Julia takes a class with the company she’s part of.  When Emma warms up and stretches, Julia is doing the same in her class.  Both work hard at the barre, then soar through their dance moves.  At the end of the day, Emma is excited to be going to a ballet performance.  Afterwards, she gets to go backstage, where she meets some of the dancers, including Julia.  Emma gets a big hug, and some words of encouragement that Julia was also once a little girl who loved ballet.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Young ballerinas will love seeing the dancers of all ages on these pages.  The illustrations are simple, yet detailed enough to give a real feel for the world of ballet.  Bringing the two ballet fans together creates a satisfying and inspiring ending.

Cons: How did Emma get to go backstage? Readers might think this is a standard part of every performance.

Published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers 

Summary:  A boy and a girl ask each other, “What do you want to play?”  Unfortunately, neither one has an answer the other one likes.  The boy wants to a dinosaur or a dragon or a race car driver; the girl a magical wizard or a ballet instructor or queen of the universe.  As each one makes a suggestion, the other one’s imagined interpretation of the idea is shown in a crayon cartoon bubble, purple for the girl and green for the boy.  Finally, unable to agree on anything, they go their separate ways.  Each one starts creating with blocks, but is unable to keep from looking at what the other is doing.  Finally, they break down and tell what they’re making; this inspires them to make up a game that includes both creations, and by the end of the playdate, they’re ready to make plans to get together another time.  40 pages; ages 3-7.

Pros:  A good lesson on the art of compromise.  Kids will enjoy the illustrations of what the two characters are thinking.

Cons:  The ideas for games were a little gender stereotypical.