Skip to main content

From Story Time: The Letter "V"

By
Preschool Time
Written by Ana Siqueira
Illustrated by Teresa Martinez
Minneapolis, MN: Beaming Books, 2025. Picture Book.

A hilarious story about what it really means to be brave. Meet Vera the Brave--La Valiente! She dives like a dolphin, climbs like a mountain goat, and defends her amigos like un le̤n. But she trembles when she hears her teacher say, "We're going to Rocking Roller Coasters!" Oh no! Vera tries to convince the teacher her plan is not the best, but Ms. Rodr̕guez does not change her mind about the field trip. Now if Vera can't face her fears, everyone will discover she's not that brave after all! But what if being brave is much more than she expected? Vera La Valiente Is Scared redefines what it means to be brave. It's okay to show your feelings and fears! And maybe, with some help, you can even face some of them. --Publisher

Preschool Time
By Rosemary Wells
New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2020. Picture Book.

Noisy Nora is learning to play the violin, but her family isn't sure they can survive it! The lovable heroine of Noisy Nora returns in a new book that will charm parents and children alike. Nora is determined to play the violin, but her parents, sister Kate, and brother Jack are appalled by the terrible sounds that emerge during her practice sessions. Scrape and shriek, screech and squeak--everybody holds their ears. But when a special evening comes, Nora succeeds in playing the secret song she's struggled hard to learn. You Can Do It, Noisy Nora! provides the perfect way to show young children the value of persevering when trying to master a new skill. Rosemary Wells's strong-willed heroine is as feisty and unstoppable as ever in this humorous, heartwarming story. --Editor

Toddler Time
By Diana Murray and Zachariah Ohora
Boston, MA; New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. Picture Book.

Illustrations and easy-to-read, rhyming text invite the reader to a community garden where potatoes close their eyes, cabbages nod their heads, and corn covers its ears to go to sleep. --Editor

Book Babies
By Alison Lester
Pymble, N.S.W.: ABC Books, 2007. Board Book.

"I see a curious cow, her calf is staring too. What do you say, curious cow? Moo Moo Moo!" Moo is part of a wonderful series by Alison Lester. Moo focuses on farm animals. Babies will respond to the rhythm of the text and the simple, colourful images, while toddlers will love joining in to make their own animal sounds. --Editor

More Letter V Books
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

By Anonymous
There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

By Anonymous
J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more