Roxy Rogers: Your Destiny is Calling

Meet Roxy Rogers, a young girl with a family full of hall of fame baseball players. While Roxy might have been born to play ball, her dream is to sing. She wants to do something different but she doesn’t know how to tell her family. She is afraid they won’t understand. Her destiny is not baseball.

The author has created a wonderful story that speaks about following your passions in life. Roxy Rogers has the courage to not follow in the footsteps of her parents or grandparents in the world of baseball but rather go into the entertainment business as a famous songstress.

The illustrator created whimsical and colorful illustrations that bring the story to life. As Roxy believes in her dreams, the colors transform on the pages and get brighter and bolder. They enhance her dream to sing and show her passion for song, not baseball.

The author has included some great historical baseball facts at the end of the story along with a game of hidden clues to keep kids going back to read the story over and over again!

Roxy Rogers is a fabulous 5 star book recommended for ages 4-8. The author makes the message loud and clear, it is important to do what makes you happy in life! Kudos to the author for creating a wonderful storybook for children.

Some fabulous picture books for summer reading!

Summer reading is upon us. Did you know that if children read at least five books this summer they will prevent learning loss, according to a White House study. If children don’t read or engage with stories over the summer they lose about 2-3 months of reading achievement. The best way to keep your children reading through the summer is to sign up for one of the fabulous summer reading programs. Reading is so important! Here are three of my favorite picture books to check out this summer! Recommended for ages 4-8.

Shoe Dog by Megan McDonald and Illustrated by Katherine Tillotson

The beloved author of the Judy Moody and the Stink series has created a fabulous picture book about a dog that loves to chew. What does he chew, but shoes! He isn’t a dog that chews bones, or toys, or smelly socks, but rather shoes. And lots of them! Especially brand new shoes! Clever and lively illustrations by Tillotson, are created with crayon and charcoal and then combined together digitally. An adorable read aloud story especially for dog lovers who understand dogs need to chew!

President Taft is Stuck in the Bath by Mac Barnett and Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

We have read about George Washington and his teeth and Abraham Lincoln and his top hat, but what about President Taft. Did you know that he got stuck in the bathtub?  A clever, silly but yet true story of how the 27^th President got stuck in his bathtub and how they got him out. The illustrations are expressive, bold and quite colorful. These gouache caricatures add silliness to a true story. A great Author’s note with facts pertaining to President Taft can be found at the back of the book along with an archived picture of the bathtub in the White House with President Taft and four men from his cabinet.

Share by Sally Ann Garland

Sharing isn’t easy; in fact most kids don’t like to share. Bunny is no different but when her cousin comes to visit she realizes just how much she doesn’t like to share. But her cousin wants to do everything like bunny and bunny doesn’t understand why. A sweet rhyming story that helps children understand the importance of sharing and why it can be so hard. Illustrations are digitally created with a soft pastel palette. This is a great read aloud or bedtime story. It also can be a  useful tool in teaching the importance of sharing.

Max Makes a Cake

Introducing a Passover PJ library book!

Meet Max, who wants to bake a surprise Passover birthday cake for his mom. Max is a big boy, he can almost tie his shoes, and he even knows the four questions for Passover in Hebrew and English. But everyone knows that baking a cake during Passover is not so easy and one must get really creative. So Max gets to work, only he really needs the help of his dad to pull this off. But dad is too busy with Max’s fussy baby sister and so Max decides to take matters into his own hands. And that is exactly what Max does, starting with the frosting first, just in case dad makes it down in time to help.

“Why is this cake different from all other cakes?” asks Max at the end of the story. The author ties this question in beautifully with the importance of the Four Questions during the Passover Seder. This is a sweet and clever story about baking a cake with lots and lots of matzah as well as capturing a moment when a young boy realizes he can be independent. The author, Michelle Edwards, includes Max’s ingenious cake recipe along with a very brief description of the Passover Story.

Illustrations by Charles Santoso are adorable with warm and cheerful animated expressions. The illustrations were rendered with pencil on paper and then scanned and colored digitally.

Max Makes a Cake is a wonderful story that is perfect for story time during the Passover holiday and welcome in any Jewish library as well as Public libraries collections too. Recommended for ages 3-6.

What is PJ Library®?  It’s a program that mails FREE, high-quality Jewish children’s books and music to families in the San Francisco Bay Area (and across the country!) on a monthly basis.  Sign up here: http://pjlibrary.org/Communities/Enroll-in-a-Community.aspx?id=12 to enroll.  More info at www.pjlibrary.org