A while back Schiffer Publishers sent me their spring selection of picture books for review purposes.  I displayed them on our sofa table, and we have been enjoying them ever since.  Today I'm sharing some of our favorite titles.

The Lollipop Monster Meets Clem the Klutz, written/illustrated by Eric T. Krackow- On their way to Sanford's cave, Larry the Lollipop Monster and Zabby meet a green and purple monster hanging in a tree.  Clem finds himself in scrapes each time he gets excited, but he seems like a nice friend so they invite him along to Sanford's home as a surprise. Unfortunately, once there, Clem gets excited and accidentally breaks Sanford's special birthday lollipop.  In his anger, Sanford calls Clem names.  But all ends well with apologies and forgiveness.  It's a cute book with the message of choosing friendship and forgiveness over our frustrations.  The illustrations are really cute, too.   (My friend Danielle designed the book...the same friend who made This Simple Home's header!)

Willie the Taxi Cat, written/illustrated by Eva M. Sakmar-Sullivan.  For numbers 1-10, Sakmar-Sullivan uses alliteration to expand a child's vocabulary in this counting book.  An example: "Seven sumptuously striped, speed-skating, scholarly skunks."  The illustrations demonstrate to the children the different creatures' descriptions.  A lot of different and unfamiliar-to-a-child words are used.  My son (age 4.5) especially likes this book (and taxis), and I like the concept.  I would prefer for each numbers' animal description to be a complete sentence instead of just describing the animals.  Though this book has been much enjoyed, I also need to point out that a period is missing on the #1 page spread.

How the Oysters Saved the Bay, written/illustrated by Jeff Dombek.  This book is full of information about  the creatures of the Chesapeake Bay.  Two oysters, Meredith and Chester, learn the dirty water is making the grasses sick.  With sick grasses, the food chain will be broken.  The oysters of the Bay work together to clean the water.  Children will love helping to clean the water with a few see-through pages.  Each time they turn these special pages, the water becomes clearer until it is clean.  This book would be a great choice for classrooms and homeschool families studying the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, especially with the great illustrations of the various Bay critters.  I would like to say that this book is not preachy, which I greatly appreciate.

Mosey's Field, written by Barbara Lockhart and illustrated by Heather Crow.  This is my favorite of all of these titles.  Illustrated in beautiful watercolors, this book tells the story of a farm dog who has a special napping place in a field and the changes that take place in the field during a spring, summer, and fall.   As the field of corn grows, Mosey loses his napping spot but enjoys exploring the field.  I may not be much of a dog person, but I love this laid back farm story.  The readers focuses upon Mosey, the dog, but the corn field has its own story, too.  Lockhart even explains the difference between sweet corn and field corn after Mosey's story comes to an end.  As the corn has already been planted in our area, this is a perfect book for spring and early summer enjoyment!

Thank you, Schiffer Publishers for these review titles.  All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.
~ Annette {This Simple Mom}