Library Haul - Dinos, Feelings, and Squirrels

Everybody deserves a vacation and especially during 2020. ESPECIALLY during 2020. You might not be taking one because we can all work from home and there's nowhere really to go. Well, I'm here to tell you to do it anyway. Last week I took a week off from all my normal responsibilities (other than caring for Oscar of course.) Oscar and I took a mini get away, very socially distant and safe, and I didn't do any cleaning, blogging, etc. This week my house is a mess and my to do list has grown but I'm glad I took a week off. 

Before our mini get away, Oscar and I went to the library to drop off and pick up our latest library haul. As I mentioned in my last post, dinosaurs and feelings were on the list. I'm here to be a witness to the fact that not all books are winners and even people who obsess over children's books get a few misses. Here's what we picked up this week and my thoughts. 

Everyone by Christopher Silas Neal

I did a little research into feelings books before heading to the library so I knew this book would be on the shelves. What I loved about it is it nailed the thing that broke Oscar's heart a couple of weeks ago. The boy's blue balloon pops and he is very upset. Oscar had an instant connection. What I wasn't so keen on was that the book teetered on poetic and realistic and I couldn't quite get what we were supposed to follow. However, I am an adult and it isn't all about me. Oscar didn't mind at all and he really liked that there was a popping balloon in it. I would say worth checking out but not one I would rush to buy.

Oscar loved this page too. He has something (his Moo Moo)
he snuggles with when he gets upset.

We are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner, illustrated by Ben Clanton

How do you feel about kid's music? I'm not a fan. Again, this isn't about me and since Oscar is really into cheesy kids music right now I entertain him. I do get a kick out of it when he thinks something he hears is funny and he giggles. It's a fun milestone.

We are the Dinosaurs is a kid's song that was turned into a book. This was Oscar's favorite pick of the week and while I wouldn't classify this as my favorite dinosaur book, it does have a fart joke. I'm a big fan of fart jokes in children's literature. If your child knows this song this will be a winner.

Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman & Ben Cort

I thought for sure I would love this books because of my childish love for potty jokes. So when I saw this was available at my library I knew I had to find it. Oscar also giggled his new signature giggle when he heard the title. Here's the problem, the authors attempt to rhyme. I say attempt because it feels pretty forced at times. As a person who is trying to write books for children, one of the things I hear most often is to avoid rhyming. It's what most people who try to write children's books try first because they think you have to do it. Listen, very few people have the rhyming chops of Lin-Manuel Miranda so it's best to leave the rhyming pros to their game.

On the other hand, there were some great pictures of underwear and dinos. 

I couldn't quite figure out the cadence. 

Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Those Darn Squirrels! was a little surprise for me. I had never heard of it or the author/illustrator but we have sooooo many squirrels in our new neighborhood I thought this would be a fun read. It was mostly fun. Oscar likes it and there is some rich vocabulary which I like. The illustrations are quirky and I know will hit the funny bone of certain readers. Basically Old Man Fookwire hates everything other than birds. He wants the birds to stick around for awhile instead of fly south so he builds bird feeders. The darn squirrels keep eating all the food because, if you didn't know, squirrels are geniuses. The birds leave anyway and the squirrels feel bad that Old Man Fookwire is so sad. So the devise a plan.