Happy Monday Evening! Hope your Monday was as wonderful as a Monday can ever hope to be 🙂

My store is officially open so I’m hoping my blogging will return to a more consistent schedule. I have lots of reviews to post too!

I’ve been reviewing lots of titles lately that would be great for summer reading. I remember reading Babysitter’s Club Little Sister books and Boxcar Children or catching up on all the Animorphs books over the summer.

Anyone else an Animorph fan? Those were my absolute favorite!

Reading children’s books brings back so many wonderful memories of the excitement I felt getting a new book or rereading an old favorite.

No Animorphs today, but I do have two new books for beginning readers.

Memoirs of a Parrot

Written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Tim Bowers

Published by Sleeping Bear Press

Brock the parrot chronicles his days spent in Tik Tok’s pet shop. He’s not too happy here with all the people staring at him and insisting his name is Polly, but he’s even more unhappy when he becomes Todd’s new pet. Does Todd even know anything about parrots? Todd and Brock don’t exactly understand each other, but can they give each other a chance?

Memoirs of a Parrot written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Tim Bowers presents a pretty heavy message of responsible pet ownership. Striving for humor, Brock’s narration comes across as bitter and preachy, though his tone may be lost on children. Encouraging children to think about pets and realize some pets have special needs is a great topic, but the delivery feels a bit overpowering and detracting from a story that wants to be a humorous account of a parrot’s life. The book does provide a nice starting point for talking about pets, and choosing an appropriate pet, with children. Overall, the illustrations are lovely and the story ends with a nice message.

5-Minute Nighttime Bible Stories

Stories retold by Charlotte Thoroe

Illustrated by Gil Guile

Published by Thomas Nelson

Created especially for those quiet moments before bed, this large volume of Bible stories is perfect to read aloud. Covering both Old and New Testament, the stories are retold in concise, clear language appropriate for young children. The selected stories are engaging and the illustrations will keep children interested. Not just for bedtime, these stories could also be read anytime parents have a few quiet moments with their children.

This is a fantastic book for parents to share with children. The oversize format and padded cover will interest children along with the bright, fun illustrations. The book has a nice feel to it and is fun for children to look through on their own or with an adult.

Stories include Creation, Noah’s Ark, Moses, Joshua and Jericho, David and Goliath, Jonah, Jesus’s birth, Stories about Jesus, Jesus’s parables and many more! This book is packed with excellent selections that will have children asking for just one more story. Short prayers and questions help children engage even more with the text and illustrations.

This book would make a wonderful gift or addition to any home or church library.

Thank you to Sleeping Bear Press and BookLook Bloggers for copies of these books in exchange for my honest review.