Semicolon

Happy Little Family

Reviewed by Sherry Early
I love Ms. Caudill’s writing style which uses repetition and simple but rich descriptors to set a tone for a story featuring Bonnie, the youngest child in the happy little family, and her quest to go from being little (four years old) to being big . . . Read the full review

Harry the Dirty Dog

Reviewed by Sherry Early
Here’s another book that was first published in 1956, the year before I was born. And it’s remained in print all the years since then because it tells a classic story of a dog who doesn’t want a bath. (I remember some children who were much like Harry–bath-resistant.) Because Harry, a white dog with black spots, runs away when it’s bath time, he gets very dirty and turns into an unrecognizable black dog with white spots. And when his own family doesn’t recognize him, well, Harry begs for that bath that he so successfully avoided at the beginning of the story. I could read this story over and over and not get tired of it . . . Read the full review

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?

Reviewed by Sherry Early
I read this picture book through once, quickly, and thought it was rather slight, not much to it. Then, for some reason, I decided to pick it up again, and this second time I read through it slowly–and aloud. It’s a book meant to be read aloud because it includes all of the bird songs. For example, the wood thrush says “ee-oh-lay”, and the cardinal says “cheer-cheer-cheer-purdy-purdy-purdy”. Read the full review