You Pick Three: Picture Books

Dawn Dvorak provides us with her final reviews of three picture books starting with A Vacation for Pooch by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. 

Violet and her family are going on a beach vacation to Florida, but she's sad because they can't bring along her beloved Pooch. She carefully packs Pooch a bag of his favorite things for his stay at her grandfather's house, but accidentally switches the bag with her own bag. When she discovers the mix-up she is distraught, but a call to her grandfather's reveals that Pooch has had a great day even without all of his stuff. The cutest part is that he happily snuggles up with Violet's doll
in lieu of his own favorite toy. I'm a dog lover, so of course I love this book, but I also think it does a good job of showing kids that they can have fun away from home without feeling guilty about what they may have left behind.

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez by Rene Colato Lainez

When Miguelito loses a tooth, the Tooth Fairy comes to claim it, but she finds someone else who wants the tooth. EL Raton Perez collected the teeth of Miguelito's parents and grandparents, and he wants Miguelito's tooth too! The two fight over the tooth for a time, but then work together to collect the tooth, and decide to share the tooth between them. I found this to be a great multicultural book that shows the way two cultures can clash, and promotes working together to overcome it. The book includes some background information on both El Raton Perez and the Tooth Fairy, and has a short glossary of the Spanish words included in the story.

Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten! by Hyewon Yum

A young boy is excited to start school, but his mom is nervous. All the way to school he reassures his mom that he is ready for the big kid school, but once he enters, he has second thoughts and his mom is suddenly the one doing the reassuring. By the end of the day, the boy is back to his happy self, having had a great first day of kindergarten. The illustrations are amazing in this book, with the mom being small and blue, and the son being large and bright. When the son begins worrying himself, he shrinks down and turn blue, and the mom grows larger to reassure him. I love that this book shows the child as confident about his first day of school (for most of the story), and it should definitely open the door to an honest discussion of feelings between parents and children.