Tag: kindergarten

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: My Abuela Is A Bruja by Mayra Cuevas

BentenShisho

Cuevas, Mayra. (2025). My Abuela Is A Bruja. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

This little girl is positive that her grandmother is a bruja (a witch).

“There is magic in everything she does. What is her secret? I want to know!” She is an island bruja living in a house on a hill where “the sky meets the ocean.” They take advantage of the island’s river and waterfalls on hot days and on cool days, the animals lead them into the forest’s magical spaces and sing them lullabies.She wants to be a bruja like her grandma.

Her abuela is a garden bruja. She grows all of the best and most amazing plants in Puerto Rico, and teaches her granddaughter how to dig in the earth with her bare hands, sowing and planting.

There’s even magic when abuela let’s her water their seeds with the hose. Check out that rainbow and the rainbow colored birds in its spray!

Abuela is a dancing bruja, dancing to and playing music with her granddaughter, swaying to the beat. Abuela is a kitchen bruja, combining plants and ingredients into delicious, magical dishes like sofrito and sugary delicious, flan, eaten on the porch in the cool evening.

She feels abuela’s bruja magic when she tucks her in, lights the candle and “prays I’ll have good dreams.” With forehead kisses she imparts the same magic that the little girl dreams of.

“Mija, you already have your own magic. It grows strong from deep roots in our land, nurtured by all the brujas that came before and will come after.“ You can see and imagine their power, all the women who came before her.

And as she falls asleep she, the brujita or “the little witch,” knows in her heart “Abuela’s magic will always be with me.”

I included a lot more quotes from the book than I typically do, just because there was no better way to say it or share what the book was trying to convey. It is beautiful, with Lorena Alvarez Gomez’s stunning jewel-toned illustrations creating island magic all their own, and Mayra Cuevas sweet, loving adoration in word form. She’s very much talking about her own grandma (Abuela) in Puerto Rico and recalling the magic of their time together. And I 100% believe her Abuela is a bruja, because she made the most powerful magic every day, with love, nature and intuition passing it along to future generations.

You’ll also find Abuela’s recipes for Sofrito and Flan in the back with a Spanish glossary and man did it make me miss my grandmothers.

Perfecto.

Recommended Ages:3-7

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky by Jory John

BentenShisho

John, Jory. (2021). The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Mr. Seed is in a bad mood with a bad attitude. Halloween is his favorite holiday, but he just can’t find a costume good enough! The ones he has tried just won’t work out and he’s afraid of being underdressed.

In fact, he is so obsessed with the thought that everyone will out dress him that he is willing to take drastic measures.

He tells everyone that Halloween has been cancelled until tomorrow, due to a storm…and squirrels? He figures this will give him more time! Ha ha! He succeeded. Or did he?

Pumpkin seeds walks up to him and reminds him that it isn’t about the costumes. They don’t have to be fancy. They can be simple and still great, but it’s not even about that. It’s about celebrating autumn, and friends, and spending time together.

And suddenly, Mr. Seed isn’t so sure he has succeeded after all. He must fix his mistake! He gathers everyone together again and tells them, false alarm! Halloween is back on! Continue with the trick-or-treating. Everyone is so relieved. Mr. Seed goes back home and decides he’s going to take some paper bags and figre out his costume then go have fun! No squirrels here folks!

Or are there? 😉

Super cute. Happy for Mr. Seed. Another good title in this series, and excellent illustrations by Pete Oswald, as always.I love the message. It isn’t about the money, or the cost. It is about enjoying nature and each other. Don’t over complicate it.

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

BentenShisho

Lies, Brian. (2008). Bats at the Library. Houghton Mifflin Co.

While the night might be beautiful and dark, it’s same old same old for the neighborhood bats. They are begging for something different. Lucky for them, they realize that someone at the library has left the window open. It’s bat night at the library!

They fly and follow the warm light through the open window, to their delight. Some read books about food, other enjoy the soft lighting. Some make use of the water fountain and others lose themself in storytime, letting their imaginations soar into other worlds.

Before long, they realize they’ve lost track of time, enjoying the library and all it has to offer. The sun is coming up. It is time to fly! But they hope, another night, the librarian will leave the window open again so that they can once again visit…

…and fill their, and their children’s minds with all sorts of adventures, through the night.

Beautiful and love book, Brian Lies! My favorite is the bat with the glasses, and the pictures of what their imaginations see when they are listening to the stories they are exploring. The illustrations are beautiful. Most of the rhymes are strong. It’s a very sweet, wholesome book. I hope the bats can visit the library again (they do have other adventures as this is part of a series!), I just don’t want them in mine. 😉 Books and guano don’t mix.

Recommended Ages: 3-6

Activity and Coloring Sheets, Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow by Ryan T. Higgins

BentenShisho

Higgins, Ryan T. (2023). Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow. Disney Hyperion.

*Downloadable activity sheets at the end of this post!

Bruce is not a holiday guy. He REALLY didn’t like Halloween. But his friends and family still tried to get him excited about it. They decided to host a play. “The Legend of Soggy Hollow”

Little did Bruce know that he was going to be an active participant.

It all starts with a soldier who lost his way in the woods long, long ago. Worse than that, he lost his horse! Now he is said to haunt the woods, asking those that pass by for their horse! They call him “The Horseless Horseman of Soggy Hollow.”

Many years later a teacher came to the Hollow named Ichabod Bruce. While he was known for loving his students and giving out treats, singing and dancing. Bruce had other ideas on how the part should be played. *snort*

Ichabod rode his horse through the frightful woods, seeing spooky things around every corner, to ask for the hand of Miss Van Moofle, though he was notably distraught from the fear. However, she accepted him, and they went on a celebratory ride, where Miss Van Moofle wanted to share a kissy kissy, but little did they know the Horseless Horseman was right behind them. Again, Bruce had notes about this scene, so much so that he bolted off the stage with his trusty steed and straight into the forest…

…where the spirit of the Horseless Horseman wandered, on this quiet Halloween night…except for the bear crashing through the forest.

…and the “galumphing” of a giant moose, looking for a Halloween kiss from a certain running bear. Bruce even ran past that Horseless Horseman and all he could say was “OUT OF THE WAY!” Unfortunately, that spirit got caught in between Bruce and the moose (hehe) until at one point, Bruce and the spirit hopped on that little wooden horse and rock, rock, rocked all the way to a windmill. But they couldn’t lose that moose! Bruce took off runnin!

Until he reached the stage. “The spirit of Halloween was in the air. And so was Bruce.” BWUAHAHAHAHA! The attendees got their candy. Camilla got her kiss (kinda) and the Horseless Horseman…

…well, he got a little Halloween treat as well. Happy Halloween, Buddy.

MAN DO I LOVE RYAN T. HIGGINS! From his Penelope Rex books to Bruce, they always have me laughing. I laughed out loud with this one, in the library, MULTIPLE times. It’s fantastic and the illustrations are always top notch. This one, in particular, is well themed for Halloween with dark pictures with bright characters.

HIGHLY Recommend.

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Activity Sheets:

Bruce_soggy-Hollow-ActivitySheets-5566_FINAL
Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting and Jan Brett

BentenShisho

Bunting, Eve. (1986). Scary, Scary, Halloween. HarperCollins Publishers.

Starting today, I am going to be including the name of the illustrator in the title, especially of picture books. Their work is critical, especially in early literacy. Now that being said, let’s get to reviewing!

While I love Jan Brett’s illustrations (her book “The Mitten” is one of my all-time favorites) can I just say, the eighties were a very different time. Cuz this book is a little scary for a preschooler.

It’s all about a mother cat telling her kittens about the scary monsters that are coming out on Halloween and how they might get them, but they might not. They use phrases like “sunken mouth and sunken eye,” “nightmares walk the streets of fear,” “a skeleton with bones so white,” “a devil prances, fiery red, with horns asprouting from his head.”

And I love spooky stuff, but if I had read this to my kid when they were three they would have freaked out.

And then the cats become the monsters. Kind of. So, I mean not spooky to an adult, but…yeah. Not my favorite. And as I like to say, oh well. You can’t like ’em all. Though, I still love Jan Brett’s illustrations.

Stay spooky my friends.

Recommended Ages (if you do choose to read this to your kiddo): 5-7