A collection of lively poems celebrate edible delights from the farmers market. Read full book review >

An unusual, whimsical collection of 12 short prayers offers an imaginative approach with a patterned text and creative responses from the children narrating the prayers. Read full book review >

A small trim size, cheerful colors and short prayers with just a few lines of text make this British import a fine choice as an introduction to prayer for younger children. The collection of 38 mostly rhyming prayers includes several based on familiar Bible verses and many original prayers by Piper and a few additional authors. Also included is the "All things both great and small" snippet from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The collection is organized into thematic divisions such as "For Planet Earth," "For Green and Growing Things" and "For Peace and Justice." Simple, bright illustrations of preschool-age children of different ethnic groups show the little ones enjoying the outdoors, alternating with scenes of the natural world with appealing animals and birds. The prayers refer to God in a general way (but not to Jesus), and there is a contemporary feel to them, with a focus on treating other people and the earth with kindness and respect. Short, simple and not too sweet. (index of first lines) (Picture book/religion. 2-7)Read full book review >

The competent narrator in this companion piece to Talk Peace (2005) can tell time, identify trees and their leaves and even imagine crossing the ocean. Yet, she is mystified by the look—presumably of love—she sees on "your face." The descriptions of affection in the uneven text are sometimes concrete (kissing, sharing) and sometimes more oblique ("Knowing life is for living"). The childlike artwork in juicy colors makes the abstract references more understandable with simple, soft-edged scenes of children and animals at play. Comforting circles and a bevy of hearts that can inspire a fan base of young girls dominate the pictures featuring geometric forms. With neither poignancy nor telling details, this attempt at the concept of love ultimately seems false—but it will probably sell like crazy. (Picture book. 4-7)Read full book review >

"Nature red in tooth and claw" receives a disarmingly serene treatment in this posthumously published piece. Fisher adopts a simple verse style to record the cycle of nature: It all starts with a seed, whose sprout is promptly eaten by a bug, which is snatched up by a frog, which in turn is gobbled by a snake, and on up the food chain until busy sexton bugs get to work on the remains of it all. Newcomer Moriuchi's mixed-media collages feature thin layers of bright color over newsprint; the text that shows through the colors gives the blandly smiling critters both energy and edge. She rightly relies on emotion to convey the harsh realities of the food chain, the frog's smug smirk thinning into dismay as the snake cheerfully engulfs it. While it's certainly not the norm to have picture-book characters perishing all over the pages, this offering deals with the realities that underlie so much of the literature for the young: It's a natural extension of old Mr. Rabbit's being put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor. And the stories go on. . . . (Picture book. 4-7)Read full book review >