HERO MOM by Melinda Hardin, Illustrated by Bryan Langdo

Lexile     Not Rated          Pages     24          Ages     4 - 8

No AR information available at this time.

For years children have had Hero Dads - fathers serving in the military.  In this day and age we are seeing more and more Hero Moms!

"My mom can't transform
  into a machine, but she
  can make airplanes fly,
  trucks run, and tanks roll."

"My mom doesn't lead

  a band of superheroes

  - she leads a battalion."

Langdo's colorful water color illustrations and Hardin's simple prose celebrates the mothers who make the supreme sacrifice of leaving their children to serve our country. Hero Mom will instill a sense of pride in military children and help them explain to their peers what their mothers do. It will also help non-military children understand why some of their friends' moms are away for long periods of time.

I would recommend Hero Mom for any child's library, but especially for children of military moms.

Happy Reading!
Miss Laurie

Hero Mom can be checked out at any Lake County Public Library, or click  here and with your library card number and PIN you can place a hold for easy pickup at your favorite branch.

NELLY GNU AND DADDY TOO by Anna Dewdney

Pages     40          Ages 3 - 5

There is no Lexile or AR information for this book at this time.

Nelly is so proud of her daddy! He can do anything. Together, they build Nelly a playhouse, Daddy showing her how to do the simple things, while he takes care of the big stuff, like sawing. Then they go shopping for the supplies to add the finishing touches and Nelly gets a little lost. Being the hero he is, Daddy Gnu finds her before she can even really become frightened. They return home and paint "brick walls" and flowers and vines on the playhouse. Daddy makes dinner and afterward, they read books and Daddy tucks Nelly in for the night. Nelly and Daddy are quite a team! 

Near the end of the book is my favorite line: 

"Every night and every day, Daddy makes it all OK."

Being a Daddy's Girl, this book really spoke to me. Like Nelly, I loved doing things with Dad. I helped him fix things around the house and by the time I was 12 I helped him rebuild the engine on one of our cars (at that point I was still pretty much a parts washer.) All of these things helped me in life - from doing my own car repairs to buying a house in need of a lot of TLC and making it liveable.

Every little Daddy's Girl will love  Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too by Anna Dewdney, author of the popular Llama Llama books.

Happy Reading!
Miss Laurie

Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too  can be checked out at any Lake County Public Library, or click  here and with your library card number and PIN you can place a hold for easy pickup at your favorite branch.

MY BODY BELONGS TO ME by Jill Starishevsky, illustrated by Sara Muller

Pages     32          Ages     3 - 5

No Lexile or AR information available at this time

Today we have a book that discusses a subject I wish we NEVER had to address - sexual abuse of children. This is a tough topic to bring up with our children, but they need to know what can happen, what is inappropriate, and exactly what to do if it does happen. Most importantly, it lets children know that what happened was not their fault.

Jill Starishevsky's simple rhyming verse and Sara Muller's friendly watercolor illustrations offer parents a sensitive, gentle path to discussion of the subject. Also included are suggestions for the parent or storyteller, and also a list of "where to find help" contacts should the need arise.

I hope you never, ever need the contacts, but I think My Body Belongs to Me should be read to and discussed with every child.

Miss Laurie

My Body Belongs to Me can be checked out at any Lake County Public Library, or click  here and with your library card number and PIN you can place a hold for easy pickup at your favorite branch.