Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
Scholastic

Rating: 5 stars

Once in a while, a perfect book just falls in your lap. And this book, with the adorably grumpy panda holding a box of delicious treats on its cover, is one such book.

Simple, sweet, with a fantastic message.

Mr. Panda offers donuts to a handful of different animals, but then changes his mind and takes back the offer when their responses are much too greedy, demanding, and rude.

"Would you like a doughnut?" Panda asks Penguin,

"Give me the pink one." Penguin replies.

"No, you cannot have a doughnut. I have changed my mind."

In the end, it's lemur who uses that magic word...and gets the whole box. Yum! That's what I call just desserts.

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Rating: 5 stars

Little Blue and I go way back. I mean, waaaaay back.

The original Little Blue Truck was Ben's favorite book as a baby. Because I read it to him daily, I can still recite the words and recall McElmurry's sweet illustrations that correspond with the stanzas. I can still recall having baby Ben (who turns six in two weeks! what?!) sitting in my lap and reading again and again, him flipping the pages, making the animals sounds, laughing at the change in my voice for the different characters.

I also snapped up the sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way when it was released a few years later. Both of these books have all that you want in great children's books: a fun, interesting rhythm and rhyme; sweet illustrations of neat characters; a nice moral to the story. In the first book, Little Blue helps a big, rude truck get out of the muck and, through his kind actions (rather than preachy words), teaches him that it pays to be a nice guy. In the second book, country-boy Little Blue teaches big-city traffic how to slow down, be patient, and take turns.

This third book, Little Blue Truck's Christmas, is just as wonderful as the first two. It is in a board book format, so best for ages four and under. There's some counting, just from one to five and then back down again, which is best for littler readers. Little Blue puts five trees in back to deliver to his friends, who all (wonderfully) say please and thank you as they request specific trees in the truck bed of Little Blue.

Who gets the last tree? I like this part. I think in decades past the last tree would be saved for an elderly person, someone who needs it most--and while that is fine and dandy, I think the fact that Little Truck saves the last tree for himself is an example of the "self love" trend that has been occurring for the past few years: You've got to love yourself and regard your own happiness in this life we've got, and that habit starts when kids are kids...and hopefully lasts until they are old and gray (and hopefully still very happy).

It's good to see you again, Little Blue!

Tea for Ruby by Sarah Furgeson

Tea for Ruby by Sarah The Duchess of York Furgeson, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Rating: 3.5 stars

Whenever I see a book at Pottery Barn Kids, I always wonder if it's a good one.  I mean, I am a total sucker for most of the stuff they sell (especially the bedding) so I always suspect that they have some inside scoop on what books are good, too.

But, it turns out, I'll buy more quilts from them than books.

This is a good book on manners, and if you daughter likes the Fancy Nancy series, she'll undoubtedly enjoy this one.  Ruby, the main character, gets a fancy invitation in the mail to have tea with the Queen.  She's so excited she breaks every rule that most little kids struggle with: interrupting others, dressing appropriately, talking with her mouth full, things like that.  She does her best to remember as she strolls into the "palace" gates, only to find, to her delight, that the Queen is actually her grandmother.

There's not much to this book, but the pictures alone hold Lorelei's interest for a few minutes at a time, mostly because of the fancy dresses that Ruby imagines herself wearing when she has tea with the Queen.  I can relate--I remember drawing fancy dresses on my mother's blackboard after school when I was in grade school.  And I was a horseback-riding tomboy! 

This is a sweet book if you're a grandma, and I love the idea of Lorelei having tea with one of her grandmothers a few years from now--at her house or at a fancy place.  Maybe at a house, learning manners, knowing what to expect at tea, is a good warm-up.  This book helps a bit, but it's not our list of books to buy others or ourselves.