Review: Dibs by Laura Gehl and Marcin Piwowarski

978-1-5124-5632-7

$17.99

Teaching your little brother his first word—dibs—is funny. Until he starts calling dibs on everything, from your parents' bed to a real airplane to the White House. What's next? Calling dibs on the moon? Sure enough, Julian's little brother, Clancy, calls dibs on NASA and blasts off into space! Julian is glad to have Earth all to himself...at first. But Julian begins to miss Clancy. Can he harness the power of dibs to rescue his little brother? 

Oh look, another book about my children! Oh my word, the ARGUING that goes on sometimes, over the silliest things. Of course, Julian learns his lesson at the end...wait, no he doesn't. How can we misuse the word "Jinx", boys and girls?

I wouldn't use this book to try to teach a moral lesson, just as a bit of fun! Kids will enjoy the ridiculousness of the situations (Secret Service agents shrugging and saying, "Well he DID call 'dibs'."), and perhaps recognize how ridiculous their own behavior can be sometimes. Or, perhaps not!

Book Review: I Got a Chicken for My Birthday by Laura Gehl and Sarah Horne

9781512431308

$17.99

I remember one Christmas asking for a brown stuffed dog. Every time we were at the mall, I dragged my parental unit in to the store to point out the exact stuffed dog I wanted. On Christmas morning, I opened my gifts and found a brown stuffed...bear.

We've all been there, right?

The heroine of our story asked her Abuela over and over for tickets to the amusement park. On her birthday, she got...a chicken? Okay, that's not even remotely close. In fact, I would venture a guess that the chicken and the amusement park tickets were not even sold in the same store. 

Not that chickens are all bad. In fact, we just picked up half a dozen ourselves, and this weekend I bled all over the chicken coop I am fixing up for them. Nothing beats real, fresh eggs! But...her chicken is too busy to lay eggs. What on earth is she doing??

Children will love gleaning hints from Horne's fun illustrations, while adults will get a smile out of the wry humor in Gehl's sparse text. All can appreciate the message that sometimes what we get is better than what we thought we wanted. This is sure to tickle my Medium Guy in particular, and I predict it will make the rounds of several bedtimes before I can wrestle it back to the library to catalog it. Pick it up if you want something a little different and fun for your shelves!

Review: And Then Another Sheep Turned Up, by Laura Gehl

9781467711890

Mama set another place.
Papa found an extra seat.
Hannah squeezed to make more space,
Thrilled to have a guest to greet.

Uh-oh! As the sheep family Passover seder begins, more and more guests show up!

For those not familiar with Jewish customs, guests are always welcomed at the Passover seder, even when unexpected - but, goodness, this table is getting crowded! In between each arrival, the rituals and foods of seder are mentioned - but never really explained, so it might help to have a guide or glossary on hand. 

This would be a great introductory book to read to children who have been invited to share their first seder, as long as more explanation is given along the way. Of course it is also just a fun book for the child who is familiar with Passover - and all children can identify with the little ones falling asleep before the grown-ups finish celebrating!

The cadence and refrain would make this a good choice for an interactive read-aloud, and the different characters showing up would lend well to a flannel board. A solid choice for any library or classroom wanting to add titles in this subject area.