am i yours?

One of my favorite picture books when I was tiny was P.D. Eastman’s classic Are You My Mother? My mother claims that most of my first words were question words, so it makes sense that I’d like a book full of them. But I also think (from hearing her read the book to subsequent siblings) that I just liked the way my mother read – not in “voice” so much but emphasizing the interrogative so far that it became hilarious. She played it straight, but the child she was reading to always laughed. She also had so much patience with the book, which she must have read dozens of times. Anyway, I loved that book, and I’ve since gifted it to many friends’ children (who maybe didn’t have as many positive associations with it as I did)(oh well!). And when I read Alex Latimer’s Am I Yours? nearly the first thing I thought of was Are You My Mother?

A heartwarming story of community, family, and finding your way home.

A group of friendly dinosaurs helps a lost egg search for its parents after it’s been blown out of its nest. But if the little egg is to be reunited with its family, first they must discover what kind of dinosaur lies inside. What does that egg look like inside its shell? Surely, there must be a way to tell!

This fun and unique tale featuring Alex Latimer’s signature bold art style will keep dinosaur lovers and fans of Are You My Mother? enthusiastically following along and guessing who is inside the shell.

In this delightful picture book, an egg has fallen out of a nest and lost its way. It is pretty sure it’s a dinosaur, but it doesn’t know what kind – so it asks for help (the titular “Am I yours?”). Along its journey the egg meets all kinds of dinosaurs – from the Tyrannosaurus Rex to the Brachiosaurus, to Triceratops! Finally, with help from new friends the egg is identified and returned to the correct nest – just in time to hatch.

This picture book is beautifully done. The illustrations in vivid pencil and finished digitally are very appealing, and the text is both familiar-fun (rhyming, options for lots of voices!) and scientifically accurate (proper dinosaur names included as a matter of course). The pacing is spot-on, and while there are lots of repeated “Am I yours?” questions throughout to make an impression on younger readers, there aren’t so many as to make adult readers weary. Another highlight: as each type of dinosaur is eliminated there are identifying details shared, so readers learn about the characteristics that make each kind of dinosaur unique.

There’s also a possible classroom science experiment tie-in, as the baby dinosaur is finally identified by light shining through its eggshell. I’ve seen lesson plans that incorporate doing this with chicken eggs, and Am I Yours? could work well as a read along for a unit of that nature.

Am I Yours? will appeal to dinosaur-obsessed kids and parents who haven’t outgrown their dinosaur days yet (who has with a new Jurassic Park film every couple of years?!), little ones with questions about family and how they fit into it, and anyone looking for a well-paced rhyming read that doesn’t condescend to readers, no matter how young. I can see it being adapted to board book form at some point as well.

In all, Am I Yours? is sure to be a hit with the 3-6 year-old set, especially during any storytime!

Recommended for fans of The Pout-Pout Fish and Are You My Mother?, and anyone looking for a fun, rhyming picture book for read aloud storytime.

Fine print: I received an advance copy of this book for review from the publisher. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

cookiesaurus rex

As an occasional baker and a fan of children's books, I knew I had to check out this picture book. It is only September (and not even chilly out yet!), but I'm already thinking about the winter holidays, frosting cookies, and warm mugs of chocolate and cider. If you bake and will have any small children at hand this winter, Amy Fellner Dominy and Nate Evans’ picture book Cookiesaurus Rex, illustrated by A.G. Ford is a fun read-aloud pick. 

As soon as Cookiesaurus Rex comes out of the oven, he declares that he is King of All Cookies. He should be frosted before all of the standard-shaped cookies, in a nice bright green. But the other cookies are getting sprinkles, or shiny stars, or even gumdrops . . . WAIT ONE STINKIN’ STOMPIN’ MINUTE! Cookiesaurus wants a do-over. Problem is, he might not end up with the kind of “do” he wants. Readers will love the funny back-and-forth between this cheeky cookie and the hand that frosts him. See who gets his licks in at the end!

Cookiesaurus Rex is looking forward to be decorated, but that excitement quickly turns to frustration when he sees his fellow cookies decorated with stars and sprinkles while he only has simple green icing and a black top hat. So Cookiesaurus decides to go rogue – except he doesn't get quite the revenge he wanted. He's decorated as a dinosaur ballerina, a duck, a baby (complete with chocolate chip poo!) instead. In between those episodes he decorates himself as a ninja and a superhero, only for it all to be wiped away. In the end he goes hog wild with decorations and declares himself the King of All Cookies - but there's a catch!

Cookiesaurus Rex is engaging and silly fun, with a cookie main character full of attitude. The dialogue will make kids laugh and adults smile, and the content (and ideas for decoration) would make it the perfect complement or preview to a cookie decorating session. In fact, I was inspired to buy a T. Rex cookie cutter myself and try my hand at recreating some of Cookiesaurus' looks. Unfortunately, I didn't use icing tools so it ended up a little sloppy!

Of course, you don't have to wait for winter to have a cookie-baking and -decorating session, and there's no hint of holiday affiliation in the book itself, so this title works for everyone and year-round fun. Cookiesaurus' antics are sure to amuse and inspire all who read the book.

In all, Cookiesaurus Rex is a fun, sassy picture book suitable for all ages, and especially for bakers and their minions.

Recommended for: fans of baking, cookies, dinosaurs and dialogue-heavy picture books (the ones you do voices with!).

Cookiesaurus Rex will be released by Disney-Hyperion on September 26^th, 2017.

Interested in other food-related posts? Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking!

Fine print: I received an advance copy of this title for review consideration. I did not receive any compensation for this post.