The opening pages of the book help define the word scat, but the primary focus is on the “animal fecal droppings” one. Yes, this book talks a lot about animal poop, and while kids might chuckle at Finn’s bad luck as she splats into a variety of small piles, they also are getting a serious education on how to identify the types of animals in an environment by both the types of scat and tracks that are visible. Alongside the rhyming story line that follows Finn and her tired old hound dog, are different sections of informative text that share facts about animals such as Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, Red Foxes, and even little Black-capped Chickadees. The tidbits are presented in language accessible to children aged preschool and up, and parents may find themselves learning a new thing here and there, too.

Useful and funny, with cute illustrations by Carrie Anne Bradshaw, this picture book has even me looking more closely at the ground while my own family walks in a nearby park! From avid naturalist families to those who just occasionally take a stroll in a wooded park, Track that Scat! is a literary companion to children’s natural world experiences.

Dawn’s days are spent teaching preschool, parenting her own crazy trio, occasionally fitting in a conversation with her husband, and every once in a while blogging away at my thoughts exactly.

East Dragon lives like royalty in a palace with his eight brothers and sisters and the emperor’s family. He and his siblings are beloved by the emperor who values their advice and provides a beautiful home for them. West Dragon lives in a cave, but he’s happy there… until his cave becomes overcome with kings and knights who try to prove their worth by “waving their silly swords.” West Dragon drafts a plan to get them all out of his hair so he can take a long nap, and soon, the lives of the dragons intersect. Unfortunately, not everyone sees dragons in the same peaceful light, and these different perspectives soon cause trouble for everyone. Can two dragons from opposite sides of the world see past their preconceived notions of each other in order to join forces?

I’m a big fan of this book for its small details and large-scale ideas. (Get it, large-SCALE? Ha!) Scott Campbell’s whimsical illustrations bring to life two very different environments, and depict both dragons in an adorable fashion. The story itself is fun and will bring out giggles from young children, while also presenting the idea that differences aren’t things to be afraid of. No judgment is cast for which dragon is better or right, they simply live in different worlds, which is just fine.

East Dragon, West Dragon will make for a spirited read aloud with children of various ages, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with my own preschool and kindergarten aged children.

Dawn is fascinated with children’s lit, and her life as a mom and a preschool teacher leave her immersed in it on a regular basis. She blogs at my thoughts exactly.

It’s the 100th day of school, of course! My daughter’s classroom has been keeping a chart marking each day of school, and we’re currently in the late 80s. They’re not only learning how to count to 100, but they’re also talking about the concept of grouping and counting by fives and tens. One hundred certainly feels like a gigantic number to a child who’s only been alive for five years or so. To see 100 of anything can be pretty exciting.

Masayuki Sebe’s Let’s Count to 100!, released last August, is a wonderful accompaniment to this type of lesson. Each two-page spread is filled with 100 adorable creatures, from scampering mice to burrowing moles. Some of them are captioned with silly phrases or interactions (there’s even a fart joke with one mole, that probably isn’t too funny to the mole behind him but hilarious to the kindergarten set!), and all are illustrated in a big-eyed, colorfully cartoonish fashion. While all pages feature 100 of something, some pages ask readers to answer different questions that involve counting or sorting the objects, and the final page even challenges children to find one particular creature for each spread. (Not surprisingly, the gassy mole appears here, too!)

I love that Sebe brings all the items together near the end, in groups of ten, to illustrate that ten tens equal one hundred– exactly the math lesson that my daughter’s class is learning as they chart the school days. Look, learning can be fun, kids! (And it can even use bathroom humor while it’s doing it!) Let’s Count to 100! is a great book for any child, but certainly with that 100th day of school right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to read it together.

Dawn’s fascination with children’s literature is fulfilled on a regular basis with her own children, as well as with the preschool class entrusted to her care each day. When she’s not in the classroom, she tries to blog now and again at my thoughts exactly.

A new picture book by Phillis Gershator and Mim Green, with illustrations by David Walker, Time for a Hug introduces the concept of time passing as a mom and child bunny go through their day together, starting at eight o’clock in the morning when the child wakes up, all the way until the clock reads eight again in the evening and it’s time to get ready for bed. During their day together, interspersed among the block building, the reading, and dining, it is time for a hug again and again.

The flow of the day for mom and child will be recognizable to young children, and the warmth and love shown in the pages just as comforting and soothing. My five year old daughter enjoys the simple text of this picture book because she can read much of it independently. I can also see this as just the right kind of book to read to a baby or toddler, for the pictures are bright and engaging, and the words repetitive and predictable. As Valentine’s Day approaches, perhaps Time for a Hug is just the right book to read to your own child, for a hug from a loving parent is always welcome!

Dawn gets hugs from her own kids, as well as her preschool class on a daily basis! When she has a spare moment from being Teacher or Mommy, she can be found blogging away at my thoughts exactly.

To find out what my son thinks of his personalized book and to enter to win your own, click over to my full review on 5 Minutes for Mom. Leave a comment by February 6 for your chance to win.

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Nancy is happy her son loves his name as much as she does. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.

The Cybils finalist lists are out! Check out the site for the top picks in categories from young adult, to picture books, to poetry and more.

Dawn and I were thrilled to be invited back to serve as Cybils round I judges this year, her in fiction picture books and me in middle grade fiction.

For me (Jennifer), both this year and last year, I realized that there were going to be some very fine books that wouldn’t see the shortlist. Take seven panelists, 142 middle grade fiction nominees, a shortlist limited to 5 to 7 books that should hit the target of being both well-written and oozing with kid-appeal, and there will likely be some books that just don’t make the cut.

As a panelist, I was happy to discover several new books/authors that didn’t make the cut. Buried in that list of 142 nominees, they might get forgotten, so I’m going to pull them to the forefront.

Please note that this isn’t “sour grapes.” Our middle grade finalist list is fantastic. The list of finalists is varied featuring books that are humorous or serious featuring kids who will look just like those reading it, or possibly will open their eyes to a whole new culture. I’m proud of each and every book on the list and happy that they will be getting some more attention.

That said, here are some others that really stood out to me (all linked to my reviews):

• I liked Calli B. Gold so much it surprised me. I don’t know why. I elaborated more in the review.
• Saving Zasha — A beautiful dog, a war-time setting in a foreign country, and adolescent boys standing up for their family all make this book one that I hope reaches a lot of kids.
• Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading — We know exactly what we think this book is about: Reading is dumb, people who like to read are geeks; OR Kid thinks he hates reading, but picks up a book and loves it. Wrong all around. Charlie Joe charmed me.
• Wolf Storm– Truth be told, I liked Dee Garretson’s first book Wildfire Run more, but her newest one featured a really cool setting — actor kids on set in a snowy wonderland, and just the right suspension of disbelief about what they could do in a crisis.

Now, when you talk picture books, I (Dawn) could talk your ear off. As a mom to two kids still in the age range for picture books, and as a preschool teacher, I live and breathe this genre, and I love every minute of it. The finalists in the Fiction Picture Book category are really some of the best books published in the eligibility period, in my opinion, though there are ones I love more than others on that list. There is one book, though, that I just couldn’t convince the other round one judges to include, and I’m happy to put it in the spotlight here.

Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, and beautifully illustrated by Marla Frazee, impressed me from the moment I picked it up. I looked at it in a bookstore, since it was still too new to be in my public library, and I immediately knew I would be purchasing it that very day, which is not something that I do on a whim. Magic oozes from this book, inviting children to use the imaginative power that comes naturally to them when thinking about all the ways stars can play a part in their lives. And just as in another of my favorite books illustrated by Frazee, All the World, the art perfectly complements the text and the illustrations of children are naturally diverse and alive with emotion. (Incidentally, these illustrations definitely helped All the World win the 2009 Cybils Award, and the 2010 Caldecott!) Though this is definitely a quiet read, I can personally attest to its kid appeal from my experiences reading it to the rapt audiences of my own children and my class of three and four year olds, who all sat big-eyed with wonder. I’ll be giving Stars as a children’s gift for years to come.

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Jennifer feels the same way about being a Round I panelist as one feels after having a baby. She might like to do it again, but doesn’t want to talk about it right now. Let’s just appreciate this baby! She blogs at Snapshot.

Dawn juggles teaching, parenting, and reading on a daily basis, sometimes hopping back over to give her blog, my thoughts exactly, a bit of attention, too.

How have I been unaware of the cool cat that is Pete until now? Eric Litwin’s Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes is the second picture book about this character, and a third title is scheduled to release in the spring. Music is an integral part of these books, and each book includes a link to listen to and download the story and the song. (Check out the site first before getting the book, and I’m willing to bet you’ll be searching for it on your next trip to the library or bookstore!) I love that this book is simply pure fun, and children will be singing the song again and again. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher is a huge fan of Pete’s, and now I am, too!

It’s not easy being the littlest one in the family, and many children will relate to the main character’s feelings on the matter in Little Pig Joins the Band by David Hyde Costello. When the whole family tries out a variety of instruments from Grandpa’s old marching band days, Little Pig (who really would prefer to be called Jacob, as that is his name after all!), is disappointed that he is simply too small to play any of them. Unfortunately, everyone is playing to their own beat, you could say, and Little Pig finds the perfect way to join in, since every good marching band needs a leader!

As I grew up in New England, my childhood was filled with snowy experiences, but my own Maryland-born-and-raised kids have had only a few significant snowfalls in their lives so far. Happily, we can always find snowy fun in Caralyn Beuhner’s picture books, and the latest one, Snowmen All Year, does just what the title promises– it imagines the fun snowmen could have if they were around for spring’s kite flying, summer fireworks and autumn’s trick-or-treating. With Mark Buehner’s familiar joyful illustrations, children will surely giggle at the sight of a smiling snowman in all the very un-snowy situations depicted.

Though I am a Round I panelist in this Fiction Picture Book category for the Cybils, my opinions are solely my own and are not meant to reflect the final outcome.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Dawn juggles teaching, parenting, and reading on a daily basis, sometimes hopping back over to give her blog, my thoughts exactly, a bit of attention, too.

I’ve been seeing Jan Brett’s Home for Christmas on several must-have lists this season, and looking through her body of work I’m shocked and a little embarrassed that I have never read any of her books before. Home for Christmas is the story of a Rollo, a troll who runs away from home because he’s tired of doing chores. He encounters many animal families along the way, experiencing the life of owls, bears, otters and other northern animals before he realizes, as one may expect, there’s no place like home.

Brett’s artwork is nothing short of amazing, the details and flourishes are entrancing and keep you coming back for more. It’s the kind of book where you notice something new on each reading. The borders contain images of Rollo’s family back home – continuing their lives but also missing him greatly – along with additional drawings of the animals he’s visiting.

I was first introduced to the story of The Polar Express by the Tom Hanks movie, which my children happen to be watching while I’m writing this post. When I learned the movie was based on a book, which some people feel is far superior to the movie, which can be creepy and even a little scary, I knew I had to check out the book.

And the book is absolutely far superior to the movie. The basic story, for those unfamiliar with it, is of a boy who wakes during the night to find a train, the Polar Express, outside his window. The Polar Express takes children to the North Pole where they see hundreds of elves and meet Santa. Santa picks a child, our hero, to request the first gift of Christmas. He asks for a bell from Santa’s sleigh, but when he gets on the train, he finds no bell in his pocket, only a hole. Christmas morning he opens his presents and discovers one final one, the bell. He and his sister hear the bell but his parents think it’s broken – they don’t believe, so can’t hear it’s chime. It’s a beautiful and simple story, free of the roller coaster ride that is the movie.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas was the third book by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman about the lovable Bear and his woodland creature friends. It’s sweet but simple story and illustrations makes it one of my favorite Christmas books.

Bear’s friends wake him up for Christmas and though it’s winter, so all he wants to is sleep, he helps them cut down a Christmas tree, then they decorate his cave. Bear’s friends all drift off to sleep and he stays up to make them their Christmas surprises. They give him a quilt so once the celebrations are done, he snuggles under his new quilt to finally go to sleep.

Check out Dawn’s post on holiday picture books for a few more ideas for last-minute gifts.

Nancy has been enjoying reading Christmas and winter books, possibly more than her kids. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.