Greta and Gracie are sisters, and Greta is older and likes to tell her sister what to do and how to do it. As Christmas approaches, Greta and Gracie are busy getting ready. Greta often takes over in the Christmas preparations and activities because Gracie is too slow, too quiet and/or too little. On Christmas Eve, these qualities get Gracie a special surprise and for once Greta is shocked by what Gracie has accomplished.

There is so much more to this story than I first realized. Sparse text and beautifully painted illustrations tell the story of a father who returns from a long time away and his daughter's joy at having him home. He is given a night bakery job and the smell of bread is something she now ties to her dad and her time with him.

A love letter to libraries about the adventures they provide and they characters we meet within their books. It also reinforces how important it is for everyone to see themselves in books.

Another old classic from the bookshelf. I have no idea how many times my parents read this to us, but it's been well loved.

Daniel sees a sign in the park for “Poetry in the Park on Sunday” and he is curious what poetry is. He goes to the different animals in the park to ask them what poetry is and they all share that poetry is all around them, helping him create a beautiful poem to share on Sunday.

A fascinating picture book about how two kids live in two drastically different climates and how their climate needs may someday have them cross paths.

I will admit that it took a second read to fully understand the message in this book. It starts with illustrations of the beautiful underwater life, explaining what each creature is doing. It is pointed out a few times that crab is making a cake, which seems less important than what others are doing. Then an devastating event occurs (a boat dumps a large amount of garbage into their home). While everyone panics over this mess, crab stays calm and makes a cake, and then the sea life gather together to eat the cake and to come up with a solution to all the garbage in their home. Everyone's role is important in this solution, including making a cake for others to gather around.

Being new to school is hard, and David does the hard thing - jumping into friendship with his peers.

A great book for our current Covid situation. Teaches our little ones (and big ones) all about germs and how they spread. Also a fun reminder that perhaps we shouldn't be licking anything these days.