2020. Can you believe it is on our horizon? Just saying it seems a bit surreal! As we look ahead to new beginnings, let’s cozy up with our little ones while reading these exciting new children’s books that are perfect for a chilly winter day.

Disney Stories for 3 Year Olds

By Studio Fun International

From Peter Pan to 101 Dalmatians, three-year-olds will be introduced to wonderful Disney adventures in Disney Stories for 3-Year-Olds! This treasury includes fourteen classic Disney stories retold and simplified for a younger audience. With the same spirit as the extended versions and paired with colorful illustrations, this book is perfect for parents introducing their children to classic Disney adventures or retelling favorites With fourteen stories to choose from, your little ones will love to snuggle up to a favorite Disney classic story anytime!

Yum Yummy Yuck 

by Cree Lane and Amanda Jane Jones

In their hip and often humorous Instagram accounts, Amanda and Cree Jones invite the world into their life with two young kids. Now, the Joneses are sharing another experience–the struggle to keep their kids from putting everything they see into their mouths. Using simple, bright illustrations, irresistible colors, gentle repetition, and a lighthearted tone, this stylish board book teaches babies and toddlers what they should and shouldn’t put in their mouths. Delectable treats like an ice cream cone, a pear, and a donut are interspersed with not-so-yummy things kids find irresistible–like coins, boogers, and sand. Facing pages display the correct use of these items– boogers go in tissues, coins in a piggy bank, and sand in a bucket. Designed to appeal to modern parents, this durable and attractive book will have kids and their parents going back to it and sharing in the fun of all the delicious and disgusting things kids like.

Taxi Ride with Victor 

by Sara Trofa and illustrated by Elsa Klever

This sci-fi inspired taxi trip will have kids roaring with laughter. Victor is everyone’s favorite extraterrestrial taxi driver, but he has a big problem. His memory is terrible! He can never remember his way around the galaxy. When he drops off his passengers at the wrong locations, there are some unexpected and hilarious high jinks. Elsa Klever’s wonderful drawings incorporate every day experiences–like going to the dentist, the library, or the post office–into otherworldly scenes with friendly aliens, talking clouds, grumpy ghosts, and an enormous octopus. The book offers gentle lessons about friendship and opportunity, and children will want to join Victor again and again on his funny, mixed-up, and carefree rides.

A Dragon on the Roof 

by Cecile Alix and illustrated by Fred Sochard

A brave young girl, a whimsical house, and a ticklish dragon help young readers see the world through Gaudí’s eyes. Set in Casa Batlló, one of Antoni Gaudí’s most renowned buildings, this joyful story introduces young readers to the architect’s work, inciting their curiosity and imagination along the way. While her nanny is sleeping, young Paloma hears a noise. She climbs the stairs of her house until she reaches the roof, where a dragon is perched. Unafraid, Paloma reaches out to pet the dragon–but he is ticklish, and as he laughs, he spews a myriad of sea animals that he had unwittingly swallowed. The house is transformed into a dreamy aquarium and the dragon settles into a deep sleep on the roof. Cécile Alix’s playful story and Fred Sochard’s boldly graphic illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Gaudí’s exuberant vision. As readers make their way through Paloma’s home, they are introduced to its fabulous elements–columns shaped like elephant legs; marine-inspired tiles, glass, and ironwork; and of course the spectacularly undulating, iridescent roof, which resembles a sleeping dragon. The end of the book includes a brief history of Gaudí’s career and provides helpful background to Paloma’s story. Kids will want to linger over the pictures and imagine what their own house would be like if a dragon were living on their roof.

What’s Cooking at 10 Garden Street 

by Felicita Sala

This delightfully illustrated children’s cookbook offers a global menu of dishes to share with friends, family, and neighbors. Something delicious is cooking in the old apartment building on Garden Street! Pilar is mixing gazpacho, Monsieur Ping is stir-frying broccoli, Señora Flores is preparing a pot of beans, and Josef and Rafik are rolling meatballs. Other neighbors are making mini-quiches, baba ganoush, dhal, and peanut butter cookies. When they’re all finished cooking everyone gathers in the garden to enjoy a delicious meal and each other’s company. Each inviting spread in this storybook offers a recipe from a different culinary tradition. Dishes that kids love, like guacamole, spaghetti, and banana bread are interspersed with others that include less familiar ingredients, such as mirin, tahini, and turmeric. The recipes explain how each dish is made and come with fun and detailed illustrations. Combining simple, fresh flavors with recipes from around the world, this book will nourish and inspire budding cooks while whetting the appetites of their more experienced helpers.

Frankie’s Food Truck

By Educational Insights and Illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti

Frankie’s Food Truck serves a different shape of food every day. On Mondays, Frankie serves squares. What kinds of foods are shaped like a square? Lift the flaps to unveil all sorts of tasty treats, learning about shapes and days of the week as you go. From a square piece of toast to a slice of watermelon in the shape of a triangle, readers are invited to see how many shapes and foods they can find on each spread.

Peg + Cat: Up a Tree

By  Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

Peg has a BIG PROBLEM. She is up in a tree with her yo-yo and can’t get down! Luckily, Cat is down below and eager to help. He finds two long poles and some short pieces of wood and ties them all together. But when his makeshift ladder sways and falls, Peg has to pull Cat up, and now they have an even bigger problem. Can their friend Ramone make the ladder’s vertical sides go up and down and the horizontal steps go straight across so they can get down safely? Could Peg’s yo-yo skills come in handy after all? What goes up must come down — somehow — as Peg gets stuck high in a tree and Cat and Ramone try to come to the rescue.

KeeKee’s Big Adventures in London

by Shannon Jones

Join KeeKee, the globe-trotting calico kitty, on her latest brilliant adventures in London. Along with her friend Willamb Sheepspeare, she whisks readers through the majesty of England’s capital city—from Big Ben to Buckingham Palace to a proper English tea. Explorers big and small will have a jolly good time trying out fun British expressions, peeking into royal culture, and navigating London’s beautiful streets on a double-decker bus.  What’s meaningful to me is that I have been to London many times, so sharing this book with my children has been incredibly exciting as we pore over the pages. Plus, the author lives in our current city!

BigFoot Activity Book: Wacky Puzzles, Coloring Pages, Fun Facts, & Cool Stickers

by D.L. Miller

Have a BigFoot fan in your home? Following the success of D.L. Miller’s BigFoot seek-and-find books, publisher Fox Chapel Publishing, under the imprint Happy Fox Books, is proud to introduce a new BigFoot activity book aptly titled BigFoot Activity Book: Wacky Puzzles, Coloring Pages, Fun Facts, & Cool Stickers. The author notes, “It’s not just an activity book—it’s a way to teach children about the world through recreational learning.” 

Ultimate Slime: Extreme Edition

by Alyssa Jagan

Yes, your kids can take their slime to the next level! In Ultimate Slime Extreme Edition, you’ll find 100+ new, awesome, borax-free slime recipes and projects from slime master Alyssa J of @CraftySlimeCreator!

Frozen 2: Make Your Own Bath Bombs

by Jennifer Malone

Frozen fever is real again after the hit movie came out a few weeks ago! Learn formulas, practice ratios, combine chemicals, and use the scientific method to form bath bombs that are uniquely Frozen 2 and uniquely yours!

Learn to Draw: Frozen 2

by Walter Foster Junior Creative Team

So simple and fun, the step-by-step drawing exercises in Learn to Draw Disney Frozen 2 will have you drawing Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven, and the new characters from Disney Frozen 2 in no time!

*Books were generously provided for review. All thoughts expressed herein are my own.*

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