Finnegan Fox
Written by an author once diagnosed with agoraphobia, this warm and rhyming tale tells of a young fox leaving the family’s den for the first time (after smelling some ripe raspberries outside). Yet the point is that the young kit takes its time to leave only when he feels ready. His family are happy when he finally explores with the rest, but they don’t let impatience mar their love and friendships. This can be a helpful lesson for the outgoing among us (who I know a few), and reassuring those of us who are a little more shy about new experiences (some of whom I also know). Altogether, my family loves this story that gently explains that there is a time and place for us all, and a little loving patience can often be rewarded most warmly.

Hello, I’m a Pangolin
I have children who love fiction, yet several who prefer non-fiction just as much. This charming non-fiction children’s book makes both sides happy! It is also told first-person, by the armored pangolin. The book explains that pangollin’s walk on their “hind legs (like a T. rex!).” They are the only warm-blooded animals with scales, similar to fingernails, yet used as armor. The pangolin explains how he eats, sleeps, and protects himself, while also discussing how and why they are endangered. Overall, the book helps people to understand and want to help these unique and amazing animals.

Hello, I’m a Sloth
In this engaging nonfiction narrative, a three-toed sloth explains how he lives, eats, digests, blends in with the forest, and evades predators, even while living long, slow lives. The book also explains that sloths are increasingly imperiled due to the destruction of the rainforests. My little sloth-lover enjoys reading this charming book over and over again.

Porcupine and Cactus
When an outgoing porcupine (who makes a delicious potato salad, loves magic tricks, and whose favorite color is sunrise pink) meets a fellow-spikey friend an unlikely friendship forms. Since the new friend is a cactus — and a plant — he’s not at all chatty. Is their friendship a bit one-sided? Or doomed? What will happen when one of the friends feels ignored and insulted? This engaging and humorous story helps show that all of us “blossom” in different ways, so we should take time to allow our friendships to grow naturally — which is something several of my children may need to ponder. This is a great way to help the outgoing little ones among us gently learn that part of kindness is patience, and we should allow everyone to express themselves in their own ways, and in their own time.

Owl Moon
This is a larger-sized board-book version of the classic Caldecott-award winning children’s book, “Owl Moon.” The story is simple: A young girl and her father set out into a cold, snowy forest hoping to see an owl. They are silent as they hike into the woods — as silently as a gliding owl, although the father occasionally hoots like an owl to see if one answers. Eventually, one does. The brilliance of this book is its poetry, even though it is told in first-person, straightforwardly, by the young girl — with wondrous and specific sensory details throughout. The calm mood makes it an all-time classic bedtime story, yet the moral is also memorable: “You don’t need anything but hope.” Our littlest girl love to have this story read to her over and over. Now, this sturdy board book version helps make one of her favorite books into a keepsake she can page through again and again, for years and years.