Are You Sleeping Little One? Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance. 2012. 18 pages. Abbeville Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] We can finally put Goodnight Moon on the shelf! I loved this short bedtime read, and so did my reader. It’s nice to have something that’s good for winding down that isn’t the same old thing.

The Ugly Bug Ball. Anissa Freeman, Michelle Burns. 2012. 30 pages. BQB Publishing. [ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] The Ugly Bug Ball is more than just a picture book. It’s an important lesson about inclusion and bullying. Told through the view of an insect community, this story is easy for kids to connect to their own experiences or those of others. I appreciate that this book has a substantial amount of text. It’s great practice for emerging readers, at 30 pages.

Child Soldier. Michel Chikwanine & Jessica Dee Humphreys. Claudia Davila, ill. 2015. 48 pages. Kids Can Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Told in first person, this story is the author’s true account of his experiences in a rebel militia as a child. I found it important that the first statement in the book is that while it is true, it’s not as likely to just randomly happen to children. Given the content of the book, and the random nature of his abduction, this step is necessary to ensure children don’t take away a sense of fear about whether this will happen to them.

The Night Children. Sarah Tsiang, Delhpine Bodet, ill. 2015. 32 pages. Annick Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] It’s no surprise that kids suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out). This book is a cute imagining of what happens once kids are tucked away in beds each night. The Night Children causing mischief in neighborhoods each evening once kids having to go home is a creative and humorous take on what comes with a day change. From “steal[ing] slices of the moon” to hanging webs, the Night Children have a fun playtime that explains the subtle changes kids see from one day to the next.

Snap! Hzel Hutchins, Dušan Petričić , ill. 2015. 32 pages. Annick Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This is the kind of book you give a kid when they get that first coveted 64-pack of crayons. This is the kind of book I wish I’d had when I was little, lamenting that first chipped crayon tip. This is the kind of book you enjoy sitting down to read right before the promise of a few blank sheets of paper for your 7 year old. I found this book to be filled with excitement – who’d think that coloring with crayons is all that exciting, right? But somehow Evan’s adventures are fun and exploratory. As he tries to work around his broken and missing crayons, he actually learns about the nature of color (ROY G BIV, anyone?) and how basic shades blend together to create a robust palette of color. This would be appropriate for any age from baby through early elementary school.