Book Review | Froggy's Best Christmas

Froggy's Best Christmas is a picture book written by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz.

Book Description

Froggy has never celebrated Christmas; usually he's taking his long winter's nap. But not this year!

Froggy's best friend, Max the beaver, wakes him up to join the fun.

Soon, Froggy's gotten into the swing of things: finding a tree, wrapping presents, singing carols, and enjoying a holiday feast.

Join Froggy as he celebrates his very first, and very best, Christmas!

Book Review

Every year Froggy sleeps through Christmas, but this year Max decides to wake him up and give him a present!

"Wow!" said Froggy. "This is my first Christmas present!"
"This is your first Christmas!" said Max. "You always sleep through it!"

And since

"Christmas," Max said, "is about friends."

they decide to wake up Matthew the turtle and Travis the bear as well. The four friends pick out the perfect Christmas tree together and bring it home.

"Christmas," said Max when they got there, "is about friends... and family, too."

There was no hibernating in the woods that Christmas! The animals jam-packed all of the best Christmas traditions into one Christmas day.

The story ends with Santa Owl which was odd and out of the blue to me, but my kids thought it made perfect sense: THEY ARE ALL ANIMALS IN THIS BOOK. I guess it really is that simple.

Overall it was a cute Christmas read highlighting the fun traditions of the holiday and the joys of being with friends and family.

8/10: Great Read

Book Review | Frankie Stein by Lola M. Schaefer

Frankie Stein is a picture book written by Lola M. Schaefer and illustrated by Kevan Atteberry.

Book Description

Frankie Stein comes into the world on a bright, sunny day. He’s not at all like his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank N. Stein. They’re scary looking. He’s cute. They try to make him look like them. They can’t. But he does end up being scary—just in his own way! Kevan Atteberry’s digital illustrations lend a hand to this family-friendly story perfect for a Halloween read aloud.

Frankie Stein was my son's library pick this past week. It turned out to be a really cute Halloween read.

Frankie Stein was born into a family with a long history of being scary. Cute little Frankie Stein didn't look scary at all so Mr. and Mrs. Stein set out to help Frankie fit in.

In the end, Frankie turned out to be the scariest Stein of all just by being himself. (As it turns out, hugs and kisses and cuteness will stop a monster right in his tracks!)

The illustrations in Frankie Stein were awesome. I think I'm going to be obsessed with hunting down more Kevan Atteberry books. We are going to have to add this book and Frankie Stein Starts School to our personal Halloween library.

If you are looking for a wonderfully illustrated Halloween book full of monsters, ghosts, and all things spooky without the book actually being spooky (so cute!), Frankie Stein is a perfect fit.

8/10: Great Read