Celebrate Animals rounds out Heidi Bratton’s Celebrate series by helping children rejoice in God’s creation of animals by remembering how Noah and his family cared for animals of different kinds (Genesis 6-8). Among the pictures are families interacting with deer, a boy holding a giant frog, and a parent and child’s hands petting a hedgehog together… The black-and-white candid photographs invite the reader into the scene, and young children will enjoy vicariously interacting with these most interesting animals. An excellent choice.

Age 00-04. 5 Stars. Celebrate Family is a joyful presentation of the many blessings God gives through our families…. A joy-filled read, which complements the rest of the Celebrate series.

Age 00-04. 5 Stars. Celebrate Feelings… illustrates Paul’s comparison in 1 Corinthians 12:14-27 of the Christian church to a human body. The parts of the body are named, their functions are described, and they are wonderfully illustrated with candid black-and-white pictures of young children. Then comes a transition from body parts which work together, to individuals helping each other and working together like one body. This analogy is particularly appropriate for young children, who think in very concrete terms.

Age 00-04. 5 Stars. It takes a gifted author to communicate complex concepts both for adults and to children, and Bratton’s rich experience as a mother and gifted writer shines. Her text is comfortingly repetitive, developing simple concepts from Scripture so they are crystal clear… Rather than using extraordinary, airbrushed subjects for her photos, she focuses on ordinary individuals, captured in extraordinary moments. The result is an inviting, appealing experience both for read-aloud and toddler “read”-alone play.

Age 00-04. 5 Stars. The story is told with well-paced, pleasant repetition and a funny, dramatic climax with a visual joke at the end, as Baba inspects the mysteriously enlarged mitten. Nicki is a likable and energetic child with a nurturing, sensible adult caretaker, and the animals are rendered in their animal characters, with only a shade of human personality. But it is the gorgeous illustrations that really make this story… This story will surprise and delight children from a wide range of ages, from toddlers (there is a simplified board book version just for them) to readers.

Age 00-04. 4 Stars. Big Red Barn is one of those classic baby books that provokes either charm or annoyance in adult readers, and delight in young listeners… It’s a good fit for both preverbal toddlers and children who are just beginning to understand how story events progress in sequence. It’s a very nice choice for both boys and girls.

Age 00-04. 3 Stars. This is a straightforward introductory science book intended for preschoolers… The text is readable and understandable for young explorers, and the illustrations are adequate, but not memorable. It engagingly invites children to interact with the element while providing larger categories for them to think about it. This makes an excellent public library checkout to build on (or prepare them for) direct experience with snow.

Age 00-04. 4 Stars. Christelow takes this rhyme and illustrates it with cheery, lively colored-pencil illustrations, with a monkey mama and her five children… The book is well illustrated, cheery, and lively, and toddlers will love the rhythmic repetition. One could wish that the opening and closing of the book rhymed as well, but it’s still a fun read.

Age 00-04. 3 Stars. This book is a kind of combination of a traditional Nativity retelling and the popular board book Big Red Barn… The illustrations… depict a modern couple having a baby in an American-style barn… The text doesn’t flow as well as Brown’s other books, but it’s a pretty good one-time read.

Age 00-04. 4 Stars. The Story of Christmas tells the traditional Nativity story, pleasantly illustrated with a single sentence describing each important scene… This is not an essential addition to a Christian family’s observance of Christmas, but is a very nice read-aloud for very young listeners. It covers the events in a detailed enough way that they will be familiar when the listener is ready for a fuller version. Its illustrations are more detailed than other Nativity board books I have seen and ought to provide some interest for toddler “read-alone” time as well as read-aloud.