Danny Parker

Toby, a little boy wears a parachute like a security blanket. He feels that his parachute keeps him safe, as he fears many things. As the story continues, Toby climbs up to a tree house where his friend Henry is waiting for him. He lets Henry use his parachute to get down, and then he realizes that he's all alone. He climbs down slowly, and little, by little makes his way all the way down safely. He was brave, and as the story continues, Toby forgets his parachute and uses it less and less.

A book that is useful for showing kids how being brave sometimes helps us to learn that we can be brave other times too, and how we don't even need help to feel safe, and do things on our own. This book gently walks young children through coping with anxiety and relying on help less and less until they don't need it anymore.… (más)

Australian author/illustrator team Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood, who would go on to collaborate on Molly and Mae: A Friendship Journey, first worked together here, on this lovely picture-book. A gentle text in rhyme sets out the activities of the perfect day, whether it be raining or shining, while the accompanying artwork depicts three siblings and their cat companion engaged in said activities...

With a simple but expressive text in rhyme - "Some sunshine and something to nibble. / Some space with enough room to scribble. / An apron and big bowls for mixing. / Some glue, and some things that need fixing" - and gorgeous pencil and acrylic artwork, Perfect is... well, practically perfect. If it had tugged a little more on my heartstrings, it might have been one of my rare five star titles. As it is, it is a very high 4.5 stars. Parker and Blackwood capture the magic of playing outside on warm, sunny days, and the enchantment of playing indoors on rainy evenings. Blackwood also captures the perfect charm of a beautiful feline, in the form of the children's cat companion, who is a simply delightful participant in all the day's doings. Recommended to fellow fans of Freya Blackwood - I'm a huge admirer! - as well as to those looking for gentle, almost contemplative stories about long days of play and fun.… (más)

This book is a story about instant friendship and how friendships can have their ups and downs at times. Molly and Mae meet on a train ride, they instantly connect and become friends. They play throughout the entire train ride. However, at some point Molly and Mae have a disagreement and Mae left to sit by her mom. After some time apart both Molly and Mae realize that they are best friends and that they will have disagreements but that doesn't mean they aren't friends. This is an important story because it shows how friendships and all relationships can be rocky at times. It is a good book for children because it shows that when they have a disagreement with their friend or someone else they should not give up on them and should try again.… (más)