Lindsay WardReseñas

The Fall Festival needs pumpkins, so the hard working trucks go out into the night to collect some. But something goes wrong and only teamwork can make it better. A fun rhyming story.
The illustrations by the author are fun, colorful, and delightful.
Well suited for reading alone or WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Two Lions via NetGalley. Thank you

On the first day of school, two girls become friends; through the school year, they exchange notes, hunt for nature treasures (pebbles, feathers, acorns, worms), and share cookies. On the final day of school, it's clear their friendship will continue into the summer. "Our adventures have just begun..."

In an author's note, Ward remembers collecting treasures as a girl, but never having pockets in her clothing, unlike her sons.

Illustrations: printmaking inks, cut paper, pastels, colored pencils, acrylic paint, digitally assembled

See also: My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away for Meg Medina, In A Jar by Deborah Marcero½

116

EducatingParents.org rating: Under Review

Pink feels excluded because they are not part of the rainbow. Even though the rainbow colors tell pink it’s fine for Pink to hang out with them, Pink doesn’t feel welcome until they find many other colors that are also not part of the rainbow.

Very cute drawings. I like reading all of the color names but all of the language is very casual which I enjoy reading to myself but don’t like reading out loud.

What I loved most about this book is that it's kind of interactive. What I mean is that the dinosaur (Dexter) wants you to talk to him. A child reading this book would definitely try and talk back to him, whether they are reading it on their own or someone is reading the story to them. He's most definitely talking to you.

Dexter is scared. He got left in the doctor's office and he doesn't know where his friend Jack is. He tries to find him and even tries to escape. When he thinks all is lost Jack comes back. You just know he wouldn't be able to leave Dexter behind.. they have a bond. They even have a song!

I love books that a child can interact with. They always seem to get into them more. Especially when the reader can add more "emotion" to the book.

The illustrations are cute. Though I kind of wish they didn't look so washed out. Dexter is an orange dinosaur. The first few pages and the last few add more color; blues and a hint of green. However the pages in the middle are more yellow and crayon like orange. To me it all just blends together. I appreciate that the words are scattered all around. It helps my eyes travel throughout the pages. I also like that it looks like a crayon drawing. However these illustrations just aren't my favorite.

I enjoyed the story though and think small children would as well.½

This is a great book. The story is magical, the illustrations are lovely and help to enhance the magic.

Enjoy! Enjoy!

A picture book about talking colors. Gray wants to make a book that is entirely gray, but the other colors keep saying it's creepy and eventual vandalize Gray's book so that it looks like a color wheel threw up on it...and then Gray is happy about being bullied and having his work destroyed.

I just really freaking hate this book.½

Very cute book about colors and about fitting in. Loved the puns and my daughter really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed how the author played with color (pun intended). Gray is tired of being left out. So he decides to tell a story, but the colors keep butting in and thinking something is going to eat the cat. This is great for laughs, great for colors, and actually great for talking about difference with people and things.

Cute and fun, but challenging for a preschooler

My four year old enjoyed the book, though we had to stop for a lot of the vocabulary. I think a decent proportion of adults would have trouble with words like "achromatic" too. The story was also built around a metanarrative in a way that was challenging for him to understand. He still enjoyed it, and I appreciated it too.

I had a pull to read this and I was so pleased! It just put a huge smile on my face! I loved it! Cuteness overload, there!

great rhyme; good story, too

Fun rhyme scheme, exciting story, and cute characters.½

Poor Gray: he's always left out from all of the coloring fun with his rainbow colored friends. So Gray hatches a plan to write/illustrate a book using only the color gray. When his colorful friends start interjecting, comedy ensues.

This title got at least 10 chuckles out of me! I think the shtick between colors and the visual gags would be appreciated by an older crowd: 2nd grade to infinity!

I learned a lot about WW2 and the tractors.

I liked the concept -- gray is a color too and deserves its own book! (Or at least one other than Fifty Shades of Gray?) -- but the creator didn't seem to trust in it herself, beginning with the two spots of pink on the main character's face. The conflict introduced with the arrival of the primary colors was actually fun, but a second wave of secondary colors added too much color to the book, and a third wave with black and white was starkly useless.

Again, for those who like a bit of darkness in their kiddie lit, there is a story within the story about a kitten who perhaps should not be hanging out with a hungry wolf and hippo that provides the only laughs in the book.

Rosie, the tractor, apparently was manufactured in a factory by Rosie the Riveter and went to live in a field worked by the Women's Land Army. I don't really like the juxtaposition of all these historical elements. While it's a cute children's book, it doesn't quite work if one wants a book with historical accuracy. This was offered in Kindle format as a benefit of Amazon Prime in March 2020. No review was required.

flying with a dino

The color Gray feels left out all the time, being overshadowed by the brighter colors. So Gray decides to write a story that involves all gray things -- a wolf, a hippo, etc. But the other colors keep interrupting, until Gray realizes that he can be included but the whole story doesn't need to be gray.

This is a nice story about friendship and making sure to include others. It has some humorous moments as well, which is sure to entertain children. (When I was recently babysitting an 8-year-old charge, he picked this particular title as his favorite from among the dozen or so books we read together.) Kids who enjoyed books such as The Day the Crayons Quit, 123 versus ABC, and The Black and White Factory will likely enjoy this title as well.

This book could make a nice readaloud, but be sure to have several character voices ready for each of the colors. The illustrations fit the text well.

Dexter the Dino is going on vacation. His human is taking him to Florida. But this isn’t just another car trip, it’s their first time on an airplane, and it is so big and scary. But with a little friendship they can get through anything. The story is nice and serves a purpose, but I felt it was a bit overdone. The Dino could not stop talking.

Goodreads Choice Awards Project: Read as many of the opening round Best Picture Book nominees as possible. 5 to go!

Oh, look, a decent Two Lions book. Dexter is an odd looking but cute enough little dinosaur off on a vacation to Florida with his kid. (I'm a little unclear as to whether Dexter is a living pet or an imaginary friend/toy a la Calvin & Hobbes.) The book addresses fear of flying in a manner that both amuses and may serve as a springboard for discussion with your child about their fears.

Just a little bit of nothing about a couple young brothers playing and fighting. Too many exclamation points, not enough substance.