Children's books that I read yesterday

Measuring Up ~ by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu, 2020, children's comic, 208 pages, 9/10

Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.  Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids' cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket.  There’s just one problem:  Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.  And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child.  Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?

Blob ~ written and illustrated by Anne Appert, 2021, children's picture book, 40 pages,10/10

Blob is a creature of indeterminate kind.  Blob can be a giraffe, cotton candy, and even an octopus.  It’s not until a certain someone continuously calls them "Bob" that Blob starts to question who they really are.  After a series of funny yet enlightening discoveries about all the possible things they can be, Blob realizes that the best thing to be is . . . Blob. (With the L.)

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners ~ by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho, 2021, picture book, 40 pages, 10/10 

A young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from the eyes of her peers.  They have big, round eyes and long lashes.  She realizes that her eyes are like her mother's, her grandmother's, and her little sister's.  They have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future.  Drawing from the strength of these powerful women in her life, she recognizes her own beauty and discovers a path to self-love and empowerment.

 

Five books about famous people:

1. I Am Jackie Robinson ~ by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos, 2015, children's picture book, 40 pages, 8/10
2. I Am Rosa Parks ~ by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos, 2014, children's picture book, 40 pages, 8/10
3. I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos, 2016, children's picture book, 32 pages, 8/10
4. I Am George Washington ~ by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos, 2016, children's picture book, 40 pages, 8/10
5. I Am Abraham Lincoln ~ by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos, 2014, children's picture book, 40 pages, 8/10