It is a whole new month and I managed to complete both the UltimateBloggingChallenge  (UBC) and the AtoZChallenge  in the month of April! After having started off the year decently with the UBC in January, the next two months saw a slide (downhill) in the number of posts, which is when I decided I needed something more to get me back on track. So thank you to both UBC and AtoZChallenge for providing the inspiration to keep going in the challenge itself and the wonderful community of bloggers who also participated in them.  My reflections post for both these challenges will come in later this week.

Now it is May, and both those challenges are done. So it is up to me to keep it going. This is my attempt at it – to get back to my initially planned theme for the week – with my first Magic Monday post for May. And such an apt post as well, as it is the beginning of Children’s Book Week (May 1 – 7, 2017). Check out the link for more information and fun stuff for this week. 

Argyle Fox
by Marie Letourneau

The age-old ‘Try, try, and try again, and you will succeed’ moral is told in this story using charming illustrations full of color, and a really chweet fox! After trying out a multitude of things (that feel too many for him) to play outside on a windy day, Argyle Fox has decided he does not want to play outside anyways. But his mom’s quiet suggestion to think a little harder prompted him to, well, think; and he came up with the perfect solution to enjoy the windy day outside, and have his friends enjoy with what he played with too!! The pictures play their part in the telling of the story too as the wind plays havoc with each of Argyle’s creative ideas to play outside, until his final ‘eureka’ moment.
This is a great read-aloud book where you could possibly enact the scenes either indoors or outdoors to make it a great fun read for young readers.

Additional note about the author: Marie also illustrated a few other books that I have truly enjoyed. They include Is a Worry Worrying You?, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Mermaids, and was the author and illustrator for The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Frères.

Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs
by Susan Schaefer Bernardo

This book is as beautiful as sun kisses and moon hugs themselves! You can always feel the love of loved ones, everywhere around you, in everything that surrounds you – this book effortlessly and oh-so-sweetly conveys that message with lyrics that flow soothingly and with illustrations bright and beautiful that seem to pop out of the pages!
You traverse the seasons of the year, and travel across the world as you read the book – and using the sweet lyrics; and the vibrant illustrations, the story tells you that love is forever! This will be perfect to read for kids who are moving away from loved ones, for parents who travel to read to their kids, for grandparents to read to grandkids when they live away from each other (or for helping kids deal with separation anxiety or from loss of a loved one).  Hugs and kisses via the moon and the sun,  love sent in delightful parcels that nature provides all around you — perfect!!!
First published in 2012, this book will be available 20 May 2017 in paperback as well.
Reread factor: 5/5

Disclaimer:Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital
review copy of these books reviewed today. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on
these books were in no way influenced by the author or publicist. They are my
personal opinions formed when I read them.

Linking both these books below to What are you Reading? From Picture Books to YA at Teach Mentor Texts