Tag: confidence

12 Feb

The Name Jar

by Maddy

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Written and illustrated by Yangsook Choi Like it! Read along with Unhei, a young Korean girl who has just moved to the United States with...

02 Feb

Ages 6-8

Isaac and His Amazing Asperger Superpowers!

by Maddy

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Written and illustrated by Melanie Walsh Like it! This book goes through a really accurate and easy-to-understand explanation of many of the results of asperger’s...

31 Jan

Ages 6-8

I Love My Hair!

by Maddy

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Written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, illustrated by E. B. Lewis Like it! This is a beautiful, imaginative book filled with rich imagery and metaphors. It...

25 Jan

Ages 3-5

Dino School: Pete Can Fly!

by Maddy

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Written by Bonnie Williams, illustrated by John Gordon Like it! This book shows a pair of dinosaur friends: one who is a T-Rex and one...

23 Jan

Ages 6-8

The Day You Begin

by Maddy

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Written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael Lopez Like it! This book shows four kids at school who are facing challenges because of their differences–one...

Find books you want to read with your child by browsing by age, take a look at the themes list to find a topic that aligns with your values, or browse the list of all books I’ve reviewed. Each book has a rating and brief description to help you decide if you want to buy it, check it out from the library, or leave it on the shelf! Be sure to check out my Rating System Explained page to understand why each book has its particular rating.
Once you have a book you like, check out the During the Reading section on that book’s review. These sections are full of suggestions for things you can do and talk about with your child. What’s important to understand is that those suggestions are not intended to be used as an exactly prescribed procedure! Instead, I hope that you utilize them as they fit best with your family. You can take some or all suggestions exactly as I’ve written, modify ideas to better fit your child, or choose not to use them altogether.
Subscribe and I’ll send you an email with the books I’ve reviewed that week. That will make it easy for you to quickly browse and see if anything catches your eye for some fresh reading! After all, nobody wants to get stuck reading the same bedtime story every. single. night.

My name is Maddy! I am a Seattle native, popcorn lover, and I have a passion for developmental psychology. I graduated from Brigham Young University with my bachelor’s degree in human development, where I studied and researched the way in which all the influences in people’s lives shape them cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically.

During my last semester, I also had a baby! As my husband and I were preparing for new parenthood, we knew reading high quality books with our daughter would be a hugely important influence in her development, but we were overwhelmed by how many choices of books there were. That’s why I decided to create a place where parents could come to find which picture books will be most beneficial for their child and align with their personal parenting goals.