Okay, so I thought this book was adorable. Of the six NetGalley picture books my 5yo and I read today, A Crocodile in the Family by Kitty Black was my favorite. The plot is simple: a family of birds adopt an egg they find in the jungle, and when an crocodile hatches out of it, all the other animals wonder why they keep him.

The illustrations are expressive and vibrant, the message is super sweet, and overall, the story is just light and fun. This is a story of belonging and love that doesn’t feel heavy handed, but still really hits those cute, wholesome beats. Totally recommend to anyone looking for solid cute picture book for ages 2-6.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My 5yo says he liked it, especially when the crocodile hatched and grew up, but he ranked it #5 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

Thanks for reading!

My 5yo LOVES dinosaurs… so we have read lots of dinosaurs books, and this one was an obvious pick for him. So of the six books we picked out and read today on NetGalley, it also wasn’t really a surprise that this was his favorite.

And there was a lot to like in this book! I really liked the colorful dinosaur renderings on each page, and the up-to-date information (like mentioning that T-Rex may have been covered in feathers and showing a picture of what that might look like.) It presented facts that were new to me and gets bonus point for mentioning coprolites (fossils of dinosaur poop) which naturally my 5yo found very interesting.

This book is set up in a simplistic format, with every chapter introduced by a paragraph or two, and then each page in the chapter basically has two dinosaur pictures and short facts about them. Although the facts seemed very loosely related to me, this did not bother my 5yo at all, and I was impressed by the number of dinosaurs shown. My only real nitpick is that I wished they included a pronunciation guide either in the back or on the pages, to help show you how to pronounce the dinosaur names, as we have found that very helpful in other dinosaur books.

Overall, I ranked this #3 out of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today, but I would definitely recommend to anyone with an avid dinosaur fan on their hands (ages 2-7). Because you can never really have too many dinosaur books.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC! 

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½ 

My 5yo said he liked learning about dinosaurs so he liked this book “a whole lot” (shocker) and he ranked it #1 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

😍

Thanks for reading!

I think this book could be accurately renamed “Cat and Toad Muse About the World.” Olive and Ginger by Xenia Mesot really reminded me an advanced version of Frog and Toad. The humor was a little subtle/advanced for my 5yo, but I think he got it when I explained it to him. Overall I thought the stories were clever and we enjoyed the lovely illustrations, but I was a little surprised that Olive and Ginger never actually do a whole lot. Mostly, they just talk about smells, singing, and water from their very different perspectives. Which was cute, but I felt like it was just missing a little something. I ranked it, and I’d still recommend for anyone looking for a cute, clever story for ages 5-7. (especially cat-lovers.)

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½

My 5yo says he liked it, especially when they were thinking through ideas, and he ranked it #4 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

Thanks for reading!

My 5yo is a big fan of animals, so we picked up Night Creatures: Animals That Swoop, Crawl, and Creep while You Sleep by Rebecca E. Hirsch to read together. Though this is a very short book, it details the sorts of animals, and the sights and sounds you might see camping in your backyard. I thought it had a peaceful vibe and I thought the illustrations were detailed and lovely—really capturing the night’s essence. My only nitpick would be that there isn’t a whole lot of narrative content in this short picture book (except for the informational details at the end), so it might be more suited to the 2-4yo crowd. Of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today, this one ranked #4/6 for me, but I would still recommend this book to young children learning about the wildlife in their own backyard.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½ 

In the end, my 5yo said he didn’t really like it because he doesn’t like night creatures except bats (uhh… okay. 🤨) So take that however you will, but he ranked this #6/6 NetGalley picture books we picked out today. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC! 

Five-year-old rating:

😕

Thanks for reading!

Meow is Not a Cat by Tara Kelly is a about a little kid that doesn’t quite fit in, and is totally rocking it. My 5yo and I picked this one for its cute premise, and we really enjoyed the beginning. I loved the vivid, almost comic book like illustrations, and I especially loved the cat’s dry commentary on Meow’s antics. The cat’s expressions are just fantastic. However, the end didn’t totally work for me. I actually had to go back because I thought I had somehow missed a page or two.

Basically Meow ends up stealing bananas from a bunch of monkeys, the monkeys & other kids get angry, and then Meow sadly wonders if they should be like everyone else… then we immediately hit the last page where Meow is just like NOPE! And everyone is happy all the sudden. (I actually just went and read it again to make sure this is accurate.) I still feel like I’m missing something, so I ranked this one #6 out of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ARC!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My 5yo says he liked it, especially the dancing at the end, and he ranked it #3 of the 6 NetGalley picture books we read today.

Five-year-old rating:

🙂

Thanks for reading!