Hello friends! Today, we read How To Find Gold by Viviane Schwarz, a cute little tale about a girl, her crocodile, and a hidden treasure.

Anna and her crocodile friend decide that they want to do something dangerous and difficult. “Let’s find gold!” suggests Anna, and they set about preparing to find gold. First, they practice their secret-keeping faces, then Anna decides that she is strong enough by lifting Crocodile. They know they need a map with an X, so they draw one. They set off in their boat and spot a scary storm on the horizon, and sail straight in! Will the friends find their gold?

This was a really cute book with two great messages: all things are possible with imagination, and don’t be afraid of the dangerous or difficult, especially if you have a good friend beside you (I especially loved that a female protagonist was embodying this message, and a POC at that). The book is also a lot of fun to read: the nonsensical and deliberately illogical conversations definitely feel like they come from the mind of a child, and are quite funny. The illustrations are sweet, then magical, then sweet again in turn. Our only issue was that it was starting to border on too long for a one-year-old, but JJ still sat through the book without too much wiggling, and slightly older kids definitely would. Baby Bookworm approved!