Tag: apryl stott

Find Your Brave (Apryl Stott)

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Hello, friends! Our book today is Find Your Brave: A Coco and Bear Story by Apryl Stott, a sweet tale of friendship and courage.

Pals Bear and Coco – who fans of Stott’s will remember from the author/illustrator’s previous title, Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light – are a perfect match, even if they are opposites. Bear is big and Coco is little; Bear is shy and Coco is brave. Yet when the pair step up onstage for the final dress rehearsal of their talent show dance performance, Coco sees the small audience and freezes – it seems as though she’s lost her brave! Naturally, her best pal Bear offers to help her get it back, but where should they start? And will they find Coco’s brave in time for the talent show?

Warm and sweet. Stott has a talent for taking highly relatable childhood lessons and exploring them with simple yet resonant stories and charming, fairy-tale illustrations. Bear and Coco’s friendship sets a lovely stage for a classic lesson on being brave, with the resolution stressing that fear and courage often coexist, and one must choose to let their brave be bigger than their scared. The gentle story and artwork strike a perfectly comforting yet encouraging tone for the subject matter, which makes for a lovely read-aloud, It’s a great length for a storytime, and JJ and I absolutely enjoyed it. We definitely recommend this one for a cozy and confidence-boosting read, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Almost Always Best, Best Friends (Apryl Stott)

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Hello, friends! Our book today is Almost Always Best, Best Friends by Apryl Stott, a sweet tale of friendship and communication.

Poppy the tiger and Clementine the llama (alpaca? sheep? adorable and fluffy regardless) are best, best friends. They love to spend the day together – playing, doing experiments, baking, and working on their bookmark-crafting business. One afternoon, Clementine is playing at the house of a new friend, Georgia, and Poppy is nervous that Clem will like Georgia better. When Clementine returns singing the praises of Georgia, Poppy feels betrayed and insecure, and lashes out. Can Poppy and Clementine repair their relationship, or is this the end of the best, best friends?

Heartwarming. Little bookworms’ friendships can often be plagued by jealousy, especially when a new figure upsets the status quo of an established friendship. In addition to exploring the idea that friendship is not a finite resource, and that best friends can come in threes just as well as twos, Stott also nicely works in a lesson on communicating feelings and the use of “I” statements (“I feel… when… because… What I need is…”). An extremely effective approach to conflict resolution, Stott introduces it in simple terms and shows how helpful it can be when trying to work out disagreements. Beyond that, the lovely watercolor and digital art is bursting with life and character (and flowers!), the length is great for an elementary storytime, and JJ enjoyed it. This is a gentle yet functional look at friendship dynamics for little ones, and we liked it a lot. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light (Apryl Stott)

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Hello, friends! Our book today is Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light by Apryl Stott, a sweet wintertime story of kindness and acceptance.

Coco (a little girl) and her best friend Bear (a bear) are a different as night and day. Coco is brave and outgoing, Bear is gentle and shy. What they both have in common, however, is that they are kind; in fact, it’s what they like best about each other. So when Coco finds out that the other animals in Bear’s forest are afraid and distrusting of him, she is flabbergasted – who could be afraid of her sweet Bear? Drawing inspiration from her grandmother’s favorite saying, Coco plans a campaign to show the forest animals what a wonderful friend Bear can be. But will kindness and light be enough to convince the others to look past Bear’s appearance?

Warm and delightful. Stott creates an original and memorable fable about unfair assumptions, told by immensely lovable characters and in a gorgeous winter woodland setting. There are some expositional moments that are a little lacking (more focus could have been pulled to the unexpected use of the lanterns that Bear and Coco made during the climax, for instance), but otherwise the story is a solid argument for not judging others by appearance or “race” (several characters are mistrusting of Bear not only because he is big, but explicitly because they do not believe bears to be trustworthy). The illustrations are lovely and the characters charming, especially the gentle-eyed Bear, who absolutely stole our hearts. The length is great for a storytime, and JJ really enjoyed it. A nice nondenominational wintertime story about the importance of kindness to others, and we recommend it. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)