Cosmo and the Robot

Cosmo and the Robot 

by Brian Pinkney

This book is about a boy named Cosmo who lives on the planet Mars. When his friend Rex the robot breaks, his parents buy him the new Solar System Utility Belt to cheer him up. With his new belt, he is able to fix his robot friend. My kids liked this book. I, on the other hand, was not a big fan. There was nothing wrong with the book, it just seemed to have a kid-friendly sci-fi feel to it and I am just not a big sci-fi fan.

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.

by Jean Marzollo

Illustrated by Brian Pinkney

We really enjoyed this book about Martin Luther King! When we read the very first page, my daughter noticed that his birthday was January 15th, which is tomorrow! She immediately asked if we could have a birthday celebration for him. As we read through the book, I was very impressed with how the book was written with a young child in mind. The only part that I skipped over was that he was shot and killed. In the introduction of the book, Marzollo even acknowledges that "it isn't, after all, necessary to tell very young children the harsh details about Reverend King's death in order to convey to them the central message of his inspirational leadership" and even suggests to simply say that Martin Luther King "died" in 1968. We really enjoyed this book and I feel that it was very age-appropriate for my kids.