Blackout (2011) - John Rocco

I love the idea behind Blackout and the execution of it: The power goes out in a city block, forcing a family to abandon their phones, computers, video games, cooking and anything else connected with electricity. Of course, the story is about how families can reconnect without technology (always a good lesson) and the doors that simpler times allowed.

The artwork is gorgeous and the nighttime scenes are simply wonderful. The book might work as a storytime prospect, but programmers may have to fill in some gaps for the kids, asking questions like "What are they doing here?" and such. (Younger kids who live in Suburbia might also need to have some aspects of "city life" explained.)

Storytelling  4
Color Attractiveness  4
Size of Book  3
Text Size  3
Illustrations  3
Participation Potential  3 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3

Animal Baths (2011) - Bob Barner

Animal Baths is a simple, colorful, fun book that would be great for a Bathtime or Nighttime Storytime. The colors are big and vibrant with a great mix of animals kids love. Kids can easily identify most of the animals and can learn about some (like the manatee) that might be unfamiliar. The last two pages (which would be great for one-on-one) teach the correlation between each particular animal and getting clean. Good clean fun!

Storytelling  4
Color Attractiveness  5
Size of Book  5
Text Size  5
Illustrations  5
Participation Potential  4  
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 5