A friend of mine from college has published a board book!  Imagine my delight when the book was excellent, and I felt like I could recommend it to librarians…

My Amazing Day:  A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude by Karin Fisher-Golton, Lori A. Cheung and Elizabeth Iwamiya.  Pacific Dogwood Press, $8.99 (978-0-9896145-1-1)

Clear, simple words and beautiful, engaging photographs combine with clean design to make this a very appealing board book for young children and their caregivers to share.  We follow a charming toddler through her day, from waking up to birdsong to eating breakfast (“I ate squishy and sweet”) to playing with parents and pets to bath time (“I made water jump, jump, jump.”) to a snuggly bedtime (“Then I was warm, cozy, and just right”).  The final pages include a small photo of the essence each experience with a thank you (“Thank you banana!”).

According to the book’s website, My Amazing Day is one of very few books that addresses gratitude for the 0-3 year-old age group in a way that does not rely on any particular spiritual path. Wonder and gratitude are fabulous things to nurture in children, but a book like this could easily become sentimental. I’m not a big fan of didactic books.  This book, however, has such engaging photos, clean design, and child-friendly words and concepts that it is wonder-ful, not maudlin. I think kids and families–and children’s librarians–will love to get their hands on this!

I believe there may be some special library pricing.  To find out, send an email to [email protected].