The Pillow Parade Teaches Children About Passion and Resilience - A Book Review

The Pillow Parade: Children's Bedtime Book

Author: Edward Dron

Illustrator: Hong Anh

Publisher: Noisy Orchard Press

Publication Date: December 9, 2017

Length: 38 Pages


About the Author
Ed Dron enjoys writing fun little stories that capture a child’s short attention span. He loves the challenge of condensing a story into as few words as possible, without losing its charm or narrative.

Ed believes that, first and foremost, a children’s book needs to be fun. It should not only nurture their curiosity but also spark a lifelong love of books and reading.

No Sleep - No Problem!
Olive the rabbit loves to leap and bounce all over the place. One day, she meets a sheep and challenges him to a race. He does not have time to race because he is late to his jumping club.

Members of the Pillow Parade Jumping Club jump over a fence to help children fall asleep at night. Everyone knows that counting sheep will make you sleepy, right?

Olive wants to join the jumping club because of her passion for jumping and her desire to help the children. Unfortunately, only sheep are allowed to join the jumping club. Olive is a rabbit and would not be accepted in this exclusive club for sheep.

Olive does not let this rejection get her down and she does not give up. She BOUNCES into action and hatches a great plan for helping children who are not able to see the sheep jumping over the fence because they live in a tall apartment building.

But, Olive did not pout or cry.
She simply smiled and waved goodbye.
And as a clever bunny would,
She had a plan that was quite good.

Olive becomes an honorary member of the Pillow Parade Jumping Club because of her great jumping skill and her kind heart.

Never Give Up Until You Are Proud
This book illustrates a wonderful growth mindset and the power of passion, perseverance and resilience. 

The rhyming text is fun and the beautiful color illustrations provide value to the story. I read a digital version of this book on a 7" Kindle ereader and the formatting is very good.  

This book is a bedtime story for children and so much more. Rejection is very difficult to deal with for children (and adults). We all want to be accepted and embrace a feeling of belonging. When Olive was not allowed to join the Pillow Parade Jumping Club, she immediately started thinking about "Plan B". She did not waste time feeling sorry for herself or getting revenge on those who rejected her. She "had a plan that was quite good."

I highly recommend this book for children of all ages.  

My Rating: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS

FYI ~ The author sent me a free digital copy of this book and asked me for an honest review. 

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Kindle Books For Kids: Mary had a Sleepy Sheep by Julia Dweck



Mary had A Sleepy Sheep

Author: Julia Dweck
Illustrator: Wilson Williams, Jr.

Publisher: Xist Publishing

Date: September 5, 2013




About the Author
Julia Dweck writes children's stories for digital and traditional publication. Her stories span the spectrum of humor, fantasy, and edutainment in rhyme and in prose. Julia's background in elementary education affords her the opportunity to be in touch with what children want to read about and what makes them giggle.

A New Twist on a Beloved Nursery Rhyme
Ms. Dweck has written an entertaining "altered nursery rhyme" that kids will absolutely love.

Mary had a little lamb...and a big problem. The "sleepy sheep" was always falling asleep in the wrong places and sleeping way too much. I am not a doctor, but it sounds like this poor lamb was suffering from narcolepsy.

Mary tried everything she could think of to keep her lamb awake. Nothing seemed to work until she remembered what people do when they CAN'T sleep.

My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this rhyming story about Mary and her "sleepy sheep".  I read the book on my Kindle Fire. There are four lines of text with each full-screen color illustration. The formatting is excellent and the illustrations are outstanding. I love the landscape orientation and the way the pages fill the entire screen.

This is a fun and light-hearted story. There might be children who can relate to the lamb's problem of sleeping too much. This is also a good lesson in problem solving...Mary was very persistent.

There are some surprises at the end of the story. The author shares the text of the original "Mary had a Little Lamb" nursery rhyme. She also reveals that a little mouse named "Whiskers" is hidden on each page. This will have kids eagerly searching each and every page until they locate the mouse. The final treats are Activity Pages and a list of the author's favorite links to fun sites on the Internet.

This story is appropriate for reading aloud to young children or independent reading for older students. I don't think kids ever get tired of reading/hearing a beloved Mother Goose rhyme.

Highly Recommended!

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher. This book is available to pre-order on Amazon.Com and will be released next week.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.