Children’s Book Review: Let’s Join In by Shirley Hughes

Let’s Join In by Shirley Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I learned of Shirley Hughes from Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook. We just picked up this one and another of her books from the library this morning.

Let’s Join In is an adorable book. It’s a collection of four short stories for the preschool set, “Hiding,” “Giving,” “Chatting,” and “Bouncing.” The illustrations are detailed, kinetic, and fun, and the stories capture the spirit of young childhood well. I love the feeling of togetherness and love that’s evident between the big sister and the baby. The stories convey a sense of understanding and empathy with the joys and trials of both the children who enjoy the stories and the grown-ups who read them aloud. The picture that accompanies the text, “When Mom is busy, she says that there are just too many chatterboxes around,” could have been of me and my kids during dinner prep.

This is one my two-year-old asked me to read again as soon as I closed the back cover. (Actually, I’m not sure if this is a positive or a negative.)

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