Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: sheryl-recinos

The 2024 Little Peeps Award Spotlight for Children’s literature!
Books for Kids make Lifelong Readers!

Submissions for the Little Peeps Awards close at the end of September!

The Little Peeps Awards is our Division for the Children and Early Readers in your life. Introducing books from a young age creates lifelong Readers!

Finding the best books for a child is hard. While these books may be small, writing for children provides it’s own challenges. Needing to provide a moral to the story, something that teaches the reader without being obvious. Plus, adorable, bright and colorful art to go along with the story. For this age range, books need to stimulate imagination, creativity, and learning.

We also have some other Divisions aimed at younger age ranges. For Middle Grade (ages 6-13) see Gertrude Warner. For Young Adult (ages 14-18) see Dante Rossetti.

Our categories for the Little Peeps Awards are:
- Chapter books for grades K & 1
- Story Books
- Picture Books
- Self-Esteem
- Educational Books
- Experiences
- Holidays/ Traditions
- Exploring
- Interactive and Board Books
- Bedtime Stories
We are happy to celebrate the 2023 Winners of the Little Peeps Awards!
- Beth Davis – Lacinda the Lion is a Super Youneek Beast
- Adalgisa and David Nico – Fish in the Desert: The Untold Story of the Death Valley Pupfish
- Ruth Amanda – Geckos in the Garden
- Jonna Laster – Nutshell Regatta
- T.K. Sheffield – The Night Icelandic Horses Saved Christmas Eve
- Raven Howell – Friends Come in all Sizes
The Grand Prize Winner of The 2023 Little Peeps Award is:

The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans

by Shaziya M. Jaffer, Brad W. Rudover, and Jessica Alexanderson

Submit today to join this list of winners!

We’re excited to celebrate all the wonderful children’s books that are submitted to us!

Check out these great Early Reads!

ISLAND MOON
By Ruth Amanda

Ruth Amanda’s Island Moon is a magical moment captured in a poem.

The narrator lives on an island where the moon sings of fairies and the magic of the night. While out on a nighttime walk, the narrator breathes in the island scents and hears the waves kissing the shore. In the froth of the waves, and in the moon’s magical light reflecting on the water, the narrator sees the fairies dancing.

Read more here!

LET’S WORK SMARTER: Harmony Lane Adventures Book 2
By Katharine Mitropoulos

Katharine Mitropoulos’s Let’s Work Smarter, the second book of the Harmony Lane Adventures series, begins on a beautiful day at the Harmony Lane Farmer’s Market. There the residents are hoping to reach their fundraising goal to fix up the local playground.

The next day, after having met their fundraising goal, Mouse takes charge dividing everyone into groups, each with their own job to do. Kangaroo, Frog, and Kitten are tasked with planting a flower garden, which turns out to be hard work! They decide they just need to work harder to get the job done but end up making a mess. Cheetah and Mole work hard while cleaning up the sandbox, causing sticks and leaves to get all over the place. Painting the fence are Giraffe, Bear, and Bunny, who all have their own plan for the design.

Read more here!

YIMBY: Yes! In My Back Yard!
By Sheryl Recinos, illustrated by Amanda Ravensdale

In YIMBY! Yes In My Back Yard!, Sheryl Recinos presents a simple yet powerful story that speaks to the heart of human kindness and the need to help our fellow man.

Most people are familiar with the term NIMBY, the acronym for “Not In My Back Yard”, referencing opposition to the construction of something perceived as undesirable in one’s neighborhood. But this passionate and heart-warming children’s book offers a positive transformation to the word.

Read more here!

ESS-CAR-GO
By Ruth Amanda

With their park damp from the rain, seven snails line up for their next thrilling race in Ruth Amanda’s Ess-Car-Go!

Frogs, bugs, birds, and even a curious cat come to cheer on the famous snail racers, from the stylish Sterling to the easily-distracted Sherlock. And as each one runs into their own kind of trouble; this trophy could go to anybody!

Read more here!

NUTSHELL REGATTA
By Jonna Laster

In Nutshell Regatta by Jonna Laster, the narrator’s grandmother reveals adventures in nature that could easily be missed without her watchful eye.

With her wise guidance, clouds turn into campers, dandelions hold moon yokes, leaves sing, and a broken branch takes on the form of a fox. Most importantly, twigs and pebbles become sailors who embark on a grand regatta in their nutshell sloops and sailboats.

Read more here!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate these wonderful works for children!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs Levels of Achievement is so worthwhile! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each list is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter!

Your book deserves to be discovered.

Submit to the Little Peeps Awards today!
September 3, 2024
YIMBY: Yes! In My Back Yard! by Sheryl Recinos, illustrated by Amanda Ravensdale – Children’s Books, Homelessness, Community Organizing

In YIMBY! Yes In My Back Yard!, Sheryl Recinos presents a simple yet powerful story that speaks to the heart of human kindness and the need to help our fellow man.

Most people are familiar with the term NIMBY, the acronym for “Not In My Back Yard”, referencing opposition to the construction of something perceived as undesirable in one’s neighborhood. But this passionate and heart-warming children’s book offers a positive transformation to the word.

Alongside quality illustrations by Amanda Ravensdale, this story explores the concept that people everywhere, both young and old, need our help.

Whether a homeless man in the park accepting food or a warm coat in winter, an elder woman getting help from a teen to climb the stairs, or an adult and child being welcomed by a family offering shelter, each scene emphasizes that “everyone needs a place to live sleep and stay safe.”

In another instance we see a father and his children admire their work after they transform a small structure into a freshly painted safe haven for someone. To show just how far reaching the homeless problem is, one image depicts a Native American looking out over the vast western landscape dotted with mountain ranges and roaming bovine.

Ravensdale’s illustrations are brightly colored, with fine detail and texture.

From the close perspective of a doe-eyed girl sipping a warming drink, to the mixed gathering of community members, all pictures reflect the story’s core sentiment.

In this engaging work, Recinos also includes suggestions for helping those who need housing in our own communities.

Consider food and clothing drives, sack lunch programs, and letters to legislators voicing concerns about the homeless. Further interaction includes questions posed to the reader about additional help they might offer. Several organizations are listed to further the cause of ending homelessness, including havens for both the young and old, as well as programs for homeless veterans.

The final page depicts colorful drawings and bios of the author and illustrator.

Recinos’s own experience with homelessness as a teenager is clearly reflected in her choice of subject matter. Ravensdale was born into a multicultural family and was influenced by an artist father. Growing up in countries around the world gave her a vast exposure to a variety of people.

With the Supreme Court’s recent debate regarding ticketing the homeless, YIMBY couldn’t come at a more pressing time. Though written for children, the book’s message offers a thought-provoking and compelling experience to be shared by young and old alike.

July 19, 2024
HINDSIGHT: Coming of Age on the Streets of Hollywood by Sheryl Recinos, MD – Medical/Professional Biographies, Memoir, Teen Abuse/Homelessness, Mental Health/Family

Hindsight: Coming of Age on the Street of Hollywood by Sheryl Recinos presents a childhood fraught with family dysfunction caused by mental illness and emotional and psychological abuse. The two formative figures in Recinos’ life were negligible participants instead of the supportive, loving parents all children need to grow and thrive into adulthood.

While this memoir takes place in the 1980s and 90s, we can only hope the services that support runaways and dysfunction within families have improved. For example, her father’s main go-to plan for dealing with his daughter was to commit her to an asylum instead of doing the hard work of parenting.

Homelessness, a significant theme in this memoir, is continuously in the news, an issue that plagues every major city in America and occurs even in small towns and rural settings. Homelessness is one of those issues that many in America turn a blind eye to and ignore, but Recinos shines a light, bright and clear, on this issue, and knowing her story helps us understand this issue in a new way. It brings a face to embody homelessness and a possible answer to the question, why?

Why do people choose the street? Why do people refuse shelter? Why do some kids become flight risks? The answers may surprise you.

Recinos never places blame, of which there seems plenty to go around. Never blames her mentally ill mother, who, during a psychotic episode, put her and her brother in danger. She never blames her father and portrays him as a figure that we can sympathize with at times. She never blames the legal system that failed her time and again, penalizing her but never breaking her spirit. And she never condemns any of the men that rape or attack her. She doesn’t blame drugs or alcohol or any “friends” she meets along the way who rob her or worsen her situation.

Instead, Recinos tells the story of her teen-years with a pragmatic focus on the events. She never imposes her adult understanding of this world but focuses on her mental state at the time. What she produces is a raw and unapologetic story of a girl misunderstood, trying to survive in a world of neglect and abuse.

That she survives is a miracle. That she finds her way out of homelessness to become a successful contributing member of society, becoming a loving parent with no role model for such a thing is another.

Recinos breaks the cycle of abuse that drove her to the streets. She has become a champion of homeless teens. Her ability to see the injury she suffered through an unfiltered lens, and not accept it or be shaped by it, is why we love Dr. Recinos and her story.

This memoir is a page-turner, a tour de force, a blockbuster read that will have you laughing, crying, cringing, and hoping for something better for this young woman. You won’t be disappointed. Recinos delivers, and she does so with grace and talent. We highly recommend this intense and eye-opening memoir.

August 17, 2020