A Good Place

Four bugs are searching for a place to call home in A GOOD PLACE. Each of the insect friends has a desired home, and although they find the desired features, they end up being not the right place. For instance, they find the flowers Bee wanted, but they end up being on a busy sidewalk as they see someone walking near. They are not sure they will ever find the right place when Butterfly comes and shows them over the wall, where a boy has created a great garden that is a good place for all of them.

What I loved: This is a simple but cute read about finding the right place where you can belong as well as inclusiveness. The book also has tones about environmentalism with the importance of gardens and caretaking coming through these insects search for home. The illustration style is similar to the Maisy books, with bright, vivid colors, bold outlines, and cartoonish characters, and readers who enjoy Maisy will appreciate the connections and simple style. This may inspire some gardening in young readers.

The large, bold font is easy to read aloud and emphasized words will be great for young children who are beginning to recognize words. The book reads pretty quickly and pages turn fast, which is great for toddlers and preschoolers.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, some of the elements may need extra explanations, such as the "bug off" being sprayed on a plant to chase them away (the text does not quite capture what is happening there as the label is on the bottle), and they are then coughing and described as sick. Some other elements felt a little random, such as Beetle laying eggs in the dead wood of the garden at the end. These were relatively minor things, but it just did not flow super-smoothly through the story.

Final verdict: A GOOD PLACE is a cute picture book read about trying to find a place to belong and the environment. This would work well for toddlers and preschoolers.