Reading: OLLIE'S BACKPACK - Riya Aarini (author), Virvalle Carvallo (illustrator)

Ollie is a happy school kid with a vivid imagination, who carries his trusty backpack with him all the time. The backpack is as light and carefree as Ollie is, until a bad day at and after school finds the young boy tossing extras into it (a paper with a bad grade, an extra granola bar his classmate turned down, a wheel broken off his bike, a dried-up sunflower he'd been trying to grow) - each item metaphorically representing a burden - a letdown - Ollie has taken on his own shoulders emotionally. Even a singing trophy he's just won - great news! -- still only weighs down his already overburdened backpack, and when Ollie finally rests under the shade of a huge tree, his backpack so heavy now he needs a breather, it's there the frowning kid gets his sunshine back, when he learns that sometimes you just have to let things go (both physically and emotionally) - even find the right place for the good things, like a shiny new trophy - if you want to keep your load (and step) light. It's a big, kind of heady topic for a picture book for early readers, but author Riya Aarini and illustrator Virvalle Carvallo create a wonderful, upbeat spirit in Ollie and his world via colorful, lively illustrations and talking animals and trees that help steer Ollie in the right direction. While some parents might feel the message a bit over the heads of real young kids, the fact Aarini doesn't talk down to her readers makes the book perfect for parents and their children to interact and discuss the message of knowing when to release life's burdens that lies within these pages. (Available July 12)  3.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.