This is such a lovely story or friendship, acceptance and love. My kids an dI have read it many times already. It shows how one word or gesture can knock a person down or can build a person up. It highlights the importance of always thinking before you act, thinking before you speak and not speaking at all if you've nothing good to say. It's a must read for all people. both young and old in today's difficult to navigate world.

Gender expression in young children requires careful consideration. Its not fair to repress a child's natural exuberance but at the same time adults want to protect a child from the pain of being misunderstood or judged. That's what we see in this book, parents and older siblings trying to stop Angus from wearing his necklace with an assortment of lame excuses. He is utterly destroyed and his joy for the necklace is wrecked by a few thoughtless comments. I appreciated that Smith doesn't try to categorize Angus's enjoyment of the necklace. This isn't about being pretty or elegant. It's wordless joy and wonder. This book provides reassurance for kids who don't fit the mold and reminds observers to be conscious of the way respond to unique children.

Angus All Aglow tells the story of a little boy who adores sparkly things. His grandmother notices him admiring her necklace and gives it to him. However, when he tries to wear it, his family and classmates all express their disapproval or dismay. Angus tries to rip it off and the necklace breaks. He finds that the world doesn't sing to him anymore like it used to. However, when a friend shows him that she has collected the beads from the necklace, he finds his joy again in her support and they fashion two bracelets out of the necklace. A lovely story of accepting yourself and others, allowing gender creativity, and friendship.

Young Angus loves things that sparkle and shine. One day, his gran gives him a bright beautiful necklace with many strands of colourful beads. Delighted with his gift, Angus wears it to school. Unfortunately, his classmates are not as thrilled with his sparkly prize and tease him over it. Disheartened, Angus loses his love for the bright and shiny. That is, til one sweet girl helps him rekindle that love.

My cubs and I adored this book! I'm very much for tolerance, acceptance, and, anthropologist that I am, cultural awareness. Everyone is unique and different, and that should be respected. Angus found a friend that fully accepted him just as he was. To me, Angus seems like he has a form of synesthesia. He hears shiny things, and that makes his world even more interesting. Not sure if he really does, but I'd like to think so. Plus, the artwork is adorable!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Orca Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved “Angus All Aglow.” The story was perfect - it didn’t need to define anything, Angus just wanted to be himself. His grandma was my favorite character and I loved the illustrations.

As a speech language pathologist working with young children, I must emphasize how many children should read Angus All Aglow. It’s a sweet, little story of acceptance and friendship. The illustrations help support the text about an amazing child, Angus, who loves sparkling things, both words and objects. His grandmother gives him her sparkly necklace for a day at school. His mates don’t embrace his love for his choices and the necklace breaks. His friend, Melody, helps him make a new one to help him feel better and feel accepted. I’m in love with the character, Angus, and his gentle nature. I’m so glad Angus finds someone to connect with in the end. It’s a story of acceptance and it could be a great teaching tool for preschool teachers, librarians and therapists who work with young children. Love the illustrations, that enhance each page of the book! This book shows us sometimes all we need is a friend. A solid five stars!

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This delightful story highlights gender stereotypes, loyal friendship, celebrating differences and boosting self-esteem, all qualities that kids need to hear about these days.

Angus is an adorable little boy who happens to love all things sparkly. He is so tuned into their beautiful auras that he hears them snap, crackle and pop. He adores sparkly words too such as lustrous, scintillating, gleaming and his all-time favourite.... glistening. Mmmm... mmmmm... divine!!!!

His loving Grandma June notices how much Angus admires her sparkly necklace one day while they are playing cards together and slips it off of her neck and onto his.


"Angus felt a twinkling deep inside his belly.
It was his inner sparkle fizzy and warm.
Angus sparkled from the inside and out."



Angus is in heaven. The next morning he decides to celebrate his precious gift by wearing it school. The reaction he receives from his classmates is anything but praise and adoration. They tease and malign him making him feel ashamed and his feelings are very hurt, so much so that he loses his ability to hear and connect to the sparkles he sees around him. Oh my!

Poor Angus. Will he ever recover from the ridicule and meanness that was bestowed upon him by his unkind peers?

Luckily one friend, Melody Daniels, takes it upon herself to step up and lead Angus back to happiness. She offers him kindness and understanding and in so doing he discovers a kindred spirit in her towards all things sparkly. The book points out that friends do exist and that friendship is a very powerful thing. Having a wonderful, supportive friend can lift your spirits, bring enjoyment into your life and build up your confidence and self-esteem.

I love this book and feel it should be in every classroom and school library. It boasts a relevant, positive message and is a perfect segue into a discussion on friendship, tolerance, kindness and celebrating uniqueness. I highly recommend this book.

I like this story, but I feel something is missing. Angus loves things that sparkle. His grandmother gives him a very sparkly necklace that he wears to school and gets teased about. While trying to take the necklace off, it breaks sending beads everywhere. Because of this accident Angus makes a new friend in Melody, who also loves sparkly things. Between them becoming friends and rediscovering the wonderful world of sparkles, and them going back to school to turning heads, it seems acceptance comes to the class without a talk, or a reason. I hope for this to happen at all times, but to be teased one day, and not the next, something is missing. Overall, I like the story, the message, and the illustrations. It could work for a variety of lessons.

Angus likes sparkling things and bright colours. These include the diamond studs of his dog's collar,the stars, the sequins on his sister's ballet skirt and even the way the sun shines on the water. He also loves what he calls shiny sounds and words like lustrous and glittering. He hears these sounds when he looks at shiny things. When his grandmother sees him admiring her sparkling beaded necklace, she gives it to him and he decides to wear it to school the next day. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that the necklace is wonderful. The kids tease him about it, laughing and being very rude, until he loses his love for sparkling things. He doesn't hear the sounds and he breaks the necklace trying to get it off. The next day, Angus is in for a surprise. With a new friend in tow, he gets his sparkle back again.

This is a beautiful story about being yourself and not letting others put you down. This is a great story to teach acceptance and kindness. It shows us that it is okay to be different and be proud of it. I loved the illustrations in this book. They sparkled with bright colours and the text did as well. The sparkling adjectives and verbs are bright colours that highlight those words to the reader or listener. The children I read this book to really enjoyed it. It was interesting to hear my nephew comment that boys don't wear necklaces and I told him that they can if they want, as my grandson proudly displayed two necklaces that belonged to his great-grandma.

I understand this book perfectly! Colors pop for me, too! I like that when the necklace broke Angus made bracelets out it for he and his friend, Melody! I am sre the illustrations will be wonderful in color! Littles and young readers are going to enjoy this book.

This is a great book about acceptance of others for what they like and makes them different. The use of sound to convey Angus' changing feelings. It also is a great book about friendship and how our friends are there to support us.
received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many children who NEED to read Angus All Aglow. This is a definite window and mirror book that will be necessary in classroom and libraries. I fell in love with Angus and his emotions immediately and wanted to share them with everyone. Finding someone he connects with in the end was incredibly precious and powerful. Sometimes all we need is a friend.

This is a super sweet story about a boy fascinated with bright, shiny things. Every brilliant thing around him has a sound all its own. When Angus decides to wear the necklace from his grandma to school one day, some of the other students don't appreciate his sense of style. Angus breaks the necklace and the sounds of bright objects seem to disappear. Will the acceptance of Angus's friend Melody be able to help him feel like himself again?

The illustrations are cute and appealing. This title is perfect for teaching acceptance, friendship, and not letting the opinions of others determine your choices.

When I was a child, there were no books about kids that didn't fit into the norm because they liked things that people thought only girls liked, or only boys liked. I wish there had been, but can't think of any, except that there were a few girls that were tom boys.

Then, in the 1970s, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%27s_Doll" target="_blank">Williams Doll</a> came out. It wasn't great, but it tried to show that boys can like girl things too, and there was nothing wrong with it, though it coached it with say, this was how you trained to be a good dad, so it wasn't totally gender fluid, or anything like that. Later, we had Tomie De Paola with his book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178955.Oliver_Button_Is_a_Sissy"> Oliver Button is a Sissy</a> about a boy who wants to draw, and not play sports. Still not gender fluid, but noticing that boys don't always want to be rough and tumble.

It hasn't been until my daughter's generation, that books have come out where kids dont' fit in, and don't try to coach it as, well, this will be good when I'm older, such as the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/699812.The_Sissy_Duckling"> The Sissy Duckling</a> and recently, the one I read about a little boy who wanted a purse, just because <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2069570621"> I love my purse</a>, even though everyone in his family tried to discourage him.

What I am trying to say, is I am quite happy to see a book about a little kid that loves sparkly things, and even though he is made fun of, he goes back to his sparkly things, such as his mothers necklace. It is ok, and everything is fine.

Hooray for kids that don't fit in, and its ok.

Cute picture book, and hopefully a good book for the kids out there that don't fit in, and can feel good about that.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-318 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-23-at-3.26.05-PM.png" alt="Angus all aglow" />

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The illustrations were simple but conveyed a lot. I loved the descriptive text and fun words. I think it gives an important message about teasing and also about standing out. It also shows how important it is to have someone truly understand you!
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