Reviewed by Lori A. Moore for Readers' Favorite

Can you say, "Cute?" James and Games that are Not Games by Andrea Carrera is an adorable illustrated children's picture book telling the tale of James, a little boy (portrayed by the animal character of a fox) who is a bully. The story starts out with James playing pranks on his friends, also portrayed in animal characters, because it makes him happy. He pulls the pony tail of one little girl, pushes a little boy down the slide on the playground, and takes colored markers and draws on the hair of another little boy. James thinks it's funny and his mommy thinks he's an angel. He dreams of new "games" as he sleeps. But suddenly one day nobody wanted to play with James and, as he napped, they colored his fur and played the same "game" on him. It's then that he realized that he was being a bully and how much it hurt when the tables were turned.

Never fear, it all ends well in James and Games that are Not Games by Andrea Carrera because James learns that playing "games" that hurt people isn't fun and he had even more fun by making friends with Charlie, Linda, and Martin and playing games they all enjoyed. It's never too early to help children understand how to make and keep friends. The characters are so cute and the story tells a good lesson about friendship and bullying that little ones can understand at their own level.