Roy's friends give him a great big birthday present. "What's this thing?" he asks. It's a saddle. It comes with instructions: "1. Find a horse. 2. Enjoy the ride." Take a look at Roy. He's wearing a big cowboy hat, vest, cowboy boots, bandana, and a map of Texas on... Read More
Filling the front cover is the massive head of a lion, its eyes glancing off to your left. What's he looking at? Turn to the back cover, and you'll see: a brown mouse sitting on a branch in the yellow grass. Notice what's missing? There's no title or author on... Read More
In one of my very favorite picture books of 2009, skinny red-haired Sal and his bespectacled, chubby blond pal, Frankie, are rehashing everything they've done today. So far they've: played every sport ever invented, painted "more pictures in a day than Van Gogh painted in a lifetime, baked enough cookies... Read More
Glaring straight at you from the cover and from the first double-page spread is a big, bad, gleaming blue and green Tyrannosaurus Rex, with fearsome claws and huge white choppers, exuding a light blue stream of bad breath. "Are you BAD?" he growls ferociously. The first time I shared this... Read More
Mommy wakes the little rabbit narrator early one morning to announce that it has been snowing all night. Kindergarten is closed, the school bus is stuck, and Daddy's flight has been canceled. Mama doesn't want her little one to catch cold, but the bunny sneaks outside onto the apartment balcony... Read More
Hand a little girl a copy of this book, tell her it’s all about best friends, birthday parties and dressing up, and she’ll tell you: “You got me at ‘pink.’” A celebration of so many girls’ favorite early childhood color, this very pink, even glittery picture book stars Rose and... Read More
Annabelle lives in a cold, colorless town where everything is covered with snow and soot. One day, she stumbles upon a small box of colorful yarn, and she decides to knit herself a sweater. When she's finished, she finds she has extra yarn and decides to knit one for her... Read More
What Kiddo doesn’t like a little make-believe, a bit of suspense, and a touch of adventure? Throw in a dragon, a sword and a castle, and it is a no-brainer. This is the perfect book to hook a young boy and introduce him to the power of his imagination and... Read More
And the children laughed. And laughed and laughed. Every page of this silly, funny book keeps readers and listeners asking just how much more ridiculous this story can get. The answer is: totally ridiculous. It stays ridiculous all the way to the totally satisfying and... Read More
Parents and children will know they have found a tale destined to become a classic as soon as they open the cover and find endpapers featuring a sepia-toned, full-spread illustration of a hillside. This has been Timmy Bear’s playground throughout the day and as he gets into bed that night,... Read More
Every time you think David Wiesner can’t surpass his last award-winning picture book, he gobsmacks you anew with something astonishing. Meet Art and Max, two desert lizards who love to paint. Arthur, the establishment guy, is a slightly pompous brown horned lizard who paints serious portraits of other lizards. Little... Read More
Look at the white animal head on the striking blue cover, outlined in a heavy black line. Quick--what is it? Is it a duck? Look on the left. It must be a duck; it's saying, "Quack." But, wait. Now look to the right. See the nose sniffing, just like a... Read More
Story-lovers have always been fond of noodlehead, nitwit, and fool stories, These characters are hapless and drive everyone crazy, being unable to do much of anything right, on account of how lazy or befuddled they are. Noodleheads are not necessarily tricksters, as are the beloved folktale scamps, Anansi the Spider... Read More
Dramatic pen and ink and watercolor illustrations bring to life a lively Native American pourquoi (how and why) tale from the East Coast. On a walk one autumn day, Bear begins to brag that he is the biggest, strongest, and loudest of all the animals. "I am Bear, I am... Read More
"Farmer Brown has a problem.His cows love to type.All day long he hearsClick, clack, moo.Click, clack, moo.Clickety, clack, moo."Have you ever read a more absurd and hilarious first page of a picture book? The black-lined double-page watercolors of the big-nosed, white-bearded, straw-hatted, red-bandanna and... Read More
In one week, Rosa Maria's youngest grandchild, Little Catalina, will be seven. The whole family will squeeze into Rosa Maria's tiny casita for the party. Each day of that week, she plans the menu: enchiladas, rice and beans-Rosa Maria knows no dinner is complete without rice and beans-birthday cake, lemonade,... Read More
I love Denise Fleming's paper pulp-illustrated picture books in general, but this one left me howling, it's that cute. You may already be acquainted with Buster, a soulful reddish-brown dog with black-tipped paws, ears and nose, from his eponymous first book, Buster, where he had to come to terms with... Read More
Oh, the heartbreak of liking someone who doesn't like you back. The narrator, six-year-old Lily, yearns to be noticed by seven-year-old Tamika at the neighborhood pool on Wednesday playgroup day. Lily is ever hopeful, claiming, "Tamika is my best friend. She just doesn't know it yet." Tamika ignores her in... Read More
Pen and ink renditions of French, stickmen-drawn girls give way to lush watercolor drawings of 1930's Parisian streets, allowing this classic picture book to withstand the test of time. The girls' teacher Ms. Clavel leads Madeline and her peers in two straight lines through the famous streets of Paris. The... Read More
Harold decided to take a walk in the moonlight. So he drew a moon, and then a path to follow it. He decided to take a short cut, and veered off the path that he originally drew to keep him from getting lost. "The short cut led right to where... Read More
The same bats that cavorted in Bats at the Beach are back for another nocturnal adventure on an otherwise dull night. "We've feasted, fluttered, swooped, and soared, / And yet, we're still a little bored." So when "word spreads quickly from afar" that a window has been left... Read More
Party animal Chato, the coolest cat in el barrio, is having a great time at the neighborhood birthday party that the mice next door are throwing for Chorizo the dog. They play shake-paws, jiggle-the-mice, and toss-the-cat-in-the-blanket. Chato's best homecat, Novio Boy, doesn't seem to be having fun. Are... Read More
Take a glorious month-by-month tour through the kindergarten year with master teacher Miss Cribbage, a guinea pig, as seen through the eyes of Emily the rabbit, one of eight animal students in the class. You'll get to know all of them: Diane, Emily, Louise, Martha, Odysseus, Otis, Roger, and Terrance,... Read More
In this laugh-out-loud twist on the perils of pet ownership, Lucy the Bear happens upon a little boy hiding behind a bush while she’s busy “practicing her twirls” in the woods one day. Lucy quickly sees “the cutest critter in the WHOLE forest!”, names him “Squeaker” (after the teeny sound... Read More
In the big city, no one saw the pigeon fall and land, wounded on the sidewalk. "No one looked down . . . except Will." Amid the muted-toned clothing of adult citygoers, we see the little boy, a bright spot on a gray day, in his red coat and blue... Read More
Miss Nelson cannot control her classroom. "The kids in Room 207 were misbehaving again," the book starts off. "Spitballs stuck to the ceiling. Paper planes whizzed through the air. They were the worst behaved class in the whole school." Squat faces of children doing headstands during story hour, tongues out,... Read More
The front flap says, "This is a story with a beginning, a middle, and a whole lot of ends." The back cover says, "The end is rear." In between is a story told in pictures, about a bear that stacks an array of animals atop his head to reach the... Read More
These “6 ½ Surprising Stories About 2 Surprising Friends” will not surprise fans of Mo Willems. Each story is whimsical and funny, which is exactly what readers count on from this masterful author. Yet, as simple as the text and illustrations are, together they convey... Read More
Fourteen two- and three-page short stories amaze and amuse in this easier-than-easy reader. In fact, each story is no longer than four rhyming words. How can you tell a story in three or four words? With pictures. "Stoops," it says on one page. Two children-a boy with a basketball and... Read More
"Frozen and alone. Pressing on through the snow." Swathed in winter gear and a backpack, a solitary child trudges through a fierce snowstorm, braving wind and ice. Wearing a stocking cap and a scarf tied around his (or her-the gender is never specified) head, only his eyes are showing. "This... Read More
James and his friend Eamon spend a week at the beach with Eamon's grandparents, Bill and Pam, so the boys can attend nature camp together. Each day Bill drives them to camp where they seem underwhelmed by the activities. Since this story focuses on the stuff they do at Bill... Read More
"What a waste of a chunk of cheddar," the rat grumbles, gazing at the huge wedge of cheese down in the dell. It looks so yellow, so mellow, and so tasty. Defying the posted rules and regulations, which state, "The cheese stands alone," the rat grabs a napkin and heads... Read More
Dog, a little brown dachshund, and his best friend Bear, a multicolored stuffed teddy, have three little adventures together. Bear is scared to jump down from a tall chair until Dog coaches him to slide down his long back; Dog wants bear to play with him, but Bear is busy... Read More
People look at this Caldecott Honor winner and scratch their heads. The story seems so elemental—a big-eyed light blue pigeon tries to persuade readers to let him drive the bus, even though the bus driver has warned us not to. When. it was first published, I read this wacky little... Read More
Building a sand castle at the beach one day, young Jeremy Jacobs encounters Brain Beard and his motley pirate crew. He joins them aboard ship as their official digger and off they sail to find a safe place to bury their treasure chest of gold and jewels. Jeremy learns pirate... Read More
In a dark cave in a dense forest in a faraway kingdom, three little dragons are in their beds, not feeling well. “Methinks I heard a sneeze,” declares the Good Knight, out on his daily ride, and gallops through the forest to attend to their fevered sniffling, coughing, and sneezing.... Read More
A no-nonsense, tough-talking New York City garbage truck explains how he scarfs down your bags of trash each night while you sleep. “See those bags? I smell BREAKFAST!” That truck's got a mug on him, by turns grinning, scowling, and looking tough. Thick, black-outlined watercolors against dark charcoal backgrounds lit... Read More
A boy named Buzz sets off in his pith helmet to catch something smart for The Amazing Pet Show. Boink. He bumps into a fly. The fly stomps his feet and says, "Buzz!" "You know my name!” Buzz exclaims. “You are the smartest pet in the world!" At first, the... Read More
Caught painting pictures on the floor, ceiling, walls, curtains, and door by his exasperated Mama, an unrepentant little boy sneaks down the paints she's just hidden at the top of the closet and proceeds to paint himself all over, one body part at a time. Sung or chanted exuberantly to... Read More
Lilly’s heart leaps when her adored teacher, Mr. Slinger, reveals to his class of mice that he is going to marry Ms. Shotwell, the school nurse. “It will be the biggest day of my life,” she tells herself, confident that she will be his flower girl. In her bedroom, she... Read More
I Am Invited to a Party!When Piggie gets a cool invitation to go to her first party, she invites her best friend Elephant to go with her. “Party! Party! Party! Party!” the two chant joyously. Elephant declares, "I know parties," and that, as it turns out, is very... Read More
“Before Harry was born, there was ME! Now there’s me. And Harry.” Pity the poor narrator—beleaguered, disillusioned, ignored, and aggrieved—a former only child for whom life used to be bliss. Harry, a winsome and contented diaper-clad baby, takes an uninvited bite of his big brother’s banana; spits up smelly, yucky,... Read More
On an otherwise boring errand day with his mother, a boy notes an interesting sign at the bakery: "BUY A DOZEN, GET A DINOSAUR." Sure enough, as they walk out with their box of doughnuts, the lady behind the counter brings out a free dinosaur—a prodigious green triceratops that follows... Read More
All of the forest animals are in a rush to hide when they see Wolf approaching, looking dapper and dangerous in his blue suit and tie, his yellow eyes gleaming, and fangs drooling. As the sun sets and shadows lengthen, the rabbits, raccoons, and pigs race inside a house built... Read More