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

The sky is sky blue; the day is sunny. Cow kicks the red ball, but it goes over the outstretched arms of Mouse, Duck, and Pig. "Oh no! The ball went into THE DOGHOUSE!” On the next double page, the now indigo sky surrounds a sinister-looking orange doghouse, with a... Read More

In an easy-to-read purple and green-toned graphic novel, greet the day with Stinky, a round-headed purple swamp creature, and his pet toad, Wartbelly, as they emerge from their smelly cave filled with rats, bats, and pickled onions, and go for a morning stroll in the swamp. "I love the mushy,... 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

Sad because he does not know the date of his own birthday, Houndsley, a rumpled brown floppy-eared dog confides his feelings to his best friend, Catina, a white cat. "I do not know when my birthday is either," she tells him. Houndsley thinks he has made her sad and decides... Read More

Nate the Great is a detective. He works alone. One morning, while eating pancakes, Nate receives a phone call from a girl he knows, Annie. He hoped it would be someone calling about missing diamonds or a million dollars, but it's just Annie. She has lost a picture of her... Read More

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers can't be there for Amelia Bedelia's first day as their housekeeper, but leave her with a long list of things to do. Before setting to work, Amelia bakes her employers a lemon meringue pie--she makes good pies. Then she sets to work. "Change the towels in... Read More

My own synopsis of the whole story, in haiku?Stray dog on the porch.Mom and three kids fall for him,Though he makes a mess.Look at the inviting cover of a black-nosed, floppy-eared dog staring at you through the window of the storm door. Who wouldn't want to open the door and... Read More

Enchanted with the sound of other young rats playing tiny violins at the Community Hall, Little Rat can't wait to take lessons. Her new teacher, a short-tempered rabbit named Miss Wingbutton, has "little tolerance for silliness." She yells at Little Rat for sawing her bow back and forth on the... Read More

Cynthia Rylant's easy readers have changed children's reading, with her whimsical and wise series about young Henry and his great Dane, Mudge; Poppleton the pig and his animal pals; and, most endearingly, the grandfatherly, avuncular Mr. Putter and his sweet, elderly, but dignified orange kitty, Tabby. In their many little... 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

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

Look at the cover with that woebegone, discontented toddler. If ever there was a book to show to kids with the simple question, "What do you think this story is about?" this is it. It begins, "Finn likes peaches. Usually." Look at the sweet little toddler on the first page,... Read More

"Phooey!" says little brown mouse, Wagner, "This is not my day." Usually he has a good sense of humor, but it's April 1 and everyone keeps fooling him. When he gets to school, his best friend Pearl, a gray rabbit, tells him their teacher, Ms. Star, is roller-skating around the... 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

Red-ponytailed Cowgirl Kate and her chocolate-colored talking horse Cocoa are the best of buds. In four cheerful, easy-to-read chapters, Kate tells Cocoa the story of how she found him, gives him a surprise in a box, counts cows with him, and sleeps in the barn with him, where he sings... 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

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

Congratulations to Cynthia Rylant and Suçie Stevenson, the winners, in 2006, of the first annual Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for " . . . the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books . . ." Children have long loved this groundbreaking easy... 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

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

"Be quiet!," "That's enough, David!," and "Go to your room!" are just some of the admonitions that David's mom yells at him while the round-headed dynamo barrels around the house making mischief. "Come back here, David," she exclaims as the gleeful little terror takes off, naked, down the street. In... Read More

"That's it, I'm running away," says Zelda to her little sister Ivy upon learning that Dad is making cucumber sandwiches for lunch yet again. Off to the back yard march the orange and red bushy-tailed fox sisters, setting up their blanket behind the butterfly bush and playing 14 hands of... Read More