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
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
Earwig was left in a basket on the doorstep of St Morwald’s Home for Children with a note suggesting she had been left there by a witch. Choosing to ignore the note, the headmistress renames the baby Erica Wigg and treats her like all the other children. Earwig is happy... Read More
The things that we don’t normally celebrate – in fact, the things we hardly even notice – are center stage in this book of poems that takes us through the day, following a bunch of active, thoughtful, welcoming kids. The subjects of the poems range from the lowly toothbrush and... 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
Unable to reach the tantalizing bunch of purple grapes high in a tree, Fox, who considers himself sly, clever, and smart, makes a plan to get them. "Hop. Skip. Jump. Flying leap. And . . . No grapes." Which is when he turns to Bear for help. Bear eyes Fox's... Read More
Readers: Brace yourselves to meet Awesome Man. This young superhero is totally dedicated to vanquishing crime. His mission keeps him utterly absorbed 24/7, except for brief respites to eat and sleep. His nonstop, fantastic fantasy adventures will keep readers laughing out loud Read More
Doreen Cronin, who gave us the incomparable Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type, here introduces an otherwise disparaged creature for whom you'll gain great respect and affection, a brown earthworm. Start with the endpapers, a scrapbook of captioned photos like "My first tunnel" and "The family vacation-on Compost... Read More
At the ripe old age of 21 days, Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, a beautiful cockroach who lives with her family in a cozy street lamp in Old Havana, is ready to give her leg in marriage. Abuela, her Cuban grandmother, gives her "un consejo increíble, some shocking advice." She tells... Read More
Miss Cora Lee Merriweather may not be the sweetest of women, with her "lemon-pucker mouth and hair scraped back into a hard little bun," but she runs the best bake shop in town. "The chocolate in her Mississippi mud pie was darker that the devil's own heart. Her sponge cake... Read More
Librarians all cheer for this charming, witty, stereotype-bashing tall tale-like heroine, Library Lil, a passionate advocate of books and reading, but don't worry-kids love her, too. We meet her as a strong, book-toting tyke who, by age eight, had read all the books in the children's room and started in... Read More
Karl, Michael, and Addy are intrigued with their new neighbor, Stillwater, a kindly giant panda who speaks with a slight panda accent, when he comes over to retrieve his red umbrella from their backyard. One at a time, the siblings, even the youngest, Karl, who is "shy around bears he... Read More
"Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do. But I'll let you in on a little secret. Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my side of the story." That's Alexander T. Wolf talking, and he'd like... Read More
Wabi Sabi, a plain brown cat from Kyoto, Japan, is curious when she overhears a visitor ask the meaning of her name, and her master says only, "That's hard to explain." "It had never occurred to her before that wabi sabi was anything more than her name." So the cat... Read More
This frantic, insanely funny send-up of fairy tales presents nine little comic masterpieces, with a cast that includes "The Princess and the Bowling Ball," "The Other Frog Prince," "Little Red Running Shorts," and the malodorous title character, with a head made from a thick wheel of cheese, with bacon for... Read More
Meet a spunky and determined African American schoolkid, Grace Campbell, who, upon inspecting her teacher's big poster of the presidents, exclaims in outrage, “Where are the GIRLS?” Mrs. Barrington explains, “The truth is, our country has never had a woman president.” Grace announces, “I've been thinking it over, and I'd... Read More
Two pirate captains set sail, each one determined to prove that s/he is the best in the world. They meet on the high seas, and the competition begins. Each demands, and refuses, to give way to the other using the most colorful pirate lingo. Then the insults begin to fly:... Read More
Inspired by Andrew Lang's version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" published in 1890, Mary Pope Osborne has reworked the familiar tale to give us a female protagonist, the plucky Kate. Like Jack of old, she sets out to sell the cow and ends up trading it for a handful of... Read More
The cover painting of an exuberant Samantha on roller skates, arms high and wide, bright-eyed and smiling, tells it all! Sammy cannot wait to try her new skates, but Mama tells her, “No Samantha. Not today. / Please, go put those skates away. / You’re still too small. You don’t... Read More
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.Humpty Dumpty was pushed."Narrator and detective, Joe Dumpty, a rotund egg clad in a brown trench coat and fedora, is also Humpty's younger brother. Joe believes it's no accident that Humpty, a good egg, fell off the Wall. In fact,... Read More
Travel to India to introduce listeners to Kipling's classic tale of a stalwart mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, who saves Teddy, a little English boy, from the deadly cobras, Nag and Nagina. The little mongoose is first rescued from a roadside flood by Teddy's parents, and since the motto of the mongoose family... Read More
King Derwin of the Kingdom of Didd gets angry a lot. The year he started grumbling at the sky, though, his page Bartholomew Cubbins just didn't know what to make of it. He growled at the spring's rain, the summer's sunshine, the autumn's fog, and the winter's snow. "Every year... Read More
THE OUTSIDE! It makes Scooter so happy he wags his tail: THWAPPA-THWAPPA-THUMP! Scooter is a plump, sunny yellow dog. He lives in the suburbs with Lucy and the highlight of his day is their... Read More
As the youngest of three, I put up with all sorts of teasing and tricks when I was a wee chick, so I completely identified with Henrietta, the smallest of three sisters in this satisfying tale of gullibility and chickens coming home to roost. "We have a secret to tell... Read More
On the night of April 20, 1933, the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, entertained her friend Amelia Earhart, the celebrated aviator, at a White House dinner party. Amelia described the mystery of flying at night, and then invited Eleanor to come along on a flight to Baltimore and back so they... Read More
Five giant sisters from the Granite State of New Hampshire each have a special talent: Jade can twist a river in her hands, Em whittles wood, Golda is handy with string, Ruby is as strong as a bear, and Beryl is the finest stonecutter. After Beryl carves a whole new... Read More
If you think Cesar Millan, TV’s Dog Whisperer, gives good advice, wait’ll you meet Mr. Mutt, a certified Canine Counselor. Desperate and beaten down dogs send heartfelt letters and attached photos to Mr. Mutt, a bespectacled and solemn-faced brown dog, and he responds with practical dog-centric advice. “And remember, you... Read More
After flipping a pancake atop Henry's head, Grandpa spurred to tell his grandkids a story about the town of Chewandswallow. "The only thing that was really different about Chewandswallow was its weather. It came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner." In the ensuing illustrations, the citizens of... Read More
At the hands-on new Zoo School, where the motto is, "Let the animals be your textbooks," the student desks are actually fish-filled aquariums. The students include Ursula, who wants everything to be just like it was at her old school; Kitty, who knows a lot about animals and can't wait... Read More
The dinosaur citizens of Jurassica are in a panic when a mob of misshapen mutants and reptilian cyborgs from the pirate ship Blackrot rampages through the Imperial Palace, making off with the famous Jewels of Jurassica. The President calls in Captain Raptor to pursue the evildoers. Raptor and his fearless... Read More
Taking bits and pieces of plot and descriptions from 17 different versions of the Cinderella story worldwide, Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman (Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices; HarperCollins, 1988) offers up a composite story, a melting pot of Cinderellas. The busy paneled paintings look like folk art... Read More
Inside the backpack, where it’s dark and smells like a wet bathing suit, Lumphy the buffalo feels cramped, StingRay is trying to think calming thoughts, and Plastic is humming, which she does when she’s feeling nervous. Where is the Little Girl with the blue barrette taking them? StingRay worries that... Read More