Thump, Quack, Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. Simon & Schuster. $16.99
Duck is at it again, causing grief for Farmer Brown as he prepares for the Corn Maze Festival. All the animals are recruited to help – not willingly and Duck has a special design of his own for the maze.
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff. Harper $16.99
Follow the hilarious antics of Cat as he gets a cupcake and of course needs sprinkles to go with it.
Winter Trees by Carole Gerber. Illus. by Leslie Evans. Charlesbridge. $15.95
If you have Leaf Jumpers you will want Winter Trees. Explore the beauty of nature through poetry and art. Identify trees in their winter dress and learn about their life cycles. Excellent, simple illustrations make this a great instructional and sharing book.
Who’s Been here? A Tale in Tracks by Fran Hodgkins. Dawn East $15.95
Explore a winter wonderland of nature in this picturebook story. Curious children and their pet discover all kinds of animal tracks made in the snow. Kids will have fun guessing which animals made the tracks.
How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA by Marjorie Priceman. Knopf. $16.99
Join a young baker as she travels the United States in search of coal, cotton, clay and granite needed to create all her baking tools to make a cherry pie.
Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo and Harry Bliss. Harper. $17.99
Longing for adventure Louise leaves the coop to venture out into the world. She finds maurading pirates, a ferocious lion, and a mysterious stranger in an exotic bazaar. Though she is no chicken when it comes to danger she finds there is no place like home.
A great picture book with four chapters.
Viginnie's Hat by Dori Chaconas. $16.99.
A wonderfully suspenseful tale that begins with a big straw sun hat floating away and landing high in a tree.
Virginnie does everything to retrieve her hat, tossing up one boot after another. As she takes off her boots, we see her cute little toes, painted with red nail polish. Other creatures see these toes too and the adventure begins. With wonderful rhythmic language, Virginnie’s toes escape being caught each time that an animal makes a dive for them. A fun, colorful story.
Only One Neighborhood by Marc Harshman & Barbara Garrison. $15.99
Parts and the whole are beautifully investigated in this study of a neighborhood.
As the cars travel around and around on the left hand pages, our neighborhood grows and takes shape. Each new store is introduced on the right hand page and then placed on our city “map”.
A wonderfully simple story with a powerful message. A book that could be the start of many projects; communities, likes and differences, or classification.
A Piece of Chalk by Jennifer Ericsson. $16.95
With a little help from her dog, cat, and two birds, a little girl recreates her world.
She draws everything; brick wall, clouds, and animals with her new box of “smooth and dusty” chalk sticks. Her canvas is her driveway and even when the rain drops begin to fall, she has a beautiful piece of artwork.
A Dog Needs a Bone by Audrey Wood. $16.99
It looks like Audrey Wood just had a very good time with the art work for this book. She worked in crayons on brown paper bags. The dog would win no prizes for looks at the local dog contest, but his expressions throughout the story are priceless. The woman’s “bone dress” has to be seen to be believed and the entire house has hints of, you guessed it, bones.
The dog begs for a bone, promises everything for a bone. As he runs through these promises, he suddenly realizes his mistress has left. Did she go to the grocery store for a bone?
She returns with vegetables for him. Oh! Is there anything else?
Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems. $16.99
Our same wide-eyed little girl is now ready for school. She and her long suffering father walk through the same neighborhoods created from photographs. The sub title of this book is “A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY” and it is indeed a mystery.
It is a mystery as to how her teacher can be so patient and does not take Knuffle Bunny away any sooner. But Bunny is returned at the end of the school day and the girl walks home.
The trouble (and fun) begins in the middle of the night when she realizes that she does not have her very own Knuffle Bunny. The way the problem has to be solved is hilarious, making this Bunny story even more fun than the first book.
Don't Touch My Hat! by James Rumford. Knopf. $16.99.
Sheriff John, a lawman in the Wild West, considers his ten gallon hat his prized possession; he can roundup rustlers, stop fights and deliver ladies in distress. Therefore no one can touch his hat. One night the west goes completely wild and John runs out to bring order grabbing his wife's new feathered hat instead of the ten gallon.
Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic. Harper. $16.99.
Max, the duck, arriver at a home full of animals and creates quite a stir as he settles in for the winter, entertaining all with his cooking skills, and his remote control abilities until his flock returns and his house mates discover how much they miss him.
Tiger's Story by Harriet Blackford and Manya Stojic. Boxer books. $12.95.
I love books that give information in a story. Thus, Tiger's story is told as he grows and learns about the world and is on his own. Interesting facts are given about tigers. The watercolor illustrations are bright and colorful. A great way to learn.
Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long. Pictures by David Shannon.
Harcourt. $16.00.
A sequel to How I Became a Pirate. The pirates have returned for the treasure buried in Jeremy Jacob's backyard, only they have woken the baby, Bonney Anne, and now have to take care of her til Mom returns and Dad wakes up. What can these swashbucklers do to keep the baby quiet and get their treasure after she chews the map.
Place Called Kindergarten by Jessica Harper. Putnam 0399242260. $15.99
The farm animals discover their friend Tommy has gone to a place called kindergarten and are excited to hear all about the things he has learned upon his return. A delightful, "can't wait for tomorrow" story.
Star of the Week by Barney Saltzberg. Candlewick. 0763629146. $15.99
As the "Star of the Week" Stanley shares his rather unusual snack, toy and hobby - which doesn't impress any of his classmates. With encouragement from his teacher Stanley turns disaster into a wonderful learning opportunity.
All in Just One Cookie by Susan E. Goodman. Greenwillow. 0060090928. $16.99
If you like - How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, you and your class will love to discover where all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies come from. A delicious treat to savor while making, baking or eating cookies.
Tigers in Terai (Adventures of Riley series) by Amanda Lumry. Eaglemont Press. 0966225775. $15.95.
Riley, his cousin Alice, aunt and uncle - who is a conservation biologist - venture to research different habitats around the world. Each story in this series focuses on animals native to the area, conservation and responsibility for that habitat. Animal photos and facts accompany the illustrated story. There are so many educational possibilities with this series as passports, mapping, websites, and searches.
