Deb Nance
Lulu, the small blue monster, wants to be the boss. She demands that the big red monster give her everything she wants. And does she ever want a lot—a cake, a garbage truck, a dinosaur egg, a robot, an elephant, a chocolate castle, a chick, a plane, a monkey—but the big red monster says no. The big red monster can't give her any of these things. But finally there is one thing big red monster can give Lulu that she wants...
A story that young children will connect with...
Poet Ross Gay shares his thoughts on how we spark joy, especially in times of hardship and suffering. His book of essays includes his fascinating and fun ramblings on gardens, laughter, pickup basketball, dancing, and even falling apart and death. His essays are heavily footnoted, some more footnote than essay, but that is fascinating and fun, too.
More, please.
Wanda admires her brother Zane. He shows courage and bravery all the time, and Wanda wishes she could, too. She really wants to try the Coaster of Doom, and so, for a year, she attempts to up her brave by doing things she's a little nervous about doing.
Then the day comes when she is in line for the Coaster of Doom and Wanda shows her brave!
A satisfying ending for a story written just for all of us who sometimes get a little scared about scary things.
“Freewheeling!
Full of feeling!
Traveling near and far.
Honk if you see me.
I'm a moody, moody car.”
Eileen Kennedy-Moore uses photos of classic cars to illustrate human emotions in her book Moody Moody Cars. It's a great starting point for helping kids identify emotions and talk about what they look like in others. And, as the author shares in a Reader's Note in the back, understanding facial expressions is an essential skill that children need to develop and Moody Moody Cars can be a fun way to help children develop their emotional literacy.
Ten little tractors have a busy day working, and when the day comes to an end, they all gather together to go to sleep.
This is a board book that does everything we ask for in a board book: It's about little things that are, nevertheless, very strong...it's a counting book...it's a bedtime read-aloud—10 Little Tractors is perfect for all the small folks who love things that move.
Ellie does not like her hair, and off she goes to find the Good Hair Fairy. Along the way, she meets a dog and some birds and a chameleon and all of these make hair alternative suggestions to Ellie, none of which she likes.
And when she finally finds the Good Hair Fairy? Oh my!
What good advice the Good Hair Fairy gives her! If only we could all listen to the Good Hair Fairy...
Seagull is very angry now that Duck has joined the band. Seagull is jealous of the way Duck has replaced him as lead singer and he feels like his friends are not giving his songs a chance. Seagull quits the band and goes off on his own.
When the others go looking for Seagull, they find him and they are able to talk together and calmly work things out in a way that everyone likes.
Better Together is a book that parents might draw upon to help children resolve feelings of jealousy and anger, a book that shares how problems can be resolved by talking together and trying to consider the feelings of everyone.
Children are often afraid of thunder. In Booma Booma Boom, a little boy teaches his toys that thunder, as his dad often tells him, is “just the clouds talking to the earth.” He shares a strategy with the toys to help them calm down when they are frightened by the thunder.
A little comfort for children who might show fear during a thunderstorm.
Apple and Magnolia are friends. Britta is sure of it (Doesn't she know her two favorite trees in the world?!) and Nana says unusual friendships can be the most powerful of all.
But then Magnolia begins to droop. Can Britta help connect the two tree friends even more?
A beautiful story of connection and friendship and hope and caring.
Where is the party? Lemon is knocking on doors. He tries and tries, but even after visiting room after room of fruits in suits and cats in boots and five pigeons named Fred and more...no party!
Finally, Lemon decides to shake things up and, hey, make his own party.
I think kids would love looking at all these zany collages. And what better ending to shore up a defeated Lemon than to have a party of one's own? Kids might feel inspired to make their own art.
Mia and her uncle count to ten as they experience many elements of Chinese culture on their walk through Chinatown in this beautifully illustrated book written in both English and Mandarin. I wanted to know more about each element as I read through the pages, and, happily, the author includes some lovely additional information about each in the back. Completely charming and informative in so many ways.
Engines Animated, a board book targeted at 0-2 year olds, tells the story of the development of engines in the world and explains the various types of engines and how they work.
Here's the text from a sample page, to give you a sense of the writing:
“In a STEAM ENGINE, when the piston lifts up, the tube fills with steam. Cold water sprays in a turns the steam back into the liquid. This creates a vacuum that sucks the piston back down, and the whole process starts over again.”
The movable illustration on this page lifts a purple bar that barely touches a fan-shaped object above and to the left of it.
A little girl asks her mom to take her to faraway places, and her mom promises to take her to the library, but she's made this promise yesterday, and still, they have not gone. The girl suddenly discovers a magic ball and a magic key, and she finds herself at the library and all her dreams and hopes and wishes appear before her eyes.
I enjoyed this imaginative adventure story with beautiful illustrations, all centering on a trip to a fantastic library.
