Picture Books for Kiddos

A Caldecott Honor BookFrom the creator of the national bestseller It's a Book comes a Caldecott Honor-winning timeless story of family history, legacy, and love.Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a farmboy and a kid with chickenpox and a soldier and, most of all, an artist. In this captivating new picture book, readers follow Grandpa Green's great-grandson into a garden he created, a fantastic world where memories are handed down in the fanciful shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten.In his most enigmatic and beautiful work to date, Lane Smith explores aging, memory, and the bonds of family history and love; by turns touching and whimsical, it's a stunning picture book that parents and grandparents will be sharing with children for years to come.This title has Common Core connections.Grandpa Green is a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Picture Books title for 2011. One of School Library Journal's Best Picture Books of 2011.

A fresh & original twist on the common issue of bullying. Kids will relate, & parents & teachers will appreciate the story's deft handling of conflict resolution (which happens w/o adult intervention)Mean Jean was Recess Queenand nobody said any different.Nobody swung until Mean Jean swung.Nobody kicked until Mean Jean kicked.Nobody bounced until Mean Jean bounced.If kids ever crossed her, she'd push 'em and smoosh 'emlollapaloosh 'em, hammer 'em, slammer 'emkitz and kajammer 'em.Until a new kid came to school!With her irrepressible spirit, the new girl dethrones the reigning recess bully by becoming her friend in this infectious playground romp.

Delightful chaos ensues when a young boy gets his kite stuck up a tree in this laugh-out-loud new picture book from award-winning, internationally best-selling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers! Floyd gets his kite stuck up a tree. He throws up his shoe to shift it, but that gets stuck too. So he throws up his other shoe and that gets stuck, along with! a ladder, a pot of paint, the kitchen sink, an orang-utan and a whale, amongst other things! Will Floyd ever get his kite back? A hilarious book with a wonderful surprise ending.

This book encourages me to stay in bed. We see that early morning time it’s still dark and the paperboy gets up out of bed and starts work. It looks brutal. He gets home when the sun is coming up and goes back to bed for some ‘z’s. Dav does a wonderful job at showing what it’s like in the early morning playing with light and shadow and that feeling of the cold and wanting to be in bed. Where I grew up, they had a delivery van that brought the papers to each house. There was no paper boy or girl. I don’t think they have one in Baltimore either. I think this is mostly a bygone era job. Still, it’s nice to see their experience. I also like that the boy’s dog went with him everywhere. It’s good he had a companion in this early morning endeavor. It’s a real job they had. I guess the plus side of it is that you get to see the sun come up each day.The nephew is up early every morning, so I could see him doing this rather easily when he gets older, if that job existed. He was shocked that the boy got to go do this all on his own. They let him go alone? He wouldn’t want to do something alone like this. He gave this 2 stars. The niece thought this was interesting. She thought it looked lonely also. She gave this 3 stars.

With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark -- and follow where it takes us.Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you."Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can't draw - she's no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. "There!" she says.That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti's journey of surprise and self-discovery. That special moment is the core of Peter H. Reynolds's delicate fable about the creative spirit in all of us.

The real-life, classic story of a dyslexic girl and the teacher who would not let her fail. A perfect gift for teachers and for reading students of any age.Patricia Polacco is now one of America's most loved children's book creators, but once upon a time, she was a little girl named Trisha starting school. Trisha could paint and draw beautifully, but when she looked at words on a page, all she could see was jumble. It took a very special teacher to recognize little Trisha's dyslexia: Mr. Falker, who encouraged her to overcome her reading disability. Patricia Polacco will never forget him, and neither will we.This inspiring story is available in a deluxe slipcased edition, complete with a personal letter to readers from Patricia Polacco herself. Thank You, Mr. Falker will make a beautiful gift for the special child who needs encouragement or any special teacher who has made a difference in the child's life.

A fresh, fun, and "thought-provoking" New York Times bestseller about the American electoral college and why every vote counts from bestselling and award-winning duo Kelly DiPucchio and LeUyen Pham."Where are the girls?"When Grace's teacher reveals that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides she wants to be the nation's first and immediately jumpstarts her political career by running in her school's mock election! The race is tougher than she expected: her popular opponent declares that he's the "best man for the job" and seems to have captured the votes of all of the class's boys. But Grace is more determined than ever. Even if she can't be the best man for the job, she can certainly try to be the best person!This timely story not only gives readers a fun introduction to the American electoral system but also teaches the value of hard work, courage, independent thought--and offers an inspiring example of how to choose our leaders.

An affectionate storybook tribute to that truly wonderful place: the library.Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is very particular about rules in the library. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But when a lion comes to the library one day, no one is sure what to do. There aren't any rules about lions in the library. And, as it turns out, this lion seems very well suited to library visiting. His big feet are quiet on the library floor. He makes a comfy backrest for the children at story hour. And he never roars in the library, at least not anymore. But when something terrible happens, the lion quickly comes to the rescue in the only way he knows how. Michelle Knudsen's disarming story, illustrated by the matchless Kevin Hawkes in an expressive timeless style, will win over even the most ardent of rule keepers.

An innovative, two-in-one picture book follows a parallel day in the life of two families: one in a Western city and one in a North African village.Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect them as well. Designed to be read side by side — one from the left and the other from the right —these intriguing stories are told entirely through richly detailed collage illustrations.

Slowly, slowly, slowly. That's the way the sloth moves. Slowly, it eats and then, slowly, it falls asleep. "What strange kind of creature is this?" the other animals wonder, "Why doesn't it run or fly or play or hunt like the rest of us?" "Why are you so slow??" the howler monkey inquires. But the sloth doesn't answer any questions until the jaguar asks, "Why are you so lazy??" Anyone who has ever felt too busy will appreciate the sloth's peaceful lifestyle and realize that it's okay to take time to enjoy life. Eric Carle's dazzling collage illustrations introduce readers to the exotic beauty of the Amazon rain forest and the many unusual animals living there.

From the illustrator of the #1 smash hit The Day The Crayons Quit comes a humorously warm tale of friendship. Now also an animated TV special!What is a boy to do when a lost penguin shows up at his door? Find out where it comes from, of course, and return it. But the journey to the South Pole is long and difficult in the boy’s rowboat. There are storms to brave and deep, dark nights.To pass the time, the boy tells the penguin stories. Finally, they arrive. Yet instead of being happy, both are sad. That’s when the boy realizes: The penguin hadn’t been lost, it had merely been lonely.A poignant, funny, and child-friendly story about friendship lost . . . and then found again.

Strange new teacher.Strange new toys.Lots of kids and lots of noise!What would Llama like to do?Llama Llama feels so new . . .It’s Llama Llama’s first day of preschool! And Llama Llama’s mama makes sure he’s ready. They meet the teachers. See the other children. Look at all the books and games. But then it’s time for Mama to leave. And suddenly Llama Llama isn’t so excited anymore. Will Mama Llama come back?Of course she will. But before she does, the other children show Llama Llama how much fun school can be!Activities for Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna DewdneyWatch a Video

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Malala Yousafzai's first picture book, inspired by her own childhood.Malala's first picture book will inspire young readers everywhere to find the magic all around them.As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true. This beautifully illustrated volume tells Malala's story for a younger audience and shows them the worldview that allowed Malala to hold on to hope even in the most difficult of times.

Unfortunately, I had a very strong negative reaction to this book. I wanted to like it for being interesting and engaging and... fun. I think it is supposed to be fun. We are supposed to chuckle and appreciate. Instead, I was saddened and angered. Here is the story of a cute little rabbit who decides to read a book about wolves. As he reads through the pages, we turn the pages, and see him caught up in wolf fur (as we learn about wolf fur), surrounded by wolf legs and claws (when we learn about wolf claws), etc. It's as if we are in his imagination. It's a neat concept artistically. Indeed, it won the Kate Greenaway medal in 2005. (Thus the two star award.)BUT, the whole time I kept thinking... okay, surely we are going to learn some NICE facts about wolves. And, surely we are going to see that wolves are not the horrible, evil, murderous monsters that are portrayed in the rabbit's imagination (and in the illustrations). Surely that will be the "moral" of this story. Well, no. The surprise ending and the "alternate happy ending" do nothing to promote a positive view of wolves.I selected this book from the library a few weeks ago but hadn't got around to reading it yet--I'm a fan of wolves and hoped this would be cute. My timing in actually reading this book is ironic in that, over the weekend, I attended a presentation about wolf rescue. I learned, in depth, what I had already known superficially about wolves and the "bad rap" they have received for several hundred years. I doubt Emily Gravett has looked into a wolf's eyes, as I did that day. If she did, I am not sure how she could write a book that continues to promote a stereotype so detrimental to one of the most beautiful, sensitive and complex members of the animal kingdom.

Once there was a boy, and that boy loved stars very much. So much so that he decided to catch one of his very own. But how? Waiting for them to grow tired from being up in the sky all night doesn't work. Climbing to the top of the tallest tree? No, not tall enough. The boy has a rocket ship . . . but it is made of paper and doesn't fly well at all. Finally, just when the boy is ready to give up, he learns that sometimes things aren't where, or what, we expect them to be. First-time author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers offers a simple, childlike tale of reaching for the stars, and emerging with a friend.

"Please, God, try to forgive those people. Because even if they say those bad things, They don't know what they're doing."This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little girl standing alone in the face of racism.

Four different voices tell their own versions of the same walk in the park. The radically different perspectives give a fascinating depth to this simple story which explores many of the author’s key themes, such as alienation, friendship and the bizarre amid the mundane.