Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch and Helene Desputeaux

Munsch is a Canadian storyteller and this story is really funny.  A little girl demands a set of permanent markers and then proceeds to color herself all sorts of bright colors.  When she realizes what she's done, she colors herself skin color.  But once she washes her face, the skin color doesn't stick on top of the bright colors and the doctor gives her an orange pill to take in the bath.  The pill makes her invisible!  But then she just colors herself skin color and she's good again. 

 

The Monster Trap by Dean Morrissey

Paddy can't sleep because he thinks there are monsters lurking about.  Pop tries to create traps that will catch the monster and baits it with cheese and fruitcake.  In the morning the food is gone but the trap is empty.  Pop and Paddy make a bigger trap and see a bunch of monsters playing on it and having a grand time.  Once Paddy sees they're friendly monsters, he still can't sleep because he's having so much fun with them.

 

My Friend Gorilla by Atsuko Morozumi

I LOVED THIS BOOK!  It's short but amazing.  The first sentence is such a hook:  "When they closed the zoo, my daddy brought home a gorilla."  A boy and a gorilla become great friends until the day when the gorilla goes back to Africa to be with other gorillas. 

Blue Aliens by Tony Porto and 3CD

3CD is a graphic design firm in Chicago.  This book was really fun!  A little boy is convinced that blue aliens have taken over.  The book starts off focused on green then the 2nd half of the book goes into blue.  You learn all sorts of fascinating, random stuff too.  Did you know that praying mantises are the only insects that can turn their heads from side to side?  And blueberries used to be called star berries!  Part story, and part Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, this book fascinates :o)

 

The Chalk Doll by Charlotte Pomerantz and illustrated by Frane Lessac

A sick girl is getting ready for bed and starts talking to her mom about her childhood in Jamaica.  The story segues from topic to topic and the reader is drawn in quite naturally.  My favorite part of the book is when the mom tells about how they used to pick mangoes from trees and let the seeds dry up, then they'd rub the seeds on some tar and stick them on their feet for some homemade high heels.  I wish there was a Taiwanese book like this.

 

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble and illustrated by Steven Kellogg

This book is ridiculous, and I love the pictures.  Kellogg is such a classic illustrator.  This is a fun story about a class visit to the farm where all hell breaks loose.  The pigs end up on the school bus, the cow is attacked by a haystack, etc.  And it all started because Jimmy's pet boa freaks out the farmer's wife by eating her drying laundry.

 

The Boy Who Cried Fabulous by Leslea Newman

This rhyming book was alright.  It's about a boy with ADHD who's always late because every little thing fascinates him.

 

Have You Seen Chester? by Andrew Murray and Nicola Slater

X marks the butthole for Chester a cat and Buddy the dog.  The two animals are always fighting and one day, fed up, Chester runs away.  Soon Buddy and their owner begin to miss the cat and Buddy crawls through the cat door and tries to find him.  I love the lesson that even though two people may not always get along, they can still be friends at the end of the day.

Minji's Salon by Eun-hee Choung

There are parallel stories in this book.  First story is of a mom getting her hair done at a fancy salon and the parallel story is the daughter styling the poor family dog.  While the mom is getting orange hair dye put in her hair, the dog is getting different flavors of ice cream mixed in its fur.  When the mom gets back home and sees the mess, she's not angry at all but instead asks if the daughter is the salon's owner.

 

The Twin Princes by Tedd Arnold

The old chicken king is dying and he has twin sons--good Henry and evil Fowler, but they don't know who's older.  The king announces a race and says that whoever's horse is slowest shall be the next king.  Fowler poisons Henry's horse but they end up switching horses so Henry becomes king after all.

 

Max's Magic Seeds by Geraldine Elschner and Jean-Pierre Corderoch

This is a lovely picture book about a young boy named Max whose botanist uncle gives him a potato sack full of seeds.  Each day as he's walking to school, he scatters seeds wherever he sees soil and soon the whole town is abloom. 

A Taste of Colored Water by Matt Faulkner

Two naive kids hear about colored water and drive into town to try a sip.  They're expecting some fruity flavors but it turns out they've come to a water fountain for black people.  Along the way they pass protestors--blacks who are trying to gain suffrage--and witness firemen blasting water into the crowd.  The pictures are great and Faulkner is a local who lives in Oakland.

 

Mouse Island by Eve Bunting

A lonely mouse lives alone on an island.  One day a ship is sinking and while the men are all rescued, the cat struggles in the ocean.  Brave mouse jumps in and saves the cat, bringing it back to the island.  Once they establish that cat won't eat mouse, they become friends and play volleyball together. 

 

Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox

This is a fun rhyming book from the Prince's perspective of Sleeping Beauty.  He tries various ways of waking up Sleeping Beauty like dumping water on her head, jumping on her bed and shooting her out of a cannon.  Finally the three fairies tell him she needs to be kissed.  I love the response:  "One hundred years of morning breath.  Wow!  That could be the kiss of death!" 

 

Angelina, Star of the Show by Katharine Holabird and illustrated by Helen Craig

Angelina Ballerina is a bratty mouse who travels with her grandparents by boat to a dance festival.  She's asked to help paint the boat and cook but is too busy practicing her ballet to bother.  Eventually she ruins her dress and realizes how horribly she's been behaving.  She soon learns to pitch in and help with chores.  Grandma loans her an old sailor outfit and she dances a sailor's jib at the festival.

 

Boris and the Snoozebox by Leigh Hodgkinson

I loved the pictures in this book!  It's like Hodgkinson took photos of fur, cut it out and drew cat features.  Very creative.  OK so Boris is a stray cat that finds a box, but every time the box is opened, it's by someone who's not expecting a cat.  He travels all around the world and even into outer space.  The disappointed aliens had been waiting patiently for a remote-controlled space butterfly.  Eventually Boris arrives at Grandma Flapjack's house and stays put.

Mail Harry to the Moon by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

This funny book is about a little boy who wants to get rid of his baby brother, Harry.  My favorite picture is of Harry eating the older bro's stuffed gorilla's nose.  Older brother suggests all sorts of ways to do away with Harry:  Flushing him down the toilet . . . throwing him in the trash, etc.  This is a terrific book for older sibs who might be worried that the new baby will be more important than they are. 

 

The Lonely Moose by John Segal

A moose hangs out with a bird who can't fly.  During a forest fire, bird learns to fly and leaves moose.  In spring the bird comes back with a bunch of bird friends and they all lift Moose by the antlers and he flies too.

A Birthday for Cow! by Jan Thomas

A pig and a mouse plan to make a special cake for the birthday cow.  At every turn, the duck insists on adding a turnip to their efforts. 

39 Uses For a Friend by Harriet Ziefert

Super simple book filled with pictures of things friends can do.  My favorite one is "napkin" which shows one kid wiping his hands on his friend's sleeve.

 

The Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo by Sue Denim and illustrated by Dav Pilkey

A family of idiotic pink rabbits take a trip to the zoo and wreak havoc.  There's a gold medal on the front cover that says: This book is too dumb to win an award."  I agree :o)

 

Louis the Fish by Arthur Yorinks and illustrated by Richard Egielski

Yet another WTF book here!  A third generation butcher who hates his job turns into a giant salmon in this weird picture book.

 

Cockatoos by Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake illustrated the Roald Dahl books I read as a kid.  Professor DuPont has 10 Cockatoos and one day they all escape through a broken window.  He spends the entire day looking for them and the next day they show back up where they're supposed to be.

What's With This Room? by Tom Lichtenheld

Fun rhyming book about a boy's disastrously messy room.  My favorite part is when the mom is talking about how he used to think there was a monster under his bed and how the monster exists but died when it ate the boy's sock.  Eventually he blasts his room clean with a big explosion.

 

No Such Things by Bill Peet

Peet reminds me of Dr. Seuss with his menagerie of fantastical, imaginative creatures.  The best creature is called a Mopwoggin and at the end of its tail is a toupee that it places on top of its bald, monklike head.  The pictures are very good in this book, they're not the same style as Seuss's pictures but they are still good. 

 

Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys by H. A. Rey

Well well well, this is the first book about Curious George!  Cecily G. is a lonely giraffe who meets up with a family of 9 monkeys.  They all become fast friends and the monkeys love playing with Cecily.  There's a picture where they tie Cecily's neck to a tree and ski down her back.  I'm not quite sure why it was George that spun off into his own series and not his other brothers and sisters.

 

When Woman Became the Sea by Susan Strauss

This is a Costa Rican folktale about Thunder and the creation of the first woman who becomes a tree, then bursts open and becomes the sea. 

 

How the Ox Star Fell From Heaven by Lily Toy Hong

This is an old Chinese story about oxen in heaven who were cast down to earth when they relay a message to farmers incorrectly. 

 

Circus Girl by Jack Sendak and illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Here is a long picture book about a circus girl who ventures outside the circus to discover what the world is like.  She was having this weird dream where everyone had the same face and people couldn't ID their own kids.  When she goes out for a day, she ties a rope between two trees and does a tight rope walk above the town to observe these noncircus folk.

Umbrella by Taro Yashima

Momo, a Japanese American girl, receives red rubber boots and an umbrella for her birthday in spring.  She can't wait to use her umbrella and tries to convince her mom that she needs it to shade herself from the sun.  Finally it rains and Momo is able to wear her birthday boots and carry her umbrella.  This book is a Caldecott Honor Book which means it didn't win the Caldecott but they thought it had some pretty nice pictures. 

 

The Quarreling Book by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Arnold Lobel

This little green book looks like a classic.  On a rainy day, a man forgets to kiss his wife and starts a chain reaction of negativity.  When the negativity is directed toward a dog, it wants to play and reverses the chain of negativity. 

 

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

This book was written by a hypochondriac and is about a hypochondriac squirrel who never ever leaves his tree.  One day he drops his emergency kit and when he jumps to get it, discovers he's actually a flying squirrel!

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups by David Wisniewski

Fave thing about the book is the cover which has been made to look like a classified manila envelope.  OK this book is hands down ridiculous!  Why should kids drink milk?  To stop our atomic cows from exploding.  Apparently there are 6 giant radioactive cows in America that provide all the milk for the country.  If we stopped drinking milk there the cows would get bigger until there was a nuclear meltdown.

 

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

Mr. McGreely plants a veggie garden but a group of rabbits keeps stealing his crops!  He tries to put up all kinds of barriers but each time the rabbits outsmart him.  At last the veggies are in a veritable fortress but it's still not enough to keep the rabbits out.  Eventually he must learn to share.

 

Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma

Wonderful book with lovely, simple pictures about the life of a tree.

Caleb & Kate by William Steig

Loved this Steig book too!  Caleb and Kate are a married couple who love each other but fight every once in a while.  One day after an argument Caleb storms out and goes into the woods where he falls asleep.  A witch turns him into a dog and he goes back home.  Kate is sick with worry and goes out to try to find Caleb who she doesn't realize is her new stray dog.  This book is very sweet and um . . . humbling.

 

Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski

Rhyming book about 4 chickes who want to leave their coop and visit the farmhouse.  The first thing they see has a roof, a door and a tail.  It turns out to be the doghouse.  Next they see something with a chimney, a seat and tires.  It's a tractor.  And they just keep making these hilarious mistakes and totally freaking out when they all get attacked. 

 

When Poppy and Max Grow Up by Lindsey Gardiner

Super simple book about a little girl named Poppy and her dog Max.  Poppy has many aspirations for when she's older.  She's going to be a vet, a diver, a rock star, etc.  But for now she's happy with her job taking care of Max.  Aw.

 

Picky Mrs. Pickle by Christine M. Schneider

This is a rhyming book about a woman who is dead set in her gross taste ways.  She's all about green and pickles--pickle pie, pickle ice cream, green shoes, etc.  One day her niece gets her to try some eggplant ice cream and Mrs. Pickle's whole world opens up.

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

This is the first Fancy Nancy book I've read and it's very cute.  Nancy's family wants to get a dog and Nancy has her eyes set on a needy Papillon that her neighbor also has.  She dogsits and soon discovers the tiny little rat dog isn't really a good fit with her family.  This book reminds me a little of Lemony Snicket because Nancy describes difficult words that younger readers might not understand.

 

Peter Spit a Seed at Sue by Jackie French Koller

Fun fast rhyming book about four kids who spit watermelon seeds at each other.  Soon the whole town joins in and the city is covered with seeds!  The mayor stops by and chastises them but then she psyches them all out by flinging cream pies into the crowd.  I was kind of expecting a lesson but this book is just all about fun.

 

Spinky Sulks by William Steig

I can't believe I never read this one as a kid!  I loved William Steig's stories!  When his family bums him out, Spinky gets all pouty and sulky.  Nothing seems to cheer him up.  His friends come over, a clown is dispatched, etc.  Finally he just gets tired of being sour and accepts his family's apology.

Haystack by Bonnie and Arthur Geisert

This is a nonfic book about the life of a haystack.  They cut the grass and put it in a big pile.  Then they stomp it down to pack it.  Thunder is a threat because it can burn down the hay.  The hay is used to feed cows and pigs during the winter.  By the end, all that's left is poo which they use to fertilize more hay.  This book was fascinating! 

Bat's Big Game retold by Margaret Read MacDonald

OK how cool is it that the author's middle name is Read?!  There's a soccer game between a team of animals and a team of birds.  A bat wants to play too and at first joins the animal team.  When they start losing, bat switches his jersey for the bird's team.  Then he tries to switch again.  The animals notice this and soon kick him out of the game.  This is a great book that teaches loyalty to a team, no matter if they're winning or losing.  A nitpicky thing:  In the book, the birds' jerseys are described as red but the illustrations in the book are of orange jerseys. 

 

The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas & Grandpas! by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Michael Emberley

Cute book with lots of different types of animals about what to do with your grandparents.  One of my favorite pictures is of an older koala with giant glasses trying to park a car, with a little koala in the passenger seat pointing at a parking spot.  This is a great picture book :o)

 

Fartiste by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer

THIS BOOK IS FARTASTIC!  It's based on a real character in France who could control his intestinal muscles and fart on command.  Joseph Pujol performed at Moulin Rouge and hung out with Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso.  He was a baker by day and a fart performer at night.  I wish someone like that was around today.  I would pay good money to see him! 

 

The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman

A runt dinosaur is ignored by his siblings until the day his entire family gets stuck in the muck.  He runs for help from a gigantic brontosaurus and they soon become friends.

Cool Daddy Rat by Kristyn Crow
This is a scatty book.  I like the pictures--they're sketch-like.  It's about a scatting rat.  Not my favorite but I'm biased because I'm not all into overly onomatopoeic books.  It'd be cool if Cab Calloway would have read this one!

Say Hello by Jack & Michael Foreman
Love the pictures in this book, they're simple crayon-y charcoal drawings.  This is a very simple rhyming book about a dog and a little boy who are both lonely.  A group of kids invite the dog to play with them and the dog, in turn, invites the lonely boy to play.  Sweet book.

Thea's Tree by Alison Jackson and illustrated by Janet Pedersen
LOVED this book!  It's a different format from other children's books because it's a series of back and forth letters.  A science teacher assigns a science project and a student named Thea plants a mysterious purple seed in your yard.  She writes to various experts trying to identify the type of plant but then all these weird things start happening!  One day she finds a golden egg near the trunk, then a harp and some gold coins.  Soon you see a giant chasing Jack and the Beanstalk!  This book is really imaginative and clever, I likey a lot.

Hannah Duck by Anji Yamamura
The illustrations in this book are Japanese woodcuts :o)  This is a simple picture book about a duck that reluctantly goes for a walk on Sundays.  One day the parakeet tags along and Hannah has a much better time.

To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson and Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Nonrhyming poetry book about how a sunflower grows.  Not my favorite but I despise all nonrhyming poetry. 

 

Fleas! by Jeanne Steig and illustrated by Britt Spencer

A lovely book that I would totally buy :o)  An old man pets a dog and is given fleas.  He trades the fleas for a woman's talkative uncle.  Then trades for a giant mass of cheese and then for a banjo, etc.  He comes across all sorts of interesting characters.  This book reminds me of that Craigslist story about the man who traded a paperclip and eventually got a house.  In the end, the man ends up watching a circus with all his traders and the original dog :o)
 

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler

This is definitely one of those WTF picture books, but in a good way.  Peke is a Pekingese dog with a wooden leg.  Right, cue the WTF.  You're the narrator and having a convo with the dog and decide that Peke could be a pirate.  The two of you go find the treasure which happens to be the blanket that make everything better.

 

Hen Hears Gossip by Megan McDonald

Remember that game "telephone" where you get in a line and whisper a sentence down your string of friends?  This book is like that but set in a farm.  Hen hears something and passes it on to her animal friends.  The message starts off with "Sadie the dog has a thorn!" and, with each rhyming telling, morphs until eventually it goes back to, "Hen!  Hen!  You're lazy, fat, and ate all the corn!"  This is a simple book that warns of the harm in spreading gossip.

 

A Perfect Snowman by Preston McDaniels

Here is a perfectly beautiful tale.  A boy makes a perfect snowman with round coals, a carrot nose, his dad's umbrella, top hat and scarf.  Everyone admires the snowman and eventually go back in their houses for winter.  Soon a family of hungry rabbits comes by and begs the snowman for its nose.  A cat begs for its scarf and a little girl begs for its coals.  Eventually the snowman is just three big balls of snow and when the sun comes back and the earth turns to spring, the snowman melts and goes up to heaven where he is met by the little girl with the coals. 

Darkness Slipped In by Ella Burfoot

A little girl befriends darkness personified.  They dance the funky twist. 

 

It's Library Day by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Multicultural elementary school kids go to the school library and hear stories and choose books.

Twenty Heartbeats by Dennis Haseley and illustrated by Ed Young

Set in Ancient China, a wealthy man hires a great artist to paint a picture of his beloved horse.  Years go by without receiving the work until finally the wealthy man confronts the artist who immediately paints the horse in the course of twenty heartbeats. 

 

The Chicken of the Family by Mary Amato

This is such a great book!  When Henrietta's two older sisters convince her that she's really a chicken, she goes to a nearby farm and begins bonding with her new poultry family.  The pictures are Oilily-esque. 

 

Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley

I thought this book was alright.  Basically there are two parallel stories.  A baby mouse pretends to be a big bad bunny and gets lost.  The other story is about the mama mouse tucking in her other young mice.  The stories meet when mama mouse has to find the baby and bring him back home safe.

 

Veronica on Petunia's Farm by Roger Duvoisin

When Veronica the hippo first arrives, all the other farm animals shun her.  Soon she becomes lonely and depressed.  Slowly the other animals check on her and nurse her back to health.  Cool old timey pictures.

 

Pet of the Met by Lydia and Don Freeman

Don Freeman wrote the Cordoroy books which I loved as a child.  A father mouse is the page turner for the Met.  His three children Doe, Ray and Mee love acting out their own shows and one day they, along with the mother mouse, take in a performance for The Magic Flute.  When father is caught up in the music of the moment, can he avoid the hungry opera cat?

 

The Potty Train by David Hochman

OK, this book is ridiculous!  A little boy is encouraged to take a dump on a train.  Best part:  "Chugga chugga poooo-pooooooo!"

 

Amelia Makes a Movie by David Milgrim

Rhyming picture book about a girl who casts her brother in her film.  This book does a great job of describing the processes that go into making a movie.

 

Gulliver Snip by Julia Kay

This book is adorable!  Young Gulliver imagines the bathtub is a ship.  The illustrations are fabulous, one side will show Gulliver as he imagines the ship, the other side will show Gulliver as he really is in his bathtub.  This book really speaks to the power of a child's imagination.

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark retold by Alvin Schwartz

I read a couple of stories in this book:  Something Was Wrong is about a ghost who doesn't realize he's a ghost.  The Bride is about a woman who locks herself in a trunk and no one can find her.  Creepy stuff.

 

It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach

Love this book.  I read it when I was younger too.  Anyway, a family man feels cramped in his one room hut that he shares with his wife, mother and children.  He consults the Rabbi who advises him to bring chickens, a goat, a cow and a goose into the home.  When he can bear it no longer, the Rabbi says to remove the animals and all of a sudden the family feels like they have tons of room :o)

 

McFig & McFly: A Tale of Jealousy, Revenge, and Death (With a Happy Ending) by Henrik Drescher

The illustrations in this book are great!  They almost remind me of Quentin Blake's.  McFig and McFly are two neighbors who have identical houses, but they soon begin competing with each other by making additions to their homes.  In the meantime, their kids are falling in love with each other.  Weirdness:  McFly appears to be a cyclops.

 

Ella Sets Sail by Carmela & Steven D'Amico

Another lovely Ella the Elephant book.  This time Ella's friend loses her hat and Ella sets sail to find it.  She's taken in by a very kind family with lots of little elephant kids.  This is a really sweet book :o)

 

Seamore, the Very Forgetful Porpoise by Darcie Edgemon

Seamore can't remember anything and one day he swims off and finds another forgetful friend in Kevin the Killer Whale.  The other porpoises are nervous when Kevin comes to play with them but they soon discover he's not going to eat them. 

 

It's Not Fair! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

Fun rhyming book about a bunch of kids complaining that life isn't fair.  There's fake legalese in the inside covers.

Ella the Elegant Elephant by Carmela & Steven D'Amico

Sweet book :o)  Ella is a shy young elephant with a short trunk and a big hat.  When she arrives at the new school, the other kids make fun of her big orange grandma hat.  On a dare, the bully elephant tosses a ball on the roof and asks Ella to bring it down.  Ella refuses and Belinda the bully goes to get it herself but loses her footing and is soon hanging by the ledge.  Ella goes to help but since Belinda is so much bigger, they both fall.  The hat magically saves them both by turning into a freak parachute.  The next day, everyone in class is wearing a weird hat.  A very cute story.

 

The Know-Nothings Talk Turkey by Michele Sobel Spirn

Imagine an entire family of Amelia Bedelia and you have the Know-Nothings.  They celebrate Thanksgiving by going into the woods to try to catch a turkey.  The method they use is to act wild so one bucks like a horse, one flaps like a bird, etc.  Eventually they come upon a turkey farm and bring home a turkey which they try to serve--as in, Hello Mr. Turkey, would you like some salad?  This is a funny book for kids and a sure Thanksgiving winner.

 

Who is Melvin Bubble? by Nick Bruel

This is a fun book for any kid who ever wanted their own scrapbook.  Basically the narrator goes around asking different characters about a boy named Melvin Bubble.  Among the interviewees are parents, Santa, Melvin's dog, the tooth fairy, a zebra etc.  This book is super random and funny. 

 

Two Eggs, Please by Sarah Weeks and Betsy Lewin

Yeah, I didn't really get this book.  A bunch of animals are at a diner and they order eggs in various styles.  Pictures are nice though.

 

Badness for Beginners by Ian Whybrow & Tony Ross

A wolf family teaches two young wolves how to be bad.  One wolf barfs in the restaurant which makes for a rather gross picture.  My favorite part of the book was the naughty nursery rhyme.  This book is OK if you're trying to encourage badness . . .

 

Beetle Boy by Lawrence David

This book is about a boy who wakes up to find he's turned into a beetle.  But that's not even the worst part.  The worst part is how no one seems to notice he's turned into a bug.  When he's at school, at least his best friend sees that he's not human anymore.  This weird story was inspired by "The Metamorphosis."   

Beware of the Frog by William Bee

I LOVE THE PICTURES IN THIS BOOK!  This little old lady lives in the woods with a green frog that protects her from ogres, goblins and trolls.  When they open up her gate, the frog swallows them.  In the end, the frog asks for a kiss and then the old lady turns into a pink frog.  And then . . . she EATS the green frog!  Ha ha ha ha ha!  I love William Bee :o)

Our California by Pam Munoz Ryan

The pictures in this book are wonderful!  This book talks about the different parts of California--how the Central Valley has plentiful orchards, how Eureka is both the state motto AND the name of a town and how the Channel Islands are home to ghost ships.  And did you know that our state mineral is gold?  Makes sense, huh?

 

My Heart Glow by Emily Arnold McCully

This is a lovely nonfiction picture book about Alice Cogswell, a little girl who became deaf at age 2 due to Spotted Fever.  Her family befriends a preacher named Thomas Gallaudet and he teaches her to read.  Gallaudet travels to Durope to learn about sign language and comes back with Laurent Clerc, a teacher for the deaf and they open a school for the deaf in America. 

 

The New Bear at School by Tim Warnes

Super cute book here!  A great big new bear named Boris arrives as a student at school where there are only cute little animals.  All the little animals freak out and no one wants to play with Boris until he inadvertently scares off some mean rat bullies. 

 

My Friend Jamal by Anna McQuinn

Awwwww, this book is really sweet :o)  It's about a white boy Joseph and a Somali American kid named Jamal who are best friends.  Joseph talks about how when Jamal visits, he can't have sausage because it's pork and they're Muslim.  And he can't have milk because he has eczema--I never knew you couldn't drink milk because of eczema!  Jamal's family escaped Somalia because of all the fighting.  My favorite part of the story is when Joseph is at Jamal's house and they have pasta with bananas!  Then Joseph asks his mom if they can have bananas with pasta at their home and she says she'll think about it :o)

 

Hooray for Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold

The simplest chapter book for little kids, seriously.  Fly Guy is a fly who joins a football team with his human friend Buzz.  He wins the game by flying up an opposing team player's nose.

 

Sarah Laughs by Jacqueline Jules

Bible story about Sarah and Abraham and how she doesn't get knocked up until she's really old.  Isaac means laughter. 

Underwear: What We Wear Under There by Ruth Freeman Swain

Fun picture book dedicated to UNDERWEAR!  I learned that astronauts wear diapers, hooped petticoats could be 6 feet wide and that in the middle ages men's leggings couldn't stretch and that's probably why in paintings, the men are pictured standing up.  Very interesting book.  And in the future, there might be underwear with ceramic particles to keep you feeling cool.