We're In the Wrong Book! by Richard Byrne

Bella, Ben, and Bella's dog were out one day when they were knocked off the page and into a different book full of pencils and lollipops!  Bella and Ben tried to get back to the right book when they were pumped into a comic book.  Next they ended up in a history book, puzzle book, fairy tale, and on and on.  How will they ever get back to the right book?  Cute, fun, and ingenious book that can be used to teach kids the large variety of books available!  Love this one!

*See more of Bella's adventures in This Book Just Ate My Dog!

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 buckeye leaves

Duncan the Story Dragon by Amanda Driscoll

Duncan loves books.  Unfortunately Duncan gets so excited about his books that his fire breathing took over and he has never finished a book.  Duncan decides he needs a friend but a fire breathing dragon finding a friend is not an easy task.  Duncan searches and searches to find that special friend to help him finally enjoy an entire book.Will he find that special friend so he can finally read those words, "THE END."

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrator:  4 Buckeye leaves

Look! by Jeff Mack

Two words.  Two characters.  A gorilla spends a great deal of time trying to convince a young boy to enjoy a book.  The conversation between the two is limited to two words.  Great book for teaching kids about expression and end punctuation.  Fun and funny!


Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Spencer has a problem....his favorite book, Night-Night Narwhal, is missing.  He puts his book in the same place every night and suddenly it is missing.  But that is only the beginning.  Soon, one by one, Spencer's books start disappearing.  Spencer is beside himself.  He asks his family but no one has seen his books.  Spencer decides it is time to set a trap but is quite surprised when the trap is "sprung".  Cute book for preschool and kindergarteners.

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

I Hate Picture Books by Timothy Young

In our house the word HATE, DUMB and STUPID are BAD words...so much so that a certain 6 1/2 year old came crying into the room one night because he accidentally read the word "stupid" while reading to dad ...he was apparently afraid we would kick him out of the house.  We did not.  We did have a rather lengthy discussion about why we do not use those words but why authors sometimes have to use them.  He bought it - for now.   That being said....I loved this book!   Max, the main character, hates picture books.  Yes, I had a hard time even checking this out of the library.  He points out just how ridiculous some of these picture books are.  He quickly realizes though it is not that he HATES them (thank goodness) but rather loves them.

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Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves  (Awesome endpages!)

Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book by Bethanie Deeney Murguia

Victor and Violet are twins.  Violet loves to write and is a great speller.  Victor is would rather count his worms then write a book with Violet.  Together they will write a story, one that Violet hopes will be a best-seller.  Through a series of conversations, the two create an adventure story about a terrible book-eating monster that turns out to be a bookworm.  The illustrations are incredible with a great mix of mediums, lettering and coloring combined using Adobe Photoshop (information in back of book).

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Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

The Story Starts Here! by Caroline Merola

Little Wolf is changing things a little today.  He begins by having his story start at the end of the book.  Why?  Because he wants to!  Next he has decided he will eat standing up AND begin with desert.  Little Wolf's actions continue much the same way until his parents send him to his room.  There he decides he is not sticking around and sneaks out the window.  However Little Wolf gets more than he bargained for when a scary "monster" begins chasing him.  The topsy-turvy day may be more than Little Wolf bargained for.  The unusual way this book is read will be enjoyable for older students, and hopefully not confusing for the younger students.  The text told through speech bubbles also opens up the possibility for a fun buddy reading activity.

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

How To Bake a Book by Ella Burfoot

Bake a book?  One little girl learns the recipe for "baking" the perfect book. Characters, some big words, some little words, some pictures, good and bad - all mixed together for a perfect book.  Great introduction to writing for elementary students - or reminder of the important elements that must be combined to make a perfect book.  Illustrations are fun and perfectly suited to the content of the book.

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Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Snowman's Story by Will Hillenbrand

It is a cold, wintry day when a hat lands on a snowman's head.  Hidden inside that hat is a little rabbit.  The snowman reads a story to his new friends.  Soon the snowman falls asleep and the rabbit takes off with the book.  The chase is on to get that book back.  A magnificently illustrated wordless book perfect for a wintry day that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages.  Love this one!

Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Enjoy the book trailer here!

A Library Book for Bear by Bonny Becker

Bear and Mouse are back and this time Mouse is trying to convince Bear to go to the library with him.  Bear does not see any reason why he should go to the library.  Bear has seven very nice books at his house:  three about kings and queens, three about honeybees, and one about pickles.  He does NOT need to go to the library.  Bear is quite overwhelmed when they arrive at the library.  Mouse tries to show Bear some possible books, all of which Bear declines.  But Bear overhears the librarian reading a book during story time and something very unexpected happens.  A new -  MUST BUY - for every library.  Great introduction to the library and all it has to offer for anyone, even those that like pickles.

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Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

It's A Little Book by Lane Smith

I laughed had to laugh when I saw this book at the library last week.  Knowing the OTHER version of this book, which I love though would never read it at school or to my own kids, yet, I was anxious to see this.  It was pleased to find that this book was rated G.

"Is it for wearing?"
"No."
"Is it for e-mailing?"
"No."

So funny....and maybe a little funnier as when you get to the end, you can't help but wonder....how will it end?


View book trailer HERE!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books! by Lucille Colandro

She is back!!  That old lady (the Lucille Colandro variety) is back and apparently hungrier than usual!  This time she is swallowing some books...pen, pencil case, ruler, folder,....see where this is going?  Kids LOVE these books!  A great book to use for the back to school time.  I have a feeling there will be LOTS of teachers reading this book this fall!  

......I have been waiting for Colandro to write a BIRTHDAY old lady book!  :)  

Too Much Noise in the Library by Susan Margaret Chapman

Mrs. Reade, a busy school librarian, is use to the noises in the library:  the books dropping, pages turning, teachers chattering, students giggling, etc.  One day the mayor decides to stop by the school library.  He does not like all the noise and sets out to eliminate all the extra noise, one noise at a time.  He is finally able to create a quiet, peaceful library....too quiet.  Mrs. Reade is in shock!  The mayor soon realizes the error of his ways and invites the children and teachers back to the library, allows the books to be checked out again, etc.  Cute book for beginning of the year (at least that is when I will probably be using it).

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Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton

I will admit I love when authors come up with new words for popular books/songs - Mary Had A Little Lamb, Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, etc.  So I found this one during our library visit today and it has made it to my list of "beginning of the year" books to share with the kids.  (Side note:  though I have been cautioned that I may not be seeing the kids in my 3 elementary schools this year...yes, you read that right...3 schools....don't get me started on THAT!).  So It is as you might expect a take off on the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  It is pretty clever.  She starts off swallowing a word which in my opinion is better than swallowing a fly.  She then continues to "swallow" things such as:  a book, book cart (ouch), story-hour chair, and on and on.  I know the kids will get a kick out of the things she swallows and all of it leads up to finally revealing the word she swallowed......

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Illustrations: 3 Buckeye leaves

Otto The Book Bear by Katie Cleminson

Feel like I am FINALLY starting to get my head above water....waiver day presentation of grades 3-5 picture books - check; levy passed - check (though this is not all sunshine and roses as unfortunately, cuts still have to be made including some cuts in the library program as well as many other programs district wide....but that is a discussion for another day). So I am now trying to catch up on my younger picture book reading which thanks to my wonderful soon-to-be- 4 year old son, I have my audience always ready and waiting!

This is a new favorite of mine! I paired this book with Dog Loves Books (by Louise Yates) and The Wonderful Book (by Leonid Gore) for my first grade classes today. Otto is a book bear. What is a book bear? A bear that lives in a book of course! And at night Otto climbs out of his book to explore and read. He is quite content with his life until the day he is out of his book exploring and gets left behind. Otto decides to take off on an adventure but soon realizes he is not so crazy about what he finds. Finally he comes upon a building with lots of.....BOOKS!!! He soon discovers many book creatures within the rows and rows of books. Otto is once again happy to be

Text: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves LOVE THEM!!