Dino Pets Go To School By Lynn Plourde

"It's Pet Day!" A very excited boy can't decide which pet to bring. When he arrives with his pet, his teacher is NOT excited about his choice. First his choice is "too tall" and then "loudest" and then "spikest". Each pet the boy brings does not fit the teacher's idea of a pet until he arrives with an egg. His teacher is finally excited but his classmates are not as they are bored.....

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

I Love Chocolate by Davide Cali

I can't wait to pull this out this little gem I found over the summer...My guess, the teacher's will get a big laugh out of it!! I loved this book.....but I LOVE CHOCOLATE!! The speaker in the book also loves chocolate, all shapes and kinds of chocolate.
"I love chocolate when it's full of surprises.
You have to take a bite to find out what's inside!
Almonds, caramel, nougat, vanilla cream, and best of all, cherries!"

The speaker explains throughout just how much he loves chocolate, and why. At the end of course he explains the one BAD thing about chocolate....

Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves - totally fits text!!
Text: 4 Buckeye leaves

A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlerg

In August 2005 a hurricane named Katrina hit the Gulf Coast causing millions of dollars in damages and displacing millions of families. In this historically based work of fiction, Myron Uhlberg follows a 10 year old boy named Louis Daniel from the first drops of rain, to his family's desperate attempts to escape the rising waters to life in the Super Dome immediately following the storm. The books shares the powerful bond of this small but strong family, and their determination to stay to together. Simply written with enough details for children to understand the main events of this now historical event.

Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman

"Old MacDonald had a SHOP, E-I-E-I-O! And in her shop she had a SAW, E-I-E-I-O!"

1. Old MacDonald is a HER! Woohoo!
2. She has a shop! I got corrected MANY MANY times by the 3 year old at our house because out of habit I kept saying FARM!! (Something about an old dog new tricks...)
3. Great example of onomatopoeia.

As I have mentioned before I really do enjoy "remakes"! I know some do not, and I also - of course - enjoy new creative books. That being said, I think it is great, for little ones especially, to have a familiar pattern that they hear new words to. Our 3 year old does enjoy his "tools" so this was a perfect choice for him.

Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves
Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
endpages: 5 Buckeye Leaves - LOVE them!! There all all different tools, LABELED!

Llama Llama Home With Mama by Anna Dewdney

Little Llama is back and this time, sniff snuff cough cough, he is not feeling well. Told in Dewdney's usual rhyme and rhythm, Llama Llama is feeling yucky and needs to stay home from school with Mama, reading books and drawing pictures.

"Llama's head is feeling hot.
Llama's throat is hurting lots."

And as luck would have it, just as Llama Llama is feeling better, Mama Llama is starting to feel yucky! (Isn't that always the case!?)
Llama Llama Red Pajama was one of the first "big kid" books Adam and I started reading, so I have a special spot of Llama Llama and Dewdney. We have really enjoyed her book Roly Poly Pangolin and will add this latest installment of Llama Llama to the list.

Illustrations: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Text: 4 Buckeye Leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye Leaves

Bark Park

Come to the dog park where dogs of all shapes, sizes, and colors come to play!

"Hot dog, dot dog, in the park. Fat dog, rat dog. Bark! Bark! Bark!"

Fun rhyming text about a topic most kids, if not all, enjoy reading about, with great choice of words.

Text: 4 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 3 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves

Prudence Wants A Pet by Cathleen Daly

Prudence wants a pet. She tries to convince her parents, but they do not see it her way. As a result Prudence has a pet stick then twig then shoe then her brother then a tire, etc. When she finally gets her parents to allow her to have sea buddies she is very excited only to be disappointed. Hilarious take on pet-seeking kiddos!!

Text: 4 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

Happy Birthday, Hamster! by Cynthia Lord

We are VERY excited at our house tonight!!! We just happened to go to the library for some quick returns/pick ups and went to check NEW book section and there it was!!! All shiny and new!! The NEWEST installment from Hot Rod Hamster!!! Same characters, same great rhyme, but guess who is celebrating a birthday?? Hamster is pretty down because it seems none of his friends remembered his birthday! Dog has some shopping to do today so hamster tags along...from cake shop to toy store to card store and finally home to......well, you have to read to find out what SURPRISE hamster finds at home! Super cute....not sure we can wait until April for this one!

Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye Leaves

Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio

Gilbert wants a pet. Gilbert is a goldfish! One day a dog shows up and Gilbert is ecstatic. But his enthusiasm quickly learns he does NOT want a dog with its barking, barking, and MORE barking!l Next a small gray mouse appears which Gilbert is very excited because it is quiet. Pets continue to show up and with each pet, Gilbert finds a reason that each will not work as his pet. Gilbert has pretty much given up on the idea of having a pet when a new appears with a long tail and whiskers. Will this pet be the one for Gilbert? I love this book. The illustrations and text match perfectly to create a happy and fun book! I plan to ad this to me our pet unit this fall!


Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves

Cute video trailer on Amazon!

Fancy Nancy: Stellar Stargazer by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Fancy Nancy is very excited to be sleeping outside under the stars with her dad and sister JoJo. Fancy Nancy provides her little sister with lots of information about space and in true fancy way, lots of great vocabulary. I do not get much of an opportunity to read Fancy Nancy at our house, but since the boy LOVES space, he was ok with this book. (And really he will usually listen to anything once....) I have a feeling we might be reading this one again.

Big Brothers Don't Take Naps by Louise Borden

Little brother Nicholas realizes all the things his big brother James can do as well as something James does not have to do. James gets to ride the school bus, he can write his name, call Pop Pop and mimi, etc. and of course James does NOT take naps! James wants to be his big brother and there is a secret that may just give him the chance. Cute, simple book to introduce the idea of a new sibling to young children.

Text: 3 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

Pretend by Jennifer Plecas

"Pretend," Jimmy said to Dad, " that this couch is a big boat, and that we're floating in the ocean." Thus begins Dad and Jimmy's afternoon adventure which will take them face to face with sharks, to a deserted island, up a mountain, building a fort, and finally relaxing under the stars. A great example of imagination and creative story telling which will be enjoyed by both boys and girls.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 3 Buckeye leaves

The Lion and the Mice by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley

Based on Aesop's fable, a lion is convinced that a tiny mouse is of no use to him but decides to spare his life anyways. Later that night the mouse returns with friends and frees the lion from his cage. Simple text will make this fable easy for younger readers to understand. The bright colors will attract children as well. Would be a good book to compare/contrast with Jerry Pinkney's Lion and Mouse.


Text: 4 Buckeye leaves (simple enough for young readers)
Illustration: 4 Buckeye leaves

Opposnakes: A Lift-the-Flap Book About Opposites by Salina Yoon

Another fun interactive book for the kids.
"Straight snake. Tangled snake. Dirty snake. Clean snake."
And so it continues with the opposite snake pairs that are revealed with opening each flap. Great, fun introduction to opposites.

Wild Alphabet: An A to Zoo Pop-Up Book By Michael Haines & Julia Frohlich

Antelope, bison, chinchilla, oh my! This amazing pop-up abc book covering animals of all kinds. Each page is a different letter of the alphabet, with an animal that in most cases moves across or out of the book. Each animal is explained with details about the animal. "Narwhal: I'm the unicorn of the sea-I have only one, long, twisted tusk....." Great information, in a fun interactive book.

Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves

Check out the cool video about this book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6jwVngeM6M



Another ABC animal book that I came across at the library is Brian Wildsmith's Amazing Animal Alphabet. On each page there is an animal that corresponds with the letter. In the back there is additional information about all the animals presented in the book.

Dogfish by Gillian Shields

Adam received this from a friend a few weeks ago......it is hilarious!! "Everyone has a dog...except ME!" As the young boy tries to explain to his mother he NEEDS a dog...his mom uses some of her best lines, like: "Well, if you can't have what you want, you could try to want what you have." The young boy then decides to teach his fish how to be....a DOG! He teaches him to catch a tiny stick, take him for a walk, etc. I plan to use this book with my kindergartners/ 1st graders in our "pet" unit. I know my kids will love the ridiculousness of the boy treating his FISH like a dog!

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves - totally fits the book! So cute!!
endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves....looks like fish gills....love it!

Otto The Boy Who Loved Cars

Otto (and yes, it took me a minute for it to sink it) loves CARS!! He lives cars. He sleeps cars, in his car shaped bed of course! But one day Otto's love for cars goes a little too far. Otto wakes up and is feeling a little strange. He soon realizes he has turned into a....CAR!!! After a day "as a car" Otto starts to wonder if maybe he is too obsessed with cars. A very cute book which car loving kids will especially find appealing. We have one big car loving boy at our house that loves it!


Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

That Pesky Dragon by Julie Sykes

Izzie's family farm is like many farms: "A goat, a flock of sheep, some chickens, three cats, two dogs and.....A DRAGON!"?? From the time the dragon appears on the farm he has been causing havoc with his loud roar! The milk has been turned to yogurt and the eggs are boiled what is a family to do? Assuming if they stay away the dragon will just go away, the family tries hard to ignore the dragon noise. However Izzie just can't help herself. She decides to go find out why that dragon is roaring so loud.....and what she finds surprises her. Dragon-loving kiddos will love this book! Dragon-loving kid's PARENTS will love the fact that this book is not scary for little kiddos and fulfilling the need to read "big kid topic (dragons) without being scared!!!

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves

AA is for Aardvark: Double the Letters! Double the Fun! by Mark Shulman

Another ABC book? Not just any ABC book!! This ABC book focuses on DOUBLE letters which adds new fun and new educational experiences for little ones (not to mention the fact I have been looking for double letters ever since I read this book!!)

DD is for puddle.
EE is for beep! beep!
FF is for waffles.
GG is for egg salad.

Of course in addition to the text on each page, the illustrations add another example of the double letter presented on that page! Lots of fun for any age of reader!

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 4 Buckeye leaves

10 Little Hermit Crabs by Lee Fox & Shane McG

I love a good counting book....especially when it is super cute! As you can probably conclude based on the title, 10 little hermit crabs are exploring the beach as one by one they disappear.
"4 little hermit crabs sprint along the sand. One's plucked up by a child's small hand"
This is one of my favorite illustrations as well. The shadow of the child, with spiky, short hair can be seen in the corner! A great summer read for kids of all ages.....while the last few weeks of summer slip away! :)

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves

PETE THE CAT IS BACK!!!!

YAHOO!!! Pete the Cat is back and he is ROCKING HIS SCHOOL SHOES!!! LOVE IT! This is a perfect song for the beginning of the year! You must check this out. Of course Pete is ready for school and is wearing NEW school shoes. He tours his school rocking those new shoes!

Check the video out!
Pete the Cat Video--Click Here!

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

How do you know if a book is good? When you have a 3 year old that finds it in the basket of new books from the library, takes it in the other room, starts looking through it - commenting on what is happening on each page, despite never having the book read to him and being pretty darn close too, and CRACKING up hysterically!! It was a hoot!! So anyways, if it is Jan Thomas, you know it is going to be funny....and this one does not disappoint. Duck comes upon a pumpkin and decides to make a jack-o-lantern. Of course he ends up, head first, in the pumpkin. He decides to go look for his friends Pig and Mouse but they think he is the PUMPKIN MONSTER!! Ahhh!!! Of course when Duck hears the Pumpkin Monster is around he also becomes quite scared! Hilarious!! Soon to be a kid favorite!

Text: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye Leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves
*Yes, we will be buying this ASAP!!

Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots by Rebecca Janni

Nellie Sue, cowgirl, is back and this time her boots are ready to DANCE! Mom suggests she asks the girls to join her dancing but they decline. The girls don't dance unless it is in ballet slippers. Nellie Sue decides to have a party but will anyone come? An upbeat example of kids making the decision to do for themselves. Great follow up to her first book.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

First Day of School by Anne Rockwell

It is the day BEFORE the first day of school and time for haircuts, backpack buying as well as other school supplies, packing lunches, picking out outfits, and of course, new shoe buying in preparation for the first day of school. The kids reminisce about last year's first day of school to calm nerves. As in most of Anne Rockwell's books, this book is very simple and easy for younger kids to understand. Great look at the steps involved, as well as the feelings that many kids feel, and yes, teachers too, prior to that first day. I am sure this book will be read in many classrooms this year!

Text:4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves
Endpages: 5 Buckeye leaves - so cute!

Author's site:
www.annerockwell.com

Illustrator's site:
www.lizzyrockwell.com