Best of
Picture-Books

1975

A Color of His Own


Leo Lionni - 1975
    Pigs are pink. Only the chameleon has no color of his own. He is purple like the heather, yellow like a lemon, even black and orange striped like a tiger! Then one day a chameleon has an idea to remain one color forever by staying on the greenest leaf he can find. But in the autumn, the leaf changes from green to yellow to red . . . and so does the chameleon. When another chameleon suggests they travel together, he learns that companionship is more important than having a color of his own. No matter where he goes with his new friend, they will always be alike.

There's No Such Thing as a Dragon


Jack Kent - 1975
    Billy Bixbee's mother won't admit that dragons exist until it is nearly too late.

Strega Nona


Tomie dePaola - 1975
    When Strega Nona leaves him alone with her magic pasta pot, Big Anthony is determined to show the townspeople how it works.

The Mixed-Up Chameleon


Eric Carle - 1975
    But with each transformation in size, shape, and color, the chameleon learns that maybe being yourself is best of all!The Mixed-Up Chameleon is sure to delight little readers with its interactive art, funny antics, and heartwarming message. This board book edition is the perfect size for small hands and features sturdy pages.

The Maggie B.


Irene Haas - 1975
    The next morning, she wakes up on the Maggie B., sailing across the ocean with her baby brother, James, for company.

Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent


Bill Peet - 1975
    The kindly sea serpent almost succumbs to peer pressure, but learns at last to be himself.

When the Sky Is Like Lace


Elinor Lander Horwitz - 1975
    There's a special party that anyone can attend. Anyone, that is, who knows the rules and isn't afraid of plum-purple shadows, can cook spaghetti and would like to teach a new song to the otters. Back by popular demand, this whimsical picture book illustrated by Caldecott Medal-winner Barbara Cooney's lush watercolors is as resonant today as when it was first published almost thirty years ago.

Pezzettino


Leo Lionni - 1975
    But he is small, just a “little piece,” which is the meaning of pezzettino in Italian. “I must be a piece of somebody. I must belong to someone else,” he thinks. How Pezzettino learns that he belongs to no one but himself is the joyous and satisfying conclusion to this beautiful mosaic style picture book.

Morris's Disappearing Bag


Rosemary Wells - 1975
    He was there to open his present--a teddy bear--and to watch his older sisters and brother open their gifts. His siblings went off to play with each other's new toys, but nobody wanted to play with Morris's bear. So Morris found something new to play with--a disappearing bag. He jumped right in and became invisible! Now he has something everybody wants to try. But they have to find him first. This warm and humorous story proves that sometimes the littlest bunny gets the last laugh.* "Irresistible . . . The author-artist does some wonderful things with Morris's cars and eyes, expressing exactly the sentiments of a put-out preschool rabbit."--Booklist, starred review

Buford the Little Bighorn


Bill Peet - 1975
    Buford's giant horns cause him all sorts of problems and even force him to leave his mountainside home, but eventually they make him a hero on the ski slopes.

Creepy Castle


John S. Goodall - 1975
    A brave young mouse and his lady fair find a deserted castle, venture in, and are locked inside by the villain!

The Boy Who Was Followed Home


Margaret Mahy - 1975
    A witch's pill is supposed to cure Robert of the hippopotami who daily follow him home from school--but there is one disadvantage to the treatment.

The Contests at Cowlick


Richard Kennedy - 1975
    

The Wizard of Op


Ed Emberley - 1975
    A slightly inept wizard casts his spells which are demonstrated to us through the techniques of optical art.

Crocodile, Crocodile


Peter Nickl - 1975
    In their talk, he hears mention of a crocodile store that sells marvelous things and he decides to find it. Down the river, across the sea, overland he travels to the beautiful city of Paris where his friendly overtures terrify people into unconsciousness or drive them up trees in fright. Through the deserted streets he searches until at last he finds it —but what a disappointment. The things sold in the crocodile store are not for crocodiles at all; they’re all made from crocodile skin. How Omar takes sweet revenge becomes a clever and funny ending. Ecology was never more charming.

The Wombles in Danger


Elisabeth Beresford - 1975
    The Wombles, who tidy up Wimbledon Common, plan a dangerous rescue when one of them is left outside with a human in the vicinity.

How the Witch Got Alf


Cora Annett - 1975
    Alf, the donkey, takes drastic measures to find out that he is loved as much as the old folks' other animals.

Midget and the Pet Shop


Molly Brett - 1975
    Molly Brett provides the usual delightful illustrations to accompany her text.

The Rainbow Dress, and Other Tollush Tales


Ilse-Margret Vogel - 1975
    Despite their poverty, Tollush and her mother find joy in simple things.

Anno's Counting Book


Mitsumasa Anno - 1975
    Children start to count long before they learn their ABC's, for they are constantly comparing and classifying things and events they observe around them. As they try to bring sense and order into what they observe, they are actually performing basic mathematical feats.In this book, Mitsumasa Anno, the creator of the brilliantly inventive Anno's Alphabet, invites young readers on another stimulating adventure of the imagination-this time into the world of numbers and counting. Gentle watercolor pictures show a landscape changing through the various times of day and the turning seasons, months and years, and the activities of the people and animals who come to live there. But the seemingly simple plan of the book is deceptive: look more carefully and you will see one-to-one correspondences; groups and sets; scales and tabulations; changes over time periods; and many other mathematical relationships as they occur in natural, everyday living. Just as our forebears developed our number system from observing the order of nature, the reader is subtly led to see and understand the real meaning of numbers.Look at this book and look again. Each time you do so, you will find another application of a natural mathematical concept that you had not noticed before.

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch


Kathleen N. Daly - 1975
    

The Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Circus Life of Emmett Kelly, Sr. Told with Pictures & Song!


Robert M. Quackenbush - 1975
    The circus experiences of Emmett Kelly, Sr., "America's favorite clown," are related in verse to be sung to the tune of the familiar song "The Man on the Flying Trapeze."

Teeny Teeny Tiny Giraffe (a Rand McNally Junior Elf book)


Solveig Paulson Russell - 1975
    It follows the adventures of Taffy, a teeny, teeny, tiny giraffe.

Big Bird's Busy Book


Michael Frith - 1975
    things to make, things to do, games and stories, recipes too."Big Bird and his Muppet friends introduce a collection of stories, poems, puzzles, recipes, crafts, and games.

The Lace Snail


Betsy Byars - 1975
    The animals beg the snail for some of her lacy trail and she tries to oblige each with a gift appropriate to its nature.

The Great Sea Monster: Or, a Book by You


Berthe Amoss - 1975
    Accompanying the story about a boy captured by an octopus while fishing are suggestions for writing and illustrating your own story.

Small in the Saddle


Mark Alan Stamaty - 1975
    

Measure with Metric


Franklyn Mansfield Branley - 1975
    Introduces the principles of the metric system through simple experiments.

Grasshopper and Butterfly


Helen Piers - 1975
    Grasshopper finds a way for Butterfly to survive the winter.

Mary Alice: Operator Number 9


Jeffrey Allen - 1975
    When an efficient duck who gives the time over the telephone gets sick, other animals, believing the job to be easy, try to take her place.

Johnny's Secret (Rand Mcally Junior Elf Book)


Frank Lewis - 1975
    A pleasant, light story based on the pioneer and folk hero in American history, John Chapman, nicknamed "Johnny Appleseed."

A Single Speckled Egg


Sonia Levitin - 1975
    When three farmers worry so much that they decide to sell their farms, their wives consult the Teacher for a way to stop them.

The Sandwich


Ian Wallace - 1975
    He wants to be just like his friends, but he is also quite proud of his Italian heritage. The crisis revolves around a "stinky meat sandwich." Cultural differences between an Italian immigrant child and his classmates are highlighted in this delightful and sensitive story.

Barney the Beard


Eve Bunting - 1975
    But the townspeople have other ideas.

Hubert Hunts His Hum


Sue Lock - 1975
    

The Sad Story of the Little Bluebird and the Hungry Cat


Edna Mitchell Preston - 1975
    Then the bluebird begins to fly.

Splodges


Malcolm Carrick - 1975
    The intimate relationship between the picture book artist and the young reader has rarely been shown to better advantage than in Splodges, part journey into the discovery of imagination and part narrative "how-to."Here is an introduction, in full color, to painting and drawing, which instructs as well as charms.

Hilaire Belloc's the Yak, the Python, the Frog: A Picture Book Production


Hilaire Belloc - 1975
    Appraises in rhyme various aspects of the yak, the python, and the frog.

Gertrude, The Goose Who Forgot


Joanna C. Galdone - 1975
    While searching for her missing house key, a forgetful goose finds her party regalia instead.